We travel back to January 1986 to discuss Kurt Russell's charming performance in a team-up with Robin Williams for the sports dramedy, The Best of Times.

I'm joined by Crag Cohen, a fellow Last of the Action Heroes Podcast Network host.

Originally from the east coast, Craig Cohen now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife and 2 Yorkies, Frida and Frankie Ramone. In his free time he enjoys podcasting, reading and listening to and creating music. You can check out Craig's work: https://www.flowcode.com/page/mrcraigcohen

Please get in touch to tell me what you think - RetromadePodcast@gmail.com

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these people came here and I checked.

Watch your kids.

Are there half came to see you drop.

I was going to throw it.

It's to show you up but i want to win I'm calling somebody

else's number I can get open.

You dropped that damn thing i get Jack.

your life is over Just throw me the goddamn ball reno

Hello.

Hello, I'm Katie and welcome to Retro Made Your Pop Culture Rewind.

Are you ready for another trip down memory lane?

Today we're gonna travel back to January of 1986 to discuss the sports dramedy

the best of times and all of the other happenings, going on at that time.

And today I could not be more honored to have Craig Cohen here with me today.

He has been podcasting for quite a while and is one of the favorites from the last

of the Action Heroes Podcast Network.

And despite us both being on that network and both covering Sylvester

Slo, happy belated birthday sly.

By the way, this is actually the first time that Craig

and I are officially meeting.

Can you believe it?

I know it's, it's crazy.

And thank you so much for having me on.

I've, , really enjoy, , the concept of your show, and I, I'm looking

forward to talking to the, this movie because um, according to my Google

uh, searches, I couldn't really find anybody else that has talked about this.

That would not surprise

But with the title of the movie, it's kind of hard.

Anytime you put best in a search engine, you know, it comes up with things.

But, um, yeah, I, I always love talking to movies that haven't really

gotten a lot of podcast coverage.

Yeah, that's a really good point.

Well, thank you again for joining me.

Do you wanna

it's my

give us a quick little rundown of what you're working on?

Yeah.

A aside from the, guest spots I do on the network, I think the

main show you'll hear me on is the sort of monthly or almost monthly

show that I do with Ryan and Doug.

And we, you know, have been burning through most of Slys lesser

fun movies or, quality movies.

So that's ma my main podcast outlet right now.

And then, , during the pandemic, I was furloughed for about 15 months and

it allowed me to have a lot of time to spend with my wife and my dogs.

Uh, But it also allowed me to sort of re-explore my love of making music.

So, uh, that's really what I spend a lot of my uh, my free time on is,

you know, uh, instrumental based, uh, Weird sounding music that,

um, I have a lot of fun making,

It's impressive.

not people have fun listening.

Oh, thank you, . It's a really really fun process.

Like For me, making music is like solving a a math problem almost.

You know, you start with something and then you're like, well,

how does, how do I get to where it, it's gonna sound the way it needs to sound.

It's been cool.

It's been a fun process and, , it's something I really enjoy doing and

it's kind of filled, a little void that was, created when I stopped really,

really really actively podcasting.

And I've said this on pretty much every podcast I guest on.

But, as the the creator and host of this show, I'm sure, you

know, uh, how much work goes into creating even a 90 minute podcast.

I appreciate all the work podcasters do and, uh, having.

You know, Produced and edited shows myself, uh, some of those

slide cast episodes we did were three close to three hours.

And like

Oh wow.

a, editing a three hour show is just not fun, especially when you're,

as, meticulous , as I tended to be when I was editing again, I appreciate

all the work podcasters do and, uh, one thing about the, the network, um,

is the quality of shows we have and the lineup, that Ryan has assembled.

It's really remarkable and, um, I think the, the network is is such a cool thing.

And, If one of your favorite podcasters on the network isn't

podcasting, somebody else is putting

great, great content up there.

Uh, And I hate the fact that I just said content, but, uh,

I'm the same way.

I hate it when people say content creator.

It's a big pet peeve,

like it's an ick to

me

somehow,

but

yeah,

As creatives most of us are doing this because we enjoy

it and we get something out of it.

Um, so the fact that, you know, you could say something that's

artistic uh, in nature is content.

It just sort of makes it sound like something you feed into

the internet meat grinder

agreed.

But we've been so conditioned to call it content

It even slipped into my vernacular

Same.

Well said.

And , listeners, unlike me, Craig is very well spoken, so we'll be treated to

that over the course of today's episode.

. Let's get into , the 1980s frame of mind by opening the time

capsule from January of 1986.

Now the 19 85 86 primetime season.

The popular shows included, as always, it seems The Cosby Show, family Ties, murder.

She wrote, cheers, Dallas and Dynasty, the Golden Girls, and this

was actually their premier season and they're always in the top, top

rankings for any season they're on.

I'm a huge Golden Girls fan, Miami Vice, who's the boss and night court.

So that's topping the

ratings that

year.

Yeah.

And I I think that was Miami Vice's second season, I think, cuz I I

think they started in the fall of 84.

Um, Miami Vice is one of my all time favorite

Really?

Did you like the movie,

movies,

I did, I

I.

Yeah, I, I did.

Um, And the thing I appreciated about it is, you know, Miami Vice had this

element where, um, Don Johnson's character, Sonny, um, was undercover.

And I think as the seasons went on, they got a little bit more into the

undercover aspect of his, of his job.

But that was one thing I think the movie did remarkably well.

And you know, Michael Mann is a very detail-oriented guy, and that movie

really explored , Undercover from a law enforcement perspective uh, in a way

that I think was a lot more detailed than, you know, most of the time we see

in movies and you're never gonna get the accurate experience, but the idea of what

they did to establish covers and how far back they needed to establish people and

what databases they needed to populate, so if searches were run, uh, and then

also just really to show the, like the toll that,, undercover work takes on

Mm-hmm.

I think maybe like Donny Brasco was another movie that explored that

pretty well, but, and then there was just some tremendous, action sequences

in Miami Vice and not like spectacular, crazy, you know, outta this world stuff.

But there were some like gunfights, uh, one in particular was like in a scrap

yard where they had like a 50 cal.

And I remember seeing that in theaters and like when they shot

that 50 caliber like you felt it.

Um, you know, just because, uh, the movie, you know, the mo, at least

the movie theater, I saw it in like, they used to play everything.

So like,

ridiculously loud.

A funny story, like probably around the time like Armageddon was out.

Um, you know, Me and a buddy went to see like a small movie that, you know, that

summer and like in the small movie, when it was quiet, you could hear Armageddon

next door because it was so loud.

I remember that effect happening as well.

And it's funny because Miami Vice is not like a kid show, but it, it's

so funny how, you know, people around, my age, you know, probably your age,

uh, and probably not even like, I, I'm probably generalizing just because of

my experiences, but being exposed to things as a kid that aren't for kids

really sort of helped shape, you know, the things that you go on to appreciate.

I could not agree more throughout doing these episodes.

I've come to learn that . I'm the youngest child as well, so I, I saw a lot of

things probably that weren't appropriate for me to see, but I'm glad that I did

I think I just have a different frame of reference than younger people

these days.

It's always funny because, everybody thinks that their experience

in childhood was, , markedly different than, you know, the kids today.

But kids today, 20, 30 years from now, they're gonna have the same, remember

when moments, you know, they're not gonna be framed the same as ours,

but, they're still gonna, you know, kind of, you know, looking back and

and, nostalgia and, you know, that kind of viewpoint is always gonna exist.

And that's one of the Interesting things about getting older.

Is just, the things you look back on, the things that made an impact on you.

And then also like seeing yourself slowly, you know, get out of touch.

Especially when you see TikTok trends and things like that and you're

like, wow, I I just don't get it.

And that's okay

cuz I'm not supposed to.

But like, you understand why like, parents went ape shit when like Elvis came out,

That's a good point.

You're making me feel old though now, Craig , but that's true.

While not in the top rankings, some of the notable premieres

of this season included 2 27.

Do you remember that show with

Marla

Gibbs

Yeah.

That was a,

yeah.

Uh, Jack Hay.

j

Um, yeah.

That was a spinoff of the

Jeffersons.

I thought it might have been was the Jefferson set.

I'm a little confused because 2 27

was set in Washington

DC

Okay.

Yeah.

No, Jefferson's was, was New York

City.

maybe they just moved

or

something.

Well It's it's always funny how like they would get creative with spinoffs

cuz it's like, oh, we like this character, but we don't meet them in the same

That's true.

Another interesting spinoff that a lot of people don't know is, family

Matters with Urkel was a spinoff of

Strangers.

Because I think the wife on Family Matters was like the elevator

operator at their building.

right.

You're right.

Cuz family matters came later.

Yes, that's exactly right.

There were

a lot of spinoffs at

this

time,

You know what else is funny?

The one thing that's great about streaming is there's still a lot of

stuff you can't stream, but there's a lot of stuff that even like 10 years ago,

like unless you were buying complete seasoned DVDs, it was hard to watch.

But, uh, one of the funniest things is watching a show from the

eighties and seeing like these, secret pilot episodes for other shows.

So it's like, we're gonna try and spin off this show.

But this episode, like the main cast won't really be in it.

There'll be like other characters that were gonna try and spin off, and then

either the show spun off successfully or it was like, They made that episode, it

didn't hit the way it was supposed to.

And now it's just this like, weird episode that doesn't feature, like in

Miami Vice's case, you know, I don't think there is one, but like, that

doesn't feature Crockett and Tubbs,

you know,

It's funny that, that's a really good point, and it's blatant when you see it.

There was one in the Golden Girls where they were trying to spin off.

It ended up being the Empty Nests spinoff, but the people in the episode that they

were trying to spin off the original, like that episode, none of those people

except for Charlie Leisure's david

recast everybody

else.

Yeah.

character.

Charlie was the only one who stayed, and everyone, the set was the same.

It was the same house, but the entire cast was different.

And it is notoriously the worst Golden Girls episode despite having Rita

Moreno

in it.

It's funny to see like, you know, what ingredients get, you know,

Uh, worked on when a, a pilot, uh, or a show's being developed, three's company,

which is another, show I have a lot

of fondness

same.

There's like three different pilot episodes where there's like a

different Janet, a different Chrissy.

really?

yeah, it was just like, let's see what, what

chemistry people have with Jack.

And on the first one they're like, well, obviously this Chrissy isn't

working, so we're gonna replace her.

I think they're on the, like the first season or the second season, d v d,

they included them as bonus features,

Oh, cool.

I always get a kick outta watching pilot episodes that were redone.

Star Trek is another classic one.

Star Trek is my, one of my all time favorite shows.

The original Precap Kirk pilot episode, uh, is really interesting to watch.

And they actually ended up like cannibalizing that episode in a later

episode once it went to series where like they used footage from that

episode and kind of tied it together.

I mean if you watch that original, , star Trek pilot, Spock is like just

different enough that you're like, what's going on with Spock and things?

It's wild how much thought used to go into television and and I'm not sure a lot goes

into television you know, thinking about television anymore, you know, in terms of,

I think they've got it figured out enough.

They're like, you know, we know what character types we

need, and things like that.

Whereas, I don't know, it seems like TV in the seventies and eighties it

was kind of still like the wild wild

It was, there's a lot of formula involved, but I agreed.

There was more risks to be taken or something, it seems.

So growing Pains also premiered this season, which I loved that show.

And that's more formulaic family show.

But then we have Small Wonder, the Little Girl Robot, so that's very off the Wall.

And then

Mr.

Belvedere,

Oh,

I loved that.

And what's interesting is that they're just a regular middle

class family that somehow.

Can afford to have a butler, and that's also a theme.

I think that was throughout the eighties and nineties,

a

little

bit.

And that was that trend that continued, like three's company

was based on a, a British sitcom.

And so was, mr.

Bevel dear, I believe, yeah.

Like that was a, like a, a big thing.

And, , even up until the office, you know, the office was a, a

UK show that they were like, oh, let's adapt it for us audiences.

Mr.

Belvedere is a show.

I remember us watching Growing Pains With One.

I remember us watching.

It's weird though because, you know, a lot of times I, I try and like,

think about was I wor watching that first run or was it like when it

hit syndication and I would watch it like when I got home from school

I remember Three's company, but I don't, I was not

old enough to have watched it.

So a lot of the shows that I have references to, I believe I was watching in

syndication, reruns of them in many cases.

But Moonlighting also premiered this season.

MacGyver uh, I remember very much watching my mom must have liked Moonlighting

and my dad must have liked MacGyver.

That was classic.

And then also ww f primetime wrestling on the u s A network.

Were you a wrestling

fan?

Yeah, it's so funny because, uh, I'm in an age group where we are related

to people that watched wrestling when it was still considered a competitive sport.

. So like, you know, my like my dad's grandparents, my great-grandparents,

they would watch, you know, W W W F matches in the, you know, fifties and

sixties and, you know, they didn't, the business hadn't been exposed yet.

We definitely grew up, um, around that and sort of the golden age of w

w F, you know, where it transitioned from, like Bob Baklan to Hulk

Mm-hmm.

it kind of got more theatric and like WrestleMania exploded.

Wrestling was a big part of, Of our time growing up.

They used to come through, and this is so funny because of how big wrestling

is now, but they used to come through the boys club like maybe four times a

year, and it was just like, you know, your typical high school gymnasium, so it

only, it would be a couple hundred people.

And you wouldn't get the super big stars.

Like you wouldn't get Macho Man or Hogan, but you'd get like Junkyard Dog or Don

Morocco.

, And then I also remember before Pay-Per-View, uh,

WrestleMania too, I believe.

We watched on closed circuit, so you'd go to the boys club, you buy a ticket, and

they'd have a probably what by today's standard is like a real shitty screen and

Yeah.

And you'd watch, you know, the closed circuit feed with everyone else.

And then probably the next year is when they finally figured out

how to like do pay-per-view and you were able to just order it

through your cable provider at home.

But yeah, no wrestling was, a big, big part of my uh, my adolescence.

Yeah, that seems to be a common theme.

It was even for me.

My grandpa watched it a lot.

The other funny thing about wrestling is, um, you mentioned

primetime wrestling, but, uh, there was on USA Network, they used to

do the Cartoon Express, I think

Yes.

I loved it.

We talked about it.

I talked about

it on another

previous

episode,

I think.

Yeah.

So the Cartoon Express would end and then they'd have like, whatever the

10:00 AM or 11:00 AM w w F show was, I, I don't remember what they called it.

So I think that's what kind of got kids in, they were like, we're

gonna go from cartoons to wrestling.

So I think a lot of kids were just, Introduced or, exposed to wrestling

through that and, you know, the proximity to cartoons sort of, uh,

continued to engage that sort of fantasy element of a, of a kid's mind.

That was a great great time to watch wrestling because

It

was.

You still thought it was real, but there was rumblings that it wasn't so,

it was kind of like a Santa Claus factor,

a good way to

put

it.

where you're like at that

point

where you're like, I don't, logic says I shouldn't believe, but I still

wanna, believe a little bit, I've always leaned towards that, like, you

know, in the molder and Scully of the you know, the X-Files personalities.

Uh, I always lean way heavier, molder like, I'm like the, I wanna believe

Okay.

I like that.

I do.

Now continuing on with the time that Butler's were really popular.

These were shows that ended in 86 Benson and different strokes.

Both Butler Both had butler's or some sort of live-in person

that helped around the house.

And then night writer.

I never watched night writer

though,

did you?

Oh, oh yeah.

Night rider

was big for, you know that car.

I mean, anytime you had a kick ass car, like you got the kids,

Duke's a hazard night rider.

That totally makes sense.

Now I'm not gonna go into a ton of cartoons cuz there's a lot of

repeats that we've already covered.

And we talked about the Cartoon Express, but one that I had to call out because it

premiered this season was Shira Princess of Power, the twin sister to Heman.

Did you watch either of them or were you

into

Heman

Yeah, I think we might have been just starting to age out because I

remember some of my younger cousins were like super, super he men, and I think

we were still like GI Joe Guy, you know, me and my brother were like GI Joe guys.

But I remember like going over my my cousin's house and they would have all

the Heman stuff, but I don't really remember watching that cartoon too much.

It's one of those things where it's so big and so popular that you can't help

but like know all the names of all the characters, and all those kinds of things.

But yeah, I think I might have been just at the, you know, the tail end.

It's like the same thing with like Ninja Turtles as well.

Same.

I'm the same with that cuz I'm a girl, but it's in my periphery

I'm aware of it and it's just, it's become like a pop culture phenomenon.

So, but for those of you who really liked Shira or Heman I love Shira.

Her name is Adora and his name was Adam.

So Adora and Adam and her horse or her flying Unicorn.

I didn't recall that.

His name was Swift Wind.

And that he man's Green Tiger is Battlecat.

I think I remember

Bat

Battlecat

more so,

Yeah.

Battlecat, I remember.

nice little blast from the past there.

So the movie we're covering is January of 1986, so we're

just a month after Christmas.

This was huge for the toy season that Christmas.

Do you have any guesses for what the big toys of that season were?

We're too late for Cabbage Patch Kids.

Right.

Nope.

Cabbage Patch Kids is one.

Yeah.

Okay.

Um, God, those were like the Craz behind Cavi Patch Kids was crazy.

I don't know.

I want to say maybe like pound puppies.

I think that was actually like a year or two later

that those got really big.

But yeah, I loved those.

But yeah, cabbage Patch Kids this year, the biggest

was Teddy R.

Spin.

Oh yeah.

You put the cassette in and you'd talk Oh, yeah, yeah.

I didn't actually have one, but my, my

neighbor

did.

Those same, he-man cousins.

They had a teddy

Okay.

, my cousins

And then Care Bears of course, huge.

Actually still have mine and my Cabbage Patch doll.

And then for boys, I mean, it was very gender specific.

It seems back in the day,

the

Transformers

and GI

yeah.

So those were the big toys that year.

And I think Hasbro did both GI Joe and and Transformers,

they had some big ticket items.

Like, I don't remember what a cabbage hatch doll

cost.

were

really

expensive.

yeah.

But I think it was also a supply and demand thing, but

like,

So,

Uh, I mean, was what Cabbage Patch Doll, $40?

I think so.

I think at, which would be like, I think I've looked up the equivalent.

It would be like a about a hundred bucks now or maybe

more, something

like

that.

But like GI Joe and Transformers, like GI Joe had their,

aircraft carriers.

And that thing had to be like, probably like 60 or $70

wow.

There was like a point where Transformers kind of like got

involved in well, how can we steal some of like,, Voltron's audience?

So they

had all construction equipment.

That would form like one big, you know, Voltron style transformer,

um, construct a cons maybe.

Uh, They never got really creative with names.

Uh, And that I remember that was like another big big ticket.

Um, you know, It was like a difference between selling like a $4 action

figure and like the $60, you know, aircraft carrier for them to all fight

on.

Yeah.

Christmas.

Like it was a big, and there you couldn't buy things online, so

you had to go physically to the store and it's probably gone.

You

have to, yeah.

It was the whole thing.

Thank you

Mom and

dad.

I, still, I, oh, I, well, yeah, I thank you.

Indeed.

I still feel bad about the amount of money, uh, my parents spent on,

like, stuff that just eventually either got sold for pennies on the

dollar at a garage sale, or, you know, just eventually got thrown out.

As an adult that's things you appreciate.

You're like, how, you know

so much.

Yeah..

Like.

I very much appreciate

the Way that I

grew

up.

Yeah,

yeah,

I don't know if I'd have it in me to spend, , that kind of money, but,

well I waste a lot of money on my dogs, so I don't

have the humans, just the dogs.

And a lot of people are like, why would you spend that much money on

X, Y, or

Z?

No, no, that's a good point.

Okay.

Now I usually do like the top five or the top 10 billboards

for, from a music perspective.

But I went to 15 today because there's some good

ones and so many, and two from Rocky four.

Now, for those of you listening, so this movie, bastard Times

came out in January of 1986.

Rocky four was immensely popular, and it came out like over Thanksgiving probably.

In 1985, so just a couple months previous.

So there's, that was like a huge thing going on at this time.

But the number one Top Billboards is, that's what Friends are for

by Dionne Warwick, featuring Elton John, Gladys Knight,

Stevie Wonder, you remember that

song?

Oh yeah.

Uhhuh.

then the number two song, this comes from Rocky four.

Do you have a guess Craig

God, I'm, uh, showing my lack of extreme sly knowledge.

Burning Heart by

Survivor?

I can literally picture their, like are showing up in Russia at

this time when that song comes on.

Yeah, that's a good one.

And then Whams, I'm Your Man is number three.

Stevie Nicks has number four with Talk to me.

Say, you say me, Lionel Richie is number five.

Bruce Springsteen's, my hometown is number six.

And then number seven is when the going gets tough, the tough

gets going by Billy Ocean and Paul McCartney with spies like us

is number eight.

I

don't think I,

Yeah.

Those are both, Those are both movie songs, right?

Like Spies Like Us

I, what was it?

A James

Bond movie?

it

kind of sounds like it

no, it was like a,

It was like a Chevy Chase.

it was like a Dan Arod, it was a comedy.

And then of course, uh, that Billy Ocean song was in, was that the romancing,

the, the, was that the jewel of the Nile?

Ooh, which one it is?

It's, it is one of those

and I should know cuz I

covered both of them.

I think 80.

Yeah, I think 86 would've been Juul of

Nile.

Right.

Yes.

Mm.

Yeah.

Probably like 84 and 86.

So yes, it would've been Juul denial.

Yep, you're right.

Spies like us.

I, I'm, I'm not

me neither.

I can't picture that one.

Number nine is Walk of Life by Dire Straits.

Oh, that was a big song.

Stevie Wonders.

Go Home is number 10.

And how will I know is Whitney Houston is number 11.

And then uh, conga is number 12 by

Gloria es Stefan's.

Miami Sound Machine.

Yeah.

Kyrie by Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

I can't picture that song

though,

I'd attempt it, but, um, I, I, I couldn't hit the notes as well

Oh, no, no.

You'd know it if you heard it.

And then I hadn't heard of this either.

Number 14 is I miss You by Climax, and Climax is spelled K L Y M

A X X.

Yeah,

they were like, uh, kind of like those, like proto, like r and B

Okay.

Oh,

okay.

Got it.

Yeah.

Like kind of like that soft, like not a Rick James r and b, but more

Casey and Jojo

or something like that,

or,

Yeah.

like kind of Yeah.

Smoother, like, yeah, like lessen, like more of like the radio

Okay.

um, you know, As opposed to like Rick James, which is like, I'm gonna

kick down your front door and, you

Super freak

to take a shower after you listen.

Yeah.

Okay.

Do you have a guess?

Number 15 is also from Rocky four.

So we've already done Burning Heart by Survivor.

Is there another Rocky

Four song you remember?

Was Harts on fire in part

it was,

but it didn't top

the charts

this week.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

No, I'm gonna need

Well we just had the 4th of July.

Living in

America.

James

Brown.

Oh, right, okay.

Wow.

Yeah.

Wow.

So that was,

So that's the, that's number 15.

So those were some fun billboards.

What a, like, We're in the mid eighties.

Very much so during this time.

So

lots of fun stuff.

yeah.

And you mentioned wham,

Oh yeah.

um,

they just put up That that wham documentary on, um, on Netflix, which

we watched, uh, last night, which

How was it?

It was interesting.

It's good, I was never a huge wham fan, especially when

I'm more

George Michael.

it's one of

the things As as, as you get older, you start to appreciate at least

the musicianship and the talent

involved.

But like, you know, in 1986, I was not listening to Wham.

Um, It was good.

the interesting thing about it was they kind of framed it, and I don't

know if this is like revisionism or it's just the way it was, but they

framed it as like everybody involved knew that Wham was just a vehicle

to eventually get George Michael

Oh.

Obviously George Michael isn't here to, clarify that, but they use

a lot of archival interviews with him.

And it seems like they always knew that like, you know, They were gonna take

off and it was gonna be a springboard to George Michael being a solo artist.

And again, that was kind of a, a revelation that was

really surprising to me.

And it, it's also shocking, Katie, that like how short Whams time was,

it was like a two year window where they went from obscurity to like

superstar and then they were done.

And George Michael went off and did his solo career.

It's cool though.

It's one of those documentaries and this is kind of a style.

I appreciate it.

They did it with, um, an Alice Cooper one a couple years ago where you don't see

2023 Andrew Ridgley talking about wham, you hear 2023 , Andrew Ridley's voice.

But you never see him on camera.

They just use all archival footage.

So anytime that you hear Andrew Ridgeley in 2023 talking, you're not seeing him.

And I think the cool thing about that, for me, at least from a,

dissecting a filmmaking style is you're not equating, the older person

you're seeing on screen with this young person that's doing things.

So it kind of makes it seem like it's more

mm-hmm.

Which I kind of appreciate.

It's an interesting approach and I'm sure like, you know, when there's

ego involved, I'm sure Andrew Ridgeley wanted to be seen on camera.

Well, I don't know, I, to your point about you don't wanna remember

like whatever he looks like now.

So if I, he probably looked really great in the eighties, and so if

I were him, I kind want people to remember me looking that way.

Well, that's another funny thing too, because like, um, I don't know if you

remember uh, probably 10 years ago at this point, which is just funny how like time

just clicks by faster and faster.

They reissued all of the Phil Collins albums.

They remastered 'em and put bonus tracks, but Phil Collins reshot all of

the covers with like his older face.

So like no Jack, yeah, no jacket required.

Like, which is just like a really tight shot on him.

It's like, you know, 65 year old Phil Collins, which was interesting

cuz I'm like, he didn't change any of the music uh, but he was like,

yeah, this is what I look like now and I don't want people to see it.

So it's kind of, interesting how different people or different

celebrities deal with it.

I mean, another one that was like famously that really sort of, um,

detailed growing old was Johnny Cash and those American recordings

he did towards the end of his life.

And even Bob Dylan has gone down that road too.

Really interesting and I'm so glad I'm at a point in my life where like

I have a job and I don't depend on my creative side to put food on our table.

Um, But like you see bands going on

Oh, so many.

you know, that were that were

popular in the sixties and seventies and these are artists

that are in their seventies,

Mm-hmm.

seventies, sometimes in their eighties.

And like the tour poster will have like them at 22.

And

what sells

you're selling

like Yeah, exactly.

And it like, sometimes it really bums me out cuz like I'm a big Brian

Wilson and the Beach Boys fan and I.

I went and saw Brian Wilson a couple years ago, like probably a year

before the pandemic and like the poster, it was like 1968, Brian.

And I'm like, yeah, you know, it's cool to see that, but I'm like, I'm going

to see the 78 year old version of that,

some can pull it off though.

I feel like very few though, the Rolling Stones, I feel like they're one that still

kind of has it, despite being really old,

that, that same year, , that I saw Brian Wilson, um, maybe two months

earlier, we saw the Rolling Stones, which was like, we drove to Arizona for that

because, uh, we didn't have the stadium here yet, and that was like the closest

yeah.

Yep.

we could get tickets

for Ultimate Bucket list item for me.

Like, I was like, I have to see the Rolling Stones before they

aren't the Rolling Stones anymore.

And it it was like the third to last show that Charlie

Yeah.

Yeah.

away.

I remember sitting like in that stadium and the smile did not

leave my face the entire time

I love that

my sister and I

But it's just,

we just had the worst, well cause we grew up, our dad

is, he's like a huge Stones fan.

So we grew up with it and then they came to Denver and we got, we had,

there was a ticket fiasco and we ended up with the worst seats in the stadium.

It, so I guess I would recommend uh, splurging.

I mean we did splurge, like the tickets were super expensive,

but I'm not a big stadium

fan.

Stadiums are not are not great.

Was it that last tour, like the 2018

Charlie was still with us.

Um, And they're, I feel like they're touring again.

And then that same sister, cuz Aerosmith's coming and she's like,

do you wanna go to Aerosmith?

I'm like, no.

I just kind of don't.

I mean, I love Aerosmith and I did see them, thankfully

I did see them in concert.

But even then, that was probably in like 99,

and so they weren't the Aerosmith that I knew even then,

yeah.

I mean, but that was probably the best time to see that band in

terms of like them at the peak of their, uh, performance ability.

Because like at that point, I think that like all

clean

and sober at that point.

They had been on the road

for like years at that point.

So they were as sharp as you could be.

So that's, you probably saw them like

true.

the best time to see them.

They did a residency

here.

Um,

that's right.

That end ended up getting canceled because Steven Tyler

went into rehab and now they're doing like their farewell tour.

Mm-hmm.

So I don't know if they're ever gonna do that residency again, but there's

a, a really small, intimate theater here.

I think it's Dolby branded or whatever.

And that's like the one cool thing about like, residencies here in Las Vegas.

You can see these artists in like really sort of like, you know, 2,500 seat,

environments, uh, as opposed to 40,000 seat stadium that's got shitty acoustics.

We could probably talk all day about old timer concerts.

But before we get into the movie, there's just a few bits of news

and events from January of 1986.

Only in 1986 was the first M L K Day celebrated as a federal

holiday.

Like it, I guess I would've thought it was far earlier, but

86,

and then the inaugural class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.

yeah,

I, again, I

thought that was earlier

too.

No, cuz that was like, um, I believe it's the year,

like the Beatles of the Beach

Boys.

It was Chuck Berry, James Brown.

Ray Charles, Sam Cook, Fatz Domino, the Everly Brothers Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee

Lewis, Elvis Presley, little Richard, Robert Johnson, Jimmy Rogers, Jimmy Yancy,

Alan Free, John Hammond and Sam Phillips.

I mean, those are like the

originalists, you know, like

okay.

So then probably 87 was when like

the Beach Boys and

yeah.

Probably

in and Mike Love made a fool of himself.

That's great.

I mean, people talk about the Rock and, Roll Hall of Fame and,

it is what it is, but , Those induction ceremonies are awesome.

I love seeing, bands get together sometimes that haven't played together in,

sometimes decades, uh, and just playing.

But yeah, no, 86, yeah.

That was when somebody was like, Hey, we can make some money off of nostalgia.

Oh, that's always the impetus, right?

Um, And then on January 28th, the space shuttle Challenger exploded.

73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral with all

seven crew members killed.

I actually vaguely recall

this

yeah, I was in school.

I remember this vividly.

It's funny because we did not get to watch it.

The group of kids I was with were not, I guess, Considered gifted enough,

uh, or smart enough or, uh, excelled enough to actually get the, TV on

the cart wheeled into the classroom.

So I remember another class got to watch it and we didn't.

So we got to hear like probably secondhand, after it happened

from other kids that were like, you know, yeah, it blew up.

And I remember, uh, at that time I was getting shots for allergies and

I remember sitting in the waiting room, To get my allergy shot that

afternoon after school and , just , wall towa coverage about that.

Um, Yeah, I remember that, you know, vividly.

And the other thing I remember is like how terrible we used to be in

terms of , the jokes that like were instantly being told at their expense.

And I guess you still get those, but you know, uh, at least now people realize how

inappropriate it is . But like, I remember as a 12 year old, probably telling

some jokes about those astronauts that like, uh, are just terrible, terrible,

you know?

yeah.

Kids are

shitty

yeah.

But Yeah, that was such a defining moment, you know, that was one of those moments

that it's probably like, you know, people that were alive in the sixties

can talk about, when Kennedy got shot.

Yep.

It was,

That's just something that, you know, the nation as a whole sort of.

Remembers it was, that's man, that's, if you look back now at like, what

led up to it and like, people that were like identified problems,

oh.

yeah.

There's a, three or four part documentary on Netflix about it.

And there was a, a guy at NASA that was like, Hey, we really shouldn't

be launching in these conditions, with the cold because like a certain

piece will, , expand a certain way.

And, they kind of just brushed the guy off.

And, hindsight's always 2020, but it must not, not have been fun to be that guy.

Like, you know, Seeing it happen, being like, well,

I kind of warned

you so.

Yeah,

That also just shows that a lot of times, you know, like things go

so far, it's to like the point where it's like the point of no return but

we're not here to bum each other out

You know what's uh, funny, not funny is a lot of this stuff that comes

up in, like, what happened at this time?

A lot, A lot of it is kind of sad, sad stuff.

So let's move on.

We're almost to the movie.

But before we do, I wanted to ask you about your, thoughts, fandom

or otherwise that you have shared about Kurt Russell are ultimate every

man.

Kurt Russell is one of those, it's funny because you try and think

about like your first exposure to somebody, um, And you know, Kurt

Russell was one of those people.

He had like that whole child actor career where he was doing the Disney movies.

He had that guest starring spot on Gilligan's Island.

So it's kind of like, you're always kind of aware of that person.

The first thing I probably remember him from is as weird as this sounds

like used cars, whatever year that was like, that was probably like

maybe 82, 82, 83.

Like probably like right around the time of the thing.

And we'll talk about it with this movie too, but like, you know, we watched

a lot of movies that like my dad

wanted to watch,

Mm-hmm.

. Craig: know,

Yeah,

that's the way that it was.

Yeah, so like odds are like, used cars was probably like

my first exposure to Kurt Russell.

And then of course, this same year we got big trouble in little China, which

for a kid my age, like completely, completely hit like all the notes.

I know like Ryan sort of

asked like

He had

never seen it before.

yeah.

And he had also asked like who it was made for because it was also rated PG 13.

I don't know, you know, I don't remember going to see that movie in

theaters, but it was definitely like, I, I think Carpenter in that movie,

he was just trying to tap into like what really later became sort of big

in like the, I wanna say like the early two thousands when Crouching

Tiger came out

Oh, Yeah.

kill Bill, like that whole like Shaw brothers kind of mentality

like, uh, and John Carpenter as always was way ahead of the curve there.

Uh, so that, that was a movie that I always responded to Big

tr I remember when Big Trouble in Little China came out on dvd.

It was on my lunch break from work.

At the time I was in a job that like, we would deliver audio visual

equipment to hotels and stuff.

So like on my lunch break between hotels, like I remember going to

Suncoast and overpaying for that D, V D, I was always a fan of Kurt Russell.

Okay.

so charismatic.

And I think it was kind of like that every man aspect of it where

there was always a, like a level of sincerity to his performances.

You could relate to him.

He looked like possibly a guy that would come over um, that

worked with your dad or whatever.

Whereas Schwartzenegger and Stallone, like those guys always seemed like they were

ripped from the pages of a comic book.

Uh, Which is fine.

I mean, I devoted a whole podcast to Stallone um, and I love Schwarzenegger.

But uh, you know, the kind of thing that, you know, it was kind of like

that Bruce Willis effect as well.

It was like, it was kind of cool to see a guy that like you could feasibly like

know in real life, uh, doing stuff.

And the other thing I really really liked about Kurt Russell, and I think

we talked about this either in a behind the scenes sort of last of the Action

hero, uh, messenger chat, or on one of the various episodes I've done.

I always loved the fact that like Kurt Russell never fully

pigeonholed himself into.

Action movies.

And this is, you know, the movie we're gonna talk about is

a perfect example of that.

But he was able to do a, a perfect, uh, a big trouble in little China,

but then he was also able to do like comedy, like Overboard.

Um, but then also, like right around the time he did the

thing and, escape From New York.

He did used Cars, which was another

comedy.

Um, Or John Carpenter's Elvis, which is like, I think when we talk about Elvis's

and people that have portrayed Elvis, I don't think anybody ever discusses

what a great Elvis performance,, Kurt

Russell gave.

It's on my list for this season.

He's played Elvis more

than once,

yeah, he wore Elvis garb in 3000 miles

to Graceland.

yeah,

Who were you doing Elvis with?

So the, here's the deal.

The ones that I kind of assume nobody will want to do with me,

I do

solo.

But if ever anybody has like any specifics, like non hits,

Than, or the lesser known ones.

For example, I did Fox and The Hound Solo, and I did Skate Town

usa Patrick's first role Solo.

Just cause I assume that there's people wouldn't wanna cover them, but

could be wrong.

If and when you get around to it and you feel like you need, you

know, a buddy for Elvis, I'm, I'm,

Awesome.

John Carpenter's one of my all time favorite filmmakers.

And I love TV movies.

Um, I think TV movies are kind of a lost art

in this day and age.

That's a good point.

I liked them

too.

yeah, there's just no need for them

anymore.

Know, it's funny We came up on the anniversary of it, and I remember like

Salem's lot, like, was that Stephen

King?

Uh, It was like a two night

event and I was like, man, if I was like 25 or 30, you know, in the late seventies

when that Salem lot two night event came out, like that would've made my week.

That would've been something that I was marking off on the calendar,

Yeah.

Now it's like everything's delivered, you know, immediately.

So there's no, you know, there's no designation either between TVs and

movies because like basically anything that you watch that premieres on

Netflix, it's, it's made for Netflix, it's made for tv, but the budgets

are still, are so elevated that, you

know, um, Made for tv, movies still work within that, you know, that realm of

like, well we need to, you know, make it.

Affordable, you know, it's gotta be profitable.

So, uh, we need to be able to sell Campbell soups during the commercials.

That's the thing I I've, I've always admired about Kurt Russell, and I think

you can't have a career as long as he did um, without doing all those kinds

of roles and exposing all those different sides of your, capabilities as an actor.

And I've loved seeing the stuff he's done in the last couple years, you know, uh,

hateful eight and, uh, the small role he had in, uh, once upon a time in Hollywood,

uh, and death proof, which is, uh, Uh, just such a, such a great, great role.

I'm a Kurt Russell fan, and, uh, you know what, now that we think

about it, escape from New York might have been my first exposure to him.

Uh, I had a really cool aunt and uncle who would expose us to stuff

that we probably shouldn't have seen.

Um, and they had either, you know, a, a copy of Escape from New York that

they had, like either taped off TV or I can't imagine they had bought it because

VHS was so expensive back then.

But yeah, so like when we used to go visit them, uh, or, you know,

my mom would need a night off.

And so like, they would babysit us.

Um, I remember watching Escape from New York and like escape from

New York isn't a terrible, like, I mean by today's standards, there's

nothing in escape from New York.

That's like, um, like today if you rated Escape from New York, it

would probably be PG 13, you know?

So I don't think they were like we were being exposed to anything terrible.

Now that I think about it, escape from New York is probably like the first thing

that like I connected all the dots with and I was like, oh, I know that guy.

That's another movie.

I remember when that came on A D V D, how excited I was to be able to

like, watch that in wide screen.

And not on like a shitty pan and scan, , vhs.

I even like escape from la.

I'm not, you know, I'm one of those.

But I I love, you know, it's kind of funny.

I think on the on the big Trouble Little China episode, you kind of mentioned

how like, you know, Kurt Russell was like, John Carpenter's Robert De

Niro to

Yeah.

Yep.

Yeah.

And I love that.

I love anytime that like a filmmaker a director and an

actor, , just click the way they do and they like working together.

I don't know if you have any of those carpenter or like big

trouble in Little China on on

D V D or not,

I do.

The commentary Track, I believe is, carpenter and Kurt Russell.

Or I might be thinking of the D V D commentary for the thing, but either

way there's a 10 minute section where like they just, they hadn't seen

each other in enough time that like, they start just going out on tangents

and they're talking about , their kid's softball team or something.

That's great.

yeah, but I love that.

I, I mean, I know some people get tired of like, you know, like filmmakers

working with the same actor over and over again, but like, you're gonna be spending

sometimes months and long hours every day.

Like, why not make a movie with somebody that you enjoy spending time

with?

agreed.

I mean, people do it in all kinds of jobs.

It happens.

Now I When do you recall seeing the best of times?

Did you watch it in the theater or

do you remember when you first

watched it?

Yeah, probably whenever it debuted on HBO O so like,

you know, I, I don't know

how long it

couple years later, maybe.

But that's one, again, like this is a movie that I wouldn't have been excited

about and this was like totally one that I'm sure my dad put on and we watched

it cuz there was nothing else to do.

But it's funny, I hadn't seen this movie in a really, really, really long time.

It's funny what memories I had of it.

I remember in my mind, and we're jumping to the end of the movie here,

but in my mind, like the doctor death stuff was like, All I remembered

was Robin Williams, on the line

with Dr.

Death.

oh my God.

Really?

well, well, yeah, and watching it back now, I'm like, it's such a small

part of this movie, but it's like, I think that's the only thing that really,

really super appeal to kids, other than when he dresses up in the Tiger

costume and does all that mayhem.

It was interesting to watch it again now as an adult.

And I watched it two times in, in preparation for this recording.

It's free on like Pluto and I think, uh, uh, freebie.

Tubi and

Roku, like the Roku

channel, I think is how I

Yeah, so I watched it with commercials, which was fine.

It was interesting watching this as an adult now and I know it's not really,

you know, thought of that highly or thought of at all, um, because it's.

did you call it a

comedy at the beginning or did

While a

dramedy, a sports

dramedy.

yeah.

yeah.

It's, it's really, it's not like a super, super funny

movie.

not, no.

there's a couple of moments

where I chuckled.

We have that whole sort of bit where like they're trying to watch the game

while they're trying to have dinner

with their wives.

Yeah.

That was kind of humorous,

there were a couple of moments, but like, I would not call this a

a comedy by any stretch, and that's what I kind of appreciated about it.

I think it was cool to see Robin Williams like in a role where he

doesn't have to be going nuts and, you know, at 90 miles an hour.

It was kind of cool to watch a, like a sort of subdued and more relaxed

Rob Williams.

He was good.

yeah, and I think Kurt's great in this too.

And the, the other thing Katie, that really blew my mind with this movie

is it's been 13 years since they played this high school game, right?

So these are characters that are supposed to be, what, 30

years old maybe?

30,

31, something

Whereas in my kids' mind I was like, these are guys

that are in their mid

Yeah.

Oh my God.

And I feel like I have this conversation with people all the time, just about

how people looked older than they were.

Like a 30 year old now

looks to me like

a child

Well, yeah.

And, and also like, yeah, they, they would Like also when they bring in that

whole like offensive line or whatever, like they're all like look really

rundown and outta shape.

You know?

It's so funny, like in this, when I watched this, I'm

like, it's only been 13 years.

I'm like, If they made the movie today, it would be like 25

years since

Yes.

It, I, Craig, I thought the same thing this whole time.

I'm like, this is, they're literally like still young people, but at any

rate, you know what, um, I actually

had never seen this movie

before.

Okay.

It,

It was one that we had taped from tv, probably like our vhs,

like in our memorex cabinet.

I don't even think I was five yet when this movie came out.

So, you know, that's never gonna be the movie I choose

if it's time to pick a movie.

Even though when I was a kid, I didn't really know anything about it.

it just seemed boring

to me,

It, it was an adult, it was a movie for

adults.

Yeah.

So yesterday was the first time I had

watched the best

of Times.

Oh, cool.

Yeah.

And another thing is, I think movies nowadays are remembered by how much

they ran, on h HBO or other TV channels.

There are movies that were just in heavy heavy rotation and there are

movies that aren't good, that are still finally remembered because of

how often they uh, they were on tv.

And yeah, I mean, I kind of feel like, uh, the best of times is just a movie that

isn't really, uh, Remembered that much.

And you know, that's kind of why when you were asking for like Kurt Russell

movies to do, I was like, well, you know, as cool as it would be to talk about

big trouble in little China or the thing like used cars are the best of times, um,

would be really really fun conversations

as well.

Yeah.

No, I like it.

I like a more offbeat.

Conversation like this is, I'm curious, listeners tell us if uh, if

you've seen this movie before and how you'd rank it among the Kurt movies,

but let's get into the best of times.

So January 31st, 1986 was when this was theatrically released.

And it's PG 13.

It on I M D B has a

six rating.

Oh, that's that's

actually pretty

Pretty good.

I thought so too.

However, on Rotten Tomatoes it's

31%, so Yeah.

But I I wonder how many reviews that's even generated by.

you'd have to double check, but it's a mixed bag, we shall say.

Now Roger

Spot Wood, I don't know if I'm pronouncing his name correctly,

is the, the

director.

amazing for

me to see.

Um, I had no idea that he was the director of this movie.

And I also, you know, went back and looked because um, I'm a huge James

Bond fan as well, and he directed one of the uh, PI Brosnan movies.

Uh,

Tamara never

dies, so

as soon as I saw his name, I was like, oh my God.

It's a James Bond director doing like this low key sort of sports

comedy, which, really surprised me.

The writer surprised me as well, which, uh, in retrospect it

shouldn't have.

Yeah, so Roger Spot Wood, some of the others in

addition to tomorrow never dies.

Did Shoot to kill Turner and Hooch?

He'd, so he did some fun, fun movies like that And Stop, my Mom Will Shoot

. Craig: Yeah.

that.

And then the TV movie we were just talking about.

TV movies.

The Matthew Shepard story.

Mm-hmm.

He directed that.

And then to your point about the writer, who is Ron Shelton and he is known

for sports movies and so after he did this, I think is when he ha he was,

made his name for himself enough to do

Bull Durham,

Yeah.

Uhhuh.

correctly.

Mm-hmm.

In addition to

tin

Cup,

men can't.

Yeah.

Tin Cup White Men Can't Jump.

Which God, that was such a great movie.

I loved that yep.

Tin Cup and Bad Boys

too, among many others.

So I mean, from a writing perspective, it's kind of

cool to watch this movie too and see like how, obviously I.

As a writer, he was always sort of using sports as a way to tell his stories,

which it's always kind of cool to see the nucleus of that kind of thing.

And, it was cool to see a, a name that, uh, that I was familiar with and that 31%,

uh, you know, I mean, I I don't think I'm gonna watch this movie again anytime soon.

But obviously I was able to watch it twice in the period of about two weeks.

And it's an enjoyable enough movie.

I mean, it's not overtly long, it's like, what, an hour and 45 minutes or something.

Yep.

Again, you've got Rob Williams and , Kurt Russell, and you've got

a great supporting cast, so it's, it's not a hard movie to watch.

And I've always talked about that.

People talk about like, oh, it's the worst movie I've ever

seen when it comes to movies.

And I'm like, well, The only way a movie can be really bad, in

my opinion, is if it's boring.

Mm.

and I mean, if it's not boring, you can't really say

it's the worst of anything.

But like a a movie's job at the end of the day is , for the most part to entertain.

And if a movie keeps your attention and entertains it, it

did what it, what it did.

Now you might have a different opinion, in terms of like how entertaining this

movie or how hard to watch it was.

But, this isn't a movie for me where like I was constantly checking my watch to

see how you know, how much time was left.

Agreed.

I think there are some really nice things about it.

There's, I like to your point about the casting, a lot of familiar faces.

Um, And that's the thing that I notice a lot when I'm rewatching these older

movies is now I'm like, oh, that's the person in blah, blah, blah, you

know, from two years ago or something.

It's not exceptional, but it, it's fine.

I don't know.

It unfortunately did not make money.

Its budget was 12 million and it only grossed 7.8 worldwide, so

that's

a little rough.

Yeah.

Well, you know what's funny, like I I, the worldwide aspect of it, I can

totally understand because football is not something that I think outside of

the United States people even care about.

So having a, a movie that's sort of built around American football, I can see like

an audience in, in, uh, Italy, not caring

mm-hmm.

But yeah.

The other thing about this, and this isn't really tied to the, to

the box office or anything, this is just where my mind's going right now

is it's always cool for me, Katie, to watch movies that take place.

In a a time period where our nostalgia kicks in and we're like, you know,

people think of the eighties and they think of the eighties sort of cafe

from back to the future too, , or really really 80 eighties movies.

Whereas this is a movie from 86 where like if you told me it was 1978, I would

probably believe you

Yeah.

That's the coolest thing about watching movies like

this for me, is it, helps me.

Ground myself in, you know, remembering that, the eighties

weren't, weren't all like, you know, boy George and Ghostbusters.

There was just regular, you know, small time or small town, living going on

and, um, everything wasn't like bright, you know, neon colors or Miami Vice,

Oh yeah.

of colors and things.

So that was the other cool thing is like, you know, this is a movie from 86,

whereas like you put it on and you're like, well, it's not overtly 1986, but

this is probably more in tune with what

life was like for adults

Yeah.

1986.

Also, I know, I know we mentioned the cast a little bit.

It was cool seeing, Kurt Cameron, which you talked about growing pains was, uh,

around this time as well.

So

It,

premiered this the same

year,

Yeah,

cuz that was one thing I was like, wow, Kurt Cameron looks

really, really young here.

he does, he plays so he plays Kurt Russell's son, Reno Hightower is

Kurt Russell's character's name, and Kirk

Cameron plays

his son.

Yeah.

And then do you know who played the daughter?

It was

um, oh, yes, yes, yes,

And you know what I learned, like literally I, I learned like

this week that Robin Lively and Blake Lively are half sisters.

Are they?

Yeah.

They have the same dad.

You know, So that happened in the best of times twice then

because, let's see, who is it?

Holly Palance plays Ellie Dundee who is Robin Williams characters

who, his name is Jack Dundee.

She plays his wife in the movie and she, at the time was actually married

to the

director

Oh wow,

and she is Jack Palin's

daughter.

Jack Palance.

Who?

For those listeners.

He was one of the bad guys.

Um, He, well he's done a lot of things, but uh, we talked

about him in our tango and

Cash episode.

Yeah.

Wow.

I had no idea.

I I never made the connection with that last name that she was,

um, cuz she was in quite a few

movies.

She was,

yeah.

She was the nanny in the omen.

Okay.

And she looks very familiar, but, the face that I

found more familiar

was Pamela

Oh

yeah.

plays Gigi

who's Kurt Russell's wife.

And she's very familiar actress.

She was in the right stuff, proof of Life.

And then a couple Arnold movies, junior and Kindergarten Cop, and

I noticed her most from playing Leslie No's Mom in Parks and

Rec.

Did you watch

that show?

Yeah, actually, parks and Rec is a show I watched

kind of after it had its run.

When Peacock first hit, I started watching that show on Peacock.

So, uh, yeah, I, that's my kind of comedy.

But yeah, Pamela Reed.

Yeah, I I really remember her from, from Kindergarten Cop.

She had the, like the goofy husband in that movie.

I mean, they're Just a, a rock solid cast here.

You know, just a lot of journeymen, uh, actors.

I think some of the funniest scenes are probably between, Reno, Kurt,

and Hi and his wife, especially the one where, like the main scene with

Kurt, uh, Kurt Cameron, where he comes out when Kurt comes to the house and

he's talking about the mom moving out and he says, oh, she'll be back.

And then he's supposed to help his mom take a box out and Kurt jumps in and

takes it out and she starts talking a little bit of trash about him.

I think some of the probably funnier moments of the film

are between, the two of them.

Yeah, I agree.

She is constantly wanting to leave him, so they live in uh, really quickly,

for those of you who haven't seen this in a while,, just as a quick plot

summary we have Jack Dundee is a meek banker living in Taft, California.

He constantly thinks about the 1972 high school football game between

Taft and Powerhouse Bakersfield.

Dundee dropped a perfectly pass from quarterback and friend Reno

Hightower ending in a scoreless tie.

He wants to replay the game and redeem himself, but has trouble convincing

Reno and the town to replay the game.

So Jack Resorts to desperate measures to make the game a reality.

And.

So in Taft is this little town and they have to convince the whole town

and it, I don't know about you, but I sort of, the way they portrayed Taft

or the way that were introduced to this town, I assumed it was in Texas.

It had a more Texas feel than

yeah, be because they talk about like the oil, like I guess how

it was a oil, but like a boom town.

Yeah,

Um, I really liked the the opening minutes of this movie where

you sort of got Robin Williams giving a voiceover of like the town and,

and why it's, The way it is and how it ties into the football game that

he is responsible for them losing.

I really thought that was cool.

And, it was all shot like in that town, which I

thought was kind of neat too.

I know they shot the,

I know they shot the

football game in a different

high schools,

Mm-hmm.

You know, uh,, Football field , but it was kind of cool.

I, because you know, that's a, again, anytime you, watch a movie from

California, normally you get like LA or San Francisco, but you don't get

like Taft, which is, I guess it's in proximity to Bakersfield because they

play Bakersfield, but kind of like, you know, these non-glamorous California

Towns, which

Yeah.

It's just, it's, well, where I was going with that, to your point about it, so

they portray it as sort of a town you'd want to leave when you're grow up.

And so Reno's wife has been wanting to move to la.

She wants to be someone, and so she's constantly threatening or leaving

him, and he kind of knows the drill.

I like the names.

I did note we have Jack Dundee and Reno Hightower.

Those are very Stallone esque names, don't

you think?

Oh Yeah.

And it's funny too because like, we've got , around that time Police

Academy was, was popular and one of the characters was named, uh,

Hightower and then isn't Jack Dundee?

That wasn't that like Crocodile Dundee's name.

Mick Dundee.

Oh, big Dundee.

Okay.

Mick Dundee.

Yeah.

Oh, I love that.

But those are definitely, they look like they could be names that Stallone

had in his notebook of names that I need

to use eventually.

Yes.

I thought that's totally what I thought.

Now, I guess I thought I wasn't expecting this for some

reason, just before I watched.

I don't know what I thought it was gonna be, but I immediately

learned that these, both of these guys are quote unquote losers.

But in a different way.

And I just I, I liked the journey of what their mindset was and kind of how

the football game is kind of, well, this is cheesy, but the football game

is kind of what brought them both out.

So like Reno, he's happy living his, despite the fact that he's crazily

in debt, his wife keeps wanting to leave him he's just like happy

because in high school he was a big deal and he's happy being sort of,

that has been high school character.

And we learn later he's actually scared.

Like he wants to be remembered that way and not, what if we lose again?

And you know, now I'm a real loser.

You know, I wasn't expecting that.

Yeah.

And that's the, like the part of this movie that completely resonated

with me watching it as an adult because it hits on, , things that

people think about as they get older.

And, you think about missed opportunities or, um, how your life would be

if something had gone different.

So that was like, really the appealing part of this was just seeing like,

these people deal with , just the kind of stuff that people in life

think about, Rob Williams on the surface, he's a president at a bank.

You'd think he'd be happy.

But then he's going to see a you know, a, a call girl and he just wants

to talk.

You know,

He

not about sex, it's just about making that, being able to sort of, you

know, I guess it's therapeutic or in a way, but without seeing a therapist or

seeing somebody that's gonna judge you,

To that point.

I was just gonna point out that he can't talk to his wife about it because

his wife's father owns the banks and he is constantly, he won't let Jack

forget that he's a loser, so to speak, and that he dropped the ball and he

only, I gave you this job and I have to put up with you because of it.

And so you can't go talk to your wife about that because it's her dad,

But I mean that's really what gives this movie any kind

of weight that it that it has.

The other cool thing I kind of appreciated as a Stallone fan was, you

know, it's not in the spot where we normally get it, but we had the training

montage where, um, you know, Everybody

gets back into shape and it starts with like Robin wanting them all to do like

the 20 minute Jane Fonda style workout.

Aerobics.

Yeah.

Before they pivot back to just like traditional training.

But it's always great to see like, A montage executed.

And here it was interesting because like you get the training montage and then

you get another act of the film before they actually go and play the game.

But I also thought like the final football game I thought

was really, really well done.

Um, you know, it's cinematic, you know, we get the, the

rain, so like

the field becomes incredibly muddy.

But then we also get , during halftime we get the reveal that Robin Williams

character is the reason that everybody got energized to play the game.

And then Kurt basically benches him.

And then the, the other thing I really, really thought was cool was

the end they get to basically recreate

that

The same scene.

Yeah.

has been haunting him now.

I wanted to sort of get your take on this because Kurt benches him

and he basically takes away, his opportunity to redeem himself.

And then towards the last play, , one of the players says,

you're not gonna throw to him.

And he says, of course I'm not.

And then they get the, to the whole doctor death thing where Rob

Williams isn't able to get open.

And then Kurt basically says, you better catch this, but do you, like, what was

your feeling on whether or not like Kurt was gonna make that pass or not?

Because he told the other person he wasn't gonna throw to him.

So I was curious, like watching it, like what your takeaway was and

that for the character's motivation