‘80s All Over began very simply: Scott called Drew and proposed a game. Drew added a rule to the game. Scott added another. A few more rules bounced back and forth, a few more ideas kicked down the road, they added Bobby to the game, and then they started playing it.
The good news is that so many of you were just as entertained and engaged by the game as we were.
The bad news is that the game is not sustainable enough to see its successful completion.
The massive amount of time required to turn the show out on a regular basis requires a lot of support and resources, and while we appreciate every single person who gladly did what they could to provide that support, making themselves a welcome and necessary part of the extended ‘80s All Over family—we remain (as we began) three individual people, living in different cities, trying to make this massive undertaking work as a side gig while also doing our daily jobs.
It feels like a massive failure on our parts to say that we can’t make it to the finish line like this, but: We can’t make it to the finish line like this. Our hiatus was spent trying to figure things out, discussing various ways to approach the problems and arrive at workable, reasonable solutions, and in the end, it became all-too-clear that our ambitions simply outstripped our realities.
We know how much this is going to upset and hurt you, and we apologize. We appreciate every person who ever listened, we appreciate every recommendation and review, and we particularly appreciate the wonderful guests who shared their time, their passion, and their insights on this weird and wild decade of film.
While we’re stepping away from ‘80s All Over to pursue other endeavors, we sincerely do want to find a way to extend these conversations. We’re not looking to simply cut and run; instead, we’re trying to build some sustainable stuff that will allow us to try the next crazy ambitious thing—but this time with a much more solid foundation.
You can find Scott on Patreon here.
You can find Drew on Patreon here.
We wish we had better news for you after this hiatus, and we want you to know how hard we tried to figure it out. We have loved everything about our interaction with all of you, and we look forward to what comes next.
April 1985
It’s a weird month, with a lot of little films you’ve never heard of up front. Teen-sex comedies and weird War Games ripoffs and swords and sandals and unfunny celebrity siblings abound. But we’ve also got a Louis Malle film, some genuinely sweet and fun teen comedies, a couple of crazy riffs on fairy tales, and adaptations of both Elmore Leonard and Stephen King. That’s a lot of ground to cover, so let’s get to it with April of 1985.
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March 1985
March has become one of the coolest months of each season here on ‘80s All Over, and this one’s no exception. Want some crummy TV children’s animation on the bigscreen? We’ve got you covered. Want some terrible sequels to films that shouldn’t have sequels? Yep. Plenty of that. Weird tone-deaf kids films, exploitation films that make us squirm for the wrong reasons, misbegotten star vehicles? Check, check, and check. But we’ve also got a stone-cold teen classic, Eric Stoltz’s best work of the decade, one of the weirdest side trips in John Landis’s career, Madonna’s big screen debut, and Divine on horseback. What more could you ask from March of 1985?
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Patreon Bonus #54 - Matt Gourley
Matt Gourley is a man of very specialized talents. He knows his James Bond (obviously—he co-hosts Earwolf's James Bonding podcast) and he knows his Jason Voorhees (he does the In Voorhees We Trust podcast, too). Scott calls him "a crown prince of podcasting," and he's not really exaggerating at all, what with co-founding SuperEgo, creating I Was There Too, producing Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, and appearing on some of the absolute funniest episodes of Comedy Bang Bang, Never Not Funny, Thrilling Adventure Hour, and more. But truly, his finest hour must be this one, where he shoots the breeze for about an hour about '80s films with Drew and Scott. Join us, won't you?
February 1985
An Oscar-winning actor directs a bunch of dancers with a dream, Richard Harris hits the road with someone else's kid, and it's time for classy Porky's! We meet Kiefer Sutherland for the first time, Matthew Modine tries to make weight, and Kurt Russell does the serial-killer two-step. All that plus Harrison Ford's best performance, a Jeff Goldblum cult oddity, and the greatest high school movie ever made? Don't you forget about February of 1985.
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Patreon Bonus #53 - Peter Hyams
On this very, very special Patreon bonus episode, Drew and Scott get to sit for a spell with writer/cinematographer/producer/director Peter Hyams, a man responsible for making some of the flat-out ballsiest moves that '80s Hollywood ever saw, not least of which was "I think I'm going to make the follow up to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey." The stories of that film's making are absolute must-hears, but so are the tales of his breaking into the industry, and the rules he had to break to stay there, the time Sean Connery tried yanking his chain on the set of Outland, and the absolute joy both in front and behind the camera during the making of Running Scared with Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal.
January 1985
It's January, and it's a brand-new season of '80s All Over, so you know what that means?
TOILET MONSTERS FOR EVERYONE!
Okay, it also means it's time for the Coen Brothers to make their first appearance of the decade, but more importantly, TOILET MONSTERS FOR EVERYONE! Except people who actually watch the movie with the toilet monster on the cover, since there are no toilet monsters in it. Confused? You won't be after you dig into the beginning of the year with us on January of 1985.
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Patreon Bonus #52 - Kevin Murphy
Three different pioneers get together for a special Patreon Bonus to discuss the weird wild west days of their youth: Drew & Scott discuss what it was like wandering the wilderness of UHF and VHS and taking that education and turning it into online film critic gold—while Kevin Murphy talks about wandering the wilderness of low-budget cable programming and turning that into culture-defining comedy with his work on Mystery Science Theater 3000. They talk about a bunch of '80s movies (and some not very good ones, too) while they're at it.
The Best of 1984
We all know the icons—Daniel-san and Mr. Miyagi, Peter, Ray, Winston, and Egon, Gizmo and Stripe, and Freddy Krueger—but 1984 was so much more than that. Before we move on, it's time to review the year's biggest winners at the box-office and at the Oscars, and for Scott and Drew to pick their ten favorite films from a very stacked year. Will you agree? Will you be infuriated? Will Scott remember that The Terminator was released this year? You'll find out all of that and more as we reach the halfway point with the Best of 1984.
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Patreon Bonus #51 - EG Daily
EG Daily is known to millions upon millions of people as one of the voices of their childhood: Tommy Pickles from Rugrats, Buttercup in The Powerpuff Girls... but so far as Drew and Scott are concerned, the voices they know her from are from her appearance in '80s films like Streets of Fire, and Fandango, and Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains; let's not forget that one little independent art film called Pee Wee's Big Adventure, of course, and yes... she was in Wacko, too.
December 1984
Michael Keaton was quasi-deadly, Mel Gibson was both in prison and on the farm, and Boogaloo Shrimp was breakin’ again, thank god. Francis Ford Coppola went to Harlem so he could watch Gregory Hines fly, Peter Hyams proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had the biggest balls in Hollywood, and David Lynch went to deep space so he could confuse a generation. We’ve got rancid farce, frustrating star vehicles, and epic adventures. Plus, if you ask real nice, we just might teach you how to do the Neutron Dance. Let’s put a bow on it and stick December 1984 under the tree!
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November 1984
We re-elected Reagan, and that's not even the scariest thing that happened this month. Freddy Krueger may cast a long shadow over the entire decade, but it all started here. You'll believe a spin-off can suck, Santa's gonna let you know you've been naughty, and Chuck Norris manages to rip Stallone off... from the future! We've got killer pigs, fake broken legs, and Nancy Allen singing and dancing. All this plus two Larry Cohen movies? What did we do to deserve November 1984?
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Patreon Bonus #50 - Diane Franklin
Some of these bonus episodes are delightful, some are surprises, and then there's Diane Franklin's episode, which is consistently one delightful surprise after the other. Scott and Drew dig into her filmography, and the stories she shares about the making of all-time classics like The Last American Virgin, Better Off Dead and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure are as charming as you'd expect... but it's the stories about Amadeus and Amityville that really go places.
October 1984
October is a weird month every year so far in the '80s, and this year's no exception. We've got Linda Blair and a crossbow, stolen diaries and horny housewives, slashers and horny teens and... one of the greatest documentaries of the decade? Okay, didn't see that coming. We're going to England, to Alaska, to Israel, and to Encino. Paul McCartney shits the bed, JoBeth Williams shows up twice, and we've got at least three stone cold classics. All that and BODY DOUBLE? Let me wallow. It's October 1984.
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Patreon Bonus #48 - April Wolfe
One of the best things about the bonus episodes are the opportunities allowed for both Scott and Drew to nerd out with some of their very favoritest people, and that very much includes Switchblade Sisters co-host, film critic, and Blumhouse's Black Christmas screenwriter April Wolfe, who shares some of her biggest influences, tells stories of how her horror fandom has changed her life, and digs into some of her most treasured '80s horror classics.
September 1984
This month took a toll on Scott and Drew, and small wonder—Imamura lays the punishment on thick, while Mario Van Peebles just... plain lays it on thick. We've also got the best first 20 minutes to an exploitation film in a while, Karen Allen's smile, Lorenzo Lamas as Chilly, and horny Jeremy Irons... in French! Charlie Bronson kills some folks, as Charlie Bronson does, and Hollywood discovers farms! A Fast Times sequel that isn't! Kathleen Turner versus Anthony Perkins! Joe Morton's detachable eyeball! And Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, too? September 1984 is serious business!
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Patreon Bonus #47 - The Dead Zone
The ICE… IS GONNA BREAK
The '80s All Over Holiday Special
For Christmas, Drew and Scott chose to give themselves the gift of a couple weeks off from the podcast grind—but they didn't wanna just leave you hanging over the holiday break, and so: The '80s All Over Holiday Special, the sort of "We left a VHS tape at Gramma's house because she's got satellite and she'll record all our favorite shows for us if we circle the good stuff in the TV Guide for her" compilation that many '80s kids lived on!
...Okay, yeah, it's a clip show. But that's also a very '80s sorta thing to do, right? And besides—if you're looking for a free little stocking stuffer for discerning podcast listeners who (somehow) have yet to discover the magic of Messrs. McWeeny and Weinberg's award-winning* bi-monthly forays into film history and cultural archaeology, this Holiday Special oughta do it!
Featuring a special 8-bit remix of the remix of the opening theme by Dya, celebrations of the decade's most dignified luminaries (including Dabney Coleman and Burt Young), a peek into the Patreon exclusive vaults, and almost two hours of reviews, running gags, fights, feelings, crack-ups, throwdowns, and more!
*The '80s All Over podcast hasn't actually won any awards, but if you're a culture editor/writer at a mainstream outlet feel absolutely free to contact the show about rectifying this situation.
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Patreon Bonus #46 - Rebecca Swan
Drew McWeeny has been many things in his life. Laserdisc slinger, Popcorn schlepper, cub reporter, theatre director, hopeless romantic, internet raconteur... but when he came to Los Angeles, it was in answer to the siren song of screenwriting. And this very special bonus episode digs deep into a lot of that history courtesy of today's special guest, filmmaker Rebecca Swan, Drew's writing partner on the Masters of Horror episodes Pro-Life and Cigarette Burns. They talk at length about their favorite films, shared obsessions, the way each informed the other's sensibilities, and much more.
August 1984
The controversies just keep coming…
Maybe it was something in the air, but things were weird this month. Bo Derek made a movie so bad it broke Cannon’s distribution deal with MGM. A long-in-development property finally made it to the screen and no one noticed. John Cassavetes released his last major work, Sean Connery showed up wearing Cate Blanchett’s outfit from Thor: Ragnarok, and Jamie Lee Curtis lost a bet and had to play love scenes with C. Thomas Howell. You want Michael Landon making a Bible allegory about himself? Or naked Clint Eastwood slathered in baby oil? Or a flamingo attack to wrap up the jolliest naked-Tarzan riff ever made? Well, you’re getting it anyway, plus a fistful of PG-13 films and Dr. Emilio Lizardo. Join your regular hosts John FilmNerd 2.0 and John Phillycheesesteak for a trip into the 8th dimension for August of 1984.
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