The film "Groundhog Day" is back in the spotlight as Andy, Leah, and Evan dive into their thoughts on this classic comedy - the fifth time we have reviewed this film on Systematic Geekology! The three kick things off by appreciating the film's unique premise of repeating the same day, exploring how it provides endless opportunities for hilarity and self-discovery. The trio shares their favorite moments, from Bill Murray's antics to the deeper themes of personal growth, love, and the struggle against one's own ego. They also ponder the metaphysical questions that arise from the story, like why is Phil the only one stuck in this time loop and what it means for his character development. As they laugh and reflect on this beloved flick, listeners are invited to join in on the fun and share their own interpretations of "Groundhog Day"!

Takeaways:

1. The crew reflects on their annual tradition of discussing 'Groundhog Day', emphasizing the film's enduring appeal and the unique experience of reliving the same day, just like we do every year on this podcast.
2. They explore the character arc of Phil Connors, noting how his journey from self-absorption to genuine care for others is both comedic and profound, giving audiences a reason to root for him despite his initial flaws.
3. The conversation touches on the humorous yet dark implications of having the ability to relive a day endlessly, pondering what one would do in a similar situation, leading to some hilariously wild ideas from the hosts.
4. Andy, Leah, and Evan dive into the significance of weather in the film, drawing parallels between the chaos of their lives and the unpredictability of Punxsutawney Phil's predictions, sparking laughter and camaraderie among them.
5. The trio discusses other time loop films and series that have emerged since 'Groundhog Day', pointing out how the concept has evolved while still being rooted in the same existential questions about life and choices.
6. As they wrap up, they humorously reflect on how our discussions about 'Groundhog Day' have become a ritual, almost like the film itself, with the potential for new insights each time we revisit it, keeping the conversation fresh and engaging.

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Be sure to check out our merch, find extra content, and become an official member of Systematic Geekology on our website:

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Check out all of our other Groundhog Day episodes here:

2025: https://systematic-geekology.captivate.fm/episode/revisiting-groundhog-day-a-cinematic-tradition/

2024: https://systematic-geekology.captivate.fm/episode/have-you-heard-this-episode-before/

2023: https://systematic-geekology.captivate.fm/episode/should-we-do-a-repeat-episode/

2022: https://systematic-geekology.captivate.fm/episode/groundhog-day/

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Hear all of Andy's episodes:

https://player.captivate.fm/collection/c86f7a67-357b-4324-bf95-e42cedb9932a

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Listen to every episode with Leah:

https://player.captivate.fm/collection/31290b29-d450-475c-b3f0-89fc76860fd7

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Don't miss any of Evan's episodes:

https://player.captivate.fm/collection/db75189a-04f3-4129-9a5d-ade41cf863b5

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Rise and Shine campers. And don't forget your booties because it's cold outside today here in Pittsburgh.

It is cold outside today and we are going to be talking about the film Groundhog Day.

In celebration of the annual occurrence of Groundhog Day and the annual tradition on this podcast of talking about this movie, which is about repeating the same thing over and over again, I am joined here today by Evan and Leah. How are you guys doing? Evan, you, you are further south. How are things going down by where you are?

I have not been out of this hoodie for like one day, so it's not too bad. Excellent.

Are you like Florida or something?

Yeah, yeah, Central Florida. So it's not too bad. It's weird. Like in the morning it's stupid cold, like in the 20s, but by lunchtime it's, it's kind of back to normal.

Yeah. We're hoping we get to the 20s by about Sunday here in Pittsburgh.

Wow.

Leah, how are you doing?

My podcast partner is in St. Pete and.

Okay.

I don't. She just loves, she knows I love the. I'm a hot weather galley and like I'm in North Carolina and it's not, it's cold.

It's like 20s and 30s right now, so it cold for us anyway and, but she likes to send me like humble brag screenshots of her weather app and it's like 70 or 80 and she's like, it's going to get down to 50 today. And I'm like, I try not to.

Do that to my co workers because my co workers are mainly in, in, in New Jersey and they're constantly talking about, about plowing snow and putting the salt out. And I'm just like, I'm not going to say anything.

Yeah, because you're a nice person. That's the difference. You're, you're kind and you care about people, but she just is rubbing in your face. Merciless. Yeah, so we were, we're fine.

What about you? You were telling me it was quite the event, Andy.

Yeah. So we got over a foot of snow here and the temperatures have been below freezing for several days in a row.

And in the 10 day forecast, they are not getting above freezing. Yeah, that's the, that's the real challenge.

You know, we know how to push snow around more or less here in the Northeast, but get, you know, what to do with wind chills below zero Fahrenheit, you know, for days on end is a bit more of a challenge. Getting the school buses started and those temperatures keeping, keeping Everybody warm. That's the. That's challenge.

You know, I personally am fine, but you know, that's the issue that we're dealing with regionally.

See, I don't want a snowplow because then it says that we need a snowplow. I feel like that, you know, like, I don't want to set that precedent. For.

Sure, sure. North Carolina, by contrast, my son is in college in Rochester.

And if you drive around Rochester and the towns around that area, they use like the plow portion, the big metal shovel, as like decoration. Like the entrance to all the different little suburbs are marked with a welcome sign that's either painted on or next to a snowplow.

That's awesome.

The ones in Scotland have names and you can go to the website and like look up their names and it's like Stuart McGrady or whatever. Like they all have these very like silly Scottish names.

Yes. They love their wordplay in the uk. So. So apart from snowplow names, what are folks geeking out on these days? How about you?

Or.

Go ahead, Leah.

Sorry. Yeah, go, Evan, you go on.

Sure. Wonder man just came out. So I watched the first couple episodes of that and that was.

Not that I was surprised how good it was, but it's more of a humble little character piece, so I was pleasantly surprised by that.

Yeah, we watched a few episodes last night as well. And yeah, it was a lot of fun. It's kind of the studio light. If you watched and enjoyed the studio on Apple. Sure.

It's kind of a Marvel Universe less formalist take on the studio.

Is that the one with Seth Rogen, the studio?

Yes.

Yeah, I think that I've been geeking out on basically being on Systematic Geekology and also a podcast with Ryan does about horror films that we're doing. And then also teaching. I'm teaching a class on Jesus basically, in media.

So I'm having to like, basically you guys are giving me homework of things that I have to do. So what I'm geeking out on is whatever you all have given me homework for that day.

And so recently I've watched for my class, I actually watched Rewatched the Life of Brian, Monty Python. I hadn't seen it in a while. And I teach mostly like middle aged, mostly I would say women, African American for the most part.

And it's so interesting because we. To talk about Monty Python. I had forgotten so much. And I walked in like I had just walked in on someone watching like bad stuff on the tv.

I just was like, okay, we're going to talk about this film and it was that and Jesus Christ Superstar. Have you guys ever seen that?

I have not seen it.

That was my first first week of of Jesus in Film and it also has a lot of the 70s were rough for PC. Like we joke about cancel culture, but some of it needed to be canceled.

They certainly they were finding the lines from both sides.

Some of the like racial stuff and the gender stuff and the oh gosh, it just made me cringe. I just, I was like, I know I have to teach this, but I don't even want to talk about it.

So in summary, I've been geeking out on what I have to watch and some of it is very cringe worthy unfortunately.

All righty. Well, since you since you mentioned your homework for the Systematic Ecology podcast, sounds like a good time to take care of our business.

For the podcast thank remind folks that they can rate and review us. Subscribe all those good things wherever you find your podcast. If you can give us a rating or review.

That always helps with people trying to find new content. And we want to thank the folks who provide us financial support. In particular, we'll shout out Aaron Hardy this time.

Thank you Aaron for your financial contributions and thank you everybody else.

If you want your name in the list of people who get shouted out from time to time, you can go ahead and find the link in our description of the podcast of the show.

To sign up to become an official member, to provide a small monetary contribution on an ongoing basis, or if you just like to provide a one time gift or buy some merch, you can do those things as well. But the ongoing contributions are what get you those. Get you those.

Thanks and access to the members only part of the discord where I will remind folks, even though this is not a comic book episode, if you go to the members only and suggest comic books, we can talk about on a comic book catch up episode in the future.

That way I don't have to remember to look for that right before we record all those episodes and just generally come and tell us about what you're reading. So yeah, that's, that's the systematic Galgy spiel. And now let's get into something else that's repetitive and done over and over again.

The movie Groundhog Day.

So this is the Bill Murray vehicle directed by Harold Ramis, about a weatherman from Pittsburgh who travels to Punxsutawney for the annual Groundhog prognostication. Is there going to be six more weeks of winter or an early spring based on the presence or absence of a shadow.

And he winds up, for reasons unexplained, he winds up repeating the same day, Groundhog Day, over and over and over again, having to redo the same reporting from the hill, from the knob there, about the groundhog, having to interact with all the locals and so on and so forth. And eventually does he break out of that cycle or is he stuck reliving Groundhog Day forever? I guess we'll probably wind up spoiling that.

You've probably seen the movie by now if you're listening to this podcast, but yes, that is. That's the arc of the film. Why don't we. Yeah, why don't. What's your. This is my first time reviewing this movie on this podcast. How about you guys?

What's your background with this movie? What do you think of the movie? I hope you have something that you like about it or like to talk about it to bring you here.

I have nothing to say.

Excellent, Evan.

What if I just sat here and just repeated the same phrase over and over? I have nothing to say. And then I was like, aha, it was meta.

That would be an excellent formalist work.

Yes, yes, I think I saw it. It's an 80s film, right?

From 80s, early 90s.

Okay, fair enough. Yeah, yeah, I. I think I saw it in the midst of my.

My parents were really obsessed with like SNL and always had been, and so I think there was this like 80, late 80s, early 90s thing where like, it was like Caddyshack and this film, and then you were starting to get the Sandler films and stuff like that, where it was just sort of a. Just a lot of of these SNL folks doing films. And I saw. I saw it way back when and then I think I've consequently saw it a million times since then.

Maybe just like a rough number there. But yeah, I think because it's on the. Back when we all had cable, remember those days?

It would come on the television quite a lot and it was one of those films that you just kept. You had to watch because he's so funny in it. And every time I hear I've got you, babe, that's all I think of.

How about you, Evan?

Yeah, for me, the.

The astute listeners of the show will think that they're in a version of a Groundhog Day because last year I recorded about this movie with one of the guys also from the show, and that was my first time actually watching it. It's been in my lore for. Since I was a Kid. But I finally watched it last year and for sure it's one of those films that kind of.

That, that, that, that kind of stuck in my memory. So I'm. I am glad to talk about it again now.

Excellent. Yeah, I think I saw it when. I'm pretty sure I saw it when it came out in the theaters and likewise many times since is for.

I don't know if it's ironic or appropriate that for a movie that repeats the same sequences over and over again it's a very rewatchable film. Maybe that's because that's baked into the premise. It has to be. But yeah, I was a Bill Murray fan from Ghostbusters. I grew up on the.

Was a kid of the 80s. So things like Ghostbusters were part of my childhood.

And so got introduced to Bill Murray that way and followed him into films like Groundhog Day and what About Bob and other things kind of. There was that. It seemed like that was sort of the peak Bill Murray era. He could get a movie made just based on his name. The man who Knew Too Little.

All these kinds of things that might have been the beginning of the end for Bill Murray can open a box office weekend.

Zombieland.

Sure. Yes. He's obviously continued to show up in memorable films. But I think that might have been the.

The down.

The start of the downfall of. We can just make a movie on the strength of Bill Murray's name under. Yes. Yeah. You know, Lost in Translation.

Zombieland had some memorable appearances.

The one that was with the zombie movie with, with Adam Driver recently. I forgot. What, I forgot the name of that film, but that was great.

Okay.

Yeah.

And it, you know, kind of launched this, this idea which we've seen a lot of lately.

Almost as if people who grew up watching Groundhog day now some 30 odd years later are the ones making movies and are revisiting the concept of a time loop. But maybe we can come back to that after we talk about those other films. After we talk about this one. So let's see what.

Maybe to kind of get things rolling with some lighter things. What are some of your favorite kind of loops of the film, favorite antics that Bill Murray gets up to in the process of figuring out what.

What this is all about?

I just always love when Stephen Topolowski shows up in anything. So when. So when he shows up over and over, I love it. And, and, and, and that's a fun way for him to realize what's going on and stuff like that.

But he always makes. He always makes a film or TV show that much more enjoyable.

I like his waking up sequence because I think it is funny. And again, it does set you up to know that he's on the same day again. But I really like his increasing hatred of Punxsutawney Phil. He just.

He doesn't want to be there to start with, but then it's just, as the days go on, his sort of feelings towards that groundhog. I don't know, it's just such slapstick comedy how much he hates that rodent.

Yeah. I think for me, my favorite sequence is where he's trying to woo the other woman.

Not Andie MacDowell's character, his producer from the TV studio, but the local woman.

And so he's, you know, memorizing what she likes, her drink order, you know, her favorite childhood memories and things, so that each time he can get progressively further along in having sort of her perfect date.

And, you know, just well done, because you restart each time kind of a little bit further along so it very efficiently communicates what he's doing without really kind of hit you over the head of it. And then, you know, there's also a great moment where it turns right and he. He just really can't get any further in. In getting to know her or.

Or figuring out what she likes. And then it kind of reverses and. And collapses in on itself. And you. You go through the backwards, through progressively less.

Less long dates, you know, where. Where he fails further and further, gets slapped and gets rejected earlier and earlier in the evening.

And it's just such a, you know, a great bit of cinematic storytelling that the way that it's structured and edited and tells you a lot about what's. What's going on and just through the music and the way that it's all put together.

Yeah. And I love the idea that he thinks that memorizing every single thing that someone likes would make.

And then like them, assuming they're meeting them for the first time, that he thinks that will get him farther.

Like, can you imagine going on a date and someone being like, well, I ordered you red wine and here's a cat, and I got you a theology book, but my name is so and so I would be like, okay, you're stuck, you're crazy, and a stalker. And, you know, but I love. In his brain, he's like, this is it. This is how you. You get. You get to someone.

Yeah, the. The inauth. Inauthenticity of it eventually undermines him. But, yeah, I mean, you know, he's. He's trying to figure out, well, what. What can I do?

Right. These are. This is an opportunity that's afforded me in a way that I don't normally get in life. It's essentially the video game approach. Right. Of.

Well, I'll just.

I tried this last time, so I'll try something else this time and something else this time until I figure out the exact sequence of moves that you need to do to get across the, you know, all the trapdoors or whatever.

Right, right, right.

Not. Not watch the global news and try to warn people of impending doom. Just. I'm going to go on this date with this girl and memorize. I mean.

Right. But is there impending do. Right. If the day keeps repeating?

I mean, I feel like he does. It's a great question. And I mean, I think in theory, no, but like, he does seem to live in the hope that one day it will reset.

And if, you know, because he does look angered every time he wakes up, there's some resignation by. By the like, middle tend. But like, he's still upset. So there. If you're upset, there's clearly some expectation that this will not be the reality.

Otherwise you just be like, meh. Okay.

Do you think that's Hope or do you think that's him going through the stages of. The classic stages of grief, insanity and denying.

That's a great question. I think he's not a very hopeful guy. So I. I maybe am attributing too much to his character by saying Hope. I think maybe. I think you're right.

I maybe I think it's maybe acceptance that this is now. Because I'm not sure, like, Hope is. What's his character's name? That's funny. I'm seeing it so much I forgot.

But it's Connors. Right.

His name's Phil too. Is perfect. Yeah. I don't. You're. I think it's probably just acceptance.

The radio, the clock radio and the radio station going off every time and the same thing. And the. And the progressive annoyance with that is classic to me also.

Like Andy McDowell was in all of these films and she always had to deal with these men who were just the first. Like, if you look at Andy McDowell's I'm doing. And I have not. So this is. I am. I am presenting an assumption.

But I just remember her being in these films where she's just dealing with all of these dudes who just don't know how to act and bless her because she just. She always comes out as a character. You're Rooting for. Despite all of that.

You know, there's.

I know, right.

80S, right. There's. There's probably some of that.

That is Annie McDowell projects competence and there's some amount of, you know, men are allowed to be, you know, useless and women have to be dependable and competent and fix them.

Right. Her and the. Yes, her and the woman from National Lampoon.

I don't know that actress's name, but that's always the wife, basically, in National Lampoon, them two are doing the Lord's work.

They are definitely the neck of the husband's head.

Right. And I just. That's another thing I want to see is that Chevy Chase documentary. And I feel like that's going to ruin that film series for me, sadly.

That's right.

So then is it Bill's arc or is it what's her name in the film? Now, it is funny how you watch it enough that all these characters names have fallen by the wayside, but yeah, I suppose that that's a question too.

Is it. Is it that he finally comes to some sort of revelation or is it that she's able to finally get through to him as how he is able to break out of the.

The cycle?

I feel like they're presenting the story as. I mean, this is my interpretation as a love. It is sort of a love story.

And they're presenting this person who is so, as we said, so unhopeful, so sort of cantankerous. And the idea is instead of he's. He tries with this one woman and fails, as we spoke about.

And so the universe, if you will, is giving him this chance to figure out how to really break out of himself. It's just. He just presents inherently selfish, like, it's me, me, me. It's very egotistical. It's very, you know, and I think it's.

It's teaching him by reliving these days, how to care about someone at a genuine level. And so I do think that that is the story and what they're trying to come. I mean, the comedy.

But the funny part is, is I think when we talk about this, that's not necessarily what people say. You know, we talk about the bits that we like and it's not, oh, well, he. He gets his antihero arc or whatever.

Like, it's, oh, but he really wants to punch that groundhog, you know, so I'm not sure that that came across as much as the comedy, in my opinion.

Yeah, I mean, you know, I suppose there's a. There's a reading of the film which is a man will do anything to avoid going to therapy. He literally tries every.

Every other possibility than dealing with his issues to. Before he finally confronting his own inner. Inner issues.

I suppose there's a reading of the film which is, you know, the universe conspires to make this man finally worthy of. Of Andie McDowell's affection.

Finally.

I was. I was reading last night. There are theories that it's actually. It's actually Ned Ryerson, the.

The Steven doubles character that is caught in the time loop and Phil Connors just kind of gets dragged along.

I read that too. Yeah.

And that, you know, that he's the reason why. He knows why he knows everything about Phil and indicates that they have a shared history.

But Phil doesn't seem to remember or acknowledge any of that is because Ned is doing the same thing to him. He's just gone through and gotten facts out of him to be able to construct this backstory. All for the purpose of finally selling him some insurance.

Yeah.

Well, again, how egotistical to think that you're the only one that gets to relive your day, right?

True.

The universe only cares about Phil from Pittsburgh or whatever. So therefore he gets these endless chances to not be a jerk. I mean, great, Good for him, I guess.

But like, yeah, it is the metaphysics of it all. Why is this happening? How does this come to happen? How is it that he's the one that this is happening to? Are all left unanswered.

And maybe that's to the film's benefit because it gives so many different ways of reading it and thinking about it and talking about it. But, yeah, it does certainly raise the question of why doesn't anybody else get this treatment?

Or why doesn't anybody else get the benefit of, you know, that Andie McDowell did, of having. Having a person in their life be improved for them or on their behalf.

Point.

She just put in all the work. She got her karma level up really high from all the previous films she did with these guys. So this one she gets.

She gets a better Bill Murray than this one. Yeah, I mean, I don't. It doesn't exist. I think it. That's right.

But I think what it does by not examining the metaphysics, as you put it, is that it leaves it a little surface in that way. Like, I mean, we care, of course, about their relationship. Ish. But then, like, I don't watch it for that. I watch it for the comedy.

So it's like, if it's like, that's what draws you in. So I think it changes the way the film is when you don't give that backstory.

So the idea they kind of try to make it serious and that this is really about him improving is sort of, I feel like, lost in the grand scheme of the film because it's like, you know, that's not. That's fine. I feel like. I just think that that's fine by the end. Like, good for you.

Yeah. The universe has gone to an awful lot of effort for two people that in other films don't amount to a hill of beans.

That's right. But apparently it's a trope that's been.

I don't have a previous one that I can think of where you get to relive days, but apparently my husband, who is the real nerd in the family, said to mention there's a movie where a soldier gets to relive a day or something. The Edge of.

Yes, the. Oh, yeah, Tomorrow.

The Tom Cruise one.

Yeah, Tom Cruise, yeah. He was like, tell them that you knew that one. And I was like, well, first of all, I call you guys the geeks. And I'm like, I'm not gonna.

I can't out geek the geeks. So I'm not gonna come up and be like, I've seen this Tom Cruise film.

Yeah, that. That is even more in the. The video game, literally almost, you know. Yeah. Because you're.

He's having to fight off this alien invasion of Earth or alien infestation of Earth perhaps. And yeah, so he's literally like, okay, you know, I have to take two steps, shoot this way, duck, move to my right, shoot that way. Right.

And just memorizing this pattern of moves exactly the same way you would do for a video game that has a deterministic, you know, sequence of. Of enemy routes or what have you. But yeah, that was.

That was kind of the first, at least mainstream or big budget return to this kind of time loop idea, of which there have been a number of movies since.

He's trying to replace me. Don't let him do it, okay? He's a white guy. I don't know that you guys have enough white guys on your team.

Well, the great thing about the audio podcast, on the videos, people can tell that. But the great thing about the audio podcast is you don't necessarily know that. You could probably figure out.

My name is Princess Leah on the rocks. No, that's fair, I think. But I think it's a trope that, you know, that we. I know. I'VE derailed a little bit, but it's.

It's this idea of being able to repeat. I find it kind of comforting in a way. Like, not forever, of course, but this idea that you maybe have a day that.

I mean, we've all have anxiety, so, like, this is like daily life for me.

But we all have days where we replay them in our minds and think, like, oh, gosh, if I'd only been able to do X, Y and Z, it would have turned out much differently. And so it's. It's kind of a nice thought that. But that we could pick it, you know, like, pick which day.

Like, Phil would definitely not have picked this. This day, I think maybe by the end, but I don't. I don't think it.

Initially, he's fairly miserable in this assignment, so I don't think that he would have picked this particular day, but I do think there's something nice about that. Yeah.

Yeah. So is there a day that you.

Would pick for me?

Yes.

Yeah, there's several. Several.

That you would want to change the outcome or why would you want to, like.

Yeah, I think so. I think change the outcome. Those are the ones that stick in my head. Or I said, you know, we all have those things where I'm like, why did I say that?

Yeah, yeah.

You know, I get those less now that I don't care as much about. I think it's teaching for, like, 16 years. I'm like, I'm here, whatever. But I. Yeah. There's certainly days where the outcome I would like to.

Or that something catastrophic happens in the world, you know, that you could. You feel like maybe you could probably.

Move that rock and. And kind of solve it.

Yeah. But then that.

That becomes the question that we see in a lot of films, which is this idea that, you know, save the cheerleader, save the world situation is like, can we actually change the outcome? It's, you know, final destination. Actually, to mix my metaphors here, is like, can you change it?

Yeah.

Or will it just end up that way anyway?

Right. Or what, you know, what other. What other consequences will there be?

Right. Right. Like, you can't. Can you go.

And if you mess with one thing, like, let's say I Prevent, you know, 9, 11 from happening or whatever, fill in the blank, but I go and I do that, then what. What else happens? Or can I. Because what am I going to do? Go to an airport and start screaming at people not to get on a plane? Cool.

That'll probably work out well. I mean, you know.

Right.

Like I'd have to. I really have to hone those skills. I would need a Bill Murray style situation where it was like. Because you initially just are reactionary, I think.

But then maybe you learn.

True, true to.

You learn what to do. But I. Yeah. I don't know. It. I mean, he was able to change. Well, that's a question, actually.

Did he change his ending or was that always going to be the ending?

Yeah. And that, you know, that kind of gets me back. You know, I hadn't. It's an angle I hadn't thought about the movie before. But the idea that it's.

That she was always going to be interested in him. Right. That that end.

That part of the ending was fixed and that this is a process of making him worthy of that because it was a fixed endpoint is a different way of looking at it as opposed to that. Yeah. That he went through that. He had some other different, you know, outcome that he has avoided by going through this process.

Right. Yeah. I'm not. I think it's. That's a sort of, as you use a phrase, that's more of a metaphysical question that we can't.

I mean, at least within the constraints of this movie, we can't really answer, I think. But I do ponder that sometimes in my anxiety brain when I'm like, oh, like you could have done X, Y and Z.

And then I'm like, nope, it would have all ended up the same anyway. So I have to think that it depends who's the.

Who's the anchor being?

So.

Yeah.

It's a Marvel joke.

Right?

Right.

Well, no, but they haven't lost. Has that. It's the constant.

Sure, sure.

Yeah.

Plus, you know, Faraday is the constant. And so again, people who haven't watched, she'll be like, what is she talking about?

This is basically me yelling at people to not get on a plane right now. But in many series where you see this sort of time switch, there's always someone who's like, actually, no, Faraday talks about the constant.

He's not. But anyway, you have to have some point that's stable, I think.

Right.

Which is an interesting dimension of the movie Palm Springs, which is another one of these recent time loop movies, because without giving too much away, and one of its innovations is that there are multiple people experiencing the same day repeating over and over again.

I gotta check that out. Yeah.

For different reasons and with their own agendas and their own perspectives on the experience. So, yeah, it adds something that I think you've kind of pointed out. Is maybe missing from Groundhog Day or underdeveloped in Groundhog Day.

Which is why is it all about this one man and centered on his experience. And so, yeah, Palm Springs kind of opens that up a bit.

Edge of Tomorrow kind of does in the sense that Emily Blunt's character had previously gone through that experience. But at any given time, there's only one person. And in the events of the film proper, it's just Tom Cruise 1.

Introducing the fact that y' all ordered the theory. Sorry, not fact that one of the other characters maybe is also has also experienced this or is experiencing it.

But the idea that Bill Murray is so self obsessed that he doesn't think to, I don't know, like, talk to other people or chat about it or I guess he does to Andy McDowell, right?

He does break down eventually.

Eventually, yeah. I mean, because you. What do you have to lose at that stage? Because his thought is she'll just reset tomorrow and she won't know about it.

So I wonder if it could make you like, in this story it makes you like a good person. But I wonder too if like, it could make you a terrible person.

Like, it could make you super jaded.

Yeah, well, but also you could just. There's no consequences to things, right?

So all the stuff that you maybe wanted to do that you know that you won't get like put in jail for or fill in the blank, you could do it and then the next day you're just gonna be like, you're just reset. So it doesn't matter.

I will point you once again to the film Palm Springs.

Oh, but can they change the outcome in Palm Springs? Like, are they able to shift it?

I don't want to give too much away since neither of you have seen it. It's one of those films that I think is best. Best appreciated as Stone experience.

Fair enough, fair enough. I accept. But yeah, I mean, I think. Because I think my first thoughts go to philanthropy, but considering how long you're Lupin.

At some stage I might just go, you know, rob a wine store or something. I don't know.

Bill Murray tries that too, a bit. Right. He engages in some crime, if I remember correctly, before he starts just going straight, you know, suicidal.

Yeah, I don't think I would go that route, but I would definitely start like playing the stock market and doing some. But the problem is you don't have enough time to really enjoy it. You kind of have to. To. To go really like in the moment. Like, you can't.

This isn't like a Long. You can't be like, I invented the TV or something, because, like, the next day, no one will remember. So it's.

You kind of have to do something in the moment. I might just eat, like, all the tacos and margaritas I could eat. And again, I like that. All mine's. You can tell I'm hungry. All mine's.

Food related and drink related, but, like, you could just do all. You're like, my cholesterol is gone. Tomorrow it'll be back to the same. So it's fine. Break into Brad Pitt's house. Wow.

Brad Pitt's house.

I'm not even drinking, and y' all are getting me. This is my brain. Just. Just poke around in there. What would you do? What would you do if you're. You're past the initial, like, thing of surprise?

You're not quite to, like, the reflective I'm a better person phase. But if you're in that middle phase, like, what would you do if there was no consequences?

I would do probably. Probably to kind of go back to what Andy and I were kind of talking before the show. The. I would see how many times I could ride a theme park ride.

Like, I would do Tower Terror at Disney and be like, does that also reset so I. Can I do the. Can I break some sort of record with that or something?

And. Yeah.

Experience it in every. In every permutation possible. And I kind of check off my OCD that I've always wanted to do.

Yeah.

Trying to get those creepy ghosts that are super rare and they are randomized in the ride. I've only gotten it once.

Yeah.

I've never been on it. What about you, Andy? What are you gonna do in that middle bit?

Yeah, I'm thinking about that because, you know, certainly, you know, the appeal of getting to eat whatever has. Has a certain allure as I'm getting into that stage of life where I have to think a lot real hard about is this worth it? Is this.

Is this what I want to do with my life? Yeah. I don't know.

Credit cards reset, so you could go to, like, the nicest restaurant ever. Except imagine you spent all the money. You're like, New York City's, like, Michelin star, and then it's a new day.

The next day, and you're. I think that would be. I think that would be part of my concern is what can I do that if it's.

If it didn't reset tomorrow, it wouldn't be, it wouldn't be so disastrous. Yeah.

You know, maybe I wouldn't break into Brad Pitt's house, but I could see, you know, like trying, trying to meet different people or like that thing of, you know, it doesn't happen if you don't ask. Just like trying, trying to explore different opportunities or different possibilities.

Meeting different famous people or, or what have you just to see the way you could get, you know, maybe you know how far you could have, how far you could push those opportunities.

It's a benevolent break it. And I'm not going to like punch him or anything.

Oh yeah, I understand, I understand. I just, I'm not sure that I have the skill set for even a benevolent break.

You can learn it. You got time.

Well, you just asked the guard.

Save those thoughts for our, for our bonus question.

Okay.

Yeah. So.

And with that, maybe looking at the time and thinking about the fact that there will be future opportunities to discuss this movie if we carry on this traditional. Maybe it's a good time to start, start winding down our time loop. If anybody had.

If you have any final thoughts want to say about the movie or any other time loop or timey wimey media that you want to recommend to folks.

It's a time travel film like that kind of, and it gets real stuck in the weeds with the different permutations of things and how to get out of it and stuff. And I thought about that also. I'm. I'm very surprised that there's not been a sequel to this film yet.

I'm surprised that his son Errol Ramis son hasn't made one yet just because it kind of makes sense for them to do it.

But I don't know. I want to see a Groundhog Day sequel starring Margaret Qualley.

Time looping on Labor Day. It has to be a real mundane holiday. Yeah, I mean it came to my head. I think Lost is probably one of the.

A lot of people think it's about certain things, but at the end of the day I think it really is about time and what, like the what ifs, you know. And so they get a lot of time movement and get to see what if this hadn't happened or what if this happened.

So in their reality things do change and so you know, you can change the outcomes of certain things, and so, or at least they shift. And there's a big. There's lots of, you know, moral dilemmas, which is, if we do shift things, is it better? And do we know what better is?

And, you know, this whole thing of they're on the island and, like, their plane crashed. What happened if the plane doesn't crash? And there's this really famous scene.

Jack, who's one of the pivotal characters, is yelling at all of them because they're in this time world. Their plane didn't crash. They made it to New York or wherever they were going. And he screams and he says, we have to go back to the island.

And it's one of these things of, like, you know, is what we think will happen if we get a second chance, Is that going to make anything better? You know, and I think that's one of those things.

You don't really get that question in Groundhog Day, but I think in a lot of these time series, you know, you. You do get to. Because Doctor who, you can't. He makes a real point to say you can't change things. Right.

He's more of an observer.

Yeah. Even though he's actively changing.

Yeah. For the positive, I guess.

Yeah.

I mean. Right. It's just funny because he's like, we can't. Don't.

You know, he always tells his companions, he's like, we can't touch that because, you know, it'll change things. In the meanwhile, he's like, blowing stuff up and, like, you know, fighting monsters and whatever.

And it's like, well, okay, but you're doing it, you know, do as I.

Say, not as I do.

Right. I'm sure there's some doctors.

A doctor. So.

Yeah, he's a doctor.

Also a doctor. I don't get to change stuff. And they say, you'll go to jail. There's consequences. I don't have a phone booth is maybe the issue.

Maybe. Well, I've already plugged Palm Springs, so I also throw out. There is a very fun time loop episode of the CW show Legends of Tomorrow, part of the.

The Flash Arrow version. Those. I don't know how well it works just as its own standalone thing, if you're not already following the characters in the stories.

But go ahead and do that. Watch the show. I think you can start in season three. I think my recommendation is generally that you can just start with season three.

And it's good from that point forward. The first couple seasons, it was still trying to figure out things.

Not that it's bad, but if you want a place to jump in that isn't the whole entire show, or you can just try the time loop episode and see if it's absolute nonsense. But that's my recommendation.

So as we wrap things up, we want to again, thank you for your time and listening to us discuss the movie Groundhog Day, and you can look forward to coming back in a year for more of the same. And in the meantime, please feel free to rate, review, or otherwise recommend the podcast to folks.

Also, tell a friend you don't even have to just do it digitally. You can use your actual human mouthparts to say to another human being, hey, this is a good podcast. You should listen to it. And you can.

You can listen to Sunny and Fear.

There you go. You can be a financial supporter like Justin Vaughn and contribute to the podcast and become a member. Look for the for the description of the show.

There's a link there to the site where you can get all that set up, where you can find merch and all those good things. And you you will have access to bonus questions like the one we're going to record after this episode.

On what special skill would you want to develop or hobby would you want to pursue if you had the unlimited time of a Groundhog Day time loop so our host can think about their answer to that question?

You, the listener, can think about whether that knowing the answer to that question is worth a few dollars a month and the answers to other questions like it that will wrap up this version of Groundhog Day. Hopefully all of you will get to wake up in your beds tomorrow and not having to repeat this exact conversation again.

And until next time, remember, if you're going to geek, do it systematically.