EP. 351.5 — Last Looks: Thunderpants (w/ Jake Brennan)

Paul Scheer [00:00:00] Fart Boy Walking! Anthony Bourdain, Cooler than a Rock star? And is Thunder Pants just a Bible story in disguise? All this and more on today’s How Did This Get Made Last Looks. At the theme!

Music [00:00:19] [Last Looks Intro Song]

Paul Scheer [00:01:06] Hello to all my Allens out there. I’m your host, Paul P Paul. That’s right. And welcome to How Did This Get Made Last Looks. Were you the listener get to voice your issues on Thunder Pants. A movie the discord user Side of McG thinks could have also been called “The farting of the opera.” I like that. The fart, the farting of the opera. Did I sell the right way? I get what you’re going for and it works. Thank you. Side of McG for that alt title. Remember, if you have an alt movie or a tagline to one of the films that we did, please submit it on our discord and we may just read it on this show and maybe I’ll nail it and maybe I won’t, but it doesn’t matter. I’m going to read it. And coming up on today’s episode, after Corrections and omissions, we will get an exclusive deleted scene from our Thunder Pants Live show. Jake Brennan, the host of Disgraced Land, stops by for a really great just chat with me and Jason and we are all fans of each other. We’re talking about Anthony Bourdain, David Bowie, and meeting people in movies that we cover on this podcast, plus a whole lot more. And lastly, as always, I will reveal the movie for next week’s episode, people. Troll 2 is finally being tackled by How Did This Get Made and why are we doing it? Well, we’re doing it to raise some money for MoveOn.org. We’re doing a virtual live show on September 6th at 5 p.m. Pacific, 8 p.m. eastern. Only people in the United States of America can watch the live virtual show because of campaign finance laws, but everyone will be able to hear the actual show because we will release it as a regular podcast. But if you’re bummed out, you’re mad. Paul, we’ve been waiting for a virtual show for so long, how could you do this to me? Well, let me tell you something. We will do another virtual show for you just in time for the holidays. Now we are almost sold out for New York. We’ll be there on November 15th. I think there’s a handful of seats left, but we’ll be at the Town Hall Theater as part of the New York Comedy Festival. My book, Joyful Recollections of Trauma is available wherever you get your books, your ebooks or your audiobooks. And if you want a personalized copy, let me tell you, go to my website. Head on over to the link that says get a personalized copy. It will take you to Chevaliers bookstore, where I will write whatever you want in the book and send it to you. I just did it today. I signed about 100 books, and it was awesome. I love doing that. And, as we do these live shows, I’ll find other ways to continue to sign the book. Now that’s all the plugs I got, so let’s get into it. Last week we talked at length about Thunder pants. We had questions and we might have even missed a few things. Here is your chance to set a straight fact. Check us if you will. It is now time for corrections and omissions.

Music [00:03:54] [Corrections and Omissions Song]

Paul Scheer [00:04:01] Thank you Todd Fronower for that theme song. Let’s go to the discord now. Early bird writes “The scene where the students stripped Patrick down to his underwear was actually based on something that happened to the writer Phil Hughes when he was a kid.” Oh, that’s that’s nice. Look at that. “But even worse than that, when it came to shooting the scene, Bruce Cook, who played Patrick, understandably got nervous. So to help relax him, his father stripped down to his underwear.” I mean, I don’t know if that’s worse than. Well, I don’t know. I would think that the director would strip down and that would be like a sign of, like, camaraderie, but the father doing it. Maybe that is weird. Anyway, that’s not the only weird thing from this movie. “Also, at the premiere of the film, they apparently gave out whoopee cushions to everyone attending, and the audience then broke the world record for the most people sitting and simultaneously farting on whoopee cushions.” Wow. This movie is the gift that keeps on giving. Monorail Times writes “They were absolutely cashing in on Rupert Grinperts’s Harry Potter fame, by the way.” I have a Rupert Grinpert shirt. I have two of them and I love them and they’re super comfortable. I have one of them is like a baseball tee. It’s perfect. “He is very featured on the DVD cover. And he isn’t even in character.” I think that’s a thing that I wasn’t able to articulate. Yes, Rupert Grint is on the cover, but not in character. It’s just a picture of him. And when you look at the DVD cover, Rupert is older, right? So it’s like he’s no glasses, no curly hair. They basically CGI to his head, or he’s like Harry Potter face on his younger body. Really weird. Check it out for yourself. It’s worthy of of seeing what they did there. I believe they did that to Adam Sandler in a movie on a cruise ship. Like he’s in one scene. Anyway, Danny of The Wall writes, “Is Thunder Pants a Bible story? Because Patrick Smash has a miraculous birth like Moses. He is ostracized for a special gift, becomes a tool for others to gain power. Like Joseph, he is strung up to pillars for punishment like Samson, and is redeemed and carried away before his death like Elijah. And the biggest of all, everyone thinks he had died, but he returns to be a savior for those adrift, shepherding them back to their rightful place. Is Thunder Pants the greatest story ever told?” Yes, every story is essentially a Bible story. And you broke it down, Danny the wall. Holy shit. You know what? Fuck it, you won. I’m going to tell you that right now because that was a great correction omission. I don’t think anyone can beat it. As a matter of fact, I’m going to put money, but I’m going to be open. I’m going to be honest with it. If someone beats it, I’m going to steal away from you, Danny. All right, let’s go to the phones. First up, we have Carrie the librarian. Carrie, what do you got?

Listener [00:06:50] Hey, Paul, June and Jason, I’m calling about the Thunderpants episode because I thought, as a former elementary student, teacher. Sorry. I’m also an elementary student and, current children’s librarian. I might be able to clear up some of the things that seemed confusing and strange to you. So, I don’t know if you realize that Thunder Pants is based on the picture book Underpants, Thunder pants, and things like the names Alan A. Alan, and Placetow P Placetow are super on brand for a picture book. And not only are they, you know, weird and fun, but it makes the, name Patrick Smash unique and stick out so the protagonist is more noticeable for the audience. The coloration, the all green, and you know, that stuff like that, almost like a cartoon is another very, picture book style thing. Things like that. Weird storylines, bizarre names. You know, weird colors, weird everything is part of what makes picture books appealing to kids. So I hope that helps clear all of that up. Real quick, I just wanted to say that, I love you guys for everything, but I particularly love you for all of the love that you give to libraries and librarians. It just it makes me so happy. And I love that you guys understand that librarians exist for more than just books, but for the community as a whole. And also, Paul, your book is awesome. I haven’t finished it yet, but I’m sure the whole thing is awesome. And, you should consider possibly doing readings at libraries. We love when authors read their books, so just and idea. Love you guys. Bye.

Paul Scheer [00:08:36] I love this description, by the way. Carrie, did you know that I was in the. Or. I was at, I should say, the San Diego Library conference. It was basically San Diego Comic-Con for librarians. And I met so many amazing librarians. And it was such a fun night. I got to perform. I got to sign. I had a absolute blast. Librarians are amazing. And you’re right. There are so many, great things that you all do. And many of you, told me to stop or actually open up my world to canopy to, make sure that I am also hitting all the other services that the library has. So that is because of my visit in San Diego with those librarians. Thank you for your love of my book. Normally that would get you an automatic, win this week, but Danny of the wall still is pretty strong. I appreciate you breaking down how children’s books work. Maybe I should write a children’s book. Is that, maybe I don’t know. Seems like a lot of people do that, but. We’ll see. Anyway, next call. What do we got? Joe from Sheffield.

Listener [00:09:42] Hi, Paul, Jason, June. I was at the show in Belfast for Thunderpants. And I’m the guy who asked the Jacob’s Ladder question about that. Jason. And, the guy June accused of flirting with Paul. Firstly, I just wanted to say thank you guys so much for the POG. It’s a great show and you’ve helped me and, so many other people get through some, some tough years, the last few years, and you’re just bringing that cheers up every week has been it’s been really fantastic. But, I was calling to let you know that I started the Alan chant. I’m not quite sure where it came from. I was about three quarters of the way into a bottle of wine, and it was standing only at the back, but, I don’t know. I just started it, and to my surprise, people joined in. It was pretty out of character for me, but, I just thought I’d put that on record. So thank you again, and I hope you guys come back. If you do, please come to Sheffield. Thanks. Bye bye.

Paul Scheer [00:10:42] Joe, I don’t know what got into you, but that glass of wine or that bottle of wine, I should say, created one of the best moments in the show. Yes. June is very jealous of you and our, our flirting. But I appreciate you, getting that going. That is the perfect energy that we need. Thank you, Joe. And honestly, for starting the Alan chant. You are. I mean, you are the winner of that show. I don’t know if you’re going to be the winner of this Last Looks, but I appreciate that you called in. Finally, Larry from Michigan.

Listener [00:11:17] Hey. Hi. Thunder pants. I can’t believe nobody pointed out that the kid wanted to be an Ass-tronaut. It makes me giggle every time I think about it. And you should also look up the late 1800s fartists, that appeared at the Moulin Rouge. He could do a lot of things with his but too. All right. Love you guys. Bye.

Paul Scheer [00:11:49] Larry. Wow. Wow. Wow. You knew that I had thrown down the gantlet. Can you beat it? Can you beat Danny the Wall? And you might have done it. Holy shit. Ass-tronaut. Astronaut. How did we miss that? And now you got me, Google. And now you got me googling this guy, Joseph Pujo, who is known as the gas maniac. I didn’t even know that this is a  thing. He was worked as a baker boy in Marseilles to headline the Moulin Rouge. He hit the big time with such flatulent routines as blowing out candles, playing the French national anthem with a flute, and farting renditions of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which it lasted for more than five minutes. That’s right. Holy moly, that is amazing. He is the David Blaine of farting. Wow. Wow, wow. All right, back to the discord, Johnny Unusual. This is interesting, right? “Apparently, Paul Giamatti is legit proud of this movie, and will praise it whenever it’s brought up. And here is a clip of Paul Giamatti talking about it recently when doing press for The Holdovers.”

Interview Audio [00:13:02] Paul, do you still think that Thunderpants is the best film that you’ve ever made?

Paul Giamatti [00:13:06] I think Thunder Pants is one of the most remarkable movies I’ve been in. Thunder pants is a British kids movie about a kid who farts uncontrollably. It is a brilliant movie. I’m not kidding. It’s one of the most unique movies I’ve been.

Interview Audio [00:13:20] Oh, it’s live action.

Paul Giamatti [00:13:23] It’s got the kid, Rupert Grint, the kid from the Harry Potter movies before he did the Harry Potter movies. I think it’s actually kind of an amazing movie. I really don’t know if it’s the best movie I’ve been in. I don’t know if I ever said that. But I think it’s a great movie.

Paul Scheer [00:13:37] Thank you, Johnny, for that. Wow. Everyone’s coming correct this week. Cult Miserere writes “There’s a deleted scene which you can watch on YouTube, where you see that before Patrick was put in front of the firing squad, they tried to kill him in a gas chamber. However, the gas chamber failed because he built up such a tolerance to gas.” Yikes. That is dark. Now, when you do watch a scene and you. Maybe you should. Or maybe you should. I don’t know. There is, a prison guard who’s escorting Patrick down death row. And instead of the guard yelling, dead man walking, he yells, fart boy walking! As a matter of fact, Scott, play fart boy walking.

Movie Audio [00:14:20] Fart boy walking! Fart boy walking!

Paul Scheer [00:14:22] That’s appealing. I want that as a ringtone. Can we make that ring tone? Can we put that on the discord? Fart boy walking. All right. Fun facts, man. Oh, man, you guys are killing it. Fun facts 47 writes “Since this movie focused around farting, one of the most important elements is the sound of the farts themselves. One of the foley artists for Thunder Pants is Ricky Butts. Can’t be a coincidence.” Yeah, I see it right there. You’re not lying. Ricky Butts in there. Maybe that’s a joke. Wow wow wow, wow. You know, I was so convinced the Danny of the wall got it. Then I met Carrie, the library, and then I met Joe. Joe who started the chant, the Allen chant. Then Larry from Michigan, who had the best observation. Then we get this clip of Paul Giamatti. Oh my God, oh my God. I got to say though, the thing that blew my mind, the thing that really opened up everything was sometimes it’s right in front of our face and we miss it. And Larry from Michigan, it was right in front of our face. Ass-tronaut. And we didn’t get it. So for you, pulling out the the most basic of all observations that we did not see. You win. And for that you get this song by John Wenzel. Hit it.

Music [00:15:33] [Winner’s Song]

Paul Scheer [00:15:44] Thank you, John, for that song. And remember, if you want to submit a winner theme, a corrections and omissions theme, or a just chat theme, email your theme to HowDidThisGetMade@earwolf.com, but keep them short. 15 to 20s is best, and if you want to chime in with your own thoughts about the latest episode, hit up the discord at discord.gg/HDTGM, or call us at 619-PAUL-ASK. Now coming up after the break, Jake Brennan from Disgraced Land will stop by to chat with me and Jason, and we will also announced next week’s movie. But first, here is an exclusive bonus scene from our Thunder Pants Live show where we talk even more about Patrick Smash farting at the opera. We’ll be right back.

June Diane Raphael [00:16:22] It was so hard because yes, it reached a high pitch, but it also then seemed to have a lot of juice to it.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:16:31] Yeah.

June Diane Raphael [00:16:32] Like it’s got real. It got really juicy.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:16:36] It sounded meaty. It sounded meaty. Also, when the light falls, if I’m Patrick Smash, I’m as far away as June. To the man who’s who suffers a fatal blow to the head from a. Oh boy, oh, boy, do I wish I hadn’t looked up. Please, no. Patrick smashes in the audience. But truly, he is so close to that death. What a trauma that must be.

Paul Scheer [00:17:07] Also, I will say that. If I’m in the audience, I’m like, a farting opera singer? I would like to. I would like to maybe hire that kid or find the person who poisoned him.

June Diane Raphael [00:17:26] Can I just say something? If I’m Placetow P Placetow. And I know.  And I know if I’m. Yes. And I know that there’s going to be one note that this kid has to hit at a certain time. I’m actually not asking him to practice farts. I’m like conserve. Conserve all of them. Like, don’t rehearse, don’t blow them out. Because.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:17:53] Doesn’t he tell him not to eat that treat?

June Diane Raphael [00:17:55] Yes. And I’m like, no eat it all. Eat everything.

Paul Scheer [00:17:59] But June, he is teaching him control. He is the Yoda of this starwars journey.

June Diane Raphael [00:18:04] Wait a second. Are you saying? Are you saying?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:18:07] I think he is more the unkar plot.

June Diane Raphael [00:18:09] Paul, are you saying that in terms of the narrative of the story that Patrick Smash learns control of his sphincter? His sphincter.

Paul Scheer [00:18:20] He can perform on cue after the opera.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:18:23] But I am agreeing with you, Paul. Kind of exactly what you’re saying. And what you were saying earlier is the movie’s logic would dictate that, like, oh, he would be revealed to be the person who is Placetow P Placetow disgraced. Oh, it’s a fraud. He’s a fraud. And then they would say, but Patrick Smash, you have you have the most beautiful instrument in the world. Elevate him to the top of the opera game. Instead, they’re like my guy. You’ve got to die. And then outer space for you. Like, what a ride.

June Diane Raphael [00:18:55] I thought for sure. I thought for sure. Like that scene was going to be played for much more comedy. And again, not to critique the movie, but I felt like, oh, I want those farts to happen at the wrong time multiple times throughout his performance and have to deal with that live on stage.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:19:12] I also was wondering, where is Keira Knightley?

Paul Scheer [00:19:19] People, Monday Matinees are going strong. We’re releasing old parts of our back catalog, and we are doing so, with films that I remember fondly, like the 1995 sci fi action film Johnny Pneumonic starring Keanu Reeves and Dolph Lundgren. And we will be joined by Jessica Saint Clair as she breaks down a movie that truly upset her. Trashcan fires? Oh. You bet. All right, people, like I said, my book, Joyful Recollections of Trauma, is available wherever you get your books. Give it to a friend. Or buy one for yourself. Anyway, welcome right now to the show, a very special guest. Not only we have Jason Mantzoukas joining me this week, but we have Jake Brennan, the host of Disgraced Land. If you don’t know Jake. He hosts this podcast, which I love. It blends music, pop culture, and true crime with deeply researched storytelling and cinematic sound design. I think you will love it if you’ve not a fan. I think we’ll convince you in the next couple of minutes to start downloading episodes. So without any further ado, please welcome Jason and our guest Jake from Disgraced Land. Rob from Long Island. Play us in.

Music [00:20:32] [Just Chat Song]

Paul Scheer [00:20:51] Well, welcome, to the show, Jake. I have to tell you that Jason and I often sit here and talk about the things that we are into. And Jason was the person who, you know, kind of clued me into the Disgraceland podcast. I’ve been listening since Jason has, his turn me on to it. And it is one of my favorites.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:21:10] And I think I’ve started listening very early on. Jake, I feel like you and I emailed years ago because I talked about it, and it was pretty early on in its inception.

Jake Brennan [00:21:20] Yeah, I think it was the first few months. I don’t know how you got hip to it so quickly, but I remember reading you wrote something nice or you said something nice, and I think it was GQ. I was like, Holy shit. Jason Mantzoukas is talking about Disgraceland, and I, I somehow found your email and harassed you and then thanked you for it. So thanks very much. And Paul, thanks for the kind words.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:21:43] I love it, I love it, I love the show because, you know, I really I love a deep dive on music. A lot of people here know that, like, Paul and I end up talking a lot about music, and I’m like a very passionate music person. And so like that podcast, when that hit, I was like, perfect, this is all I want is deep dives into these stories.

Paul Scheer [00:22:01] And what I’ve been loving lately is not the turn, but the addition of these icons. Right? Like, there is, the Kobe Bryant one is a great, you know, like deep dive Hunter S. Thompson. Right? And, Anthony Bourdain, like you’re going you now it’s it’s it’s everything. It’s right now. I know right now in my, in my Apple podcasts. Not a plug for Apple podcasts. No big deal, I, I subscribe I have the Metallica episode, which I’m very excited about. But, but I love that it can kind of go back and forth and that you can kind of go deep into these people like Steve McQueen and stuff like that. Some things I never knew. So I’m getting I’m getting my music stuff, but I’m also getting stuff from people that, that I like. I mean, I got really down a Kobe Bryant wormhole because they kind of missed me being a New York guy. So in the last couple of years, I found out a lot more stuff. And that was a great, great episode.

Jake Brennan [00:22:54] Awesome. Thank you. Yeah, it’s been going beyond music and covering subjects that are athletes or in the case of Anthony Bourdain, a chef, or Hunter S. Thompson, a writer. It’s it’s in part like since I launched the show, which was solely about musicians and true crime, I, I immediately was getting requests from the audience to broaden out and cover, subjects from, from, from different mediums in different areas. And I’ve resisted it for a long, long time. And then it just became a thing. Like I was like, you know, Anthony Bourdain is is one of the most rock and roll dudes I’ve ever uncovered.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:23:30] Yeah, I could talk about Bourdain for conservatively the next two hours straight. It is. I watch I still watch those shows like constantly. He is one of the most. He’s one of the only people in in like my entire life in Los Angeles that I was very nervous to meet, like. And, I met him at a party, just like in passing, and, and I was like, oh, my. I started to freak out, like, there’s Anthony Bourdain. And someone was like, oh, I know who he’s talking to. Do you want me to do let’s walk over there? And I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And I avoided it for a while. And then it organically happened and I just got to shake hands and say hello. And that was truly it. But it was. I was like nervous. I was very nervous to meet, well, Anthony Bourdain for such a big set. What an outsized person he is in my life.

Jake Brennan [00:24:23] I mean, that’s you just described how it was when I met Paul for the first time. But not to kid I hear you like. Like Bourdain has this sort of mythological rock star thing to him in a lot of ways. More than I don’t want to sound like an old guy, but more than modern rock stars do. You know, like you’re. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. I think what you’re describing, Jason, is that vibe where you’re like, shit, Elvis just entered the room. You know what I mean? How do I how do I talk to him?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:24:49] He also has so many of the hallmarks of the rock and roller, you know, the itinerant lifestyle, the ex-heroin junkie, the the, the loud, brash, like those kind of chefs. I feel like that generation of chefs especially fancied themselves rock and rollers, like there was an element that they felt part of that world.

Paul Scheer [00:25:10] And when Kitchen Confidential came out. That book, it was revelatory. You know, like, again, we’re thinking about a time where now we have reality crews all over the place. This is like 2000. That book comes out and it opens your eyes to this entire culture that now has been so glorified in the the Gordon Ramsay’s and all these different celebrity chefs. And there’s so many that have TV shows and have books, but I feel like he was the first one that kind of ripped back that curtain and just showed this insane life.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:25:41] And showed it. It’s like. It’s like the dirt. Like literally like the dirt. But for an industry that you weren’t aware was that insane. Or at least I wasn’t, you know, like like you’re saying, Kitchen Confidential really opened a door that I didn’t know is. I didn’t know what was going on back there. Versus the dirt. Of course, I knew what rock and roll was, but these were just next level stories in that world, you know?

Jake Brennan [00:26:07] Yeah, yeah. His was very revelatory. And and also the thing I appreciated about him early on was he has that first book, well, first, cook cooking book or world from he had some novels before that. But Kitchen Confidential comes out and, and during that time his persona when the TV show starts to happen, he took a real sort of punk rock approach. And I don’t mean to be to sound like I, I’m lauding him for this, but he kind of went at the Gordon Ramsay’s of the world, and he quickly became a I think it was his instinct to be adversarial toward the more mainstream TV chefs. But then after he got a little success, almost immediately, he is able to empathize with what they’re doing in a way where he’s like, he he kind of just like is has a hands off approach, and he doesn’t really apologize. But he’s no he’s no longer judging them in a way, because now he’s on the inside and he can see. And I just thought, wow, that’s such a mature way of looking at it.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:27:06] Well, and that’s it. You’re watching him grow up and mature. You’re watching him transfer from the rebellious, you know, Gen-X fuck you kind of like, you know, like like, like absurdly contrarian, especially if you watch early Bourdain like like, like purposefully contrarian. And then as he ages and he gets more worldly and he switches to CNN and it becomes more he becomes more curious and more interested. And then he starts to develop these friendships and those later episodes where he’s got Eric repair, or he’s got Jose Andres, or he’s got masa, and they’re all with him. I love how much they’re just roasting him. Yeah, they’re just making fun of Tony. And it’s the Eric repair roasting Tony Bourdain is some of the best episodes of, of that show. I love it.

Jake Brennan [00:27:57] I love that, too. That’s such a good because, you know, as as as I think this is a guy thing, I used to think, and perhaps I still do, that it’s a New England thing. Might just be an old world thing where you just, you know, you’re close with a friend when you can just tell him a new asshole, and you can just, like, you can just rip them apart. And it’s how you bond, you know, it’s how you get along. And it’s great to see it makes for good television.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:28:19] Very Boston. I will say it is very Boston, very New England. The contrarianism, the the idea of roasting people like I feel like that is very Boston. Yeah.

Paul Scheer [00:28:28] But also this is a person who’s been propped up in the media like, so, you know, his persona like to everybody else is like, whoa, badass. And I feel like they’re like, yeah, that that’s, you know, you’re playing this up like, or they know who he actually is. And yeah, I think there’s a time when he is leaning into the bad boy chef. I mean, that Fox show was terrible. But it, you know, but I think it played up this like, you know, it leaned into rock star, right. You know. But here’s the guy who ultimately like wanted to be like a comic book artist too. Like, you know, he made a comic book, you know, but like, there are very nerdy uncool things about him.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:29:06] There’s a great episode where he goes to the Jersey shore, and it’s where his family used to go when they were young. And his brother is, wait a minute, is it the Jersey shore? Or maybe it’s Long Island and his family? Anyway, I think it is. Yeah. And his brother is the guest, and it’s a super, super revealing episode in a way that the show isn’t always because because here’s this. They’re talking about the they’re talking Tony. Anthony Bourdain is always speaking autobiographically. But there’s someone there who can check him, right, who’s his brother. And it’s a great episode as a result.

Jake Brennan [00:29:42] Right.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:29:43] Because it’s not yeah. It’s not self mythologizing as much because someone’s there to be like no, no, no, no. I was the one that was mad, you know, like.

Jake Brennan [00:29:51] Yeah, it’s true. I’m so I’m so, you know, I’m so I hate to use this word but envious of him as, as an artist because, you know, it’s not it’s not a show about food. It’s not a show about cooking. It’s not even a show about travel. Neither are his books. It’s they’re all about him. It’s completely subjective. And and to me, he’s the sort of extension from Hunter S. Thompson, the guy who put himself.

Paul Scheer [00:30:15] Another great episode, by the way.

Jake Brennan [00:30:16] Thank you very much. Put himself in the spot. And really, we just fall in love with him and we want to see whatever he’s looking at through his eyes, whether it’s the world or or what’s on its plate. Yeah. And and to me, that’s as a writer, you know, I didn’t really realize. I didn’t really understand that. I actually understood point of view in, in, say, filmmaking. Like if you if you watched Mean Streets and and you and then later in life learn a little bit about Martin Scorsese and his upbringing. You can just see immediately that is that is his worldview at that time when he made that movie is in that movie, even though he’s not in the movie, there’s not a real character that’s based on him. And I feel like as people in the world who make things, that’s the highest thing you can aspire to is how to how to treat the world through your eyes. And Bourdain did it better than anyone, man. It’s just it’s I’m constantly in awe of that.

Paul Scheer [00:31:11] Well, I do think that there’s something to be said for, for lack of a better example. But like podcasts, travel shows, like these little weekly docs that are similar to podcasts allow that to come out. Because when you’re doing something major right now and you’re not super established, a lot of times you are pushed into these boxes. So it’s hard. So you get these moments where I think when, Taika Waititi first kind of blew onto the scene, but oh, whoa, like we feel like a voice behind Thor that we didn’t actually feel like in any other Marvel movie so succinctly. Right. You know, it’s like, and we are looking for those, those voices to kind of break through. It is hard to do. And sometimes there’s a lot that don’t break through and there’s a lot that fail to, you know, and well.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:31:54] And I think your show does a good job of, you know, taking icons and humanizing them, showing them for the showing them rather for the human beings that they are, you know, I mean, not not not lionizing them. Not like, this is not a we’re building someone up, nor is it like tearing them down. It is just trying to approach it from a very human point of view, especially, you know, in terms of these stories. And that’s what I like about your show a lot, is you are getting your research. You’re telling stories that I, even if I am a fan of this person, might not know already. You know.

Jake Brennan [00:32:29] Yeah, yeah. And honestly, to what Paul just said about the the box, right. Like I, I’m, I’m not a journalist. I’m just finding information that’s already out there that’s already been published in other mediums. Books, documentaries, etc. and I’m putting the putting them together to fit in this box. And there’s something magical that happens just by the virtue of that structure where you’re like, oh, I can listen to this. I can hear this story in a new way because it’s in podcast form, and I’m not seeing it in like a right in the music, music treatment or something along along those lines. And, and, you know, in the beginning when I launched, it was 2018 and we were sort of it was the MeToo thing was happening in and around there, and a lot of people misinterpreted what I was doing as this sort of, gotcha kind of takedown of of all the monsters from, from the music industry, of which there are plenty. But to your one of you guys mentioned the human side of it, all these guys and girls in this way, more guys who have had this transgressive behavior in rock and roll, they all, even if they’re monstrous. And you mentioned The Dirt and Motley Crue and Vince Neil, you know, killed a guy like he. Oh yeah. You know, and and even, you know, even Bourdain as much as we love him, like there’s some truly awful behavior there on the other side of the coin, too, I don’t mean in the MeToo side. It’s it’s very complicated. But my point is, what I try to do is exactly what you said find the human element and search for the redemption there. Because there there almost always is. Because at the end of the day, I believe most people are good and most people want to do the best thing that they possibly can. And, you know, these subjects that I’m talking about happen to, try to do that. Their hero’s journey happens in the most dramatic circumstances ever. So it gets really interesting.

Paul Scheer [00:34:21] You know, and I think what’s so interesting too, is like you, you talk about something like Brittany Murphy in one of your episodes, right? And, you know, it’s also like what society does to people, right? Like how people get lifted up and kind of, you know, I kind of feel like if I can, the image I see of it is like they spin you around until you start, like almost level, you know, be like, coming off of the Earth’s surface. And then they just kind of let you go, and then it’s like it’s your responsibility to get back down to ground. And some people can’t. They just spin out of control and like, like a twister, they just go up into the sky and then and, you know, and it’s like.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:34:56] Oh boy.

Paul Scheer [00:34:58] Or like Twisters.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:35:00] Wait a minute.

Paul Scheer [00:35:01] You know, twisters to me is a real right. But, I.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:35:05] Think it’s the kind of show that has infinite possibilities for success. Sorry. I was in a movie called Infinite.

Paul Scheer [00:35:17] But you know. But I do think that that’s the kind of thing that is that we love. And we kind of come against this all the time, which is like, we want the bad behavior up until a point. And then when we get when we feel that the bad behavior has reached a point that we don’t like, then we kind of shun them and then the door is closed. And then you have a lot of these, like, weird, I don’t know, like these comeback stories, these successes, these highs, these lows. And I think what you’re kind of from at least my point of view and, and listening to the, the episodes like it is something I think happens a lot more music. It happens to our biggest stars. We just aren’t making like huge stars anymore, like outside of music, in a weird way. Like, you know, it’s like it’s it’s different, you know? So it’s interesting to see, like how society can everyone’s on board, everyone’s on board. And then then just something happened. Something switches and it’s either you’re not cool or you’ve made a mistake and then you’re done. And I understand that again, I understand of that goes to cancel culture. But it’s also beyond cancel culture because it’s it’s one hit wonders. It’s it’s what was cool. That’s not cool.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:36:21] It’s everything. And you’re also talking about like, all the ups and downs that come with people’s pursuit of greatness or people’s pursuit of, you know, like you’re talking about your show is talking about people who are at the top of the heap, you know, whether it’s, you know, massive rock stars or Al Pacino or been big, huge actors or sports like icons, these are icons and you’re, you’re you’re telling the stories of all the ups and downs that got them there in ways that are not, you know, like the, the friction that they come up against the and oftentimes it is true crime related. These are there are crime. There are many crime stories inside of a lot. You know, like like you say, Vince Neil killed someone, you know, in a driving accident, right? You know, and.

Jake Brennan [00:37:10] You guys are reminding me of this, this story I want to tell you both, if you haven’t heard it already, because it encapsulates both of what both of you guys are saying. You’re talking about these guys hitting these obstacles in these challenges. And one of the things that that really hit me early on, like, I grew up like you guys, music fans, and we think of like, I always thought of David Bowie and LED Zeppelin as being kind of on the same platform, the same plane, I guess, of fame. And as I got into researching them both more deeply, it it hit me, you know, I wasn’t alive. I mean, I wasn’t listening to music in high school in the 70s, so I had no real context. But LED Zeppelin was fucking huge. Like beyond big, like the biggest fucking thing ever. David Bowie in the 70s we’re used to Almost Famous in the whole, like, it’s Bowie, it’s boy, and there was a real cult of Bowie during the whole Ziggy thing, especially when he started to really blow up. But he never hit like, like Zeppelin level, and he wanted to and he was infatuated by Jimmy Page and he wanted to get there. So that was the one key thing that hit me is like, wow, all these guys, even though we think of them as successful at their highest, they’re not they’re not even thinking of themselves as successes. They still have a ways to go.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:38:24] Oh, I feel like that in, in, in my life, you know, like you, you, you achieve certain things that you want to achieve, but it doesn’t mean you’re like, great, I did it right. You’re like, oh, wait, I still would love to do X, Y or Z, you know?

Paul Scheer [00:38:38] And it’s also like the outside looking in is a very different perspective. I remember the first job I ever had, that was professional was on this show called Best Week Ever on VH1. Right. And every week we’d go on and we’d talk about, like, the pop culture of that week, and we were on every week. So that was a sign. So people would be like, assume I was wealthy, that I was, you know, I was making $500 a taping of Best Week Ever, right? 500, like, if I could, if I even if I did it every single week, I, you know, I was like, I would I didn’t make enough to live to you know, you’re just putting it together just barely. And I think it’s perspective a lot. And I, I realize that Jason was saying, I just watched that, Faye Dunaway documentary on, HBO.

Jake Brennan [00:39:19] Married to Peter Wolf.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:39:20] Yeah, yeah, I remember that.

Paul Scheer [00:39:23] That’s wild. Well, and, you know, and that was like that to me was really interesting because here’s somebody who you think, oh, you know, from Bonnie and Clyde all the way here and just like fucking getting, you know, slammed on either side. And I think all the time with women, it’s also like, well, they’re difficult, they’re difficult. They’re going I think men, you know, run that different. There’s a different, argument. And I think we’ve been seeing that a lot of the times in these new things about you did an episode about Britney Spears, but there’s what we relooking at Britney Spears, relooking at Monica Lewinsky, relooking at Pam Anderson. Like these, you know, perspective shifts. But it is really interesting, like that idea that, like, everyone thinks, oh, you’re on top. You have every opportunity. And I remember listening to this article or listening to this interview with Tom Hanks and they’re like, oh, what do you want to do next? And his after he’d won some Academy Awards. And he’s like, well, I just want the parts that they’re looking for a Tom Hanks type, you know, thing and you know and it was like, and I love that thing is like, oh he’s missing out. On. He’s like, he feels like he’s not getting the offers.

Jake Brennan [00:40:21] That’s wild. Doesn’t it feel like like, you know, you guys, you guys have been doing what you’ve been doing for a while and you’ve you seem to love what you do. And you have you have great careers. And Jason, you just alluded to this. You just mentioned it. And I think we’re all I don’t know, man. It strikes me as like all of us who are making stuff, right? We’re in this world where there’s constant demand for more stuff. If we want to stay in the boxes that we’re in, and I don’t know where it ends. I don’t know if it’s if, you know, if Tom Hanks is still like, oh, geez, I just I want this instead. Like, where does it end for anybody? And I feel like it’s, it’s a scar of being a creative person because there’s always this sort of bright side or this carrot that’s right there that we never actually catch.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:41:08] Well, it’s yeah, I agree. And I think it’s and I think the danger in it is if the carrot or the thing you’re trying to attain is something exterior, like, I want to be blank or you know what I mean, but or whether that is interior like, I actually want, you know, like like my, my wants are these verses I want, them to give me an award or I want them I want to be validated versus, oh, no, creatively, I want to be challenged. Creatively, I want to continue to grow or be challenged or or even just as a fan, I want to, I want to I want to go and do this or that. I want to participate as a fan in different types of shows or different types of things. And that’s just without getting, without getting, not lazy is the wrong word, but it’s too, too settled. I, I find that the there’s a certain restlessness that people have that are there, I guess curiosity, like I said about Anthony Bourdain, a I’m still curious and I’m so glad to still be curious rather than like, great, I got the thing that I wanted and now I’m set. I’m done.

Paul Scheer [00:42:19] Yeah. And I think, I think there’s a couple things at play too, which is like, you’re right, the curiosity is really good. I think that anybody who, you know, that’s creative wants to try different things. And I think it’s the reason why I sometimes get people get mad, like, oh, Daniel Stern’s making, you know, sculpture? Why? You know, and it’s like, well, because he wants to, right? Like, it’s it’s like he’s fueled to do it. It’s not like you’re not trying to fuck you over like Daniel Stern’s, you know? And and, you know, Simone Biles said something at the Olympics this week, which is like, stop asking everybody what’s next? I just won a gold medal. Like, yeah, let me at least go here and then go to the next. But, you know, it’s like we.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:42:59] And it’s a one way thing. Yeah. I feel like the same thing happens when it’s like, when are you going to do another blank? Yeah. When, when it’s the same. It’s I feel like it’s so hard to live in that present moment because so often times people are saying, when are you going to do another the league or right for a musician? When are you going to do another one?

Paul Scheer [00:43:19] Yeah.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:43:19] You know, that’s the thing about Bowie is Bowie, I would argue, never achieves the level of fame that LED Zeppelin does because he’s so curious and is constantly changing and evolving. He’s not doing the same stuff. He’s deconstructing the band, stripping it down. Now he’s going to make, you know, he’s going to make low and he’s going to make lodger. He’s going to make the Brian Eno records. Now he’s going to scrap that. Now he’s going to start making albums with Tin Machine. He’s going to start making albums with a band with Soupy Sales kids. Like, what are we doing? Like, that’s not how you sell arenas, you know? And it’s not until the Sound and Vision tour when Bowie starts selling arenas because he’s like, this is my farewell tour. I’m going to do everything.

Jake Brennan [00:44:04] Yeah, yeah. And then he becomes the icon status, the sort of comprehensive version of of Bowie. Yeah, I want to I want to ask you guys, if you don’t mind. Like, one of the reasons I love your show is because it your fandom just is so present, you know, and it’s so it’s so refreshing to hear you guys be psyched on on things, your recommendations, you know, when you talk about it, even when you’re just referencing other artists and other films in relation to the film that you’re talking about, it’s very clear. You guys consume a ton of content, and you always have, and you’re in love with this shit. That’s, I’m the same exact way, but, you know, I’m I’m in a vacuum. It’s just me and a microphone on my show, and then I just kind of stay in my lane. You guys do your show, but then you’re out in the world making television and film. Oftentimes with, I assume I know people that that you guys love and look up to. And I’m curious how I mean, I was able to maintain my cool around Paul when I ran into him at that bar, but it was tough. I’m curious, like how you guys maintain the professionalism, but you’re like, oh shit. Like you said earlier, like there’s it wasn’t work. You’re at a party, but. Bourdains over there. And, Jason, you don’t want to look like a fanboy asshole going up to him. But there’s part of us that are fanboys, you know what I mean?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:45:23] Yeah. Oh for sure, for sure. And if given the opportunity, if I see somebody that I’m a huge fan of, boy, do I want to say something, but I usually don’t. And that is what I’m always like, mostly because I’m like, yeah, I don’t like being bothered that much if I’m out in the world or something. So I’m going to tend not to. But if I feel like I’m having a there’s a quote. If I’m sitting waiting for an elevator and somebody’s there, I might be like, oh, hey, man, I’m a big fan. I like blah blah blah. Or I was waiting for an audition once and I was sitting next to Jamie Hector from The Wire. And The Wire.

Jake Brennan [00:45:58] Which character is Jamie Hector?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:46:00] Stansfield.

Jake Brennan [00:46:01] Oh, nice.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:46:01] Marlowe. Stansfield. He’s also J. Edgar on Bosch. You might know him if you watch Bosch. Yeah. Anyway. Great actor. Fantastic. And it was just he and I in a waiting room, just sitting, waiting. And so I just. And the wire had ended maybe the year before or something. And I just was like, hey, man, I just want to say incredible stuff like what we just like. And then and then we did our thing and we both did our audition. And then as we were leaving, he said, hey, did you think in the end of the because I’d reference something that happens in the final episode, and he then started a conversation with me about it.

Jake Brennan [00:46:33] Nice.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:46:34] And I was like, that’s the perfect version of it. And that’s happened like once, you know.

Paul Scheer [00:46:39] I have, I have taken the point of view that Jason has taken because I have made the mistake. And the other thing, there’s not really anything to say after I’m a fan. Right. Whereas you get a much better conversation or I’ve found myself getting into better conversations organically. Right? Oh, people are here and we’re just talking. And I also found that the bigger the celebrity, like, the more A-lister celebrity that you meet, they take care of that for you. I have met many a person to be like, hey, what’s up? Oh, that’s a great shirt. Where’d you get that? You go to target. Oh, man, I love target. And then it’s like they’ve like they’ve like basically driven the conversation. Oh, like in a good way. Yeah. They’re like, hey, we’re now I’m driving, we’re talking about something and we’re off. And I’m not famous. I’m just a person. And oh, you got kids, right? Where, you know, it’s like. And then it’s a done deal. And I feel like that’s like the art of an A-lister or the A-listers that I’ve met. They come in almost aggressively hard, either at you on a compliment or in a whole different way, and you’re like, oh, I’m taken off balance. And then it’s like.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:47:43] I will say, the other thing that’s true, at least for me, is I am almost never nervous around celebrities, you know, like I’m never nervous to meet, like a Martin Short or people that I Revere. Let me be clear, people that I Revere, I’m not like. Oh, no. And the way that like I was introduced to this is years ago again, Elvis Costello. And I was like beside myself with anxiety, like, yeah, musicians somehow occupy a different space to me. And they that’s where I’m like starstruck or nervous or whatever. Those are the people that I’m like, oh my God, I want to go talk to jazz drummer Chris Cassano. But I’m but I’m too nervous, you know, the first is like, I walk up to whatever Joker is in is tells jokes like I do to be like, hey, what’s up? What’s up?

Jake Brennan [00:48:34] Yeah, comedians freak me out. Musicians don’t. It’s the opposite for me because I grew up in bands and my my dad was in a band, and there’s, there’s a shorthand, even with actors to where there’s sort of a knowing, like it’s weird. You mentioned The Wire. I met pres, remember the guy who played Prez? I met him in Davis Square once. I didn’t even meet him. I was walking by and he was with his family, and I just. I was one of the scenes where I just saw him. He. We locked eyes. We were like two feet from each other. And he obviously saw that I recognized him and I just fist bump them. And I was like, what’s up? And I just kept going. I didn’t stop or anything, but with comedians, I’ll never talk to a like if I run into a comedian. Paul it was rare. When we started talking it, you started talking to me. I think about the drink I ordered, and then we started talking about our kids, and it was like, you know, we were 20 minutes in before your. I brought up your show, I think. But it it comedians to me I just feel like have this, this layer of darkness that is right below the surface that I’m intimidated by. Whereas musicians, I’m not because I know it, you know what I mean?

Paul Scheer [00:49:33] But yeah, I also feel like, you know, there’s something about it, like, I’m in this business of whatever this business is because I am.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:49:43] Showbiz baby!

Jake Brennan [00:49:45] The business of show.

Paul Scheer [00:49:46] Because I am a fan, like I am a fan of all this shit. And I think the reason why we get away with this show, is because there is a love of bad movies like we, as much as we’re making fun of them, we love them. Like, right? We would be talking, we would be having these conversations not on mic. We’d be seeing these movies, you know, but not all of them, but a lot of them, you know, just because, like, oh, I got to see that. I want to see that. And, and it’s and I think that that’s the, that’s the secret sauce to all of this stuff is like, you know, whatever you’re working on, I imagine the same way. It’s like, well, you’re. You’re not coming here as an investigative journalist in the sense of, I’m going to fucking knock these people down a peg, I’m going to get in here. And I think that that like, that’s an important balance, too, right? Because it’s sort of like, yeah, we’re in this field, we’re doing this stuff. But we also it is like, you know, it’s it’s what we also consider ourselves a part of. I think, you know, all of us, all of us can do that, you know, and say that it’s not about it’s not about like, it’s not about tearing it down. And I and I’ve watched people whose intent is only to tear it down. Right, to, you know, and that’s like, it’s not fun because it’s just it’s like the bitter, angry thing. And that’s not as much fun.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:50:54] I think that’s what is probably why we’ve been doing it so long is I think, like you were saying, Jake, like, I think we are coming at a lot of this stuff as a fan first and having fun. It’s it’s fun to sit together with friends and talk about the Fast and Furious movies. Right? I’m sure that’s true for a lot of people. We just happened to have started a podcast in which we get to do, you know, or the Gerard Butler movies or the Nic Cage movies, all this stuff that we love. It’s not about exercising a negative attitude or point of view. It’s about exercising a positive attitude on something that has not gone well. And that I think is the difference.

Paul Scheer [00:51:32] And there are people I will never approach like, yeah, unless it was brought to me like. And I have been in situations where I could talk to people who I view as like here, like Eddie Murphy. I if I ever see Eddie Murphy, I will never say a goddamn word.

Jake Brennan [00:51:45] Well he’s, he’s he’s Elvis status. You know what I mean?

Paul Scheer [00:51:48] Yeah.

Jake Brennan [00:51:49] For for us like like my wife. I’m a I’m a 11 years older than my wife. And she saw that bit with, with Eddie Murphy, the SNL too hot for the hot tub thing. Oh, yeah. She came up to me and she was like, I understand you now. She. Cause, like, my my go to goofy voice is like Eddie Murphy delirious, you know, whatever. You right? That I only do in front of her, you know what I mean? I was like, yeah, you don’t understand. Like, that shit was everywhere when we were kids. And he wasn’t a comedian. He was fucking Michael Jackson. He was like, yeah, he was that level, you know, like, pick your icon. But it was just it’s it’s funny because now there’s this, this whole generation that’s, or even multiple generations who just knows him as the guy who made kids movies, which is shocking to me.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:52:39] Or there’s a there’s now a generation that doesn’t even know him. Is that that it doesn’t really know Eddie Murphy. Like the whatever the young kids now, I really don’t unless their parents are showing them old clumps, nutty professors, movies like, I don’t think there’s a teenage generation that really has a, an awareness of Eddie Murphy. You know what I mean? The way that we watched his whole arc happen, you know, from 18 years old on SNL, you know, young, you know, for only cast member, I believe, to host during the period of time he was still in the cast, right? All the way through, you know? Yeah. Those stand up specials, like those stand up specials were like when I was in high school in the 80s, those were being passed around on cassette like they were contraband, you know?

Paul Scheer [00:53:24] Oh, absolutely.

Jake Brennan [00:53:24] We knew all the bits. I mean, I was, I was I remember being at the bus stop in like the sixth or seventh grade or whatever, and it was so filthy and it just gave you license to be filthy and make people laugh. And it was kind of smart in a weird way. It was just, it’s fucking awesome.

Paul Scheer [00:53:39] I sat in front of my television, which we did not get HBO, but you could. That was back in the time when you would like, if you got HBO, they would just unscramble it. But if you had, if you didn’t, and if you didn’t get HBO, you could listen to everything on HBO. I would sit in front of the scrambled television and watch, you know, Eddie Murphy on Delirious, like, and then like, I wake up at two in the morning to watch it, you know, because my parents would be asleep, you know, which I love, but, I mean, yeah, it’s. Wait, I have a question, about obviously, there’s there’s a handful, the bunch of seasons that you have, but you also do a lot of research. Was there one like. I mean, how much is it time does it take you to put together one of these like average time because it seems like a lot of work. And I look at this.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:54:26] It’s a lot. You’re doing quite a lot of like you know like reporting or, or journalism I feel like.

Jake Brennan [00:54:31] Yeah, I hesitate to call it journalism because I feel like journalists find new information and I just find information that’s out there.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:54:38] You’re aggregating. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah, right. I get it.

Paul Scheer [00:54:41] But you put it together in a way that you are still creating a new and a new thing, a new narrative.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:54:46] It’s like you’re you’re a Malcolm Gladwell, if you will.

Jake Brennan [00:54:52] It’s my thanks. I’ll take that.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:54:53] You’re Gladwell, you’re Gladwellian approach.

Jake Brennan [00:54:56] I’ve. I’ve I’ve done my 10,000 hours. I will. So to answer your question, it takes about, a week of research, like every week for me is either I’m researching or I’m writing some research, research for five days, and then I write for five days. And when I say day, I mean, like, you know, 6:00 am to lunch time. I can’t do it longer than that then I do other work stuff after that. But then we have a team here that does, that does the audio, the scoring and the mixing as well. And that takes about another week. So it’s really about three weeks for a full episode, three weeks of work to go into it.

Paul Scheer [00:55:33] Got it.

Jake Brennan [00:55:34] Do you guys can I ask you guys a question that I get asked myself a lot? And I’m curious here. Oftentimes people ask me if I ever have, if I ever run into anybody that I cover on the podcast.

Paul Scheer [00:55:45] The number one question we get asked.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:55:47] Yeah, we get the same question.

Jake Brennan [00:55:48] And you mention Fast and Furious, and I had someone recently from that franchise reach out to me, and I immediately thought of you guys. But I’m wondering I’m wondering if, how you handle it.

Paul Scheer [00:56:03] Jake, I, I got asked by, Charlize Theron for her big event that she does, every year, Jason, June and I, we all got asked to, host a screening on the universal lot for her charity for fast, not ten nine. Yeah, one of those, nine. And it was with the entire cast and the director and, you know, and it was, you know, it was nerve wracking. I called, Vin Diesel, Dom. And but I will say that.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:56:41] That’s the best specific, you repeatedly called him Dom.

Paul Scheer [00:56:47] And he didn’t correct me.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:56:47] Absentmindedly, as you didn’t do it on purpose, to be clear.

Paul Scheer [00:56:50] Yeah. And we sat up there and June and I like, did an opening that was just kind of poking fun, but also having fun with it. We love it. We do love it, you know, and you know, and it was like, oh my gosh, do these people know? And there’s certain levels of people like that that have no idea.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:57:08] They just don’t know. I don’t know. For the most part, most people have no concept of are. Like Nicolas Cage. Paul did a movie with Nicolas Cage. We’ve probably done ten Nicolas Cage movies.

Paul Scheer [00:57:21] But yeah, I was like, yeah, like for me too, because like for me to be nervous about that and have to explain what a podcast was, then I’d have to go down one other level, like it was like, you know, so yeah, I don’t think. Yeah. Like, you know, and then the people who do know know it because they are fans or they want to know or they are interested or, you know, whatever it is, you know, because I think the truth is, it’s like we’ve all worked, we’ve all had some shitty experiences.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:57:46] We’ve all been in stinkers, let’s be clear, like, we’re not, we’re not we’re not standing on a mountain of, of like flawless work. We’ve all we’ve all been in turkeys. We know how it happens. And that’s what the thing is. The show isn’t like it’s easy to make a good movie. How come you made a bad one? Yeah, it’s really like, it’s. It’s actually quite difficult to make a good movie. And the ways this one went sideways are enjoyable for the podcast.

Paul Scheer [00:58:14] Right. And that, you know. So so yeah. So I think that we like we have bumped into people. It’s always been pretty good. The story I’ve told a handful of times because it happened kind of recently during Covid. June and I were on, The Goldbergs, the TV show, The Goldbergs, and it was a time when not only people wearing masks, but they were wearing, face shields. Right. So it was like, almost like what you would picture, like somebody was doing welding is wearing, you know, so it’s a clear face shield and a mask. And all morning long we’re being directed by this amazing director. Just great. You know, we’re doing our stuff, but it’s all pretty distant. And, and in the middle of shooting this scene, you know, we’re of a couple hours in now, the director says to to June and I, you know, I’m on the naughty from hottie and the naughty, and June and I were like, oh, and and now, normally what I can do in those moments is read somebody’s face like, yeah, you know. Yeah, the hottie and the naughty. Right. And you know, and you, you see something. But because she was so covert, I did not know if she was really mad.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:59:24] You couldn’t read her cues.

Paul Scheer [00:59:25] I couldn’t read any cues, she was I mean, she’s great. And we had nothing bad to say about her, you know, and that like. But it was like a moment where I had a full on panic attack because I’ve not only been working with this person all week, but then I could not take any cue about was she pissed or was she excited? You know, excited may be a tougher word, but. Yeah. So, but she seemed okay with it. I mean, look, she’s in a movie called Hottie and the Naughty with Paris Hilton. I mean, you know, I think we all know on some level what that is.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:59:53] It is funny. You know, I’ve had a couple of of interactions with people, all of which have been, have been relatively positive. You know, I had the the version of it for me was I was in a meeting once with producers and we were talking and the one of the assistants brought up was clearly a fan of the podcast, brought up the podcast, and the producer was like, oh, what’s the podcast? Tell me all about it? And I kind of explained the bullet points of what the podcast is. And she was like, wait a minute, I feel like I’ve heard about that before. Why have I heard about this podcast? And and as I was kind of just absentmindedly like surveilling the room, I noticed that they had all a one on one shelf. They had all of the books that we had done, one of those books, one of that book series as an episode. And and I was like, oh, we did that movie. We did that movie right there from that book. And, and and the producer was like, oh, yes, someone sent me that. I listened to a little bit of it, but if you want to know, I could explain to you how how that got made. So she was like, it’s I was nervous for a second. And then she was like, oh, that was a disaster.

Paul Scheer [01:01:00] You know, on the on the other hand, I will tell you that Jason and I did find out that they when Jason and I did a trailer reaction to the Fast and Furious trailer for one of them. Oh, no. Hobbs and Shaw. It was brought into a universal marketing meeting and of how they could market the movie better based on our reaction to the trailer.

Jake Brennan [01:01:21] Wow.

Paul Scheer [01:01:22] So that is something that I always think is hilarious.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:01:25] That’s power, baby.

Jake Brennan [01:01:27] Did they tell you that or did someone on the inside?

Paul Scheer [01:01:29] I heard from an internal source that that happened. You know, it was like. And it was like, somebody texted me that they were in that meeting, and it was very positive. It was like, oh, this is what we need to be embracing. You know, this is what it is. What’s working. I mean, it’s so crazy.

Jake Brennan [01:01:44] It’s so fucking hard. You guys know better than I do to make a movie. And then I cannot imagine what it’s like when you guys are in, in movies yourselves. And you just. You walk away, you’re done shooting, and it’s all completely beyond your control. Yeah. Unless you’re actually making it yourself. You’re the director. It’s just it’s a really strange medium I would imagine, to be in.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:02:05] Oh, it’s it’s absolutely bizarre. And the bigger the thing, the more powerless you are inside of it, you know, the more just a tiny little piece you are. And then it really is just a freight train rocketing forward, and you are just jumping on and jumping off and you’re like, I hope this gets to the destination. I don’t know what’s happening.

Paul Scheer [01:02:25] Yeah. It’s like, you know, I was reading this book about Airplane, the movie Airplane! And, you know, John Landis has this quote. I mean, funny, it’s John Landis. There’s an episode you should do. But, John Landis has this quote about, you know, like every movie I’ve tried to make better. It doesn’t always work out that way. But my intent is, how can I make this better? And, you know, and that and I think that that’s I think that that’s true for everything. No one sets out to make a bad movie.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:02:51] Oh, no. But then sometimes you are on set and you’re like, oh, I think we’re making a turkey.

Paul Scheer [01:02:56] Yeah, we’re, this is a stinker. Jake, your podcast is going on. You can listen, you can subscribe, you can get all the back episodes, you can get your book, which I recently have gotten and, and there’s so much, there’s so much to, to digest with your podcast. I recommend everybody who loves our podcast. I think you’ll love it because it’s just deep dives into cool, interesting people. And, it’s been an absolute pleasure.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:03:22] And actually, like when, when people recommend when people recommend to our podcast, they’re like, oh, what episodes should I do? Or whatever if or when I’m when people are asking me rather about, oh, what’s your podcast? What’s your how should I listen? And I feel like this about yours as well. I always say, look for movies that you like, know, enjoy whatever and listen to those. And I feel the same about your podcast. Go in and cherry pick the stories and the people or the the things you’re interested in, because that’s going to draw you in deeper. Are there any ones, though, that you want to shout out as, like, here, go, go look at go look for these episodes.

Jake Brennan [01:03:58] I do have an upcoming Jason and Paul episode.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:04:02] So good.

Paul Scheer [01:04:03] Finally.

Jake Brennan [01:04:05] No, I would say to answer the question seriously, maybe the, because we talked about it, maybe the Anthony Bourdain episode, the Jerry Lee Lewis episode, which was the first one about rock and roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis, who allegedly murdered his wife. Air quotes around allegedly. That’s a good one. But then just I would follow your advice, Jason. And we have we have episodes of Disgraced Land on from every genre of music and actors and actresses from every era of Hollywood, even some athletes. And like I said, Bourdain, Warhol, some other stuff too.

Paul Scheer [01:04:36] So yeah, I mean, it really is great. I mean, they you can go anywhere from like, Diddy and Mariah Carey to like The Clash and the Wu-Tang clan. You know, it’s like it’s all it’s all over the place. It’s really great in that way. Awesome. Well, this is great that Jake. Thank you for stopping by.

Jake Brennan [01:04:53] Pleasure was mine. Big fan of the show. This is awesome. Thank you so much and looking forward to talking to you guys again sometime soon.

Paul Scheer [01:05:00] All right. Thank you so much, Jake Brennan, please make sure you’re listening to this Disgraced Land. And now it is time to announce our next movie. Next week we’ll be going from disaster of the fart to a disaster of the heart. That’s right. Next episode, we are watching the 2024 rom com Beautiful Wedding. Starring Dylan Sprouse and Virginia Gardner. This is a sequel to Beautiful Disaster. Yes, a sequel to one of my favorite movies. And this one gets even better. That’s right. So, refamiliarize yourself with these wonderful people, Abby and Travis, they wake up after a crazy night in Vegas to discover they’re married. They head to Mexico for a honeymoon, but then chaos follows them at every turn, and they must decide if their marriage is another disaster waiting to happen. Anyway, there aren’t enough reviews on Rotten Tomatoes to give this film a score, but Sandy Chen from Common Sense Media writes, “And in the end, this chaotic sequel is a reminder that sometimes one movie is enough.” Ouch. Take a listen to the trailer.

Trailer Audio [01:06:01] What the hell happened last night?

Trailer Audio [01:06:07] Let’s do this right and have a proper honeymoon.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:06:11] I love you, pigeon.

Trailer Audio [01:06:12] Welcome to Casito Mexico.

Trailer Audio [01:06:20] You know, it’s just crossed the threshold.

Trailer Audio [01:06:22] This isn’t too barbaric. No, but it was so cute with our initials on it.

Trailer Audio [01:06:27] TNA, because you got the best.

Paul Scheer [01:06:29] I loved it. I love it. This movie is bonkers. Bananas. Batshit crazy. Not only do I recommend watching the movie, I recommend watching the movie and then listening to the episode. Beautiful Wedding is available to stream on Hulu, and you can rent it on Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV separately. I encourage you to check out Hoopla, Kanopy, and Libby, which are digital media services offered by your local public library that allow you to consume movies, TV, music, audiobooks, e-books, and comics for free. All right, people, that is it for Last Looks. If you listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please rate and review the show. Make sure the downloads are turned on. It’s important. It actually affects our numbers and we have higher numbers. We get everything that we need and want. That’s all I want you to do is turn on the downloads anyway. Visit us on social media @HDTGM. And I want to shout out the Action Jackson 5 for making our opening theme song, because it rules. And a big thank you to our producers, Scott Sonne and Molly Reynolds, and our movie picking producer, Avril Halley, and our associate producer, Jess Cisneros and our engineer, Casey Holford. We’ll see you next week for Beautiful Wedding.