Gus Goodall

Gus Goodall is a lead character in *Morning Show*, a segment of *It's All Been Done Radio Hour*. He is one of two hosts with the program, and just wants to go back to comedy. He is loyal to his friends, though, and has tried to make the switch with them to the news format. He thinks most people are dumb, and is highly cynical. He goes to bed before 10PM and doesn't usually work Saturdays. He makes noise during sex. He isn't confident about most things.

**First appearance:** *Morning Show* #1.01 "First Show"

**Number of appearances in *Morning Show*:** 15 (as of #2.04)

**Actor:** Nathan Haley

## **Early Life**

As a teenager, Gus once stuffed pillows under his blanket and played snoring noises on YouTube so he could break curfew. His mom peeked in right as an ad was playing, ruining his ruse ("Fallout").

Gus co-hosted with Pat Shock for some time before *Morning Show* came about. They did a comedy program, and Gus was eager to do the same on *Morning Show.*

Gus can be very exacting about language, arguing about the definition of a blowout strongly when he felt is was misused ("First Show"). Gus likes local donut shops DK Diner and Buckeye Donuts, and believes cereal on donuts is a travesty ("We the People").

Gus' age has not been established, but Regina Hayes referred to him as a "young man" ("Emergency Powers"). Gus made fun of a twenty-six year old for being very young, but he might have been being ironic, given the YouTube story above indicates he can't be much older ("Fallout").

## **Season 1**

Gus alone of the core staff did not realize the show was shifting formats from comedy to news until right before it went on the air. He was furious, and it strained the friendship between himself and Pat. When they were reamed by their boss, Brooks Dylan, Gus intended the throw the other two under the bus. But under Dylan's attack, Gus did stand up for the show that was done and said he would have been wrong to stand in the way of Shelly Meyers' news idea ("Owning Up").

Despite the change, Gus continued to try to inject humor into the show. He did bits and games, like Bro Code ("Owning Up"), as well as interjecting to poke at the show's guests ("The Aide"). Gus likes talking at people, but not to them ("We the People").

Gus' closing tag at the end of the show is "Don't forget to floss" ("Owning Up").

Gus was out sick when the zombie outbreak began (*Packer & Ratcliff* "The Pursuit of Packer"). He only had the flu, and was cured with grocery store medicine, never seeing a doctor. He also claims not to have left the state. Many people did not buy this, picketing in front of his house, and the network received more than 600 calls asking for Gus to be fired. Despite this, Gus is the one who insists on being funny to lighten the mood and bring comfort and joy to those listening to the show ("Fallout"). The picketers were gone before Halloween ("Halloween"). By the end of the year, though, Gus doesn't think the country will ever return to normalcy ("We the People").

Gus encourages Pat to ask Shelly out after a few months on the show, but Pat says it would be inappropriate. Gus says it would be fine, and he's tired of watching Pat stare at Shelly ("Options").

When Allie Friedan evaluates Shelly, Gus does not welcome her in and questions her repeatedly.

Gus grows frustrated when they don't have new information, and doesn't believe it can be gained from an overly prepared interview. He is critical of President Anderson's handling of the zombie outbreak. Gus considers the idea of moving the nation's capital crazy, but doesn't really care if that happens, as long as they don't end up in his backyard ("Evaluation").

When Shelly is offered a job with the government and Pat breaks the news on-air, Gus is furious, mostly at Shelly. He is even madder when her fight with Pat causes Pat to leave the Christmas party. Gus chews Shelly out and goes home. Later that night, Gus walks in the cold to Shelly's apartment to yell at her some more, but seeing her upset and beating herself up, he ends up feeling bad and comforting her, telling her he's genuinely happy for her and will miss her. Then they sleep together ("Merry F\*\*\*ing Christmas").

## **Season 2**

Gus isn't very happy in his job or life at the start of 2020. He rants often about the hassles of the federal government moving to his city of Columbus, complaining on-air as Pat tries to read the news. He thinks it's pathetic that the state government let the feds take over the city. He also isn't happy with his new boss, Mike Pitz, questioning his dedication, nor with Brooks, frustrated that the boss forgave Shelly, at least professionally.

When Shelly comes to meet with the hosts about Gus' behavior, he is awkward and weird around her, and doesn't want to meet with her. He tells Pat he hasn't seen her or even thought about her. Gus defends his right to free speech to Shelly, and thinks he's justified in railing against an administration that turned his city upside down. He accuses Shelly of selling out. Outnumbered by Pat and Shelly, and cut out of interviews with senior officials because of his words, even referring to the president as "Patty," Gus reluctantly agrees to be a bit more fair, mostly because Pat persuades him that will make syndication of their show more likely ("Conflict of Interest Part 1").

Pat takes a day off the show to interview the chief of staff, and Gus considers the substitute host very dull, dissing her as he claimed to have hosted the show himself. When Pat returns after the broadcast, he talks about asking Shelly out, which makes Gus uncomfortable. Gus tries to discourage Pat without being too obvious about it, but to no avail ("Conflict of Interest Part 2"). Despite working with her for awhile, Gus still doesn't get Lea's name right, calling her Leslie.

Gus breaks off his casual sex arrangement with Shelly because he starts to feel guilty when Pat decides to finally ask her out, says he should have known better. He does this the morning after he fell asleep in her bed, despite her rule against that, claiming it has been fun, but doesn't feel right to him anymore. However, talking to Kev about Shelly, Gus realizes he might actually have feelings for her himself. (Gus hasn't been back to the bar because he's been pretty happy, but now he's not.) Kev opines that Gus has low self-esteem and doesn't think he deserves the girl he fancies. Gus says he knows Shelly doesn't feel the same way, but Kev says he can't know that unless she says it. So Gus confesses his feelings to her. Shelly says she's never actually thought about Gus that way, and Gus takes that as his answer. She asks if they can still be friends, and Gus asks if they ever were ("Conflict of Interest Part 3").

The friendship between Gus and Pat becomes strained, especially on air, as Gus vehemently begins arguing that the federal government should not be in Columbus. This helps the popularity and expansion of *Morning Show.* Gus believes Brooks is against him personally and politically, but Brooks says that's another of Gus' half-baked ideas. Gus gets flown out to D.C. to appear on a national Sunday morning talk show, where he wears a suit, but doesn't change his personality much. Gus delights in the anger he's riling up because he thinks it'll help bring about change, and has no problem being a NIMBY, claiming it's for the people of Columbus, which he doesn't think of as a big city. Gus thinks tear down the U.S. Capital was sacrilege, but doesn't get the religious connotations of that word. He feels ambushed on Nora Jones' show, where he says people are stupid and should listen to him more. He claims he's not arrogant, but is passionate about the people of Columbus ("Tear Down").

## **Trivia**

* The character's name was originally Gus Goodale, until Nathan misspoke in the initial performance. Then, it was changed to match what he said.
* Bro Code is a real game Nathan hosted as part of *The Good, The Bad, & The Geeky*'s pre-show entertainment over many months. The "Bro Code" non-canon episode features Nathan and Keith improv-ing as Gus and Pat to play the game with the *Radio Hour* audience.