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New Paint
The setup
The premise
Here’s the bit.
Beth proudly shows her brother Tom and his wife a freshly painted living room, praising Farrow & Ball with an extravagant British pronunciation of colour. Their admiration fades when they learn what she spent on a rented house while unemployed. Beth deflects questions about her inheritance and introduces Johnny, a half-dressed friend she met online. The argument spills into the couple’s own relationship when Beth suggests their baby resembles the wife’s trainer. As the women fight, the scene resolves into a spoof paint advertisement.
The funny people
Meet the cast. 4
Say it with us
Highly quotable.
It's not just paint. It's Farrow & Ball.
I'm an aspiring estate manager!
Oh, my God. What is your life?
Behind the scenes
The people who made it.

Kent Sublette
Writer
A little extra
Notes from the archive.
Farrow & Ball responded to the sketch with a full-page New York Times advertisement promoting a fictional paint shade, English Roast No. 30.
Script
Automatically generated script; wording may contain errors. Speaker labels are inferred.
- 00:02
Beth
So, now, this cheese is Taleggio, and then we've got a rock fort and a little bit of a fig jam.
- 00:08
Wife
Yum!
- 00:09
Tom
Thanks, sis. We've been so busy with the baby, it's been forever since we've been here.
- 00:13
Wife
Beth, your living room looks amazing. You painted.
- 00:16
Beth
I did.
- 00:17
Tom
Is it Benjamin Moore?
- 00:18
Beth
Benjamin Moore. Baby brother, in this house, I only use Farrow and Ball.
- 00:24
Wife
Farrow and Ball? I don't know that.
- 00:26
Beth
Oh, well, you should. It's the high-end British paint company that offers unparalleled depth in collure.
- 00:32
Wife
Oh, nice.
- 00:34
Beth
Each of their 132 collures work beautifully in new homes, both old and new.
- 00:41
Tom
Well, it sounds like you're saying the word color but with the U in it.
- 00:45
Beth
Well, I am. I mean, that collure on the baseboard there is ammonite, named after the fossils often found on the Dorset Coast. And the wall collure, well, that's Lulworth Blue, named after the swirling British mists of the beautiful Lolworth Cove. What a color.
- 01:02
Wife
Well, maybe we should try Farrow & Ball.
- 01:05
Tom
Yeah, maybe we should. Is it expensive?
- 01:07
Beth
Well, it's premium. I mean, you're paying for quality.
- 01:10
Tom
Yeah, but how much is it? Like, $50 a gallon?
- 01:13
Wife
No, no, that's crazy. It's just paint.
- 01:16
Beth
It's not just paint. It's Farrow & Ball.
- 01:20
Tom
Well, how much is it, Beth? $60?
- 01:23
Beth
It's $110 a gallon.
- 01:25
Tom
What? $110 for a can of paint? Are you insane?
- 01:29
Beth
No, I'm not insane.
- 01:30
Tom
Well, how much did it cost to paint this room? $800?
- 01:33
Beth
Well, you have to have the special primer and the brushes and then factor in the shipping and the labor.
- 01:38
Tom
Wait, wait. They ship the paint? How much is that?
- 01:43
Beth
Well, you can't just buy it anywhere. Look at the depth of color.
- 01:47
Tom
Oh, okay. You can't afford this, Charlotte. You are an out-of-work day bartender.
- 01:51
Beth
Wrong. I'm an aspiring estate manager.
- 01:55
Wife
Oh, God. What is an estate manager?
- 01:57
Tom
She thinks she's going to find a rich person and just live in their house. You are living in a dream world, and you have painted it in this jackass million-dollar paint.
- 02:06
Beth
Don't touch it! You'll ruin it!
- 02:08
Tom
You can't touch the paint?
- 02:10
Beth
No! The finish is too delicate. Once it's touched, it must be redone.
- 02:15
Tom
Do you have any of the money Mom left you?
- 02:17
Beth
No!
- 02:18
Tom
No?
- 02:19
Beth
I don't mean no. I mean, I don't know.
- 02:22
Wife
Don't you rent this house?
- 02:24
Beth
So? What does that mean?
- 02:25
Tom
it means you're gonna have to paint it back whatever color now i'm saying it
- 02:30
Wife
everyone just calm down
- 02:33
Beth
well he just wants me to live in squalor
- 02:35
Johnny
hey you guys all keep it down a little i'm trying to sleep in here
- 02:39
Tom
who is this
- 02:41
Beth
well this is my friend johnny
- 02:45
Tom
are you sleeping with him
- 02:47
Beth
Of course, Facebook Marketplace.
- 02:53
Johnny
Just a little quiet, you guys.
- 02:56
Tom
Oh, my God. What is your life?
- 02:58
Wife
Beth, Tom isn't mad. We're just a little worried about you.
- 03:02
Beth
Oh, don't you effing judge me right now.
- 03:06
Wife
Beth, I know we haven't always gotten along, but we haven't been around much because of the baby.
- 03:11
Beth
Oh, that baby's not even his.
- 03:14
Tom
What?
- 03:15
Wife
Beth, that's not what we're talking about right now. We're talking about Pharaoh and Baal.
- 03:21
Beth
Well, I'm not talking about Pharaoh and Baal anymore. I'm talking about how that baby has your traitor's eyes.
- 03:28
Wife
Are you drunk?
- 03:29
Beth
Yes! A couple minutes, but, yes, I am drunk. Now, tell him.
- 03:38
Wife
Beth.
- 03:39
Beth
Tell him. Look at his eyes, Tom.
- 03:42
Wife
No, no, no, he's sleeping. Don't look at his eyes. Look at the cologne.
- 03:49
Tom
Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
- 03:53
Wife
You're dead.
- 03:53
Beth
Oh, you want to go? Then let's go. Just don't bump into the paint or you'll ruin it!
- 03:58
Here are best! No! Go for it! No!
- 04:01
Speaker 1
Farrow and Ball. Each color tells a story.
The rabbit hole continues
One more couldn’t hurt.
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