When We Were Young podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:51:37 — 126.4MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | RSS

You know the score. You know the quotes. You know the poster. Forty years ago, a wrinkly alien with a magic touch waddled into moviegoers’ hearts and made E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL one of the most beloved family films ever made. Steven Spielberg’s alien opus surpassed STAR WARS as the #1 film of all time and remained the biggest hit in a decade that also saw the release of GHOSTBUSTERS, BACK TO THE FUTURE, the INDIANA JONES trilogy, and BATMAN. It also delighted critics and audiences alike, spawning toys, video games, and one of Universal Studios’ most memorable rides. In short, E.T. was everywhere in the 80s. 

In this episode of the podcast, When We Were Young takes you back to Spielberg’s childhood, chronicling his rise from suburban nerd to world’s most popular filmmaker. Then we chat about CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, Spielberg’s first foray to the friendly skies, which offers a surprisingly dark vision of one man’s life-shattering obsession with the unknown. Then it’s on to “the Summer of Spielberg,” when both E.T. and the Spielberg-shepherded POLTERGEIST entered theaters in June 1982, each becoming instant classics of suburban childhood interrupted by paranormal events.

What is it like coming back to such a monumental movie as adults? Are we still over the moon for this film, or merely silhouetted against it? Grab a bag of Reese’s Pieces and join us for an episode that’s well worth phoning home about!

Follow When We Were Young on Twitter and Instagram at @WWWYshow, on Facebook at Facebook.com/WWWYShow and email episode suggestions to wwwyshow@gmail.com. Don’t forget to subscribe and review us on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) so more folks check out the show!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which include recording remotely, purchasing movies/shows/music to review, delivery food to eat our feelings, and producing & editing in-house at the MFP Studio in Los Angeles, California by donating to our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:12:37 — 81.2MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | RSS

In Part 1 of our look back at MTV’s The Real World, we were impressed with how quickly the show defined the tone, format, and style that reality television would use for the next thirty years (and counting). But it was the show’s third season, with the infamous slob Puck facing off against courageous AIDS activist Pedro, that made The Real World a real sensation, ushering in a wave of reality shows at the turn of the millennium that hasn’t died down since. (Listen to Part 1 here if you haven’t caught up: https://themfp.org/wwwy-105-mtv-real-world-1/)

For Part 2, we look back at that groundbreaking (and heartbreaking) San Francisco-set season, which aired in 1994. Then we fast forward to one of the show’s other major scandals and reveal who we side with regarding the infamous Seattle Slap. Finally, we revisit personal favorite Real World seasons from our teen years and talk about the cast members who made the biggest impressions on us.

As The Real World turns 30 this May – and is therefore way too old to be a cast member on The Real World – it’s time to celebrate the series that just might have had a greater influence on the TV landscape than any other show of the 90s.

Follow When We Were Young on Twitter and Instagram at @WWWYshow, on Facebook at Facebook.com/WWWYShow and email episode suggestions to wwwyshow@gmail.com. Don’t forget to subscribe and review us on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) so more folks check out the show!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which include recording remotely, purchasing movies/shows/music to review, delivery food to eat our feelings, and producing & editing in-house at the MFP Studio in Los Angeles, California by donating to our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:22:57 — 98.5MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | RSS

What do RuPaul, Guy Fieri, Jennifer Hudson, Ozzy Osbourne, Honey Boo Boo, and the Kardashians have in common? They all owe a debt of gratitude to MTV’s THE REAL WORLD, which popularized the tone, format, and style most reality shows still adhere to today.

In 1992, a show that followed regular people in their ordinary lives was groundbreaking. So extraordinary, in fact, that many contemporary critics thought reality television was a laughable fad aimed exclusively at brainless teens. The Real World’s first season, set in a New York City loft, got the formula down surprisingly quick, featuring all the partying, pranks, and heated debates we came to expect from the series in later years.

For this podcast, Chris, Seth, and Becky reminisce about their own experiences “being taped,” discuss their memories of the reality TV boom that blew up right around the millennium, then check out The Real World’s most memorable – AKA most notorious – episodes in honor of the show’s 30th anniversary. This era of the series covered topical social issues ranging from AIDS to abortion to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” so there’s a lot to cover here!

Pack your bags for a whirlwind trip through one decade in America, with stops in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, New Orleans, San Francisco, Chicago, and Hawaii. Controversial opinions are mandatory, but clothing is optional!

Follow When We Were Young on Twitter and Instagram at @WWWYshow, on Facebook at Facebook.com/WWWYShow and email episode suggestions to wwwyshow@gmail.com. Don’t forget to subscribe and review us on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) so more folks check out the show. And donate to the National Network of Abortion Funds at AbortionFunds.org

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:57:18 — 121.4MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | RSS

McDonalds, TV pilots, Elvis, and foot massages – just the usual topics of conversation between gangsters, drug users, hitmen, and criminals, at least in Quentin Tarantino’s world. The release of the writer/director’s heavily-lauded PULP FICTION in 1994 was a groundbreaking moment for both Tarantino and movies, and its pop culture-obsessed characters and narrative-jumbling structure influenced the next decade or so of cinema (for better or worse).

Do Pulp Fiction’s accolades remain as bright and shiny as whatever’s in that briefcase? Or are we right in striking down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger? Join us for an expletive-filled adventure back to the ’90s – seriously, make the kiddos cover their ears for this one.

This is Part 2 of our Tarantino-thon! Listen to Part 1 where we revisited NATURAL BORN KILLERS and RESERVOIR DOGS here: https://themfp.org/wwwy-103-naturalbornkillers/

Follow When We Were Young on Twitter and Instagram at @WWWYshow, on Facebook at Facebook.com/WWWYShow and email episode suggestions to wwwyshow@gmail.com. Don’t forget to subscribe and review us on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) so more folks check out the show!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which include recording remotely, purchasing movies/shows/music to review, delivery food to eat our feelings, and producing & editing in-house at the MFP Studio in Los Angeles, California by donating to our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:33:04 — 101.6MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | RSS

Hollywood got a double dose of ultraviolence in 1994 with the release of not one but two postmodern, blood-soaked meditations on pop culture and the media from a new and exciting filmmaker named Quentin Tarantino.

The first of these, NATURAL BORN KILLERS, directed by Oliver Stone, was so controversial at the time that Tarantino himself disavowed it (along with a sizeable portion of moviegoers and critics). Nearly 30 years after its release, there’s still a lot to discuss and debate about Mickey and Mallory and whether its satiric and satanic take on the media remains relevant.

There’s also quite a lot to say about the eccentric writer/director’s pre-1994 films TRUE ROMANCE and RESERVOIR DOGS, as well as his influence on ’90s cinema as a whole. That’s why this is just Part 1 of our Tarantino deep-dive—so make sure you tune in for our talk on his arguable (and yes, we do argue) masterpiece PULP FICTION in Part 2!

Follow When We Were Young on Twitter and Instagram at @WWWYshow, on Facebook at Facebook.com/WWWYShow and email episode suggestions to wwwyshow@gmail.com. Don’t forget to subscribe and review us on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) so more folks check out the show!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which include recording remotely, purchasing movies/shows/music to review, delivery food to eat our feelings, and producing & editing in-house at the MFP Studio in Los Angeles, California by donating to our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung