EP. 327.5 — Last Looks: The First Power

Paul Scheer [00:00:00] If you’re in L.A., visit the stallhouse. But when you do, make sure you’re standing in a right side up Pentagram We’ll get into all the reasons why, and so much more, on today’s episode of Last Looks. Places, please.

Music [00:00:14] [Last Looks Intro Song]

Paul Scheer [00:00:30] Hello, my buddy boys. I’m your resurrected demon serial killer Paul Scheer, a.k.a. Tall John. And welcome to How Did This Get Made Last Looks with you the listener, get to voice your issues on The First Power. Jason and I will answer your listener phone calls and we will reminisce about some forgotten TV shows. Plus, as always, I will reveal next week’s movie, and at the end of the episode, I will share an exclusive bonus scene from our First Power show live in Boston. First things first, a giant shout out to A.C. Gravy for that opening theme, AC. I love it. And you’ve inspired me and I continue to sound the bell. Ask you to pick up the gantlet, get in the ring and submit a brand new How Did This Get Made theme song. We are looking to just spice up the show. Maybe we will find a winner that will replace the amazing song that we have. I mean, we love. We love the song that we have, but maybe it’s time for something new. Or maybe we could just rotate it. I don’t know. Send us a song. Convince us that we deserve a new theme song. All right, so let’s get into it. Last week, we talked at length about The First Power of movie that Discord user Anna Guerin thinks could add the tagline “Lou and Me and the Devil makes three.” I like that. I mean, it very much feels like a tagline this movie could have had. I like that in this tagline universe, they’re just calling them Lou. Like they’re like, We don’t care. His character’s name. It’s Lou. We know it’s Lou. I mean, we know it’s LDP. Reminds me of a story that I heard about Will Smith, young actor, was getting on a brand new show, and he said, you know, if you have any power here, you have to use it to get them to change your character’s name to your actual real name. And the guy’s like, Why? And he says, Because when this show is a hit and it will be a hit, people are going to run after you and they’re going to be shouting your character’s name. And it’s so much better for them to be calling you your name than some character that you played ten years ago. Take it from Will Smith. Any aspiring actors out there? When this strike is eventually over, just start calling yourself by your regular name on all shows. Why not? Why not? Ethan Hunt. Tom Hunt. Denzel. Always Denzel. We don’t need a fancy name unless it’s a cool name. Unless you have a really cool name. You just keep your regular names, keep your regular name. And unless it really has a good ring to it. That’s all I’d say. But I mean, honestly. Name me a Denzel Washington character. Name me a Tom Cruise character Maverick. His callsign, but come on, it’s hard. All right. Anyway. Let’s get into it. We had questions about the first power, and we might have even missed a few things. Here is your chance to set us straight. Fact Check us, if you will. It is time for corrections and omissions.

Music [00:03:35] [Corrections and Omissions Song]

Paul Scheer [00:04:02] Yes. Rob from Long Island. Always hitting it out of the park. Love it. Let’s go to the Discord. W Rev Cam writes regarding the question of why the killer didn’t just possess the main characters and be done with it. Someone gave exposition when they were looking at the catatonic guy in the jail and said the killer could only take over people who are more susceptible, especially from drugs, alcohol and mental illness. Oh, okay. I think the cop boss was a drunk. But why? The killer could have got the nun later. I’m not really that sure. Maybe she was already injured. Oh, does injury help there, too. Okay. All right. I like this. Maybe the movie’s saying, like religion’s a mental illness. No, that’s an interesting thing that I totally forgot, and it makes sense. But I also felt the movie doesn’t fully commit to that. Kat says “Paul, rightfully, thank God, rightfully pointed out how bad of a shot LDP was in this movie. But no one mentioned that in one of the many Chase scenes, he aims at a shadow and shoots. LDP sees a still shadow on a wall and fires at it.” Yeah, this is a time in movies where actors playing cops shot at everything. I believe Lou Diamond Phillips gets out of bed with a gun in hand. So you know what a shadow look. Maybe saw Roger Rabbit. He knows shadows can just, like, peel themselves off the wall. I don’t know, but you got to shoot at a shadow just to make sure it’s a shadow. That’s what I would say. Always shoot at your shadow. It’s like trying to step on your shadow, but more violent. Jo Tangelo writes, “When Tess first called LDP, she made him promise that the killer wouldn’t get the death penalty. She then got mad at him after he was executed. Now, I don’t work in law or law enforcement, but does the detective that brings down a criminal have any say in their sentencing? I mean, I can’t imagine they’d be able to tell a judge or a prosecutor how someone should be sentenced.” Yeah. It seems to me weird that even if she tried to lobby for such a thing for a serial killer, people would be like, Huh? Get the fuck out of here. I mean, the fact that he was interviewed on the courthouse steps even is a bold move. That was something that we saw so much in movies. Like when we were kids. Like, you got to interview the cop on the courthouse steps. I don’t think I ever see a cop being interviewed. Ever. All right. Let’s go to the phones. Greg from Montana. What do you got?

Listener [00:06:38] Hey, Paul. I wanted to talk about the Pentagram medallion that she wields in the first tower. So the pentagram was kind of co-opted as a Christian symbol once upon a time. And then it became associated with the occult, with the idea that you could draw that figure on the ground with a circle around it. You could, like, stand inside of it and summon whatever demon and the demon couldn’t get you because you were protected by a holy symbol. And then just like a crucifix, if you hold it upside down, it becomes evil or an abomination. So our guy draws the pentagram upside down on his victims. But then when she holds the medallion up, the pentagram is actually right side up. But that leads us to our standard evil guy trope, where if you’re an extra powerful, evil guy, you’re not as affected by that kind of nonsense. And he’s able to grab her hand and flip it upside down and see you’re holding it upside down to make the pentagram upside down again. So I hope that helps. Love the show. Love you guys. Hope to see you live someday.

Paul Scheer [00:07:41] Oh, shit. You see, this is why we do this. Because we love to learn. All right. Upside down, Pentagram. That’s evil. Doesn’t work right side up, Pentagram. You’re protected. It’s like State Farm. It’s always on your side when it’s the right set up. I don’t know. I’m lost. Anyway, Anthony from Providence. What do you got?

Listener [00:08:05] Hey, Paul. I attended the first power live show in Medford. It was awesome. I just want to expand on something you mentioned. You did say that this was Eazy-E’s favorite movie, but also he wrote the song called The First Power. It’s the first track on his last album, and the track features the line, See you around Buddy Boy. And interestingly, there’s a lot of fans on YouTube who have definitely not seen the movie, who are debating the meaning of the song even 20 years later. For people thinking that it’s Eazy-E’s satanic prayer to the devil, this thinking it’s his way of tricking the devil. So I thought that was pretty funny. Anyway, that’s all I got. I just want to say again, it was a great show. I look forward to seeing you, Jason and June again when you return to New England. Thanks. Bye.

Paul Scheer [00:08:52] Oh, my God. I know this song. Okay, We got to play it. We got to play it. Look, people, we’re all adults. It’s an Easy-E song. Going to be some explicit language here, but I love that people don’t know the movie enough. This is great. Oh, I’m so excited about this. Great, great, great. All right, Scott, hit it.

Music [00:09:14] I am the resurrection and the life. He believes in me, though he died yet so.

Music [00:09:20] And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Shut up, bitch. They are not them which kill the body. Rather view him, which is able to destroy both body and soul. Inhale. Get me behind me, Satan, and push me along. All this power will do involved. Therefore you will shoot me. Oh, she’ll be gone. Maybe it shows you walk through the door backwards. Heaven and art. Which father? Our our father who art in heaven. Hey mother fucker. See around, buddy boy.

Paul Scheer [00:09:57] It’s a little taste. You can go find that wherever you listen to Easy-E. Mike from Orlando. Always love an Orlando call. What do we got?

Listener [00:10:05] Hey, Paul. I just watched the first power. So the psychic’s house I recognize and I realize it’s Tim Allen’s house and Galaxy Quest. And I looked it up, it’s called Stahlhouse, and it’s a tourist attraction. So you live in that area, if I’m not mistaken. What’s the story there? Thanks a lot. Love you guys.

Paul Scheer [00:10:25] Okay. So we actually did mention it was a Stahlhouse in the episode, but I love this connection that you pulled here to Galaxy Quest, which is something I totally forgot. The StahlHouse does offer tours to the public. If you want to go take a tour of the house, let me know. I think it is truly one of the, it’s a beautiful historical landmark. You go on their website here and they’ll tell you everything about it. It’s a tourist attraction, but here’s what I’ll say. I’ll read you what the website says. It’s beautiful. It looks just like. Like how it was in Galaxy Quest. The Stahlhouse is a historical, cultural landmark of the city of Los Angeles. It was deemed that in 1999 and 2007, the American Institute of Architects listed the Stahlhouse as one of the top 150 structures on their America’s favorite architecture list, one of only 11 in Southern California. The House was included in a list of the all time top ten houses in L.A. in a Los Angeles Times survey of experts in December of 2008 and in 2013, this Stahlhouse became listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Wow. Very, very cool. I’m looking around. I may go visit the Stahlhouse. You know, the caller said I live near there. I mean, I used to, but not anymore. And that was like when I first move out to L.A. That’s a kind of above the Whole Foods on that kind of Hollywood Hills area. Let’s check out the Stahlhouse. Let’s go. Fieldtrip, everybody. Let’s go. And dress as our characters from our favorite characters from the first Power. Back to the Discord Lizard Breath writes, “When Tess has the vision of LDP getting an ax to the head, the hotel she runs there and does the exact same thing she did in her vision. Why didn’t LDP get axed this time? Shouldn’t she have yelled something different or pushed him out of the way to create a different outcome?” Yes. This movie is stupid. I don’t believe Tess. Tess. By the way, if she’s a psychic, she would have known that the guy was going to get the death penalty to the point earlier in this. Oh, brother. Dennis C Abrams writes this “Paul wondered if the nun was in nun jail. It does look like she was in a monastic cell, a pretty common living arrangement for a monk or a nun, sparse accommodations to facilitate a focus on spirituality. She may have even been an anchoress who are especially esthetic. Back in the day, they were instances where they were walled up in their cells and unable to leave.” Now that is devotion. It felt like she was walled up in there because. She only had that little that little like keyhole to look out of or that little door slot. All right, let’s find out. Was that nun an anchoress? I didn’t even know what an anchoress was but walled up in their cells. Does that mean that they put the cement bricks there? And then how do they get food in? I don’t know. Probably not the first to point this out, but the first power sounds a lot like the movie Fallen with Denzel Washington, which came out eight years later. Okay. Now, Scott notes, He told me, “But Zaro’s right, because here’s the plot description of Fallen after witnessing the execution of a serial killer, Edgar Reece, who he arrested, Detective John Hobbs and his partner Jonesy, are soon investigating another murderer whose M.O. is eerily similar to Reece’s. Okay. The trail leads to an unlikely foe a demon who can leap from person to person and possess them at will. Fallen. When did Denzel make this? Fallen has a 40% score on Rotten Tomatoes compared to First Powers 25%. Which means I think somebody call Avril. We got to do it. We got to do it. I think we got to do Fallen. All right. So many great corrections and omissions this week. But there can only be one winner, one person who really brought it. And, you know, honestly, I learned a lot this week. I learned about Pentagrams, I learned about Eazy-E, I learned about the Stahl House. But you know what? I think for the first time, somebody has picked a movie for this podcast right here and corrections and omissions without actually saying, do this movie. And I believe that is Batzaro Batzaro, you are our winner. And you get this amazing song from Caleb Guillot. Hit it.

Music [00:14:55] [Winner’s Song]

Paul Scheer [00:15:15] Thank you, Caleb. Awesome song. Remember, if you want to submit your movie tagline or chime in with your own thoughts about the latest episode. Hit the Discord at Discord.gg/HDTGM or call us at 619-PAUL-ASK. Coming up, Jason and I will answer listener phone calls and chat about forgotten TV shows and how we remember them. All right, stick around.

Paul Scheer [00:15:36] Welcome back. You’ve noticed that every Monday, How Did This Get Made, we are rereleasing older episodes. We like to put them back in the rotation. This week’s Matinee Monday was cellular with Ike Barinholtz and Aaron Gibson. This week, we are going to honor the news that the original Country Bear Jamboree show in the Magic Kingdom is finally going to be replaced. Now that I don’t think it’s full news because I know it’s pretty much closed everywhere else, it’s not in L.A. We went to go see the holiday show, but I dragged my dad when we were in Tokyo to go see the Country Bear Jamboree in Tokyo. Disneyland. World or whatever they call it there. And it was awesome. But they’re replacing it. And so, you know what? We’re going to celebrate these country bears a little bit more as we rerelease our episode on the Country Bears with Kulap. So keep on checking out our old episodes every single Monday and also check out Kulap’s show Add to Cart, which I love. You know, it’s coming up Christmas, December. Well, not that much, but I will come back on that show to give my ultimate Christmas list. I got to get thinking. Anyway, let’s get into just a little bit of chat. Me and Jason, we’re going to answer some phone calls. We really get off track very quickly. We go down rabbit holes. We’re talking about old sitcoms. And honestly, I feel like this is a mini podcast right here. Oh, I also want to just say to this. Would anyone be interested in June and I doing a Survivor Recap podcast? Like in the How Did This Get Made feed? I don’t think we’re going to launch a brand new podcast, but I kind of want to do it. June and I are a little bit obsessed with it. I feel like we should. I don’t know if that’s against strike rules. I’ll figure it out anyway. Anton Wellen, You don’t have to worry about any of that. All you have to worry about is creating a theme for just chat. And here it is.

Music [00:17:27] [Just Chat Song]

Paul Scheer [00:17:49] Thank you, Anton. All right, Jason. Let’s go to the phones.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:17:54] Oh, yeah. Coming at you, WHDTGM. The caller is on the line.

Paul Scheer [00:18:02] Get him on. Get him on.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:18:03] Who are you? Where are you calling from? Xuxa this year, man.

Listener [00:18:07] This is Eddie from La mirada. A little bit of trivia about Switch. There was a bizarre TV commercial where they just cut in the name Jimmy Smits at the end. Not starring Jimmy Smits. Not with Jimmy Smits. Look it up. It became a running joke on Mystery Science Theater 3000 for years. And each time a character said ‘switch’ they have to say Jimmy Smits. So I think it’s on YouTube if you look it up. Switch commercial number three. Very funny stuff. I think you’ll enjoy. Thanks for the show. Love it. Bye.

Paul Scheer [00:18:36] All right. Let’s take a look.

Trailer Audio [00:18:39] After Steve died, God sent him back as a woman. To make him a better man. Now he’s putting aside male pride, and seeing life from the other side. Ellen Barkin and Blake Edwards new comedy Switch. Jimmy Smits. Rated R. Mel Blanc.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:19:04] That’s funny.

Paul Scheer [00:19:09] You know what?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:19:10] Got to be because. That’s got to be because it was he popular at the time? Was NYPD Blue on at the time? Like was this a

Paul Scheer [00:19:17] I think it was way before.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:19:19] It is. So like, is is Jimmy Smits like is Jimmy Smits the second lead of the movie? I guess he is.

Paul Scheer [00:19:25] Well, I think what it is is a had to say Ellen barkin like they had to billboard Ellen Barkin in the VO they only had like a 30 second spot. So they have like jam it in. Also, like, I have a feeling it was also like, and Jimmy Smits.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:19:45] Yes. But then they needed the and then they had to cut the ‘and’ rather. That’s funny.

Paul Scheer [00:19:50] Let me hear it one more time, Scott, because it’s too good. I just need to hear one more time.

Paul Scheer [00:19:54] Ellen Barkin in Blake Edwards new comedy Switch. Jimmy Smits. Rated R.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:20:03] It’s almost it’s funny because it’s like when Jimmy it’s when Jimmy Smits comes on screen. It’s almost like we need to identify the man on screen.

Paul Scheer [00:20:12] Right.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:20:13] It’s Jimmy Smits.

Paul Scheer [00:20:15] But it doesn’t even sound like he’s saying “And Jimmy Smits”. Like it’s like, you know, starring Ellen Barkin. And Jimmy and doesn’t even feel like it would take that long.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:20:24] I agree. I agree. It’s just Jimmy Smits. It’s it’s pretty weird. That’s funny. I like Terry because it sounds like this is a recurring mystery Science Theater 3000 joke.

Paul Scheer [00:20:35] Well, yes. And that’s something I did not know.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:20:37] I didn’t know that either. And that was it led to me wanting to ask you, what is your how much of Mystery Science theater 3000 did you consume? Because I feel like I, I, I hit it a little bit and I watched some of it, but then I didn’t stick with it and become the die hard fan that I know. A lot of people, a lot of people we know are obsessed with that show and are, you know, feel very connected to it.

Paul Scheer [00:21:02] Yeah, well, you know. I feel exactly the same way, but I did like it every time I saw it. I liked it and I thought was really funny. And I recorded them and I thought like I actually liked the middle pieces more than the movie parts. Like, I like. I like the characters, you know?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:21:18] Yeah. Like the sketches and all that stuff.

Paul Scheer [00:21:20] But then once we started doing this, I’ve really I’ve stayed away from it only because.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:21:26] There’s so much overlap. And so. No, I understand that.

Paul Scheer [00:21:29] Were you like a fan of Comedy Channel or Ha like that?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:21:33] I didn’t have them.

Paul Scheer [00:21:35] Okay, That’s where I first started watching it as well on those channels. Like there was a late night talk show called like Night After Night with Alan Havey. And that was like my that was my thing. I liked all the new shows, like the Judy Tudor’s Hosting Something or like This. And then Mystery Science Theater felt like, Oh, well, this is old stuff I want new stuff.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:21:53] We didn’t get cable because those are all cable channels, right? So we didn’t get cable until I was like, in college, I feel like. So I didn’t have access. I didn’t grow up with a TV that you could throw on, you know, TNT and they’d be showing Air Force One and you just watch it. You know, I had like a TV where you turned on like Channel 38, and at 4:00 in the afternoon, they were playing like old I Love Lucy episodes and then Harold and Maude.

Paul Scheer [00:22:20] This reminds me of my my week away with my family in Maine. Oh, because I was used to cable. And we went up there and the same thing. It was like, Oh, we have to watch Baretta. Yeah. Like, and it felt like, well.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:22:38] Yeah, Rockford Files like this was and this was what you was on. Like, I would come home from school, I would walk home from school, I would turn on Channel 38 and watch reruns of MASH as a child, as like a nine year old.

Paul Scheer [00:22:52] Oh. Coming home for me, it was. I mean, these are more kid shows, but it was always like a mix of Three’s Company. Different Strokes. Happy Days. A lot of happy days. MASH.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:23:08] Brady Bunch. But then for me, there would also be mixed in like a bunch of, like, old black and white shows as well. The I Love Lucy and Leave It to Beaver. Exactly. Like the Family block would include Leave It to Beaver and The Brady Bunch. And, you know, I mean, all of them would be clustered together.

Paul Scheer [00:23:28] Yeah, and you would. And I watched a lot of MASH and I hated MASH. I like.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:23:37] I loved it.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:23:37] To me was like, this is not for me. I want this show with the kid in the train. Like, I was so angry with it. I want what’s happening. Like, I was angry at MASH, always angry at MASH. And maybe it was because my my grandparents liked MASH, so we were forced to watch it like I was like it was not my choice.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:23:57] Oh, that’s funny.

Paul Scheer [00:23:57] But I’ve grown, too. I’ve grown to, like, MASH.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:24:00] What my favorite thing is. And I wonder if it’s out there. And I’m sure somebody will point us to a file folder that I will never click on or something. But, you know, MASH was shot single camera and a laugh track was added afterwards to the show. Right. So in America, the show MASH plays with a laugh track everywhere else the show MASH aired, the laugh track was not put in. Whoa. So there is a single camera version of that show without the laugh track. Some that exist somewhere, I assume, because.

Paul Scheer [00:24:31] That laugh track was really weird.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:24:33] Very jarring because it’s all canned. It’s all just like, piped in.

Paul Scheer [00:24:37] But every half hour show to me had a laugh track, like it was something that I knew. By the way, I got into this conversation last week on The Twitch show by myself with Molly. We were talking about this episode of Too Close for Comfort. Okay. That I remembered. Does this ring a bell to you? Too close for comfort if you don’t remember Ted Knight from Caddyshack. He was a cartoonist that kind of wrote a cartoon that I would imagine is similar to like Snoopy was called Cosmic Cow. He had two young, very vivacious daughters.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:25:10] And and the neighbor played by Jim J. Bullock, who was the psychic in the episode that we just recently did of Switch. Tes, he was the psychic switch.

Paul Scheer [00:25:23] Jim Bullock often on Hollywood Squares. Jim J. Bullock who at the time on to close for comfort was JM J. Bullock No, Jim, just JM. So I remember this.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:25:37] Oh, can I very briefly, please, just because you and I are connected to it, you and Adam Scott and some folks. Yes. Do you used to do as an adult Swim series of specials where you recreated shot for shot, the opening title sequences of like 1980s sitcoms. Were they all 80s?

Paul Scheer [00:25:57] We did Simon and Simon.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:25:59] Yeah, that’s the one I remember. I was in the Too close for Comfort one with.

Paul Scheer [00:26:04] With Jon Glaser.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:26:04] Yeah. And Kathryn Hahn and Chelsea Peretti, Catherine from SCTV and Schitt’s Creek was Catherine O’Hara. Catherine O’Hara. Jesus Christ.

Paul Scheer [00:26:14] It was an amazing cast.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:26:15] It was incredible.

Paul Scheer [00:26:16] We did four of these specials called The Greatest Show in the History of the World, hosted by Jeff Probst, and they actually are still available to be seen. If you just type in the greatest show in history of the world, They’re very funny.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:26:28] Oh yeah, it was like they were like 12 minute long Adult Swim, late night, like the kind of specials you would stumble on and be like, What on earth is this?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:26:36] It was so much fun to do because they just let us do whatever we wanted. We did Simon and Simon Too close for comfort. And I’m now I’m, oh, bosom buddies. Oh, and gosh, I can’t remember the fourth one.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:26:49] Yeah.

Paul Scheer [00:26:49] But each episode, we would kind of recreate everything. But too close for comfort was Oh, Heart to Heart was the fourth one.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:26:56] Oh, that’s a good one.

Paul Scheer [00:26:57] I always loved to close for comfort. It was one of those shows that, like you said, was just in this pack of things that I would watch That one with the, also the show with the girl when her dad was an alien and when she put her two fingers together, she would freeze time.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:27:11] Yeah. Yeah, right. What was that called? Was it. Didn’t she talk to the guy on a bedside?

Paul Scheer [00:27:17] Yes.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:27:17] A crystal a crystal box or something?

Paul Scheer [00:27:22] Yes. He was like on an Amazon echo or something like that. And there was another show called Double Trouble.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:27:30] Oh, I was in love with the Double Trouble Twins. Full stop. Like, maybe one of my first, like, legitimate I have a crush was on the Double Trouble twins. And then as we’ve talked about before, Michelle Pfeiffer in Ladyhawke.

Paul Scheer [00:27:45] I mean like these and a lot of the times like I think my first crushes were all these like young girls on these shows, like whether it was Charles in charge or anything like that show Double Trouble. By the way, like, if you you know, I felt like that show was on forever. It was on for like one season. Oh, you know.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:28:03] Well, no, it didn’t. They didn’t it wasn’t it one season. And then they moved to like the city for the second season or something. Like there was some redo of the show or something.

Paul Scheer [00:28:13] They would redo all these shows like they were right. They were like all of a sudden, take them out of their spot. And. And you know we were talking about this. We were talking about this on the show because I had a distinct memory that on Too Close for Comfort, there was an episode where Jim Jay Bullock gets raped by two women. And. And I Googled it. I Googled it really quickly, and I found the episode listing of that episode where he gets raped by these two women who are just super horny and they want to fuck. But one of the women was a very tall man in a wig. But yes, because they were trying to show how they, I guess, you know, really manhandled Jim Jay because they threw him in the back of a van. They threw him back in the house, and then they put him in a tub full of Jell-O. And it’s played it’s played up for comedy.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:29:14] I was just going to say, was this played for laughs? Was this a special episode?

Paul Scheer [00:29:18] Well, it’s tricky to do a special episode where, like, you’re you’re going for jokes. But then, oddly, as we were watching the episode back, like Ted Knight is kind of like a woke knight. He’s very much on the right side of like, No, we can’t make fun of this. We’ve got to go to the police. This is not funny. And, you know so it’s a very like he was doing the like he was moving the right way. Everyone else is making fun of Monroe. And so I remembered at the end as like, okay, I remember that event that he that he goes to confront them. And I was right. He does decide, Ted Knight decides that the cops won’t arrest these women, so they must do vigilante justice. So they have to go in the streets and find these women and then bring them to justice. I mean, this is an episode of.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:30:09] It’s like where Ted Knight becomes Batman? Ted Knight becomes the Dark Knight?

Paul Scheer [00:30:13] This is truly what is going on.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:30:16] The Ted Knight returns.

Paul Scheer [00:30:19] Please make that poster. And and so.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:30:23] And please make Ted Knight’s the Batman costume in the style of the cow that is the comic strip. Yes, the cosmic cow. Thank you.

Paul Scheer [00:30:33] This will just be something for me and Jason to look at and enjoy.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:30:36] So we’re not going to make a T-shirt out of this.

Paul Scheer [00:30:39] So when he finally gets to confront the women, they find out where they live, the women pull him into the room, throw him into a chair and start grinding on him like you’re going to give it to us. You’re going to give it to us like like give it to us. And then Ted Knight’s so afraid that he runs and jumps in like a murphy bed and then closes the Murphy bed to escape the women. And luckily, he does not he does not get sexually assaulted.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:31:09] Oh, my God.

Paul Scheer [00:31:10] Cops do come and.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:31:12] Incredible stuff. Like a YouTube channel that is just all of these like wild eighties sitcom episodes, like the ones that are truly atypical to the rest of the series because they take one big crazy swing or some well, either it’s a message episode or it’s a particularly strange storyline they decide to try and pursue because they used to just do almost flights of fancy, kind of like, Well, now in this episode this happens, you know?

Paul Scheer [00:31:43] Right. Well, I was saying that the some of these things burned into my head. We, you know, this episode, this Monroe episode is impossible to find. We actually played the whole thing on the Twitch stream because someone had it sent it to us, and then we were able to play it and watch it in real time. But do you remember the Different Strokes is the show that really messed me up because

Jason Mantzoukas [00:32:03] Oh, that child molester bike shop?

Paul Scheer [00:32:05] That one, that one was a mess messed me up. But the one that got me in my gut was Sam was the young kid on that show, the redhead kid that they brought in after like Willis and Kimberly were too old. Right. They brought in the young kid, Hoyt Axton. The dad from Gremlins was his stepfather.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:32:23] No, I don’t know that I remember this. Okay. Okay.

Paul Scheer [00:32:25] So basically, Mr. Drummond gets remarried to a younger woman who has a kid. The long story short is Sam is at a bodega in New York, in New York. And he is like trying to find the best bag of Doritos and he’s squeezing different bags of Doritos. And and this guy is like, oh, you want to you want some good Doritos? Come with me, and then kidnaps Sam. And what you find out is they bring them to his house in upstate New York.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:32:55] Wait, I mean, I do remember this.

Paul Scheer [00:32:57] Okay, good.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:32:58] Because it ends with Jim Caviezel coming and saving him from the child traffickers. Caviezel saves the day.

Paul Scheer [00:33:07] And then they decided to, like, branch it on to a longer form film. And that’s what I love about Hollywood. It’s always the thing that sticks out to me in the episodes they bring up to the house and they just don’t kidnap him. They go, Our son died. Oh, you are now our son.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:33:24] I love it.

Paul Scheer [00:33:25] And your name is and Sam anymore.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:33:27] I love it.

Paul Scheer [00:33:27] It’s Chuck. You are now Chuck and like, and he’s like, living in this house in the momma’s like, Chuck, come here. And he’s like, Yes, Mama. And he is like. And even he’d be freaking out because he doesn’t want to play. He’s trying to play the game.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:33:39] What’s amazing is it sounds like you’re describing to me an episode of like SVU. Yeah, like a like a law and order. Like grim kind of. I can’t believe we’re watching this horrible thing happen to a child. Well, and instead, it’s an episode of Diff’rent Strokes.

Paul Scheer [00:33:56] Diff’rent Strokes, and it’s like. And it was so upsetting, like, because I think that that was the thing that was that really burned in my head. Like. Oh, he had to pretend to be a different kid.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:34:06] Yeah. And when you’re a kid, that is like, wait, is this can this happen to me?

Paul Scheer [00:34:12] Yes.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:34:12] And then what a wildly irresponsible thing to show on a show aimed at children. Like, right now you might be at the store, Somebody might grab you and force you to into being a different kid.

Paul Scheer [00:34:26] Well, and that and that was like. And that’s why I look at the Monroe episode of Too Close for Comfort. And I’m also equally confused because I get it. Like on Blossom, you want to do a show about, oh, bulimia or you want to do a kidnaping show on Diff’rent Strokes because these are shows for kids where kids can learn a lesson. Hey, that bike shop owner has pornography. That’s bad. You got to tell your parents. Like, these are things that we like, don’t do drugs. But yes, too close for comfort.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:34:52] These are legitimate social messages that should be delivered to children. Right.

Paul Scheer [00:34:57] But too close for comfort is kind of like an adult show.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:35:01] It was like a 9:30 show.

Paul Scheer [00:35:03] Yes. Where it’s like, that’s not a special episode to have Monroe who is, you know, pushing his mid-twenties there. going through. Yeah, if not older.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:35:15] This was an adult, man. What is that? What is this story?

Paul Scheer [00:35:19] Well, that’s the thing that’s so bizarre is, like, what? Like, why did they feel like they wanted to tell that story? I don’t know.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:35:28] TV would just like the people just were like, I don’t know. Let’s see. What about this? You know, it just it felt like more was just possible in terms of we got to make 26 of these a year.

Paul Scheer [00:35:40] I mean, and look, we were making shows where a dad like, worked in a factory and made a robot and adopted her as a daughter. The conceit of Small Wonder is at its core, so.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:35:52] So fucked up, so fucked up. Like how like, that’s a perfect example of a show that in its from the ground up is chilling and bizarre and is fully unexamined.

Paul Scheer [00:36:07] It is really I mean, and, and it was just like, well, buy into this premise just to get you into this world like. And that was it like we just and that was and the idea was like, oh yeah, it’s like.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:36:18] It’s a family sitcom. It’s a family sitcom, just like the Hogans and just like all these other ones except one of the kids, just like Alf, except one of the kids is a robot. Don’t worry about it.

Paul Scheer [00:36:28] And then and then on the flip side of it, they would also just jettison things that did not work did not work. It’s like, okay, Charles in charge. We think that this family’s too old. Let’s bring in hot grown ups instead. They brought in hot girls. It’s like that was the thing.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:36:42] Where, like, when Laverne and Shirley, like, moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles and just lived in L.A..

Paul Scheer [00:36:52] Oh, by the way, I’m looking at double trouble. They also did that, too. They got rid of the parents.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:36:56] Yes. Yeah. And they had that. The short haired aunt. Is she their Aunt? Yes. They live in in New York City apartment with or a building with.

Paul Scheer [00:37:04] Yeah. Barbara Berry.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:37:06] Yes, love Barbara Berry.

Paul Scheer [00:37:08] Oh, my gosh. She was also, I guess, the the wife of Barney Miller.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:37:14] Oh, that’s funny. I forget that. Yeah.

Paul Scheer [00:37:16] But, I mean, these shows, it’s so funny to go back and watch them because it’s like. It’s like what are our memory of. Like, I want to go back and watch that Sam episode, too, because, like, but these images are burnt in my brain. It’s like, Yes. Yeah, I guess it was effective. I mean, I guess what we’re saying is.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:37:30] You know, you know, I will say to and people have to remember this, which I think a lot of our listeners won’t really understand, which is a lot of these TV shows and especially the episodes we’re talking about of these TV shows, we maybe only had one opportunity to see it, if not maybe two. If the episode replayed in the summer. We didn’t grow up in an environment where we could rewatch seasons of a favorite show. Or if if you were a fan of Too Close for Comfort or Magnum or any of the shows of that era, if you didn’t see it that when it aired, you missed that episode, you there was no way to rent it, watch it. The TV shows weren’t on VHS. There was nothing. There was no way to rewatch stuff. So stuff got not just imprinted in your memory, but then you would go over it and talk about it with your friends. And there was there was a way in which you would lock it in by by that, by creating the lore around it communally, not just from rewatching it obsessively, yourself.

Paul Scheer [00:38:37] Right. Cause you couldn’t you couldn’t do it.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:38:39] Didn’t have access, you know?

Paul Scheer [00:38:41] Well, then let me bring you this one one episode to you that I also remember. Do you remember a show where a guy I want to say it was Matthew Perry? I don’t think it is Matthew Perry’s way before friends. He he dies in a car accident, and the opening theme song was like he steps on a dial and if one path lights up, you go to hell. And if one path lights up, you go to heaven. And when he stepped on that dial, both paths lit up. So he got a chance to go back and try to correct his childhood version of himself. Like, I love this. I got into the shows.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:39:23] Super high concept.

Paul Scheer [00:39:25] Super high concept.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:39:27] I don’t remember that. Did you ever figure out what it was?

Paul Scheer [00:39:29] No, I’m trying to remember and I’m looking into it.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:39:32] I’ve been trying to remember a TV show for years that I cannot find any evidence of. And and I’m going to put it out to the fans now because somebody will remember. Yeah. So these are not the correct pieces of information, but in my mind, they are. In my mind, the show starred Michael Perry. It did not. Okay. I’ve looked his through his entire discography or filmography, rather. But it must have been a michael Perry type guy guy. And it was like a dramatic one hour and it was almost like 21 jump Street except grittier in that it was young people, but they were in the service of like they were a gang. But but they helped solve crimes, I think. It wasn’t Whiz kids to be clear.

Paul Scheer [00:40:18] Okay. All right, This is good. I like this idea.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:40:20] It was like very street level and it was very like warriors is what I keep coming back to. Like the movie Warriors.

Paul Scheer [00:40:28] Right, right, right.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:40:29] Like punks and, like, bad. Like it was a lot of, like, fights and rumbles and stuff. It almost felt like it was like a fifties show. But I don’t think it was I don’t remember any of this would be.

Paul Scheer [00:40:40] Called the Redhead Gang or the Red Hand Gang.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:40:43] Oh, I don’t know. Maybe. Why is?

Paul Scheer [00:40:45] Each episode was an exciting tale about various adventures and escapades that the gang encountered from comfortable versus strange, creepy folks.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:40:51] Ooh, that sounds great, though.

Paul Scheer [00:40:53] I mean, yeah, I mean, it may be, too old. It’s a it’s from, uh.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:40:58] This is like, from the mid eighties.

Paul Scheer [00:41:00] Okay, This is 77.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:41:02] No, I don’t. Yeah, I don’t think so. Although that sounds rad.

Paul Scheer [00:41:06] The redhead. Sorry. The Red Hand gang.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:41:11] Yeah, I’m looking at it now. It’s not. I don’t think it’s that. Okay, this does look fun.

Paul Scheer [00:41:16] I mean, there’s a chimpanzee involved in that.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:41:18] Oh, yeah. No, this was a deadly serious show. This was like a moody noir kind of vibe.

Paul Scheer [00:41:25] I like this. Let’s throw this down to throw.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:41:28] This is a new segment we’re doing called shows that Paul and Jason have forgotten. Help us remember.

Paul Scheer [00:41:33] But by the way, I’m going to tell you, I did this once on an episode and they help me find a movie that I was obsessed with as a kid. And I so now I know all the details. It’s a Jennifer Connelly comedy and it’s called 7 Minutes in Heaven.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:41:47] Love it. I love that movie.

Paul Scheer [00:41:49] Right? Is that a great movie?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:41:50] I love that movie. I loved that movie. Wait, did you rewatch it?

Paul Scheer [00:41:55] I bought the DVD. Yes. And I’ve been wanting to show it to June because I.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:41:59] Got to I’ve got to rewatch that. That is a movie I did rent.

Paul Scheer [00:42:03] Yes, me too.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:42:04] I was so obsessed with 7 Minutes in Heaven, I thought that movie was like it.

Paul Scheer [00:42:09] Felt like adult, like.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:42:10] Quintessence of eroticism.

Paul Scheer [00:42:12] Yeah. Oh, 100%. I was like.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:42:15] Oh, no, because they’re my age.

Paul Scheer [00:42:16] So, yeah, well, like, I felt like one of the girls is, like, having an affair with a baseball player, and it’s like. Oh.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:42:22] There’s another movie I’ve been trying to think of that I can’t remember. And again, I’ve got it all wrong because in my mind, it stars a young ish Jodie Foster and a young ish Josh Charles. Doesn’t make sense, right? Can’t be either of them. Because of the ages. None of it matters. None of it makes sense. But those are the archetypes. And it is a summer romance movie. Like one of them is in a summer town and they have like a summer romance, and then it all goes sideways and it’s like a heartbreaker. It’s like a tear jerker, like RomCom Teen Romance movie I think is kind of cool, right? Anyway, that’s the other one that I keep being like.

Paul Scheer [00:43:00] All right, I love it. Again, we’ve thrown down the gantlet and. All right. We will see what people will come up with. I’m excited for it. Jason, Great talking old sitcoms with you.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:43:11] Home run.

Paul Scheer [00:43:12] Home run.

Paul Scheer [00:43:15] Alright, pleasure. Oh, he’s talking about the shows, man. This really that conversation really sent me down a rabbit hole. I’ve been on a YouTube binge of old sitcoms, and they’re crazy. I love them. I know. It’s a crazy like, Oh, they’re crazy. No, but like ewhat we took for, like, things have changed, and I almost feel like I want to go back to some of that style of a sitcom. It’d be great. Just in like a minute and twenty second opening. Too close for comfort. Yeah. Get into it anyway. Call us any time. Me and Jason are here to answer your question, 619-PAUL-ASK. That’s 619 PAUL ASK. Now that we got the first power out of the way, let’s talk about next week’s movie. We are going from Lou Diamond to Neil Diamond. That’s right. Next week we are watching the 1973 film adaptation of the bestselling book Jonathan Livingston Seagull, with an original soundtrack written and recorded by the one, the only Neil Diamond. Okay, this movie is bonkers. I’m going to tell you right now, you’re not going to like this movie at all. It’s going to be a pain to get through. But I think it’s one of the best because we’ve ever done. It’s insane. It is is an art piece. It’s crazy. What’s the plot? Nonconformist Seagull Jonathan is tired of his boring life and experiments with a brand new flying technique. But when the elders expel him from his clan, he decides to explore his newfound freedom. And yes, this movie is made entirely of real life seagull footage with human actors voicing the sequels. Yes. And animals were harmed in this movie. We know. We know. It has to be true. Rotten Tomatoes gives this film an 8% score and made a meter. Roger Ebert walked out of the screening after 45 minutes, making it one of the only four films he ever walked out on. Normally, this is when I would play you a quick trailer for the movie, but the trailer is literally just footage of seagulls set to a Neil Diamond song. So I thought, instead I give you a little peek behind the curtain of How Did This Get Made live show. What you don’t normally hear on the podcast is that I play the trailer of the movie for the audience before we start the show, and we’ll take a listen to how the audience reacted to watching this trailer.

Paul Scheer [00:45:21] We’re not recording yet, all right but it seems to me like you want to watch more of it. So let’s take a look at the trailer for Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

Trailer Audio [00:45:45] [Music]

Paul Scheer [00:46:19] Okay. The trailer actually continues through over two more minutes. And then when it was over, I decided if they didn’t like it that much, we needed to play it again.

Paul Scheer [00:46:32] Oh, my gosh. That was amazing. You know what? We actually did have a small technical difficulty. Let’s play it again.

Audience [00:46:37] NO!!! [Unruly crowed noises]

Paul Scheer [00:46:53] We wouldn’t do that to you! Holy shit. You guys are already the best audience. We have even started yet.

Paul Scheer [00:47:05] I love it. I love New York. Anyway, we are almost to the end of this episode. Before we go check out this bonus scene from our first power show where we discuss other actors who we’d like to cast in the movie’s lead roles.

Paul Scheer [00:47:18] What’s your name?

Audience Member [00:47:20] I’m Elena. I. So the killer in the movie was. I don’t know if people know this. Nick Cave, the Australian goth rocker, auditioned for this role, which would have been amazing. And I’m wondering what other, like, if this movie was recast. Who would you cast? I have a vote for Jo Firestone as the.

Paul Scheer [00:47:45] As the psychic?

Audience Member [00:47:47] No.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:47:47] No, the bag lady.

Audience Member [00:47:48] The bag lady.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:47:50] That’s just curly hair. You just want a different curly hair to be in.

Paul Scheer [00:47:55] Well, look, I’m already saying that I believe that one of the shirts in contention should be Bosch on the first power poster.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:48:03] It would be good.

Paul Scheer [00:48:03] I feel like that we should just get that out there.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:48:06] But also, imagine how good this movie would have been. Again, this always works. It works every single time. Instead of Lou Diamond Phillips, who I think is fantastic as an actor, but instead it’s Nicolas Cage. The movie is just absolutely riveting. Nicolas Cage, going toe to toe with Jeff could be incredible.

June Diane Raphael [00:48:31] I actually have an important request for Tess.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:48:34] Okay.

June Diane Raphael [00:48:35] And I think this would have changed everything, Meg Ryan, because I think you needed someone who is a little bit more kind of flighty, a little bit more all over the place, a little bit more charming. And yeah, I think maybe.

Paul Scheer [00:48:52] All right. June, if you say that I’m going to say Dennis Quaid as Lou Diamond Phillips, but then I’m going to go. Let’s go one step further. Billy Crystal. Billy Crystal is a great homicide detective.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:49:06] Absolutely not.

Paul Scheer [00:49:09] All right. That is it for the show. Please remember to rate and review. It helps. And if you listen on Apple Podcasts, make sure you are following us. Visit us on social media @HDTGM. And a big thanks to our producers, Scott, Sonne, Molly Reynolds, our movie picking producer, Avril Halley, our engineers Casey Holford and Rich Garcia, and Jess Cisneros, who makes our amazing social media videos. We’ll see you next week for, and I apologize in advance, Jonathan Livingston Seagull.