 Hello, and welcome to Release Date Rewind. My name is Marc J. Parker, and I am a film lover, filmmaker, film celebrator. And normally this is an audio podcast, wherever you get your podcasts on your favorite apps. But thanks to Portland Media Center, you are about to watch the video component of this show where I celebrate movie anniversaries with my friends. Each month I usually talk about two different movies that I love with different friends, and we talk about the making of the movies, trivia, any fun memories associated with them. So I hope you enjoy, because now it's time to rewind. Alright everybody, she is back again, a fan favorite, a mainstay of Release Date Rewind. Welcome back, Solana Sorrento. Thank you. I'm glad to be back. Hello. Hello. This is now your third episode, but fourth movie you'll be talking about. Yes. Yeah, I used to put two in one episode, but too much work. Yeah. So Solana, how you been? I've been very well. How about you? Good. How has your summer been so far? Summer is flying by, but it's funny, moving to Maine, I'm totally a summer person now. But when I was in Jersey in New York, oh my God, summer, it's too muggy, it's way too hot, fall is where it's at. But Maine, we only have a few months of heat, so even the southern Maine. I'm right outside of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, so we're not very far up at all. But yeah, I mean, you know, once it's June, it's because May is still a little chilly, you know? Yeah. So once it's June, it's like, oh, okay, it's hot. And some days don't get me wrong, are way too brutally hot. But yeah, like we only really have warmth from like June to September. So yeah, I'm still a very much a fall person. But summer, you know, I'm loving, you know? How about you? No. Summer is still pretty. Yeah, I mean, look at the hair. Look. It's humid. We're supposed to get a thunderstorm right now. Yeah. Like it's just so hot. I do love a summer thunderstorm, though, I have to say. I love. Yeah. Well, we get tornadoes. Hopefully the power doesn't go out. Yeah. No, we get tornadoes now here. Yeah. You do now. I know my dad, they're in Cinnamon, he tells me even now and then like, oh, yeah, tornado watch. I'm like, what in the world? Yeah. I went and hid in the bathroom. So let's rewind. Solana, let's go. I know the last time you were on the show. We talked about a great 1992 film. And now we're going to talk about another great 1992 film. Although it's far less popular, I have to say. Yeah. A League of their Own made millions and millions. Stay tuned. Not as many millions, right? Right. But I love it. This is a movie I definitely saw as a kid. I didn't see it in theaters, but I know we rented it or we, you know, did pay-per-view on demand. Right. Back in the day. We rented it at home. Love this movie. John Ritter, Pam Dobber, even Eugene Levy. Yes. I forgot. Eugene Levy, Levy. I forgot he was in it. Really great cast. And it sounds like you love this movie too. Yes. When I was younger, my mom took me to see it once. And I went two more times. I loved it that much. So you saw it in the theater three times. Yes. And I did the same thing with Hocus Pocus. And I did the same thing with Problem Child 2. So like, I guess I liked John Ritter back then. Yeah. And I watched obviously three's company and work in Mindy. So I knew who John Ritter and Pam Dobber were. Yeah. And I was reading that they didn't really advertise this a lot, but I remember seeing the commercial. And that's why I wanted to see it. Re-watching it, because this was the first time I re-watched it in a long time. It had been, oh my gosh, maybe 15 years or more. Yeah. But I remembered so many moments. I remembered so many costumes that they're in. Right. And you know, I realized this time that I never really thought of before how genius to cast two famous TV stars in a movie where they get sucked into TV. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. You're like, it's such perfect casting, because I know, I have to pull it up. I know they were originally going to go with different people. They wanted Tracy Ulman and I think Richard Dreyfus. Yeah. Did you see that? I did see that. Yeah. No, it probably would have played out bigger maybe at the time. Maybe. Maybe. I mean, Tracy Ulman's really funny. Richard Dreyfus is fine. I don't dislike him, but I don't really find, I never really found him to be like super exciting. No. I mean, I could put up with him in Jaws. But like, I couldn't get through what about Bob? Like, he just got on my nerves. Yeah. But like, I guess at the time they were big. Like, did Tracy Ulman have her show then? That's a good question. She did. She might have. Tracy Ulman's show. Oh, yep. Okay. I didn't realize that started in 1987. Wow. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Cause I know the Simpsons came from that and that was like an 89. Yeah. The Simpsons. So, yeah. Sorry. So she's still, I could see why they would have wanted her. Yeah. She was big. She probably won Emmys that year, I'm sure. Yeah. That's a good point. At least nominated. Yeah. I mean, she's so, to this day, she's so funny. Yeah. The last season of curb your enthusiasm and oh my God, she's so good. I like, she is someone I don't ever want to die because. Yeah, I know. She's just so funny, right? Yeah. Yeah. So let me set the scene before we get into why we love, stay tuned so much and why more people need to see this movie. And I want to hear your thoughts later on. I think this movie would be a great remake. Yes. I think they could do some amazing things. We'll get into it. Yeah. But let me set the scene. So let's go back to August 14th, 1992. This movie was released wide. Fun fact, same day as the other movie that I talked about this month on the podcast, Single White Female came out the same day. Oh, okay. Ah, iconic. Okay. So like we were talking about, this used to be my playground by Madonna was number one on the music charts at this time in early August. Funny how it was like a month after a League of their own came out. But because it was still a popular movie. Right. I guess the song finally made it to number one for a week and then was overthrown by Boys to Men, the song End of the Road. Oh, okay. Which was, which was number one for a long time, like weeks and weeks. So that's what was happening on the music side, on the TV side. How funny. I need to hear your thoughts. So one show, the Larry Sanders show, which was, I remember a big deal, I believe on HBO, that had just started, that was starting on August 15th. The same day as Are You Afraid of the Dark? Nickelodeon. Okay. What an awesome weekend in our young lives. Yes. August 14th, 15th to have Stay Tuned, Single White Female, and Are You Afraid of the Dark? Yes. And that was, that was when Nickelodeon, I remember very well, that was when Nickelodeon was rebranding their Saturday Night Snick. Yes. No gramming. Yes. Yes. And wait, what was the first episode? The tale of the, was it like the Haunted Cab or the, the something with the taxi? I have the whole series on Bootleg DVD that I got on eBay years ago. Let me see. The Dark. That was the tale, you're so right, Savannah. The tale of the Phantom Cab. Yes, yes, yes. Two brothers while lost in the woods come across a mysterious cab driver and a very unusual man named Dr. Vink. Vink, yes, Dr. Vink. Who won't let any of his victims go unless they solve a riddle. Right. That's funny. You're so good. Yeah, I remember this second episode was the tale of laughing in the dark. It was the clown. Yes. In the Fun House. In the Fun House. Yes. Yes. I loved that show. Another episode. I did too. From season one, the tale of the super specs. Do you remember they would put on the glasses? Oh, the glasses. Yes. And some creepy people. Yeah. Oh my God. What a fantastic show. Oh, and the tale of Jake and the leprechaun. The leprechaun scared me. On the movie side, popular movies that were out, like I mentioned, single white female came up the same day. Unforgiven. Yeah. Death becomes her. Oh. That's what I just talked about on the show. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah. And how funny. A movie that, I feel like everyone our age knows, but I can't really remember it. But three ninjas. Oh, yeah. Do you remember three ninjas? Yeah. I feel like we would watch it in school. Like, you know, they bring the TV and put it in, you know, like it was a rainy day. And I think it even had some like direct to video sequels. So it had like a franchise. I can't remember at all what it was like other than just sort of like a home alone. Right. Yeah. Yeah. That was a big deal back then. So now, Solana, tell us, stay tuned comes out. You loved it. I loved it. What's the movie about? It's about this guy who is like a couch potato. He's obsessed with TV, which I could totally relate to. Yep. And his wife, they're fighting and his wife takes a trophy, breaks the TV, and then all of a sudden this mysterious guy comes to the door. And he is selling, he's like a door-to-door salesman and he's selling a new satellite dish for over 600 channels, 666 channels. Yes, I caught that too. Yeah. I can't think of his name right now. John Ritter's character. Roy. Roy, Roy, yeah. He's like, oh no, I don't want to sign it because I can't pay for it. But then Spike, who we know. Yes, Mystery Man and Black. Mystery Man is like a free trial. So he's like, okay. Yeah, he says, did you say free? Yeah. And puts the satellite dish in the backyard and there's all these channels. And then him and his wife, they fight about the TV and they're outside arguing and the satellite dish just sucks them in. Then they're in TV shows. And yeah, then it's a wild ride from everything from a game show to their cartoons to, oh my God, the French Revolution, like historic drama is so funny. And then music video. The Salt and Peppa music video. I remember that so well. I remember as a kid being like, I want to be in that music video. I know. You're in some like factory. It's very like Janet Jackson. Yeah. Yeah. So fun. And then it's up to their kids to figure out what happened to them and get them back, suck them back out. Right? Yeah. You know, it's funny rewatching it. I also realized that it's kind of almost a little bit like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, which had just come out a couple years prior. Yeah. It's in that same vein of family members shrinking or appearing. And now other family members have to figure out a way to like make them normal again. Right. It's very of that kind of fun. I love those kinds of movies. Yeah. They're so easy to just like enjoy. Sorry to disturb you at this hour, but I have something you want. A new TV? It broadcasts programs no one had ever seen. Wednesday at 9, don't miss an all new episode of The Silencer of the Lambs. This movie is just so clever. All the spoofs, all the commercial spoofs that they have. I know. Like driving over Miss Daisy. Driving over Miss Daisy. There's Dwayne's World, which is like. Yeah. Dwayne's Underworld. Dwayne's Underworld. Yes. Thank you. Yes. Oh my gosh. That's funny. Instead of the Maxwell sound system, it's Max Hell in the commercial where the head falls off. And then there's even a meta threes company moment. Yes. Yeah. That was funny. And they didn't even like change the title. Because that was Hell for John Ritter. Where have you been? Yeah. What happened? What was like the drama there? I forget. I think the drama was Suzanne Somers wanted more money. Okay. Yeah. And she was replaced. Yeah. Was she? Yeah. Yeah. Because I think what she thought was John Ritter and what's her name? Joyce. Joyce DeWitt. Yeah. I think she thought they were going to stand by her and be like, if we don't all get raises, we're all walking, but they didn't. Like, they were just like, you know, we're happy with what we have. Right. And so then they just fired her. And I don't think she thought she would get fired. Yeah. And then they just replaced her. And then that was that. And I don't know how much longer it lasted. I know it was like they had Chrissy's cousin. Right. I don't even remember her name. And then I, I know that her and, and John Ritter didn't talk for years, but then they did. They did make up before he died. Not that year, but like. For years because of the fallout with the money. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's what it was. Yeah. But then like later on, they, they eventually made up. Um, it might have been like, remember they used to have like the TV land awards. It might have been through that. Like they saw each other and. Um, but then he died, you know, she was okay. Yeah. She was not in season six. It ran for eight seasons. It looks like was she in season five. She was in season. So she was in it for five years. Yeah. I had three more seasons. It's, it looks like without her. I was surprised. There's no real nod to Morgan Mindy, which I thought was, I know maybe they didn't get the rights. Yeah. Cause that's what I was wondering about. Like, I wonder if they had to really ask for a lot of permission. It's hard because they were spoofing many things. Yeah. You know, so I think when you're doing a satire, you don't necessarily need to do the rights. You know, need to ask for permission. But with some things with like the three's company theme song with, with certain things, I think they needed to get permission. So yeah, maybe you're right. They couldn't get. Cause how fun would it have been if Robin Williams like made a little. I know. And, and wait, didn't, uh, like this is weird connecting to what we talked about before. Um, with a league of their own. But I think Gary Marshall, wasn't he the director of more commending? I might be wrong. Oh, I wouldn't be surprised. I think he was cause I think he did happy days. Didn't he? Laverne and Shirley came off the happy days. And so did more commending. Oh, that's right. I forgot. Yeah. Came off that. Wow. That's wild. In 1980, way back in 1980, he directed one episode of more commending. Yep. He directed an episode of happy days and Laverne and Shirley. So yeah, total cross. Yeah. So I'll talk a little bit about the other main players and what they had done previously. So the screenwriters were Tom S. Parker. No relation. Yeah. But if so, hey Tom. Yeah. Um, and Jim Geno, Genoine. This was their first produced film screenplay. So very creative. You know, I don't think they had really done much before they had gone on to do a few other things. But this was pretty new for them. It was directed by Peter Hyams, who had directed a definitely a good amount of movies, but I didn't really recognize a lot of them. So I don't really know his work that well. Um, but then other actors, it stars Jeffrey Jones as that creepy man, Spike. Yes. Sadly, Jeffrey Jones is a bit creepy. Yeah. In real life. Yeah. Yikes. If you don't know, look him up. Yeah. Google. You don't need to talk about it. But so he's in it as a perfectly cast, creepy villain. And then like we were saying Eugene Levy had popped up. Yes. Uh, you know, in this, and he's so funny. Here's my idea for a remake, requel, like a sequel kind of thing that I could think could work. All new family. You know, obviously passed away, sadly. I forgot he passed away on the set of eight simple rules. Yes. Yeah. I knew he was in that at the time, but I forgot he like had his heart attack on set. Oh my God. That's terrible. Yeah. I would, I would, you know, get rid of Pam Dauber and the kids. The boy is so cute. The girl is a little annoying. Heather. Yeah. The idea is get rid of them. Keep Eugene Levy. Yeah. He's still to this day stuck in different channels. Yes. Right. I forget how we leave off with him. I think he just still is in, is trapped in the TV somewhere. I don't think he dies. Yeah. No, no. Right. You know, he has a leg missing and an arm missing. Yeah. Yeah. So he can just be hobbling around and it could be perfectly done because obviously TV now is, is king. Right. I mean, even more so than movies. So now you have all the streamers. Right. Or apps. All the content. It would be gold to remake this now. Then one night Roy and Helen Navel got sucked in and discovered that hell is one TV show after another. Let's welcome our new contestants, Roy and Helen Navel. And they're starring in every show. So get a new family, get, you know, new mom and dad kids, some new neighbors, right? Yeah. Eugene Levy is the only one that is still there. And anyone who hasn't seen the original, whatever, they'll, they'll get a kid. I mean, Eugene Levy is even more famous now with Schitt's Creek. Yeah. High. I mean, he's done amazing stuff. Right. And so he can just sort of be like their kind of guide as they're sucked into TV worlds. But I think it could be so much fun to go from Game of Thrones. Yes. To talk shows. That's the thing. They didn't really do any talk shows in the original, but it could be fun to do like a, like a Regis and Kelly or The View. Yeah. You know, all these friends shouting at each other. Yeah. You know, what else could they do? They could do other like, like survivor. Yes. Like, or like, um, you know, any sort of like kind of game show. But they have to put a twist to it. Like what the shows here, like they had sadistic hidden video. So instead of playing a practical joke, they told somebody their husband died. So they have to do something like Game of Thrones. Like, I don't know. Like they get stepped on by a dragon or something. Oh, totally. Yeah. It's got to be dark because this is dark humor, which I think is why I have always loved it. Yeah. Sadistic. What is it? Sadistic home videos? Yeah. Yeah. You're telling this poor older woman, your husband has died and she's crying. And then, and then he says, okay, now look, look straight ahead. Do you see that camera? Yeah. It's a sadistic home video. No. Yeah. Like. Yeah. It's so, I mean, this movie deserved a bigger audience because I mean, if this movie was streaming, it would be. Right. Hit. Yeah. If this was like a Netflix or Hulu movie, it would be such a hit. Oh my God. They could go, they could like be in Handmaid's Tale. Oh my God. They could be like in Housewives, but like the Housewives are zombies. They're dead. Yes. Walking dead. No, but like they're dead. And in like Dwayne's Underworld, they were zombies. Yes. You're right. It's Dead Housewives. But like, yeah, but then hire like the real ones, like have Luan. Oh my God. You imagine. You are a genius. Yes. The dead Housewives of New York or whatever. Yeah. Whatever. And just like mix them all up, have like Luan, have like Sonia. Oh my God. Dead Housewives are all fighting. Yeah. And they're all like turning their, their anger on the couple. Yeah. Because this movie, what's also part of the fun is there's like old stuff, like even old for the 90s, like old black and white movies that he likes watching. So there could even be fun old, like like the Golden Girls. Oh my God. Yes. Like they go to a channel where it's all like old reruns. Yeah. That would be really fun. Yeah. There's so many great things you can do with it. You know, action, comedy, horror. There could even be like American Horror Story or something. Yeah. But like they show it as a comedy because like. Yeah. It's got to be like switched. Yeah. Yeah. Or like the adventures of Regan and Captain Howdy. And it's like Dora Explorer, but it's Regan and Captain Howdy. Yes. Oh my God. That's genius. Would that be like, but it's like, you know, like what should we do today, Captain Howdy? Like, you know. That's so brilliant. Yeah. And then instead of asking the book bag, you ask the Ouija board. Like, you know, where to go? And then she's like all of a sudden her head's spinning and she's like, oh, it's okay. This happens every now and then. Yeah. Now they can't go home. Yeah. They can only switch channels. Where'd it go? Hey, lady, watch out. And every series is a nightmare. That's entertainment. Because Satan is the sponsor. Okay, everybody. Head spins. Very good. Very nice. Exercise this. Oh, yeah. We did see that. Yeah. That's really funny. Yeah, that was funny. She spins her head around. I wish they showed that more. I know. I could have done a lot more with that. Like 11A and. Yeah. Some things only kind of have like a brief moment while others, it's like a real set piece on Wiki. They have a very helpful list of everything they parody. So. Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. So obviously it's not an order of the movie. So three's company. Okay. Yeah. Wayne's world. We talked about it. Silence of the lambs. Oh, right. Commercial, which is so funny. Silencer of the lambs because the kids in the back seat are just nonstop annoying their parents. Right. Yeah. I thought this was so funny. Three men and Rosemary's baby. Yeah. And it's like puking. Yeah. That was brilliant. They have the Dukes of Hazard. David Dukes of Hazard. I missed that one. I didn't see that one. Where did you watch it? Because I watched it on YouTube and it didn't show the ending credits. Oh, okay. So it could have been on the ending credits. Did you find it on YouTube? Yes. In the different chapters. Yes. And then I watched them mixed up. I watched them mixed up. Did you? Oh, no. Well, yeah. I was like, wait a minute. This is five. I never watched four. Yeah. Yeah. I learned halfway through. Oh, if I just click on like the, the video that was like all the chapters in one, you know how you can do that? Like a playlist. Yeah. It was better. But that's so funny. I did the same thing. Yeah. It didn't show the, the like first couple of seconds of like the logo and you know, like we see great animated stay tuned video animation. Yeah. Which is great. Like the cartoon mouse scene. Yeah. For six months in advance or something. I heard they put a lot of effort into the animation. Oh my God. We're cartoons. I am not a mouse. I'm Helen Nable. I have two beautiful children. Mom? A pair of trapped in television. So wait, what was it? What was it? David Dukes of Hazard? Yeah. David Dukes of Hazard. Cause David Dukes is a real person. Yeah. He's, he was a cult leader. Right. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Driving over Miss Daisy. We talked about that. It's so funny. Northern overexposure. Exposure, yeah. With the wolves. That was a great scene. Yeah. I loved what I loved as a kid and I really remembered it rewatching. I loved how they had the static as like a portal. Right. Yeah. With Northern overexposure, they have to push the hut in the, in the ice to that hole in the ground to Yeah. go through it, you know, or it's in the wall. It's, you know, they fall into it in the, in the wrestling ring. Right. I've watched enough wrestling to know one thing. It's all fake. No one ever gets. Not fake. So the object, Mr. Pierce, is to kill them before they reach the end. If it was a bigger hit, I could have totally seen this being like a ride, you know. Yeah. Going through static and. Right. Yeah. So what else? Autopsies of the rich and famous. Oh yeah. They actually do that for real now on reals. Do they? They do. They don't show you, but they tell you like, you know, they did like loose, loose old wall and. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They do that every Sunday night. They were like, the writers were a bit psychic, like knowing what was going to be on TV in the future. Right. Yeah. And even the phrase Roy says to spike towards the end, you're canceled. Yeah. And like hits the button on the remote and I was like, wow, little did everyone 30 years ago know that you're canceled. Yeah. Was going to be like a phrase used. Right. Yeah. Right. So, so then you saw this movie three times in the theater. Did you see it? Who did you remember who you saw it with? My mom. Every time? Every time. Oh my God. She took me the first time and then she'd be like, do I be like, please can I go see it again? So then that's when I think, you know what, I think I had my aunt stole it from blockbuster. She would do that. Like I have a Vita like that. I would open an account and then rent it and never bring it back. That's how I bought a Vita. Oh my God. That's so funny. Yeah. So it's still in like the blockbuster case. Yeah. But like that's what my mom would do because she was like, I can't go to the movies again and say it, you know, but like back then it wasn't that expensive to go to the movies. Totally. Oh my God. Are you kidding? I would go to the movies as much as I could. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Why do you think you loved it so much? Just. I will. Yeah. So you saw yourself in Roy. Yeah. No. Well, yeah. I love TV, but then I love, you know how I love scary stuff. Oh, totally. So like it was like scary but funny. Yeah. And I love that too. Like I love like Mel Brooks, like young Frankenstein and stuff like that. Oh yeah. And I just love how they spoofed things that I knew. Yeah. So like I found it hysterical when other people would be like, it's not funny. Right. You know? And it's an interesting kind of comedy because it could be, I think, scary for some kids. For kids like us. Yeah. It was like, yeah, this is like our brain loves this stuff, you know? Yeah. But like, you know, with the neighbor, I forget her name, but her husband in the very beginning, Mary. Yeah. They get sucked in and Murray's like brainwashed. He loves being in here and he loves being away from his wife who's squashed by Godzilla. I know. It gets so dark and that's how she dies. Yeah. In the TV. Right. But I laughed. That's what's weird. It's darkly funny. I laughed. You know, this time of filmmaking, this time of the decade, I feel like with Death Becomes Here with Beetlejuice, we were making, we were watching like really good twisted comedies. Yeah. You know? Yeah. They weren't afraid to be really weird like she devil with Mary. Oh yes. That was good. And I think Tim Burton was very influential. I was going to say Tim Burton. Yeah. Like he apparently was asked to do this, but he was doing Batman Returns. Right. Yeah. But I mean, this is so Tim Burton. Time to rock and roll. Star me up. You got to start me up. Don't miss this comedy from hell. I got a kick out of the music video. I don't know why. Like cause John Ritter looks so goofy. So goofy and so does Spike. Yeah. Like he's like, he has like makeup on. Yeah. And he's like the DJ. And like, I just thought it was just so funny. I don't know why. Like just, it just struck me funny. And I would laugh. I think also what makes that so funny is the remote, like John Ritter just wants the remote so badly to get to the, to when, not Wendy. No, Helen. Helen's his wife's name. Yeah. Cause she's tied up like with the train coming. Right. And the remote keeps falling into different people's hands. Yeah. And then the guy hits me and I thought that was so funny. But I think it's just because I, I watched TV. I knew the mute button. Like it was just, he was in the TV. Like he was in the TV show. He was in the music video. I love that mute moment. I remember thinking that was so clever. And it's funny. Since you like scary stuff, it kind of reminded me of, did you ever see funny games? Yes. Yes. Where there's a moment where they pick up the remote and rewind the movie. And you realize like, oh yeah, I'm just like watching a movie, but this is so intense. Yeah. It made me think of that. Thanks so much for watching. Next time, there's going to be a new movie that we'll talk about. So stay tuned. And please follow release date rewind on Instagram for updates. Bye.