We are going back to December of 1983…for the 40th anniversary of the release of Silkwood! And, since this movie is mysteriously unavailable literally anywhere - so you’re stuck with just me today ;) 

Our everyman, Kurt Russell, is joined by Meryl Streep & Cher for this movie based on a true story and got alot of award attention.

Plus, I talk Mama's Family AND the Cabbage Patch Kids craze of 1983; you don't want to miss it!

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Hello.

2

Hello, I'm Katie and welcome to

Retro Made Your Pop Culture Rewind.

3

We are going back to December of

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Yep.

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40 of the release of Silk Wood.

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And since this movie is

mysteriously unavailable, literally

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anywhere, , you're stuck with me,

just me today, our every man.

8

Kurt Russell is joined by Meryl Streep

and Cher for this movie based on a true

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story and got a lot of award attention

and rightly so, which we'll get into.

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But before we open the time capsule like

we usually do, I wanted to sincerely

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thank you for listening or watching.

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If you watch on YouTube, be sure to keep

in touch with me and all the things.

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Nostalgia on our Facebook page,

the Retro Made Facebook page.

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We're actually, I'm currently

in the middle of a Christmas

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movie recommendation.

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Streak, I guess you could say.

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I do, also wanna hear from you, so

please reach out with any feedback.

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And remember that email address

is Retro Made podcast@gmail.com.

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I'd also very much appreciate a

rating or even better a review

20

if you can spare a few minutes.

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And hey, if you're new

to the show, welcome.

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I cover retro movies, TV and pop

culture, because let's be honest,

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it was just better back in the day.

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So now let's all reminisce

together by opening the time

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capsule from December of 1983.

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Now, in the time capsule, the first

thing we usually cover is the popular

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primetime shows based on Nielsen ratings.

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But we've already covered this season,

the 83 to 84 season, in Red Dawn.

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Was it Red Dawn, was it?

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Yeah, 80, 83 to 84.

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Season we covered in Red Dawn.

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so go back and listen to that episode,

or if you really wanna hear more about

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that primetime TV from that time.

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but there were some new shows that I

do wanna touch on, uh, for this season

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because they're all now 40 years old.

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We have He-Man and the

Masters of the Universe.

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Yep.

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40 40 Guys.

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Inspector Gadget Webster Kids Beat.

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I don't know if any of

you remember Kids Beat.

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I, it uh, spurred my memory a little bit.

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I do now recall this.

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So it's a series of, these one to

two minute televised news segments

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that summarize topics, like

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I dunno.

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Sports current events for

kids and pre-teens too.

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and it's likened to CBS's

in the news feature.

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the segments were hosted by kids, so

broadcast in the US on TBS, that was one

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of my favorites from back in the day.

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I loved all the stuff they had on

TBS, Turner Broadcasting System.

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So this kids beat started in 1983

and it went into the mid nineties

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and it was on, weekday afternoon.

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like kids animated TV blocks.

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So like Inspector Gadget was

probably on one of these blocks,

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uh, animated blocks after school.

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It ran until 1997.

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So that's Kids Beat.

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Does anyone remember this?

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I didn't until I was reading about it.

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So Kids Beat and then also premiering

this year, turning 40 is mama's family.

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I do actually wanna expand on Mama's

family a little bit since we've already

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covered, um, the rest of the TV before we

kind of move on to the music and events.

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So this was so much a

part of my childhood.

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who else watched Mama's Family?

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Again?

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It's like the, the theme song offers

that just like comforting, familiar,

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you know, life from a simpler time

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feeling , mama's family, which I'm sure

most of you know, but in case you weren't

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to wear it, this is actually a spinoff.

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The series Mama's Family is a spinoff

of a recurring series of comedy

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sketches, and it was called The Family.

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But it was only Carol Burnett

Show, which ran, from 67 to 78.

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I don't think I realized

it was on that long.

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And then also Carol Burnett and

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those sketches led to, a

TV movie called Eunice.

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So the character Eunice

played by Carol Burnett.

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And then finally the television series,

mama's Family that we're covering now.

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So again, it ran on NBC, from 83 to 1990.

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You guys, I don't remember

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Uh, the first two seasons are

very different from the latter

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seasons and maybe why that is, but.

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It's fi, it's, set in this fictional

town, Raytown, Missouri, which is suppo.

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It's fictional, but it's supposed to

be sort of like a Kansas City suburb,

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although the writing definitely

skews more Southern and even some of

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the, write-ups about the show, talk

about its southern nature, although

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technically Missouri could, it's

kind of one of those cuspy states.

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But either way, it's very bible belty

and the show revolves around Thelma

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Harper, affectionately known as

Mama and her quirky southern family.

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Like I said, the series Humorously

depicts mama's interactions with her

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outspoken relatives and neighbors.

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Mama is known for her sharp Witt.

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No nonsense and wise cracking ways.

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Her humor often takes the form of

sarcastic remarks, and clever one-liners,

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adding a comedic edge to the show.

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Mama's quick tongue and sassy attitude

contribute to the series comedic charm as

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she navigates the ups and downs of family

life in her own unforgettable style.

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So that's kind of the little

description of the show.

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Please tell me, you guys are all familiar

with Mama's family, and I know it seems

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like, oh my gosh, the, you might recall

it as a super cheesy eighties show,

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and it is, but it's like very much of

its time, like the style of writing.

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Like I said, it's comes from

the sketches from a sketch show

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and you just have to go with it.

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If you take it for what

it is, it's super fun.

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Plus you'll see why some of the

cast, are very near and dear to me.

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So we ha this show is

created by Dick Claire.

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Jenna McMahon.

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Directed by mostly so there's

four main directors for the whole

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series, which I think is impressive.

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We have Roger Beatty, Harvey Corman, who

was act actually in the cast as well.

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we'll get to him.

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Dick Martin and Dave Powers it

even won , uh, the Emmy in 84.

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Bob Mackey.

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Yes.

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That Bob Mackey and Rhett

Turner won for costume design.

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They were also nominated in, 83 and 87.

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So Mama is Vicki Lawrence.

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So you all know Vicki Lawrence.

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she, while she was playing a

widow in her mid to late sixties.

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Any guesses how old Vicki

Lawrence actually was?

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I mean, I know, yeah, they make her

look old, but she was 34 playing mama

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in Mama's family and so she's known.

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I swear she wears like the same outfit in.

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Every episode, but she always wore that

like a short sleeve, purple dress, pearls

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and those godawful knee high stockings,

Iola Boylan, the neighbor mama's best

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friend is played by Beverly Archer.

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Ken Berry plays Vinton Harper.

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He is mama's, I think he's the

youngest son, but he's her adult son

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who lives with her and his new wife.

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And he's just a total manchild,

bumbling idiot Vinton.

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Anyway, he's super fun.

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And then Dorothy Lyman

plays his wife, Naomi.

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She's probably my favorite character.

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so she's Benton's wife and who

mom is always, why, you know, we

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talked about her wise cracking and

one-liners and it's like always joking

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about like what a hussy, Naomi is.

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'cause she's very . Sexualized and,

wears like all these off the shoulder

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dresses and outfits and stuff.

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Now, Dorothy Lyman, if that name

sounds familiar and I knew I

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loved her for lots of reasons.

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So she's an, um, been in a lot of things.

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She's, um, been in the

business for a very long time.

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She's not only an actress

but a director as well.

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She directed 74 episodes of the

Nanny, one of my favorite shows.

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Ah, I love it.

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and then here's where we get it with the,

the, the kids and some of the other cast.

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So Bubba is probably who you

guys most are most familiar with.

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The kind of cute, like lovable

jock idiot, grandson of mama.

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He's Vinton's nephew, not Vinton's son.

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He's actually Eunice's son, and he

doesn't come into play until season three.

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Um, the show is actually reincarnated

after the first two seasons, and

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then it became even more popular

and run on different networks.

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a whole backstory that's kind of

boring, so we won't talk about that.

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But Bubba is played by Alan Kaser.

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And then the next two people play Vinton's

Kids uh, from his first marriage and

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they're only in the first two seasons.

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So Buzz, which is Vinton's son from

previous marriage, he's played by Eric

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Brown and Sonya, the daughter from our

previous marriage is played by Karen Rold.

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Then the next slew of people

are, some of my favorites,

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They're also only in

the first two seasons.

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So Harvey Corman, as we talked

about, he's also a director of this.

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He plays Ed Higgins,

who is Eunice's husband.

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And then we talked about Carol

Burnett, who plays Eunice.

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She's actually Thelma's

daughter and Benton's sister.

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The other sister, the other

daughter is Betty White.

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Yep.

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Betty White.

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She plays Ellen.

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So we have Eunice, Ellen and Vinton

are the three kids of Thelma Mama.

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Then we have Aunt Fran, Thelma's

sister played by Ru McClanahan.

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Okay.

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so Ru and Betty, They actually, left

to go be in Golden Girls together.

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Um, let's see.

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The other thing I wanted

to touch on is that Ru.

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Is playing Betty's aunt,

right in Mama's family.

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But Ru is actually 12 years

younger than Betty in real life.

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Wild, huh?

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anyway, it's a super fun show.

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You can currently watch it

on CMT, logo TV and Me tv.

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I love it.

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nice little slice of

comfort for some old timey.

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Simple, fun watch Mama's Family.

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Okay, there's another

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So we're going back to December of 1983.

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So we're Christmas shopping, black Friday.

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Does anybody have a guess what like the

toy was and what a wild craze it caused?

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If you're thinking Cabbage

Patch kids, you're right.

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Mine.

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I think her name was Sonya.

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I actually tried to Google a picture

of her and I couldn't find it.

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I have her somewhere in a tote

downstairs in my mess of a storage area.

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Anyway, so yes, these were dolls that

came with birth certificates and there

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was like a tattoo on their butts,

um, of the creator Xavier Roberts.

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Right.

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So this was like, the first year

of the frenzy in Black Friday

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riots for like ev all children

wanted this cabbage patch craze.

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And we'll get to like how wild it was.

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Okay.

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Again, we're in 1983, so this

consumer madness that exemplified

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this era of Reagan America.

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Um, so we have, it's actually you

wouldn't, I don't think you guys

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will know the brand name, that's

why it's sort of unlikely I.

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It's a story.

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So there's like a $2 billion Cabbage patch

empire that spawned by this soft spoken

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artist turned Toy Tycoon, Xavier Roberts.

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What a cool name by the way, Xavier.

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Anyway, his big, his business began

when he created a doll hospital

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in Georgia called Babyland.

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It's actually still operating, um, PS

There's actually, or I don't know if it's

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still going on post Covid, but there was

like a little doll hospital, not a Cabbage

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Patch one, but just its own like mom and

pop shop, along one of the streets that

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my friends and I used to go brunch at.

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So we'd walk by it all the time and

we're like, who's going to this anyway?

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doll Hospital, Babyland,

Xavier Roberts started that.

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Where dolls were born among leafy

green fields and cared for by nurses.

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What a premise, right?

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But everybody wanted a piece of that.

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So the demand for cabbage patch

kids was apparently so high that

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when they went on sale in 1983,

the supplies actually ran out.

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And the company that made the

dolls, you ready for this?

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Coco, C-O-L-E-C-O-I.

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That mean that rings no bells for me.

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They actually were charged for false

advertising, which is you gotta be pretty

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blatant for that to happen in 1983.

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'cause we've talked about deregulation

during the Reagan era anyway, so

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they actually ran commercials for

a product that was not available.

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So I think that's why they were,

charged for false advertising.

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And then so then they make this

announcement about having to

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pull commercials because of that.

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And that just created an even bigger

craze in demand for the dolls.

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the other thing that they did that

most other toy companies weren't

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doing at the time some inventive

things with their advertising.

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like marketing dolls to Boys.

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They made boys, they made boy dolls

and marketed the dolls to boys as well.

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yeah, so the release of the

Cabbage Patch Dolls coincided.

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I.

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Like we were talking about, with the

FCC lifting restrictions on running

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toy ads during children's programming.

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So suddenly we have this complicit

and very direct relationship between

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toy companies and kids and not to

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to remember that the power of TV and

TV advertising was incredibly high

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because there was really nothing else.

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There wasn't YouTube or any other

screens of any sort that were

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vying for our attention as kids.

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It was the TV commercials and they

really blurred the line between

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commercial and programming.

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So anyway, this is all like this perfect

storm for the Cabbage Patch kids.

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So then the phenomenon in stores

over this holiday season, I was some,

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I was reading some articles about

it, so people were saying it, that

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it felt unprecedented at the time.

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And a store owner literally wielded

a bat to try and calm down crowds

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trying to get Cabbage patch dolls.

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There were tears, bruises,

screaming matches.

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Um, I don't know.

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It was like this was going viral in 83.

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Everybody wanted it.

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They even took one into outer space,

like astronauts took a cabbage

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patch stall into space with them.

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Police were called in one instance

to at least one instance, to dispel a

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disturbance at a Toys R Us in, Huntington,

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Uh, it was actually one of the

first toys that was able to open it

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up into that level of consumerism.

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and, you know, it's the eighties of

it all right, consumerism, society,

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cultural, and it just kind of speaks

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They were incredibly

expensive for the time.

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So I looked up, the price in 1983.

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So although the retail price was

25, because of all $25, because

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of all the demand, a lot of stores

were upping the price to $50.

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And then there were like secondary

black market sales of these Cabbage

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Patch dolls recorded as high as $2,000.

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In today's money, that would be $76.

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Retail 152 for the upped demand pricing

and black market pricing would be

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over six grand for the toy that your

kids were begging for at Christmas.

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So thank you all you parents out there

for braving the chaos and the craze that

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which was the Cabbage Patch Kids in 1983.

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All right, music December, 1983

feels very eighties you guys.

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So the week of December 14th.

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The number one song is Say, say, say

by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson.

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Number two is Say, it

Isn't So by Hall Oates.

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Lionel Richie has the number three song

with All Night Long, and then Billy Joel

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has the number four song with Uptown Girl.

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I think this is maybe one of,

maybe my favorite Billy Joel song.

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It's pretty good.

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I'm not like the biggest Billy Joel fan,

but I remember Uptown Girl being awesome.

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And if Memory serves, is this

where he meets Christie Brinkley?

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Was she in that video?

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I could be totally wrong.

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I could be totally wrong,

but I feel like that's right.

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Somebody let me know.

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Duran Duran how eighties is, the number

five song with Union of the Snake.

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Love is a battlefield by Pat Benatar.

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Ah, that's a song again,

like it gets played.

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The 40-year-old song.

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Now that still gets played regularly

on like popular radio stations,

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owner of a Lonely Heart By Yes.

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I think that's a one hit

wonder I've never heard of.

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Yes, but I know that song.

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Then the number eight song Islands

in the Stream, the duet with

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Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.

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What a great one.

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That's a really good song.

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And then I sort of didn't remember any

other songs that Olivia Newton John sang

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other than, physical, but the number nine.

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She has the number nine song this week

with Twist of Fate and then Culture

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Club, rounded out the number 10

spot with Church of the Poison Mind.

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There's quite a bit.

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So there's like a lot of weddings.

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Okay.

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In December, I don't know if, I

don't know, that must be a popular

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month for people to get married

December, the Rolling Stone, Keith

310

Richards, Mary's model, Patty Hanson.

311

They are still married,

so that's pretty cool.

312

They actually, met at Studio 54

313

then got married a few years later.

314

Wrestler Hulk Hogan.

315

Weds Linda Claridge, they stayed

married for a long time, but you

316

know, reality TV show will almost

certainly do your marriage in.

317

So they divorced in 2009.

318

Uh, Parker Stevenson, one of the

Hardy Boys, marries Kirsty Alley,

319

and we talked about them, because

they were both in North and South.

320

So we talked about them in

the North and south episode.

321

They were married during the time

of that filming, which was in 85.

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They got married in 83 and they

divorced in 80, later in 85.

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So , they didn't stay

married for very long.

324

Loretta Sweat, the actress from Mash,

married American actor and attorney,

325

Dennis Hallahan, is it Houlahan?

326

Hallahan.

327

He played the banker in

Scarface, but he's an attorney.

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they divorced in 1995.

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The band, the Who Disbanded.

330

December of 1983.

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That was big news apparently.

332

I don't know if anybody remembers that.

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Kentucky's first female governor,

Martha Lane Collins was inaugurated.

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Go Kentucky.

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This is both shocking and congratulatory.

336

All right.

337

Now big movie releases in addition.

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Actually, I don't think, I

don't think that Silkwood was

339

like this big movie release.

340

No, actually, now that I'm saying this,

I know that it wasn't, it had a limited

341

release in December and then was more

widely distributed probably in January.

342

So it's not included in our big

343

We have sudden impact terms

of endearment, Scarface.

344

40.

345

All these movies are

like 40 years old now.

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GenTel two of a kind.

347

Christine, uncommon Valor, and

the re-release of the rescuers.

348

All right, let's get into the movie

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Silkwood, December 14th.

350

Today, if you're listening to this on

the day of this episode's release, it

351

is officially it's 40th anniversary.

352

Exactly.

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And yes, it was more broadly released

354

Yeah, it's rated R.

355

It got, it's over two hours, but it didn't

feel like unnecessarily long or anything.

356

The IMDB rating is a 7.1.

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We have Director Mike Nichols,

who's very well known.

358

He is probably most known for the

graduate, for which he won an Oscar.

359

Who's afraid of Virginia Wolf

working girl, the Birdcage as

360

well as I didn't know this.

361

Helping to start Second City Improv.

362

Go Mike Nichols.

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And then writers, Nora Ephron, who's known

for movies, like writing movies like When

364

Harry Met Sally, sleepless in Seattle,

and you've got Mail and also Alice Arlan.

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And Alice is most known

for Silkwood, probably.

366

but also Cookie and the Weight of Water.

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So those are our writers.

368

We have a wonderful cast here.

369

I'm gonna skip forward and

then come back to the cast.

370

the score I wanna point out because

it's, I really did enjoy, I.

371

Music.

372

I think it was very helpful

for this particular film.

373

it was done by a French composer.

374

I'm Georgia De, I don't know if I

pronounce that correctly or not.

375

I do not speak French, but

he was a French composer.

376

Tons of credits over 350.

377

In fact, he won an Oscar for a little

378

called him the Mozart of Cinema.

379

I might have to agree.

380

It was really nicely done.

381

The description will help us

with our cast of characters.

382

So I have a feeling that a lot of

you have not seen Silkwood, or if

383

you have, it's been a very long time

'cause you cannot find this movie.

384

It's very hard to watch.

385

So here's the description for you.

386

It is a fairly accurate recounting

of the story of Karen Silkwood, the

387

Oklahoma nuclear plant worker who blew

the whistle on dangerous practices

388

at the Kerr McGee plant and died

under, some strange circumstances.

389

Karen Silkwood lives a free-spirited

existence with her boyfriend Drew

390

Stevens and friend Dolly Plicker,

who also worked with her at

391

that Oklahoma nuclear facility.

392

It's only when she discovers that she's

been exposed to radiation that Karen's

393

conscious awakens, and soon she is

digging for evidence of wrongdoing,

394

but her sudden Zelle for safer working

conditions may come at a high price as

395

she alienates her friends and possibly

even puts her own life in peril.

396

We, of course, have our.

397

Kurt Russell, our every

man, Kurt Russell in this.

398

That's why we're covering it.

399

But he's not the star.

400

The star is Ms.

401

Meryl Streep.

402

She plays Karen Silkwood and

she is phenomenal in this.

403

Kurt.

404

He's just, I feel like I'm never

gonna not like something he

405

does, but he's wonderful in this.

406

And then the friend Dolly, so Kurt plays

Drew Stevens her boyfriend, you guys,

407

and then the friend, her friend Dolly

Plicker is played by Cher, who is almost

408

unrecognizable she's like, no makeup.

409

Very like drab clothes.

410

We'll get to that a little bit later.

411

But Cher was so good in this, you guys.

412

Then we have Craig t

Nelson playing Winston.

413

I.

414

He works at the plant

and we don't like him.

415

We see him doctoring some

negatives to hide some wrongdoing.

416

Diana scar wind plays

Angela , Dolly's girlfriend.

417

So Dolly's a lesbian.

418

So yeah, it's just wild Cher play.

419

Yeah, just, you guys gotta see it.

420

Cher.

421

Not all glitz and glammed.

422

anyway, so Diana Scar Wind was

actually the name might sound familiar

423

to you, and she's recognizable.

424

you'll notice her.

425

She was nominated for an Oscar in her

small supporting role in Inside Moves

426

and then also for Razzy, for playing

Faye Dunaway's daughter in mommy dearest.

427

So that's who Diana Scar wind is.

428

Fred Ward.

429

, you all know him.

430

he's kind of one of those guys.

431

He's like a vat guy.

432

He's a very handsome guy.

433

He plays Morgan in this, and he's in the

union, like the labor union with Karen.

434

He's known you.

435

You'll also see him in,

escape from Alcatraz.

436

The right stuff.

437

Also uncommon valor that, that we

talked about also was a big movie of

438

this time and swing shift, which is

Kurt also in that I know, Goldie is,

439

I think Kurt's also in swing shift.

440

You guys, I'm, I shouldn't have said that

because now you're probably questioning

441

my cred for doing this season with Kurt.

442

I have a bad memory.

443

Okay, then Ron Silver.

444

You all will know him too.

445

There's a lot of those guys in this movie.

446

Like our top three are just phenomenal.

447

And then the supporting cast

really does support them.

448

Well, Ron Silver plays Paul Stone.

449

He's one of the DC Union leaders.

450

, so Meryl and some of her union

people locally travel to dc.

451

There's some scenes, where that

happens, and he plays one of those guys.

452

He's also in a ton of stuff.

453

but if anybody saw the TV show

from the late nineties, Veronica's

454

Closet with Kirsty Ali, he plays

her love interest in that Alec.

455

Then Charles Hallahan, he plays Earl

Lapin, who's I dunno if he's a real,

456

they call him like a veterinarian.

457

So I don't know if he's actually like

a real MD or not, but he plays the

458

doctor role at the plant 'cause so if

somebody gets contaminated, there's

459

this whole process, they basically

have to scrub them down in a shower

460

and he does some readings and stuff.

461

So he's the doctor there.

462

And we talked about him on the thing

episode because he plays Norris in that.

463

he actually plays cops a lot as well.

464

You'll see him in a lot of cop things.

465

And then the other DC Union leader,

max, is played by Joseph Summer.

466

I think it's Joseph.

467

It might be Joseph because

there it's spelled with an F.

468

Anyway, he is a classically

trained stage actor.

469

He plays Rothko in Dirty

Harry Schaeffer in witness.

470

And if you saw X-Men the last stand,

he played the president in that.

471

So that's who he is.

472

Then we have Soie Bond.

473

She plays Thelma, who is the, she's an

older lady that is, works at the plant

474

and is friends with Karen, et cetera.

475

She actually gets contaminated

in the movie now Sudi, the ACT

476

actress, died a year after this

movie came out in New York.

477

Yeah, so she died shortly

after this movie came out.

478

Henderson Forsyth plays Quincy.

479

He's the union leader at this plant.

480

He's best known for his 30 year run as Dr.

481

David Stewart on the long running American

482

Wait, did As the world

483

Wow.

484

He won a Tony Award in 1979 for his work

in the original Broadway production of

485

the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

486

E Catherine Kerr or Care Plays.

487

Gilda, she's another

plant worker and friend.

488

She's not super well known, but she

has played judges in several TV shows.

489

And she played the Attorney

General in the movie The Siege.

490

That's where you might know her.

491

And then Bruce McGill plays Mr.

492

Hurley.

493

He's part of the management.

494

At this plant, and he's

a super familiar face.

495

You all know him.

496

. I thought this was kind of funny.

497

So he played D-Day in National

498

and he didn't, he took that role

out of desperation, apparently as a

499

young, unemployed actor, and it ended

up being his most well-known role.

500

But he does have a long acting career.

501

like movies like Wildcats, the Last Boy

Scout, my cousin Vinny Cliffhanger, time

502

cop, the Legend of Bagger Vance, and

the sum of all fears, tons of stuff.

503

And then lastly, we have David

Stthe as Wesley, and he's

504

another plant worker and friend.

505

I did not recognize him at first

because he's so young in this.

506

I'm not used to seeing him so young.

507

I can picture his face now.

508

And he is a very handsome, older

man, and he is been in tons of stuff.

509

You all know who David Strayhorn is.

510

he played, Edward r Murrow

and Goodnight and good luck.

511

And then the Secretary of State

in the movie Lincoln, those are

512

like some of his starring roles.

513

And then he's in lots of TV stuff as well.

514

like the Blacklist, alphas,

and even three episodes of The

515

Sopranos, one of my favorite shows.

516

now this movie did make money and it was

a pretty small budget at $10 million.

517

It made a.

518

35.6 million at the box

office, so pretty good.

519

We did talk about at the beginning

that it's got a lot of award attention.

520

I would like to talk

about that for a moment.

521

So there were, let's see, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

522

Oscar Noms, Meryl Streep

523

for leading actress.

524

She also got a BAFTA NAMM

for this particular movie.

525

Now, Meryl Streep being nominated

for leading actress in this.

526

It was the third of three films released

in successive years for which Meryl was

527

nominated for the best actress Oscar.

528

The first was in 19, like

literally 81, 82, and 83.

529

The French Lieutenant's

woman, I have not seen that.

530

Now I'm gonna have to watch it.

531

And then Sophie's Choice.

532

She was just coming off of

Sophie's choice to do this movie.

533

So she got three years in a row.

534

I think she won actually

for Sophie's Choice.

535

Then we have, Cher was nominated

for an Oscar for supporting actress.

536

She was also nominated for a bafta.

537

Mike Nichols was

nominated, as the director.

538

The writers for their screenplay, Nora

Ephron and Alice Arlen were nominated and

539

it was also nominated for best editing.

540

Now, share one, the

Golden Globe for Silkwood.

541

She was really good.

542

Meryl was too.

543

They were both actually Kurt.

544

Yeah.

545

Like the three, and I'll talk about

this probably throughout those three.

546

I call them the trio.

547

Their relationship is so beautiful.

548

Like I, their the French

I, ugh, I love it.

549

That's like the reason to

watch the movie in my opinion.

550

let's see.

551

It was also nominated for best

drama at the Golden Globes.

552

And then the other, so Kurt

Meryl and Mike Nichols were also

553

nominated for Golden Globes.

554

Tons.

555

Tons.

556

Okay.

557

Like I said, gosh, I really want

you guys to watch this because it is

558

really good and it's now 40 years old.

559

and it's about an important topic.

560

It's based on a true story.

561

I feel like it was one of the early

movies like it of, its of its time

562

and a lot of similar movies have come.

563

But it's hard to get like it.

564

You can't get it anywhere.

565

It's not available to stream.

566

So I looked on Amazon to buy

it and it's 60 bucks for a used

567

copy because they're out of print.

568

So I requested it from my

like, libraries network.

569

You know how libraries have like a network

even if your library doesn't have it.

570

So it took a minute to get

here, but finally it did.

571

just in time for me to

record this episode.

572

I don't know why.

573

It's, actually I did see a Wall

Street Journal article from a couple

574

years ago about like, it's some

weirdness with the distribution.

575

So Silkwood was distributed by a

company that was later bought by Disney.

576

However, when they reached out to

Disney about this, they couldn't

577

say for sure if they owned the film.

578

So it's one of those that kind

of fell through the cracks.

579

So it's literally not available,

but I, but please, you guys get

580

it from your library and watch it.

581

Please, please, please.

582

It's a phenomenal story and from a

story as well as character development

583

perspective, it's really well done.

584

Okay, so we are set in 1974 and it

opens with this beautiful rural setting

585

and a little two door Honda hatchback

driving like off the dirt road.

586

And we see the three main

characters driving to work together.

587

And there's this beautiful music, you

know, overlaid this opening scene.

588

And then after it plays for

a little bit, it adds this,

589

it's a recognizable tune too.

590

It's this banjo over it.

591

Which is also really nice.

592

it's just such a nice way to

set the stage of this movie.

593

And when we're introduced to the

characters, it's evident that both

594

Cher and Meryl, I do this, when I

cover movies, I say their real names

595

as opposed to their character names.

596

So Cher and Meryl, AKA, Karen and

Dolly, they speak with a little bit of

597

an accent, but it's not over the top.

598

So, like I said, we're in, it's in

Oklahoma, uh, and like a small town,

599

it's not like one of the cities,

it's in a small town in Oklahoma.

600

We, it's just again, like

the first part of the movie.

601

So good at character

and story development.

602

We see how they all interact with

their coworkers and how their everyday

603

life is very simple, but they're

so happy and it's comforting and

604

they have these close friendships.

605

They're all, you know,

just, it's quite lovely.

606

Huh.

607

I could, I can't help when I see mood.

608

There is so much smoking in this,

you guys, I know it's kind of

609

above the time, but you literally,

they were always smoking and you

610

can smoke anywhere, everywhere.

611

Anywhere and everywhere.

612

The other thing that I took

major note of was the cars.

613

So we talked about that little hatchback

that, Meryl drives Karen, but all

614

everybody else is just the cars in this.

615

I think that's, I love seeing that

'cause you know, it's nostalgia.

616

Hey, you're on retro made.

617

So I like retro things.

618

Kurt's hair, you guys, he

has such a good head of hair.

619

It's before the eighties

mullet comes into play.

620

Gray hair Meryl looks stunningly gorgeous.

621

Despite God, her hair's awful.

622

Does it's like a sh scraggly mullet.

623

I almost wanna say ala Mrs.

624

Brady, but it's like her, that's very

kept, it's like a shag mullet with

625

real stringy, scraggly long bits.

626

It's horrible.

627

So despite that awful hairstyle,

uh, I don't know if that was a thing

628

in certain parts of the country

and in the seventies, it's awful.

629

But Meryl still, she's just gorgeous.

630

And then Cher, like I said, you,

if I didn't know it was Cher,

631

I wouldn't know it was Cher.

632

You know what I mean?

633

So it, it's maybe a stretch that she's

unrecognizable, but it's just wild because

634

it's so the antithesis of the Cher that

we know, she's in this playing dolly.

635

She's always in her clothes,

are all utilitarian, no makeup.

636

She doesn't do anything with her hair.

637

I mean.

638

Yeah, somehow she's still like Cher.

639

I don't know.

640

Somehow she's still

like kind of attractive.

641

so all three of these are

Trio, Kurt, Marilyn, Cher.

642

I did look up when they were born

to see how old they were when

643

they played these characters.

644

And they were all in their mid, I'm

sorry, early to mid th mid thirties.

645

So I think Kurt was actually

the youngest at 32 ish.

646

And then Meryl and then

Cher might've been 36 ish.

647

So that's how they were.

648

And then again, like kind of setting

the stage for the story, the house

649

that the three of them live in.

650

So Karen and Drew are boyfriend,

girlfriend and Cher Dolly is their friend.

651

So the three of them live

in this house together.

652

It's on a country road.

653

It's a bit rundown.

654

It . Okay.

655

And again, this is Oklahoma.

656

In 1983, when we see Karen and Drew's

room, there's wood paneling and a

657

confederate flag above their bed.

658

It's Drew's flag because, uh,

spoiler later in the movie, he

659

moves out and we see his new

place and it's in, it's now there.

660

but it's wild because there are

so many other ways that are like

661

surprising for someone who would have a

Confederate flag in their home as decor.

662

but I just, it was, I

had to do a double take.

663

but I do have a little

story about that actually.

664

So this is a ni so again, this is actually

the, I'm sorry, it's not in the eighties.

665

It's actually in the seventies.

666

While the movie came out in 83, the

events of this story take place in 74.

667

Well, in 2000, I don't know.

668

19.

669

I wanna say I went to a small town

in Oklahoma for, it was for work.

670

So I was there for a work

thing and I was at this bar.

671

Of course, there was

nothing for me to eat there,

672

Um, but I go to the bathroom, like I

go to the bathroom and on my way there,

673

I see this man probably about my age

too, like there with like his family.

674

He's a burly bearded man, but his

outfit was head to toe confederate flag.

675

Like it was a, uh, like tracksuit

of sorts Confederate flag

676

out walking around in 2019.

677

that's my story about a Confederate

flag in small town Oklahoma many,

678

many, many, many years later.

679

Anyway.

680

So, I don't know, maybe

that's still a thing.

681

who knows?

682

I don't know.

683

But moving on, we get a lot more

of the closeness of our trio.

684

I just love it, you guys.

685

That's the reason to watch this movie,

these actors playing these three people.

686

It's so good.

687

So again, like again, we're

just developing the story.

688

There's not exposition, you know

how a lot of movies do that?

689

No.

690

We just are shown things and then

we kind of see who these people are

691

and that, that's really what I love.

692

Like it gives the audience

the benefit of the doubt.

693

Like it doesn't assume that we're

dumb we, you know, anyway, so we

694

get further evidence of how close

this, these three people are,

695

because Karen is a mother of three.

696

She's divorced from her common

law husband, and he lives in

697

Texas with her three children.

698

So Karen is from Texas and she moves.

699

To Oklahoma.

700

This, we don't, we're not, we don't know

why she doesn't have custody, because

701

it's kind of odd, especially at that

time for the mother to not have custody.

702

and they're little kids.

703

So anyway, they go to Texas to

visit Karen's kids, all three

704

of them like up for a road trip.

705

And there's a cute scene where,

drew is like, Hey, Dolly, you

706

wanna come down there with us?

707

She's like, what is there to do there?

708

He's like, nothing.

709

She's like, yeah, all right.

710

it's just really cute that they go

with their friend to see her kids.

711

and we can just assume that she doesn't

have custody because she's the one

712

that chose to leave the state maybe.

713

But there are three very small

children, like in three to

714

six, like boom, boom, boom.

715

And there's a cute scene of her

interacting with her kids and the, and.

716

Drew and Dolly all being there.

717

So now they're coming back home.

718

so we see that scene.

719

We come back home to Oklahoma and Karen

is starting to actually get worried

720

about cancer because at the plant,

their coworker Thelma got contaminated.

721

And in the movie, this must be lingo

for, like plutonium and nuclear plants

722

um, they call it getting cooked.

723

Thelma got cooked or if your hands

have are contaminated, they'll say

724

You're hot, your hands are hot.

725

So that's just the terminology

that they use in the movie.

726

so Karen's starting to get worried

about that and Drew says to

727

her, there's so many sequences of

their relationship and I love it.

728

It just shows them to be . Just normal.

729

Just nothing over the top, but just the,

there's a lot of little things that they

730

do that is like, they're just a sweet,

loving, normal couple and I love it,

731

, but Kurt Drew, as Drew says, if you're

really worried about it, stop smoking.

732

Which I thought that was hilarious.

733

Smart.

734

And also kind of surprising for 1974.

735

I mean, I'm sure they all knew at that

point it was probably like, yeah, we know

736

it's killing us, but we're all addicted

to it, so we smoke everywhere still.

737

I don't know.

738

Somebody tell me if you

were alive during that time.

739

So Karen then learns that she, so she

was trying to get time off that weekend

740

to go see her kids and was having a hard

time convincing somebody to switch shifts

741

with her 'cause she hadn't previously, or

like in advance asked for the time off.

742

So she comes back.

743

And she learns that the management

team thinks that she purposefully

744

did something to make the plant

shut down because they knew that

745

she was trying to get the time off.

746

She wanted the weekend off.

747

She obviously didn't, but

she's learning, she's starting

748

to hear that they think that.

749

And then we're kind of shown,

we're shown the them at work a lot.

750

And on the floor of the plant, like near

the door that you would go to exit, like

751

when you're done with your shift or for

your break or whatever, there's this, like

752

sensor type device mounted next to the

door that workers are supposed to monitor

753

themselves before leaving the floor.

754

That's what they call it.

755

Like you hold your hands up to it

to, and it kind of reads if there's

756

anything, like if there's any

contamination, and to see if they're hot.

757

I guess.

758

So we see a few times that

Karen has to be reminded.

759

She doesn't.

760

She doesn't do it.

761

She doesn't really take it very seriously.

762

They're like, come on Karen,

you gotta monitor yourself.

763

And she's she rolls her eyes.

764

Okay.

765

You know, she, so we're shown

several times where she does that.

766

And then sure enough there's a

scene where again, like we see they

767

throw a little, like impromptu,

well, I guess it's not impromptu.

768

'cause they had a birthday

cake made for their coworker,

769

Gilda, which wasn't allowed.

770

They get caught doing it.

771

It kind of makes a little bit of a mess.

772

They're not supposed to

have a cake on the floor.

773

so Karen has to clean up, but

they're like, they don't want

774

her to do that on work time.

775

So she says do it after her ship.

776

So she's the only one there cleaning up.

777

And then we do see her monitor

herself, and she sets the alarm off.

778

She's hot.

779

This is the first time, first of three

times that she sets an alarm off.

780

So now she's starting to be like, okay.

781

I'm a little, I'm, you know, over time

she's getting a little more interested.

782

So she joins the committee, the

union negotiation committee.

783

The leader is Quincy and Morgan

is also, I don't know, he's like

784

one of the main union people.

785

He's kind of always there.

786

The three of them end up going to DC

together to meet with the national

787

level union leaders, max and Paul.

788

There's a really cute scene, when they go

to dc So they're paid for, everything's,

789

paid for by like the national Union.

790

, so they fly to dc.

791

There's a really cute scene where

she's served a meal on this plane.

792

She inquires how much it costs,

not knowing that it comes

793

with the price of the ticket.

794

It's a really cute scene like

these showing us that these

795

people have not flown on.

796

One of them's taking pictures of

the flight at, it's really cute.

797

But as a side note, I gotta say.

798

I kind of wanna, I wanna, I want

799

It must've been pretty awesome

because at that time, I'm imagining

800

you can just show up at the airport

like 30 minutes before your flight.

801

You don't have to disrobe

to go through security.

802

You can smoke, no one's

wearing their pajamas.

803

Like people still dressed nice on

planes and apparently you are even

804

served a, not a snack, but a meal.

805

A full meal on a flight, a short flight.

806

Like I looked up, I'm like, well, how

long is a flight from Oklahoma City to dc?

807

'cause it can't be very long.

808

It's not, it's two hours and 45 minutes.

809

She served a meal.

810

I'm just saying, okay, so they're in

DC there's clearly something going on.

811

Like she and Paul have a thing off

screen, like we're not shown anything.

812

We're just like, we infer.

813

Something happened

between the two of them.

814

And then Drew sees a picture of

the two of them of Paul with his

815

girlfriend outside of the hotel in

DC and he was already starting to

816

resent, the amount of time that Karen

is spending on all of this union work.

817

So this is not helping

like this isn't happening.

818

But the way that he finds this out, the

way that he learns this and is so of

819

the time, and I love it, nostalgia ness.

820

So upon their return, Quincy and his wife

have drew Karen over, , to show them via

821

a slideshow, their pictures from the trip.

822

And that picture was in there and

Drew's like, uh, what the hell?

823

They don't like get in a fight about it.

824

He just has his arm around Karen.

825

He sees that, and then he

takes his arm off of her.

826

So he's and then he sees that and

he's Because he kind of knows her and

827

he's already been, like I said, he's,

the resentment has been growing.

828

This is not helping.

829

Okay.

830

So then they get home from this

little picture viewing party,

831

, they're pulling up the dirt road.

832

tHey see Dolly unloading her brand new

girlfriend's suitcases into the house.

833

So now there's, the four of

them are living there, and

834

the girlfriend does makeup.

835

Like what she does for a living is she

does, when we first meet her, Cher says,

836

oh, she is like a beautician or something.

837

But as it turns out, she does

makeup at a funeral home.

838

There's a really fun scene where she

gives Dier a makeover, but she uses the

839

same makeup that she uses on dead people.

840

So she looks ghostly.

841

it's funny.

842

And, there's just some fun scenes

of our trio in the kitchen, just

843

kind of acting normal, giving, like

jabbing each other as you would.

844

And, so then Drew is finding out

more and more about, you know,

845

like the work that Karen is doing.

846

He's hearing about that she's now tasked

with obtaining evidence for our, for

847

like a New York Times reporter, like

not just a newspaper reporter, but a New

848

York Times newspaper reporter combined.

849

So this, combined with him just seeing

this picture of his girlfriend and

850

someone else, his growing resentment, he

picks up and leaves, after telling her,

851

like he packs up, his things moves out.

852

They break up So he's

actually quit his job.

853

There's a scene of them on the porch.

854

He tries to get her to come with him.

855

He says that he quit.

856

He put in his notice at the plant.

857

He wants her to go away with him.

858

And she says.

859

I can't quit now.

860

I mean, she's, but she's really in it.

861

And that just shows like how

dedicated she is to this, you know,

862

uncovering this conspiracy, that

she thinks the plant is covering up.

863

And then there's a beautiful

touching scene on the porch swing

864

of their house where, so we find

out that Dolly's girlfriend left

865

her to go back to her husband.

866

And this kind of spurs jabbing and a

fight, with some mean things said on

867

both sides, between Karen and Dolly.

868

And then they mend because

they love each other.

869

they're very good friends.

870

They mend their friendship without

words really, or very little.

871

Is said, they're sitting on the swing

together and Meryl is just kind of holding

872

Dolly and just the little things they

do like with their hands or like she,

873

you know, is like kind of playing with

her hair and it's just really sweet.

874

Meryl is singing a lullaby almost to her.

875

We get some singing from Meryl on this.

876

that, and then we'll get to an end scene

where she sings too, which is a little

877

ironic considering now Meryl can sing

and I think she sings in some movies,

878

but Cher is known for her singing.

879

It's just kind of funny.

880

Anyway, so I loved that scene.

881

That's maybe my favorite

scene of the movie.

882

There's another one with Drew a

little bit later that I love too.

883

But that porch swing scene say that a

few times in a row is, it just shows

884

us how much they love each other.

885

, because Karen's starting to lose all

of her friends at this point at work.

886

'cause she's always taking notes about

what's going on and they're all just

887

like, we don't want anything to come

out about what the company's like.

888

Despite the fact that the company is

putting all their health in danger.

889

Their concern is they want a job,

they don't wanna lose their jobs

890

and they don't wanna be associated

with someone who's causing trouble

891

and trying to uncover some stuff.

892

So we see her then setting

off the contamination, a alarm

893

two more times after this.

894

One of which we know her gloves had a hole

in them, in, in one of those instances.

895

So a little fishy, right?

896

She's seeing that they're

trying to do away with her.

897

So now the company after that, like

this is the third time, so they

898

send, the company sends like their

remediation people over to her

899

house to do readings and testings

of everything that she's touched.

900

They literally remove everything from

the house, like wallpaper and everything.

901

and everything that she has

touched has super high readings.

902

They continue to insist that

she's doing this to herself.

903

That's what their claim is.

904

So she's now thinking, oh my God,

you guys are trying to kill me.

905

Oh my God, I'm gonna die.

906

I have cancer, I'm gonna die.

907

and they're insisting that she

did it to herself purposefully

908

in order to hurt the company.

909

So the scene at their hou at the house,

everybody's like outside and they take

910

Dolly, they get a room somewhere for

her to stay because, and then, drew has

911

already moved out, but they, because

they're insisting this and they're like,

912

well, look, we'll help you out monetarily.

913

We'll find you a place to stay.

914

She would have to sign a document

saying that she's doing this

915

on purpose to hurt the company.

916

So obviously she's not gonna do that.

917

but she's, she is scared of dying now.

918

And there, there's a scene kind of in

between there where uh, we see her and

919

Drew make up because he now owns like,

an auto repair and towing company.

920

And she's like driving one night and

hits a deer and he comes to tow her.

921

And so they've made up, but he

does have his own place now.

922

So now that she can't stay at

her own house, so now she goes

923

and stays at his place with him.

924

And she's very, she's

just, she's super afraid.

925

And so he's that's okay, you know?

926

No worries.

927

He kind of takes charge.

928

And he's we'll all fly to Los

Alamos to see, real doctors.

929

He says, so again, our trio.

930

Goes to Los Alamos, which I think is

New Mexico, and they're in Oklahoma.

931

I'm not sure with what

money they're doing this.

932

'cause these are people who don't,

um, don't have a lot of excess funds.

933

So I'm not sure how they funded this

trip, but we see them all kind of get

934

some testing done at this hospital.

935

Drew and Dolly are, we learn at

permissible, so to speak levels while

936

Karen on the other hand does, she does

have it in her lungs and at very high

937

levels, but they try to convince her

like they, they can't really pinpoint.

938

They're like, well, it could be 300%

up or down, such and such number.

939

And she's like, uh, what?

940

You know, like, that's not helpful.

941

And so she is not convinced by

these doctors, because they're

942

like, no, but it's okay.

943

It's still an acceptable

level of radiation.

944

She doesn't believe them.

945

And now she's like even more convinced.

946

To move forward with her reporter

and gathering of the evidence that,

947

that's needed for this article to,

to uncover the truth of this plant.

948

So now we're at essentially the final

scene of the movie, which the entirety

949

of it, it's a beautiful, it's beau

like it's a beautiful, the way that

950

it's shot and the entirety of it has

the backdrop of Meryl Streep singing

951

Amazing Grace, like a rendition of it.

952

It's not like the standard version.

953

So with that backdrop, we see her

leaving, , like a union gathering at a

954

cafe or something in town with folders.

955

Like she's got like an arm full of

folders that we can assume are, is

956

the evidence because she's leaving

that meeting to go meet with the

957

reporter who flew in from New York.

958

We see her driving and a car

very closely following her.

959

the headlights are so bright that

we see her really struggling to see.

960

She's blinded by the headlights

of the car behind her.

961

And then we cut to her car has

crashed and she's dead inside.

962

And then we get the film epilogue

that reads The precise circumstances

963

of Karen's death are unknown.

964

It is also not known whether

she had any documents with her.

965

None were found An autopsy revealed a

high level of the tranquilizer, methyl

966

and some alcohol in her bloodstream.

967

Oklahoma police ruled her

death, a single car accident.

968

A year later, the plant shut down.

969

So that's the movie Silkwood.

970

Now there's a lot of stuff

that I was reading for trivia.

971

I.

972

but good movie.

973

Highly recommend.

974

So, like I said, this is

based on a true story.

975

In 1979, the jury rendered a verdict

of $10.5 million in damages to

976

be paid to the Silkwood estate.

977

Essentially, her kids, which was the

largest amount of damages ever awarded

978

for that kind of case at the time, but

like a myriad of legal motions and appeals

979

stretched that case into the eighties.

980

The Circuit Court of appeals eventually

overturned to the punitive damages

981

portion of the district court verdict.

982

But on further appeal, in January

of 84, the US Supreme Court in a

983

five to four decision, reversed the

circuit court and reinstated the

984

jury's findings of punitive damages.

985

Ugh, lots of back of

ugh, what a nightmare.

986

The silk would've estate eventually

settled for 1.3 million, even

987

though they're awarded 1.5.

988

You know, that I think happens a lot.

989

There's, we just wanna be over with this.

990

We wanna get something.

991

Anyway, Meryl Streep had only

two and a half weeks off between

992

completing Sophie's Choice and

starting this picture crazy right now.

993

I was talking about, Cher and her look.

994

So apparently one of the first big tasks

that Cher had to tackle when she arrived

995

was getting like the right look for Dolly.

996

What they started out with

was now what we ended up with.

997

So in the beginning, according

to Cher Dolly was written as a

998

glamorous barrel writer that kind

of makes sense for she, for Cher.

999

So they try to screen test with that look.

01:03:42,672 --> 01:03:44,992

But Mike Nichols, the

director, did not like it.

01:03:45,052 --> 01:03:49,112

He told her to wash her face, wash

her hair, and just let it dry flat to

01:03:49,112 --> 01:03:50,872

her head without doing anything to it.

01:03:52,132 --> 01:03:57,102

Then he had the costume designer, Ann

Roth began to dress her in dowdy clothes.

01:03:58,412 --> 01:04:01,982

working hard to strip every

trace of glamor from the

01:04:01,982 --> 01:04:03,942

usually picture perfect star.

01:04:05,002 --> 01:04:08,782

She says they put her in awful chinos

and that she had to, and they were

01:04:08,892 --> 01:04:13,212

like, and she had, she had to put two

pairs of jockey shorts underneath it

01:04:13,212 --> 01:04:14,972

to make her look heavier than she was.

01:04:15,352 --> 01:04:17,892

And I remember noting that one,

like, you can kind of see it.

01:04:18,962 --> 01:04:19,252

Yeah.

01:04:20,802 --> 01:04:24,342

she, with the new look, she stepped

outside of her trailer and Kurt

01:04:24,342 --> 01:04:27,221

Russell was there and he said, what

the fuck are you supposed to be?

01:04:28,202 --> 01:04:30,542

So she was warned, of course.

01:04:30,602 --> 01:04:32,662

So this is the look they're

going with now for Cher.

01:04:33,042 --> 01:04:36,602

So she's Mike told her not

to wear any makeup at all.

01:04:36,662 --> 01:04:39,522

He said he would do like a

white glove test, make sure

01:04:39,522 --> 01:04:40,922

she wasn't wearing any makeup.

01:04:41,102 --> 01:04:45,912

And she said one time she cheated by,

curling her eyelashes, but he caught

01:04:45,912 --> 01:04:47,752

her and he's don't do it again, my dear.

01:04:48,797 --> 01:04:53,677

But so she got the message and yeah, it's

like I said, it's such a stark difference

01:04:53,677 --> 01:05:01,447

because Cher is so known for being

so glamorous and that's her trademark

01:05:01,507 --> 01:05:02,927

and just kind of being over the top.

01:05:03,547 --> 01:05:07,487

So she says quote, I was

looking at the big picture.

01:05:07,927 --> 01:05:10,487

Everyone was trying not to laugh

and doing a very good job of it.

01:05:10,717 --> 01:05:12,207

Mike was looking really pleased.

01:05:12,387 --> 01:05:13,007

That's perfect.

01:05:13,147 --> 01:05:14,567

He said, I couldn't believe it.

01:05:14,947 --> 01:05:18,567

My first real time in front

of a camera in a big film, and

01:05:18,596 --> 01:05:20,846

this was the way I had to look.

01:05:22,127 --> 01:05:22,927

I feel you share.

01:05:23,407 --> 01:05:25,167

I would've been the exact same way.

01:05:25,267 --> 01:05:29,887

I'm not even like over the top glamor, but

if this is, this was like her first big

01:05:29,887 --> 01:05:35,437

movie and because she's known for being

so glamorous, but just my introduction

01:05:35,457 --> 01:05:39,877

to everyone is no makeup and yucky

Doughty clothes and my hair not done.

01:05:39,957 --> 01:05:40,757

I would've been the same way.

01:05:40,957 --> 01:05:41,077

Cher.

01:05:42,887 --> 01:05:43,177

Yeah.

01:05:43,557 --> 01:05:49,427

So then, I also was reading that . Because

this is based on, a true story, you

01:05:49,427 --> 01:05:50,747

know, and sometimes movies come out.

01:05:50,747 --> 01:05:54,927

People, the real life people

feel certain ways about it.

01:05:55,027 --> 01:05:57,727

So Drew Stevens played by our Avery man.

01:05:57,727 --> 01:05:59,927

Kurt Russell was Karen's

real life boyfriend.

01:06:00,467 --> 01:06:03,167

He apparently loved the

film and felt moved by it.

01:06:04,627 --> 01:06:11,207

However, Karen's parents and her former

roommate, uh, whose name is actually

01:06:11,207 --> 01:06:15,477

Sherry Ellis um, I real life, they must

have changed names, were unhappy with it.

01:06:15,737 --> 01:06:18,917

Her father believed that Karen was

a whole lot smarter than they showed

01:06:18,917 --> 01:06:23,557

in the movie, while Ellis objected to

Cher's depiction of Dolly, even though

01:06:23,577 --> 01:06:25,677

it wasn't based expressly on her.

01:06:25,727 --> 01:06:26,547

that's interesting.

01:06:26,587 --> 01:06:31,607

I can see if Cher was not truly the

based on the real roommate, like I

01:06:31,607 --> 01:06:35,657

can kind of see that, but I thought

they portrayed Karen really well.

01:06:35,767 --> 01:06:37,217

Like very, I.

01:06:38,112 --> 01:06:39,802

Multifaceted and pretty smart.

01:06:40,002 --> 01:06:40,442

I don't know.

01:06:40,822 --> 01:06:43,162

You guys will have to let me know it.

01:06:43,471 --> 01:06:43,762

Yeah.

01:06:44,772 --> 01:06:51,042

Now there's quite a bit that I was

reading about the cast, like our trio, but

01:06:51,042 --> 01:06:53,882

especially Cher and Me, Cher and Meryl.

01:06:54,221 --> 01:06:58,602

So they both stated in interviews

that they were secretly nervous about

01:06:58,602 --> 01:07:04,402

performing together on stream, on

screen that, but they did become really

01:07:04,402 --> 01:07:07,082

close friends and remain friends today.

01:07:07,552 --> 01:07:10,362

They would both appear in the

Fairley Brothers comedy stuck

01:07:10,362 --> 01:07:14,312

on you, coincidentally both

portraying themselves in the film.

01:07:15,172 --> 01:07:17,592

But originally Cher said

she was so nervous about.

01:07:18,592 --> 01:07:20,272

Meeting Meryl Streep for the first time.

01:07:20,857 --> 01:07:23,357

she was quoted saying, I thought

it was going to be like having

01:07:23,377 --> 01:07:24,596

an audience with the Pope.

01:07:25,067 --> 01:07:27,967

However, Streep,

immediately put her at ease.

01:07:28,467 --> 01:07:30,917

like hugging, like threw her

arms around her, hugged her,

01:07:31,617 --> 01:07:35,317

and she said she was just, she's

all communication and warmth and

01:07:35,317 --> 01:07:36,677

friendship with a great sense of humor.

01:07:36,817 --> 01:07:42,107

So I, that was lovely to hear,

that they got along so well.

01:07:42,137 --> 01:07:46,667

They were kind of both nervous about

working with the other, and then they

01:07:46,777 --> 01:07:49,987

developed this friendship, which we

will talk about here in a second too.

01:07:50,527 --> 01:07:57,957

but they, since they both received Oscar

01:07:57,957 --> 01:08:02,277

were both nominated again, but in, the

same category for best leading actress.

01:08:02,297 --> 01:08:03,677

So they were competing against each other.

01:08:05,362 --> 01:08:11,022

For Moonstruck and Ironweed, Cher

One and Streep was the first to leap

01:08:11,022 --> 01:08:14,102

to her feet in gleeful applause as

the audience gave her a standing

01:08:14,342 --> 01:08:16,341

ovation in her acceptance speech.

01:08:17,422 --> 01:08:20,542

Cher singled out Mary

Louise Streep for thanks.

01:08:23,322 --> 01:08:25,822

So Meryl is just a

nickname for Mary Louis.

01:08:26,142 --> 01:08:28,182

I didn't realize that until reading this.

01:08:28,761 --> 01:08:29,392

Sweet right.

01:08:29,442 --> 01:08:33,072

so Nora Efron also witnessed the

friendship between those two and said

01:08:33,072 --> 01:08:37,912

that it really helped create a fun

mood on the set because the subject

01:08:37,912 --> 01:08:39,591

matter of this film was so serious.

01:08:40,322 --> 01:08:44,402

They would do like shticks voices,

fake jokes or fake fights and jokes.

01:08:44,782 --> 01:08:47,402

And I apparently they

were just really funny.

01:08:47,822 --> 01:08:52,362

and Efron said, I can't overestimate

how that friendship made it possible

01:08:52,362 --> 01:08:55,082

for shared not to be wildly nervous.

01:08:55,662 --> 01:08:57,841

And it brought out a

wonderful performance.

01:09:00,017 --> 01:09:01,827

Yeah, her being put at ease.

01:09:02,657 --> 01:09:07,647

They apparently, like during the downtime

of the filming, were inseparable.

01:09:07,647 --> 01:09:12,247

Friends, I guess they hung out, you know,

after work or whatever, hung whatever

01:09:12,247 --> 01:09:13,767

their version of after work drinks are.

01:09:14,027 --> 01:09:19,497

But she, they said, Meryl said,

hung out and drank plum wine.

01:09:20,216 --> 01:09:20,297

Ew.

01:09:20,547 --> 01:09:21,176

After work.

01:09:21,227 --> 01:09:22,267

that was her exact quote.

01:09:22,346 --> 01:09:22,987

I thought that was cute.

01:09:23,357 --> 01:09:26,487

that was from a Vanity

01:09:27,386 --> 01:09:29,127

She says, Cher was really fun.

01:09:29,327 --> 01:09:35,727

I was smitten by her openness, both as an

actress and as a person for a showgirl.

01:09:35,756 --> 01:09:38,127

There's not a phony bone in her body.

01:09:39,096 --> 01:09:39,737

I love that.

01:09:40,096 --> 01:09:45,417

I love hearing like tidbits about super

famous people, especially iconic people

01:09:45,527 --> 01:09:51,057

like Cher and Meryl Streep, that they

seem, they're just like real people.

01:09:51,256 --> 01:09:51,817

I love that.

01:09:52,557 --> 01:09:55,687

And then Cher told Joan

Rivers on the Tonight Show.

01:09:56,812 --> 01:09:59,502

That she was shocked when she

was approached by Mike Nichols.

01:09:59,502 --> 01:10:00,222

I think this is hilarious.

01:10:00,962 --> 01:10:05,422

, She was approached by Mike Nichols to

act alongside this legend, Meryl Streep,

01:10:05,722 --> 01:10:07,862

and this was only her second movie ever.

01:10:08,942 --> 01:10:12,482

She said, , you want me to start

out going, you want me to start

01:10:12,582 --> 01:10:15,522

out going up against Meryl Streep?

01:10:15,682 --> 01:10:18,962

Shouldn't I start smaller, like

with Suzanne Summers or something?

01:10:19,012 --> 01:10:22,852

I mean, nothing against su I don't think

that's like a jab at Suzanne Summers.

01:10:22,852 --> 01:10:26,772

But just like the fact that Meryl

Streep is like, had already just won two

01:10:26,872 --> 01:10:28,652

Oscars, and this is like living legend.

01:10:30,037 --> 01:10:35,869

Anyway, they both also, I'm not forgetting

about our, Kurt, Meryl and Cher got along

01:10:35,899 --> 01:10:41,029

well with Kurt Russell, and I think this

is interesting the way, so Cher described

01:10:41,219 --> 01:10:48,119

working with Kurt like a bossy, Bri big,

like a bossy big brother that she adored.

01:10:48,889 --> 01:10:52,939

Russell said that working with Streep

was one of the highlights of his career.

01:10:53,599 --> 01:10:56,539

She gives so much in a scene that

it's hard to keep up with her.

01:10:57,359 --> 01:10:58,299

The big brother comment.

01:10:58,318 --> 01:11:01,699

The only reason I thought that was

strange is because Kurt was the youngest

01:11:01,699 --> 01:11:04,779

of them and I think Cher was the oldest,

but I think I get what she's saying.

01:11:04,818 --> 01:11:08,309

I think she's just oh, my big

brother, that's kind of bossy.

01:11:08,429 --> 01:11:09,229

But I love him anyway.

01:11:09,229 --> 01:11:11,879

Like that kind of a relationship, so.

01:11:13,459 --> 01:11:17,099

This all comes out very clearly

in their performances of

01:11:17,099 --> 01:11:18,259

the trio as they call them.

01:11:18,568 --> 01:11:20,649

It's, I can't give them enough credit.

01:11:20,789 --> 01:11:23,489

The scenes that they're in, you just,

you can't keep your eyes off of them.

01:11:25,589 --> 01:11:26,689

, in terms of settings.

01:11:26,689 --> 01:11:31,489

So set in Oklahoma, that's where

the actual real life plutonium plant

01:11:31,549 --> 01:11:33,009

and events of the movie take place.

01:11:34,189 --> 01:11:38,139

But the Oklahoma governor was like,

can you please film somewhere else?

01:11:38,219 --> 01:11:39,459

I really don't want you to film this here.

01:11:40,199 --> 01:11:43,179

. So they shot it in Texas

and New Mexico instead.

01:11:46,329 --> 01:11:50,939

Now this the death scene that I talked

about and like kind of the epilogue

01:11:51,149 --> 01:11:53,859

title or the epilogue text that comes on.

01:11:55,929 --> 01:12:00,489

It could, I can see how that could

be like a little bit confusing.

01:12:00,489 --> 01:12:01,169

And here's why.

01:12:02,119 --> 01:12:06,779

When the film was in post-production,

Mike Nichols and editor Sam Osteen, they

01:12:06,799 --> 01:12:10,579

ran into some problems regarding the

way that Karen's death was depicted.

01:12:12,099 --> 01:12:16,229

because Kerr McGee, the company for

which Silkwood worked, threatened

01:12:16,229 --> 01:12:17,909

legal action against the film.

01:12:18,089 --> 01:12:25,029

If anything was portrayed that was not

100% factual, like about the plant parts.

01:12:26,519 --> 01:12:27,369

like that story.

01:12:27,829 --> 01:12:35,039

So a scene where some minutiae about the

headlights wasn't perfect, it was removed.

01:12:36,179 --> 01:12:41,559

So in the final cut, it wasn't as

clear that someone was following her.

01:12:42,899 --> 01:12:43,139

Interesting.

01:12:43,139 --> 01:12:49,318

Right now this is the only movie where

we'll get some Meryl Streep nudity.

01:12:51,799 --> 01:12:56,099

Did you guys know that the one scene

that was particularly difficult for her?

01:12:56,339 --> 01:12:56,579

Apparently.

01:12:56,679 --> 01:13:00,479

So there's a scene where she

flashes one breast to, a coworker.

01:13:00,659 --> 01:13:03,439

So she just kind of, she just

opens her shirt like this.

01:13:05,419 --> 01:13:07,184

Must not have been wearing

a bra because it, yeah.

01:13:07,204 --> 01:13:09,644

Anyway, it was just like a

cute little thing she did.

01:13:11,234 --> 01:13:15,014

so it's very clearly, she

flashes one breast very clearly.

01:13:15,324 --> 01:13:19,174

Then there's another scene that it's

in their room, it's a darkened room.

01:13:19,314 --> 01:13:25,734

She like gets out of bed and puts her

shirt on and is briefly topless in

01:13:25,734 --> 01:13:27,334

the mirror, like her back is to us.

01:13:27,394 --> 01:13:29,974

But there's a mirror that

we briefly see her topless.

01:13:31,004 --> 01:13:36,074

Every other film that has shown

one of her characters nude has

01:13:36,074 --> 01:13:37,434

been performed by a body double.

01:13:38,054 --> 01:13:40,104

So she hated the scene.

01:13:40,104 --> 01:13:43,864

She hated doing it so much that

she vowed to never do another one.

01:13:44,794 --> 01:13:45,084

Yeah.

01:13:45,144 --> 01:13:50,254

So she, she says that she's really

sensitive about doing scenes like this.

01:13:50,764 --> 01:13:51,854

It's a gripe of hers.

01:13:52,424 --> 01:13:56,174

she's like, it's just really bizarre and

horrible thing to do in front of a crew.

01:13:56,554 --> 01:13:58,334

So that's me Meryl's take on it.

01:13:58,334 --> 01:13:59,054

So Silk wood.

01:14:00,034 --> 01:14:00,534

You heard it?

01:14:00,774 --> 01:14:02,814

Probably only here because

this movie's so hard to find.

01:14:02,834 --> 01:14:07,774

But if you find it, you'll

see Meryl Streep's boobs.

01:14:09,914 --> 01:14:13,214

Now there's a bunch of movies.

01:14:13,454 --> 01:14:17,484

I guess there's this whole

01:14:17,484 --> 01:14:19,364

atomic bombs and nuclear warfare.

01:14:20,244 --> 01:14:24,364

I mean, obviously this was a, anyway,

this was a plutonium plant, but

01:14:24,394 --> 01:14:26,724

obviously the Times nuclear warfare.

01:14:28,344 --> 01:14:33,244

So those movies, I'm not sure I've

seen, I don't know if I've seen most of

01:14:33,244 --> 01:14:36,174

these, but I've heard of them anyway,

and a few of them are pretty famous.

01:14:36,193 --> 01:14:43,054

So we have the China syndrome,

Silkwood Testament threads, war

01:14:43,054 --> 01:14:47,854

games, the day after the Atomic

Cafe, the Manhattan Project.

01:14:48,729 --> 01:14:49,149