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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:27:41 — 84.7MB)

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Do you feel the need? The need to speed back to the 80s and bro out with Iceman, Wolfman, Slider, Viper, Goose, and Maverick all over again? If so, you’ll love Part One of our cruise through the career of the galaxy’s biggest superstar (don’t tell Xenu), starting with the 1986 blockbuster that first catapulted him to worldwide fame – TOP GUN.

The name “Tom Cruise” may be synonymous with movie stardom now, but back in 1986, he was still best known for his undie-baring breakout in the teen sex comedy RISKY BUSINESS, so having him headline an action-packed military drama was a bit of a gamble. Of course, Top Gun ended up topping all expectations, becoming the year’s highest-grossing film, launching a killer soundtrack, winning an Academy Award for the soaring romantic ballad “Take My Breath Away,” and cementing its place in history as one of the most iconic 80s movies.

Now, as Top Gun approaches its 35th anniversary with a long-awaited sequel on the horizon, it’s time to find out whether these boys are still worth playing with after all these years – or if we’ve lost that loving feeling for this classic dad flick. So take a deep breath, get inverted, and select your wingman carefully, because we’re heading right into the danger zone of Reagan-era jingoism and mid-80s machismo – and we’re not stopping until we’re going Mach 2 with our hair on fire. (Whatever that means!) Will we take Top Gun to bed, or lose it forever?

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!

Donate to 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 via our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:19:14 — 125.8MB)

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In our latest episode, we answer the existential question that has plagued mankind for centuries:

Who you gonna call?

Join us as we take a look back at Ivan Reitman’s groundbreaking action-comedy GHOSTBUSTERS (1984) and its spooky, silly sequel GHOSTBUSTERS II (1988). The film that launched a thousand merchandise opportunities, “Ghostbusters” began as something VERY different in the mind of co-writer and co-star Dan Aykroyd and ended up being one of the most successful movie franchises of all time.

Nearly 40 years after the original film’s debut, does “Ghostbusters” stand proudly like the Statue of Liberty strolling through the streets of Manhattan? Or is it more like a river of slime? We’ve got some unfinished business with Peter, Ray, and Egon – and, unlike the movie, we don’t forget Winston.

We ain’t afraid of no ghosts… but we are a little anxious about incurring the wrath of Ghostbusters loyalists with our critique of these beloved films.

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!

Donate to 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 via our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:56:49 — 125.6MB)

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If you’re a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, a magic bean buyer, or you just hate doing dishes and taking the garbage out, you’ll surely find something to relate to in our episode on celebrated author, illustrator, poet, and all-around Renaissance Man Shel Silverstein.

Though WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS was first published in 1974, long before we were even born, Silverstein’s groundbreaking poetry collection was a staple in classrooms, on library shelves, and at bedtime throughout our childhoods, along with later volumes A LIGHT IN THE ATTIC and FALLING UP.

Award-winning author Elissa Brent Weissman joins us for a look at how writing for young readers has changed in the decades since we were young readers ourselves. Then we discuss Uncle Shelby’s salacious origins (far outside the realm of children’s fiction) and have a heated debate about what his massively popular children’s book THE GIVING TREE is really about. Finally, we dive back into Silverstein’s poetry to share which pieces still strike a chord with us.

Revisit Hungry Kid Island, get reacquainted with Ridiculous Rose, and fire up the Homework Machine one last time, because we’ve got some flax golden tales to spin in the latest episode of When We Were Young — the only podcast that 10 out of 10 tree stumps agree makes them happy.

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!

Donate to 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 via our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:38:53 — 94.9MB)

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If you’re nostalgic for the summers of your youth, there’s a chance you’re likely also pining for the first time you watched MY GIRL (1991) and MY GIRL 2 (1994). In When We Were Young’s Manic My Girl Monday episode, we discuss the surprising lack of child-friendly drama flicks and reflect on how we spent our summer breaks as kids before launching into our discussion of the movie that made children and adults everywhere break down in tears.

Does the coming-of-age story of Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky) and her beloved bespectacled bee-inflicted best friend Thomas J. (Macaulay Culkin) still turn on the waterworks, or does it just not work? How many of you older millennials are crying right now just thinking of Vada bawling, “He can’t see without his glasses!”? Be honest!

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!

PLEASE 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: 1:52:51 — 100.3MB)

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It’s Part Two of (deep breath) the When We Were Young Early Late Mid-to-Late 90s Summer Alien Invasion Spectacular, taking on the top alien flicks to invade 1997! In our latest episode, here come the MEN IN BLACK (clap clap), Barry Sonnenfeld’s massively successful action-comedy starring Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, and a slew of Oscar-worthy makeup effects.

We also take a look back at Robert Zemeckis’s metaphysical and emotional drama CONTACT, which launched Jodie Foster into space to meet a very different kind of alien. (Or did it?!) Despite being released at the peak of UFO mania in the 1990s, these films could not be more different.

Jump on our spaceship as we fly through a wormhole back to 1997 to decide if the Men in Black still make the summer blockbuster look good, or if we’d rather make contact with a movie adapted from an astrophysicist’s book.

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!

Give us some sugar to 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