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132: “Cue The Sun” – The Truman Show

Can you imagine living in a world where millions of people are glued to their screens 24/7, watching the life of an ordinary person unfold while being bombarded with advertisements that are disguised as part of the entertainment?

Of course you can! It’s 2024, and we’re already there. But back in 1998, the premise of THE TRUMAN SHOW was still a pretty radical idea, giving moviegoers a glimpse of the future shortly before the reality TV boom of the 2000s and long before the rise of social media. Audiences who thought they were in for a summer comedy starring Jim Carrey found themselves instead confronted with deep philosophical questions about freedom versus choice, artifice versus authenticity, surveillance versus privacy, and other heady topics – unaware that they were witnessing the rise of the world’s first influencer.

The film stars Jim Carrey as likable everyman Truman Burbank, who’s lived his entire life unaware that every move he makes is broadcast to adoring fans across the globe. His mom, his wife, his best friend, and everybody else in town are in on it. The Truman Show gave Carrey newfound credibility as a dramatic actor and showcases peerless supporting performances from Laura Linney as Truman’s increasingly unhinged wife and Ed Harris as the God-like “creator” behind this massive production.

There’s no question that Peter Weir’s fable-like film was ahead of its time in numerous ways, which only lends itself to an even richer conversation than was possible back in the late 90s. But how does this unusual blend of comedy, drama, and satirical science fiction hold up as entertainment now that there are millions of Truman Burbanks among us? Is the movie held back by dated technology and a plot that hinges on 1990s broadcast television, or is it time to hail The Truman Show as a timeless masterpiece?

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

107: “I’ll Be Right Here” – E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

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

85: “The Chameleon Strikes In The Dark” – The Thing

Is this a podcast, or is it merely pretending to be? It’s 2020, so we’re celebrating the holidays a little differently this year. We’ve swapped twitching tentacles for twinkling lights, exploding wolfdogs for red-nosed reindeer, lighting killer space beasts aflame for roasting chestnuts, and a creeping existential dread for jolly good cheer. Ho, ho, ho!

The 1980s saw a revival of 50s sci-fi B-movies, with notable remakes offering similarly bizarre chills and thrills with one major upgrade — some of the most stomach-churning special effects ever put to the screen. John Carpenter’s THE THING (1982) is a horror staple now, but it wasn’t so warmly received when it opened for audiences who had just fallen in love with Spielberg’s cuddly alien pal E.T., and Carpenter’s career never fully recovered.

We discuss how late 20th century horror masters took the traditions of drive-in camp classics and made them their own with gross-out gore and cringey body horror, then hunker down and contend with The Thing in all its goopy, arm-chomping glory. Did Carpenter’s classic deserve to be left out in the cold? Or was it a masterpiece merely imitating a box office bomb? Zip up your parka, secure your blood bags, and prepare for a not-so-silent night, because this is one story of immaculate reproduction that isn’t so blessed.

Follow us 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 so more folks check out the show!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which includes 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

79: “We End Up In Bed Together” – The X-Files Part 2

Last time on the podcast, we shared our own histories with the X-Files from back When We Were Young – so listen to Episode 78 for Part 1 of this conversation. Here in the second installment, we talk about some of the most impactful and fan-favorite episodes from the course of the show, as well as the X-Files Movie: Fight The Future – and we discuss the cultural impact of The X-Files and its online fan community.

Do we get drawn deeply into the mythology arc where Mulder and Scully seek to uncover the truth about extraterrestrial life? Do we think David Duchovny can actually act? And in the inevitable Buffy vs X-Files showdown, can any of us truly win?

Follow us 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 so more folks check out the show!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which includes 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

78: “Nobody Down Here But The FBI’s Most Unwanted” – The X-Files

The Truth Is Out There… but so are lies. And so are two extremely beautiful FBI agents. And so is a Fluke Man who lives in the sewer, but also hides out in Porta-Potties! The WHEN WE WERE YOUNG podcast continues our Quarantine Indoor Summer Slam by revisiting Chris Carter’s THE X-FILES, the long-running smash hit Fox TV drama starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny as FBI Agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder, respectively. In this first X-amination, we uncover the shocking truth about each of our hosts’ pasts with the X-Files, our love for the lead actors, the history of the series and its creator Chris Carter, and we rewatch the pilot.

The X-Files brought spooky atmospherics and an hour of stories of little green men, government conspiracies, and sometimes-silly-sometimes-terrifying “monsters of the week” to primetime TV audiences throughout the 90s. And it made science fiction horror into unexpected ratings and Emmys gold for many years of its original 9-season run. Beyond just Nielsen ratings and statuettes, The X-Files deeply influenced TV drama itself and built a new template for “procedural” television dramas emulated by countless shows today.

Delight as our hosts uncover the mysteries of which of us actually watched the X-Files first – it’s not who you think! Find out which of our hosts lives on a rolling platform under his bed – it’s probably exactly who you think! So much is revealed – and there is STILL so much left to uncover! Tune back in a few days from now when we upload the second episode of our invXtigation, covering all the most important and fan-who-is-Seth-favorite episodes of the series.

Follow us 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 so more folks check out the show!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which includes 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

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