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Episode 30

Winter People | S1E30

We are going back to April of 1989 to cover the depression era drama, Winter People. And... I’m going solo today.

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Transcript
Katie:

Hello.

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Hello.

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I'm Katie and welcome to Retro

Made, your pop culture rewind.

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We are going to go back to April

of:

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of the release of Winter People.

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Since this is a little lesser known

Kurt Russell movie and it's not

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super readily available to stream,

I'm going to go solo today, so

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hopefully that's okay with you all.

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But I do want to Sincerely, thank you all

for listening, going along this journey

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so far with me before we get into the

time capsule just remember, you can

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keep in touch with me also by sending

an email to retromadepodcast at gmail.

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com.

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I'm going to read a listener

email here in a little bit.

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So you can be like, so,

oh, also the Facebook page.

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There's other nostalgia.

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Keep up with what's going on over there.

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And as always, I do really

appreciate ratings and reviews.

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If you can spare a couple of minutes.

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If you're new to the show, welcome.

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I cover retro movies and the TV music

and other pop culture of the time.

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So in terms of listener emails

this one's long overdue.

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So this is from Zoe Richardson and he

is from Backlook Cinema, the podcast.

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I've guested on that.

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He's guested on this show as well.

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And he always has very well thought out.

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Emails, and I just haven't had a

chance to read this 1 on the show yet.

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It's actually in reference to the

episode that I did with Jamie and

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Milo covering the remake of roadhouse.

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The 1 with the 2024 1

with Jake Gyllenhaal.

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So, if you have not listened to that

episode, be sure to market to go back

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to, or go listen to that and come back.

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Be sure to listen to this one as well.

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And if you recall, we didn't love it.

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I'll just say that.

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So I'm synthesizing down a

little bit, trying to catch

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the main points of Zoe's email.

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It was a lovely email.

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So thanks again, Zoe, for that.

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But I'm not going to read the whole thing.

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So he says, so I heard your review

of Roadhouse and I assume you've

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seen my video and I take it that

you didn't like it that much.

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So yes, Zoe did see.

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Your video and you guys go check

out those response to the movie.

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He continues.

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He says, honestly, I'm a little

surprised and not surprised at all.

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I'm sure that, you know,

my feelings about it.

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I thought that it was pretty good.

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I was immensely entertained , in

spite of some of its flaws.

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I think that some of the things that

you guys hated about the film were

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the things that I loved about it.

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Now, I'm not going to try and convince you

as to why you should like it rather here.

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We have an opportunity as to

why we see the film differently.

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So, he goes on to talk about remakes

in general, the fact that me and

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my guests didn't even really want.

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We didn't want this movie.

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Therefore, he didn't think that

we were as open minded as maybe

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we could have been, which is fair.

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I will just reiterate that I am a big

fan of Jake Gyllenhaal and I tried,

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or at least I told myself that I was

going to be open minded because of that.

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I thought if, if it could be good,

It could be good because of Jake.

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Let's see.

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He also, he just thinks that maybe we

missed some things that he really enjoyed

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like, not realizing certain things.

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And I don't know if maybe, maybe

some of us did and some of us didn't.

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I just think we didn't, I don't know

if it's that we missed those things.

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I think it's that we caught

them, but we didn't, still didn't

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like it or that it just didn't.

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It just felt very disjointed.

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So then there's a point at which some

of the flaws in the remake, that

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we attributed as it's flaws elements

of the remake that were in the

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original, like, he says, you noted

that this town was full of bad guys.

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Yeah, so is the remake.

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Like Dalton seemed invincible, but he

was kind of invincible in the original,

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and this is a trope in action movies.

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A friend of mine would call it

an invincible white man trope.

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Admittedly, they really went past

the limit with Dalton's invincibility

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in the remake, but it wasn't

enough to derail my enjoyment.

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Speaking of enjoyment, I

mentioned that there were things

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that I loved that you hated.

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I loved the fight scenes.

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I didn't even know that

some of it was CGI.

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I totally bought into the scenes.

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I guess in this case,

your mileage will vary.

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Some people were able to

discern CGI and others couldn't.

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I never stopped to think about it.

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Now this I'm begging for you guys.

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To write in I, that was my biggest beef.

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I'll just say that was my

biggest beef with the movie.

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There was no stakes in

it for me because it was.

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Basically, a Marvel movie, like,

it was a cartoon didn't seem real.

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And that was 1 of the things

that we loved about the original.

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It had excellent real fight sequences.

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So I'll just reiterate that.

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I, yes, I hated the CGI fights.

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It took me completely out of

it, but I realized that I'm not

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the only opinion that matters.

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So I'd love to hear anyone

else's thoughts on this.

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Also.

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So Zoe goes on with a few other

examples, you know, about.

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Dalton's character being

a little bit different.

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And so in the context of so in

the original Dalton, rips out

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the throat of a guy in the remake.

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This is what so says.

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In the remake, they

contextualized this element.

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The act of killing someone and

wrapped the whole movie around it.

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Instead of a random stranger,

it was Dalton's friend.

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Instead of a purposeful act,

it was done by accident.

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This is a man suffering with PTSD

and is struggling to cope with it.

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He doesn't know how to get close to people

again, and so we don't get the sex scene

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and we don't get the rom com ending.

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Both elements that we brought

up, though, says by the end of

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the movie, he's still struggling,

but perhaps handling it better.

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There was something about him getting

on the bus at the end that I really

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liked this aspect of the character.

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That is his struggles with his guilt and

anguish felt more real and accessible to

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me than a guy with a degree in philosophy

who chooses to work as a bouncer.

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Good point.

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So good point.

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But it was the 80s.

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That's what it was about.

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Okay.

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So says, don't get me wrong.

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This roadhouse remake

had a lot of problems.

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There were jumps of logic

that didn't make any sense.

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There were scenes that

carried on too long.

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There were a lot of things that

you pointed out that were just bad.

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And I sort of agree with some

of your points, but I also

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was too thrilled to care.

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Jake carried the fuck out of this

film, more than anything else,

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he really made this thing work.

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Before I stop typing, I want to

address the comment, no one asked

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for this, or who asked for this.

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I'm not a fan of this sentiment, as

it's contradictory and illogical.

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The answer to this question or

statement is that no one asks for

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anything, and you get exactly what

you asked for, you'll hate it.

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The trick is to give you something new

and unexpected, yet somehow familiar,

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and that's what this movie brings.

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You might like it, you might

hate it, but that's the chance

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that's taken in creating a thing.

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It has very little in common

with the original film, but

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that's what makes it good.

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They know the legacy of the original,

so they're not trying to create an exact

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duplicate of the original, rather a new

story using elements of the old one.

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Thank you, Zoe.

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He has other points, I'm not gonna

read all of his email, but that's Very

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good points, Zoe, and I will say, I

attribute some of this to the changing

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landscape of movies and moviegoing

experiences nowadays, but I clearly was

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in the minority here because they are

already slated to make a sequel to it.

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All right, you guys, let

me know what you think.

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Now we can open the time

capsule from April of:

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So, this is Nielsen ratings from 88 to 89.

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I feel like we've covered a lot of these

before, but just to refresh your memory.

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We have the Cosby show Roseanne, which

was its premier season now on this.

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I actually was considering

expanding on Roseanne since it was.

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It's premiere season, but I really

don't want to rush that discussion

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because there's a lot there.

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So I'm going to save it for

another upcoming episode.

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So if you like Roseanne, keep

listening, keep watching.

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Also big top rated shows.

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That season was a different world.

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Cheers.

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The Golden Girls, of

course, Who's the Boss?

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Murder, She Wrote, Empty

Nest, and Anything But Love.

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And yes, that does sound familiar.

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I think we've covered anything but

love before, because I recall not

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remembering it and looking it up.

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Let's see.

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It stars Richard Lewis and Marty

Gold and Jamie Lee Curtis as

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coworkers at a Chicago magazine.

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It had 56 episodes, apparently.

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That's kind of shocking

to what four seasons.

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Wow.

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Don't remember it at all.

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Does anyone?

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So the shows that weren't necessarily

in the top, but premiered.

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Which would make them all 35 years

old now, good morning, miss bliss.

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You guys please tell me you remember this.

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It actually was let's see.

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It was only a single season because

so miss bliss is Haley mills and

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it's the saved by the bell kids.

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But like, in junior high school, and

then when they got into high school,

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they swapped some characters, but.

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It was on the Disney Channel originally,

also kind of known to be the junior

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high years of Saved by the Bell.

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We also have Just the 10 of

Us premiering this season.

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I'm going to have to expand

on that in a future season as

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well, because I adore that show.

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Coach Lubbock from Growing Pains

was spun off into his own TV show,

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and that was Just the 10 of Us.

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China Beach.

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Do you guys remember China Beach?

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, Empty Nest, which was the Golden

Girls spinoff, also very good.

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Murphy Brown, Dirty Dancing.

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Yes, I said Dirty Dancing.

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So this was a super short lived

series after the success of the movie,

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Dirty Dancing, of course, but there

are, is not a single cast member.

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From the movie that's in the TV show,

but Malora Hardin starred in it.

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Jan from The Office, Malora

Hardin, that's who she is.

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Let's see.

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We also have The Wonder Years,

Garbage Pail Kids, and Yo MTV Raps.

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And then some of the shows

that ended this season.

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American Bandstand, Highway to Heaven,

Kate and Ali, Small Wonder, Moonlighting,

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Webster, and The California Raisin Show.

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Interesting grouping there.

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Yeah.

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So that is the popular TV

from the 88 to 89 season.

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Now the specific week that winter

th,:

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The songs that were big Billboard

top 10 number one song is she drives

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me crazy by fine young cannibals.

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The look by Roxette is number two.

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Ooh, there's a lot of girls

Madonna with like a prayer

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oh god.

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I still I love this video

like a prayer Yeah, good one.

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The bangles with eternal flame.

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That's a goodie and Girl,

you know, it's true by Millie

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Vanillie is the number five song

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Number six is Stand by REM.

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Number seven is Funky

Cold Medina by Tone Loke.

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Now I think people probably assume or

just they have good thoughts about that

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song or oh yeah that's a great song.

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It's good in theory is what my opinion

is because it's the most repetitive

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song ever and if it's played at like

uh some sort of a wedding or a dance

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or something it it's not fun to

dance to because it's so repetitive.

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It's just too repetitive

and gets old real quick.

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My two cents anyway.

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Number eight, did not

know what the song is.

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I looked it up.

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Superwoman by Karen White.

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Does anybody know this song?

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It is like a sad love song.

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And after watching the video,

it is extremely clear that

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Beyonce borrowed from this.

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Very much borrowed from this for her.

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If I were a boy video, it's like the

same kind of, and I love that video.

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I like Beyonce's better, but at any rate,

number nine is you got it by Roy Orbison.

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And number 10 is your mama.

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Don't dance by poison.

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I think this is maybe one of the most

varied genre wise top 10 we've ever had.

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It's literally a little bit of everything.

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Wrapped into it.

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And so, you know, that's

what the eighties was.

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This is 1989

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news and events is like

mostly sporting things.

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Tons of sports news.

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Do you guys remember WrestleMania five?

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Apparently Hulk Hogan beat Randy

Macho Man Savage for the WWF

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heavyweight title in April of 1989.

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It was a certain NBA stars last game,

any guesses, Kareem Abdul Jabbar

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and Mike Tyson got in some trouble.

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He both strikes a parking attendant

when asked to move his car and

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then separately from that gets a

speeding ticket for drag racing his

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Lamborghini in Albany, New York.

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Hillsboro disaster.

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Hmm.

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England.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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So 96 people are crushed to death

and 766 people were injured at the

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Hillsboro football stadium in Sheffield,

England during a semifinal between

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Liverpool and Nottingham forest.

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96 people were crushed to death.

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Oh, wow.

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I don't know.

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I feel like I've heard of

this, but I don't remember it.

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Well, also the central park 5.

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I'm sure you all have heard of them.

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5 teenagers were wrongfully

convicted and each spend between

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6 and 12 years in prison.

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For the violent rape of jogger, Tricia

melee in New York City's central park and.

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This is one of the most widely

publicized crimes of the:

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And yes, they were wrongfully convicted.

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I think one of them is in

New York, he's on the city

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council or something like that.

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No, I want to say George W.

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Bush and Edward W.

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Rose become joint CEOs

of the Texas Rangers.

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I did not know this.

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And he did anyone else,

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Massachusetts declares

new kids on the block day.

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And this is wild 1989, you guys,

April, the World Wide Web, WWW

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is first launched in the public

domain by computer scientist.

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Anybody knows name Tim Berners Lee.

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I did not know that.

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A couple of famous

weddings happened in April.

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Jon Bon Jovi weds his high school

sweetheart, Dorothea Hurley,

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at Graceland Chapel in Vegas.

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Also, actor and comedian Robin

Williams weds nanny Marsha Garces

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at a private ceremony in Lake Tahoe.

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We have a couple of deaths, though.

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American boxer, Sugar Ray Robinson.

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Now, I don't Okay, I don't know

what the deal is in boxing,

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why everybody is named Sugar

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and Sugar Ray.

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Like, every Like, there's a Sugar

Shane, there's a couple Sugar Rays.

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What's the story with the sugar?

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Boxing.

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Does anyone know Anyway, I don't

think I knew Sugar Ray Robinson,

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but he was the World Welterweight

champion from:

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He was the middleweight champion from

51 to 52, also in 55 and 58, and he

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dies of Alzheimer's disease at age

, and that was in April of:

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Lucille Ball died.

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Of a heart attack at age 77 and

Sergio Leone, the Italian director

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who invented spaghetti westerns.

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For example, the man with no

name trilogy, he died of a heart

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attack also, but he was only 60.

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All right, let's move past the sadness

with other big movie releases of the time.

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Field of Dreams.

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Pet Cemetery, Major League, K

9, The Dream Team, Say Anything,

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She's Out of Control, and Cyborg.

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I don't realize.

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I sort of thought Cyborg was not a

hit, but it must have been pretty big.

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It was one of the bigger

movies in April anyway.

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Hmm.

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All right.

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Well, without further ado,

let's get into the movie.

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Winter People released April 14th, 1989.

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It was PG and I, so it has a 6.

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2 out of 10 on IMDb, which is actually

kind of high, I think, considering.

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It did not do well with critics and I

just feel like no one talks about this.

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I don't really know anyone

who's seen this movie.

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So you guys will have to let me know.

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The director is well known.

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We actually just talked about him

because he directed Uncommon Valor with

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our other everyman, Patrick Swayze.

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He also directed First Blood

and Weekend at Bernie's.

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Ted Kochef.

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Hmm.

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Interesting.

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So this was based on a book

by John Ellie or E H L E.

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Not entirely sure how to pronounce that.

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Apologies.

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It was a novel of written in 1982

that this film was based on and the

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other writer was Carol Sobieski.

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And she's known for tons of TV movies.

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Also a couple of fantastic movies, fried

green tomatoes and Annie from:

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I'm going to have to find a way to

cover that because I love that movie.

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Anyone else?

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Okay.

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So our Everyman Kurt

Russell stars in this.

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He plays Wayland Jackson.

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So he is a young widower who moves

with his daughter into a North

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Carolina mountain town in 1934.

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So this is the depression.

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He quickly takes up with a young

woman played by Kelly McGillis.

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She plays Colly Wright.

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You guys know her from Top Gun, but she

was also in Witness and The Accused.

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So they're the couple in this movie.

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So he quickly takes up with her and

she has an illegitimate baby, which

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was like an enormous deal at the time

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So first he must prove himself to her father and her three brothers.

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He does so first by joining them on

a bear hunt and then by designing

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a clock tower for the small.

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Community trouble comes when it is

revealed that the baby's father is the

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demented son of a mean clan across the

river and they want revenge for his death.

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There's a lot of people in this

because so this is like a dueling

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families story a little bit.

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Sort of the backdrop in like Appalachia

during the depression, right?

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So that's kind of the stage that we're

in and each clan has several brothers.

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So, it kind of gets confusing, I

think Lloyd Bridges is also in this.

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He plays Collie's father, William Wright.

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So we have the Wrights,

which is Collie's clan.

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Collie, yes, Collie is

spelled like the dog, Collie.

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I've never, I've never heard

that before, but I like it.

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There's actually, actually to that

point, the names in this are wild.

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Okay, so we have Wayland, Collie,

William is normal, but so Lloyd Bridges

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plays William, and we talked about him

in the North Eye, actually, because

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I did that solo as well, talked about

him in the North and South episode

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because he played Jefferson Davis.

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And I don't know if I, I mean,

I knew he was like Hollywood

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royalty, but when I looked him up,

his credits go back to the:

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I don't think I realized that.

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It's Lloyd Bridges.

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And then Drury Campbell.

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He is the patriarch of the Campbell clan.

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They're like across the river.

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Drury.

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D R U R Y.

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He is played by Mitchell Ryan, and we

talked about him in Uncommon Valor as

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well, because he played Chief Tom Riordan.

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He is a familiar face and

he's in a ton of things.

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You definitely know him.

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He has that.

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Despite him playing in this, not

necessarily like a regal person,

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he is typically playing like

a regal older man type role.

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I'm pretty sure he played Greg's

dad in Dharma and Greg, and he was

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also the general in Lethal Weapon.

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So that's Mitchell Ryan.

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Now, Paula Jackson, Waylon's

daughter, so he, his wife dies, and

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he moves with his daughter, Paula.

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She is played by Amelia Burnett,

and she did not continue acting.

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Like, this is it for her.

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Annie Wright is played by Eileen Ryan.

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Does anyone know Eileen Ryan?

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It did not ring a bell to me, but

she is Sean and Chris Penn's mom.

395

:

So there you have it.

396

:

Now we have another brother,

another Wright brother.

397

:

So we have William as the dad, Collie,

daughter, and then here are the brothers.

398

:

Gudger?

399

:

Yes.

400

:

Like, the names are wild.

401

:

G U D G E R, he's, he's

played by Lanny Flaherty.

402

:

I don't know if I'm

pronouncing that right.

403

:

Sounds very Irish.

404

:

Not well known, but his parts tended

to be, like, always sort of that just

405

:

disheveled looking old timey outlaw type.

406

:

Sort of what, what he usually plays.

407

:

Another brother, his name is Young.

408

:

Like he's young right at first.

409

:

I thought they were like just saying

like the young right boy, but no his name

410

:

is young and He's played by Don Michael

Paul who played Craig Bodie on Models

411

:

Inc if anybody remembers that show from

the 90s And he also directs a lot of

412

:

small budget straight to video movies

or straight to streaming, I guess now.

413

:

And then Milton, right?

414

:

Yet another brother is

played by David Dwyer.

415

:

And this is actually

his first movie credit.

416

:

But he also played the sheriff in The

Highwaymen and a prison guard in the Firm.

417

:

And recently, if anybody

has seen the movie Hillbilly

418

:

Elegy, he plays Uncle Arch.

419

:

Or Uncle Archie.

420

:

That's who David Dwyer is.

421

:

Now, the Campbells.

422

:

Now here are the three Campbell brothers.

423

:

The other clan.

424

:

See, I don't know why

there's so many brothers.

425

:

It's hard to keep everyone straight.

426

:

So Cole Campbell is, spoiler

alert, he's the baby's father.

427

:

The illegitimate baby's father

from the clan across the river.

428

:

So it's like very risque.

429

:

Cole Campbell is played by Jeffrey

Meek, and he is a little bit familiar.

430

:

He had a really long run on

As the World Turns, as Craig

431

:

Montgomery, that's who he played.

432

:

He also played Remo Williams in the

TV movie, Remo Williams, The Prophecy.

433

:

And he was also in the

Mortal Kombat, Conquest.

434

:

TV series did not watch that.

435

:

But if anyone did, he will be familiar.

436

:

Now we have Skeet in addition.

437

:

So Cole and Skeet.

438

:

Skeet is played by Bill

Gribble, who's not well known.

439

:

And then the third brother is Harmon.

440

:

So we have Drury as the father,

Cole, Skeet, and Harmon, Campbell.

441

:

Harmon is played by Wallace Merk, and he

is not well known, but since we brought up

442

:

that one of the writers, Carol Sobieski,

is known for writing fried green tomatoes.

443

:

Wallace Merck is also in

that movie in a bit role.

444

:

He plays a KKK guy.

445

:

So isn't that lovely?

446

:

All right, so that's our cast of

characters It seems like a lot and I

447

:

I guess I got a kick out of the names

more so than their characters because

448

:

they didn't really Do a whole lot

449

:

The music I wasn't familiar with the

name John Scott It's good music,

450

:

and it's very fitting for the setting.

451

:

And he is an English composer and music

conductor who's collaborated with a ton

452

:

of well known directors including Mark

Damon, Richard Donner, Charlton Heston,

453

:

Mike Hodges, Hugh Hudson, Norman Jewison,

Urban Kirschner, and Roger Spottiswood.

454

:

We talked about him too in what did he do?

455

:

The best of times, I think.

456

:

Now I could not find what the

budget for this movie was.

457

:

AI tells me it was 500,

000 really low, right?

458

:

I don't know if that's accurate

or not, but it would track

459

:

based on the box office.

460

:

It only made 2 million.

461

:

So there's that.

462

:

Not available to stream, as I said,

so it's kind of annoying to cover.

463

:

Thus I'm doing it solo again.

464

:

Okay.

465

:

There is a whole situation

around Wayland played by Kurt.

466

:

He comes to town.

467

:

He's a clockmaker.

468

:

So he, everyone's commenting on,

like, he doesn't have calloused hands.

469

:

He has nice hands and that

they think that's, you know,

470

:

for this area, a little odd.

471

:

So he is Talking with Kali's father

and brothers about the idea of building

472

:

a clock tower in the town center.

473

:

While this conversation is happening,

Kali makes a suggestion about

474

:

it, but she quickly apologizes.

475

:

And at first I was like, what,

what did I miss something?

476

:

But then no, no gasp.

477

:

She apologized because women certainly

should not have nor express ideas.

478

:

Silly rabbit.

479

:

1 of them though is super jazzed

about the idea and he's like, oh, and

480

:

it can have a bear coming out of it.

481

:

Like, I don't know if that was

a big thing back then they have,

482

:

like, instead of a cuckoo clock.

483

:

This is like, a big town square

clock tower, but a bear kind of.

484

:

Comes out of it and rings the bell.

485

:

So that's what they're talking about.

486

:

So they need to go on a bear

hunt and , kill a bear to put

487

:

in , this tower, apparently, and

they try to convince Wayland, Kurt

488

:

they try to convince

him he's not into it.

489

:

He's a clockmaker.

490

:

And plus his daughter's like,

it's not cool to kill animals.

491

:

So they try to convince him that, you

got to be a real man and only real men,

492

:

I don't know, march into an animal's

habitat while he's minding his own goddamn

493

:

business and kill it for no reason.

494

:

So this is pleasing to his daughter's

ears, but he's like, no, thanks.

495

:

I'm, I'm not curious about that.

496

:

Like, I don't need to kill

something to feel like a man.

497

:

And so.

498

:

His daughter's right.

499

:

It's dumb.

500

:

And she's a smart kid, but what's what

doesn't make sense is then the next scene.

501

:

I feel like there was some editing

issues or something, or the

502

:

story just was cobbled together.

503

:

Oddly, because the next scene is.

504

:

He goes, he's like all happy and they're

getting ready to go and Collie and the

505

:

daughter, 'cause they're staying with

Collie at her house and with the baby, or

506

:

like in the, not in the house, but there's

like a, I don't wanna say an outhouse,

507

:

but it's like an outbuilding, like a shed

of sorts that they're kind of staying in.

508

:

So it's, you know, it's on the up and up.

509

:

But of course they fall in

love, but, so they're apparently

510

:

the, these hunting trips.

511

:

Take a very long time because

they're all gearing up and getting

512

:

ready and they're all excited.

513

:

And so there's a scene where they're

putting things in trucks and there's

514

:

all the hunting dogs are around.

515

:

One of the brother's dogs is

apparently really mean and

516

:

he's, he's super proud of that.

517

:

And then he gets into a

fight with the other dogs and

518

:

apparently that's hilarious.

519

:

I don't understand how

this is supposed to work.

520

:

Like, how are they supposed to do

their quote unquote hunting job?

521

:

Anyway, I just, not for me.

522

:

I don't like those kind of things.

523

:

It's not funny.

524

:

But I, I get it.

525

:

It's a movie.

526

:

I get it.

527

:

But it's like, are we

supposed to like these people?

528

:

Because I don't.

529

:

They're laughing at the dog being

mean and fighting the other dogs.

530

:

They're making fun of their sister,

to the man who's courting her.

531

:

And they're making fun of her to him,

like, basically calling her a huge

532

:

slut because she has a bastard baby.

533

:

I don't know.

534

:

It was weird.

535

:

I was not endeared to these brothers.

536

:

And then, Wayland, somehow, there's a

whole sequence of They attack the bear,

537

:

so then the bear, the bear obviously

is trying to defend itself and young.

538

:

1 of the brothers is in danger.

539

:

And so Wayland ends up being kind of the

heroic 1 jumps on the bears back and it's

540

:

like, just with a knife going to kill it.

541

:

And then Greg shoots it.

542

:

And then they proceed to argue

about who gets credit for the kill.

543

:

So , they get their bear.

544

:

They kill their bear.

545

:

This will come back into place later.

546

:

So hold on to the fact

that they get their bear.

547

:

And the purpose of this bear hunt was that

they needed a bear for this clock tower.

548

:

Okay, let's remember that there's

additional, I thought, extremely heavy

549

:

handed foreshadowing, like several times.

550

:

Kurt slash Wayland is being warned,

you know, about, oh, you know,

551

:

you better stay away from Kali.

552

:

There's a lot of that.

553

:

So we see it coming from

a bazillion miles away.

554

:

What's what's going to happen.

555

:

So Cole Campbell, the youngest of

the Campbell brothers from again,

556

:

apparently feuding families.

557

:

We don't ever see anything

like no, even a little bit of a

558

:

backstory about why they feud.

559

:

It's just they're a feuding

family from across the river.

560

:

And so that's why they can't be together.

561

:

So Cole is the baby's father.

562

:

The reason that he's not a part

of the baby's life or that they

563

:

couldn't get married is because

of this feuding family situation.

564

:

Apparently it was again.

565

:

I found this a little bit off because.

566

:

I'm not sure how to describe it, but

something just felt really off, either

567

:

about the writing or the editing.

568

:

Now, I've not read the book, so I

don't know if it is a better portrayal.

569

:

But the whole Cole and Collie thing,

I don't know, it was weird because,

570

:

so Cole, apparently, the reason

that they even know each other.

571

:

Is because Cole was

friends with Young, right?

572

:

Young, as in Colly's brother,

Young but the Campbells have no

573

:

knowledge of said friendship at all.

574

:

So there's that.

575

:

And then Colly, when she's

telling Weyland About the baby's

576

:

father and how that happened,

577

:

she indicates, I thought unless I got

it completely wrong, but the way that

578

:

she's telling him about it is that

it was not a consensual situation.

579

:

But

580

:

then, and so, okay, that tracks.

581

:

Okay.

582

:

And we see Cole being kind of a

shithead, not kind of a major shithead.

583

:

He's really got his, anger

is a bit out of hand.

584

:

We see him being violent towards Kali.

585

:

We see her he even like later in

the movie attempts to rape her.

586

:

So we don't see them and she's

like hesitant to kiss him or, or be

587

:

near, like, she seems afraid of him.

588

:

But then she also says in another scene,

in more than one scene, I think, that they

589

:

actually really did want to be together,

but it was the family dynamic that they,

590

:

they couldn't and that she loved him.

591

:

So, I don't know.

592

:

I'm, I'm not really sure what I

am supposed to think, or maybe

593

:

I'm supposed to have, you know,

mixed emotions about it, perhaps.

594

:

I don't know, but Cole ends up dead

and, his dead body does arrive at

595

:

Collie's house because his horse

knows the way to Collie's house.

596

:

Everyone comes there to view the body

and to mourn him, after he's already

597

:

in a coffin and everything, which

seemed odd to me, like, why wouldn't

598

:

he be at his own home, especially given

the rift between the families, like

599

:

they couldn't have moved the coffin

to Cole's house across the river.

600

:

I don't know.

601

:

That seemed odd to me.

602

:

But you'd think now would be a great time.

603

:

To maybe have the police called.

604

:

This dude ends up dead.

605

:

People are suspicious of how that

happened, but no, no, no, no, no.

606

:

This is not the type of people nor

the time to call, call in the law.

607

:

No, no, this is a vengeful people.

608

:

This is a eye for an eye type

people, a life for a lifestyle

609

:

revenge that never ends.

610

:

Right.

611

:

You kill my person, I kill your person

and on and on and on and on and on.

612

:

Right?

613

:

There's a famous saying about that, right?

614

:

An eye for an eye leaves

the whole world blind.

615

:

Something like that.

616

:

Okay.

617

:

Well, what to do about this revenge

situation, because obviously the

618

:

Campbell's either think that.

619

:

Kurt Russell's character Wayland

was responsible for the death

620

:

or one of Collie's brothers.

621

:

Right?

622

:

So they're having this discussion

and she's going to lose the love

623

:

of her life because he decides that

he'll take the blame and leave town.

624

:

And he thinks that that will kind of

solve the problem if they think he did

625

:

it, but now he's nowhere to be found.

626

:

They can't kill him.

627

:

End of story, but he

also has the daughter.

628

:

So, what's going to happen?

629

:

Is the daughter going to stay with Collie?

630

:

What's the situation?

631

:

I don't really know, but the next

scene is we see this dramatic scene

632

:

where Collie with the baby is like

in cold winter time crossing the

633

:

river to go to the Campbell household.

634

:

And she wants to make a deal with

the patriarch Drury that she sort

635

:

of asks, like, Does a life for

a life have to be a life lost?

636

:

You see where she's going with this.

637

:

This is your son's child.

638

:

I am now willing to give

him to you to raise.

639

:

Therefore, it's an even trade, a

life for a life, quote unquote.

640

:

So she makes this deal, right?

641

:

And obviously, she now goes

into a deep depression.

642

:

Wayland stays by her side.

643

:

I'm not sure how long this

lasts, but time passes.

644

:

He makes her a musical clock and they

are actually engaged to be married.

645

:

And so he's, he's trying to

get her out of this depression.

646

:

He goes to the Campbell's encampment and

tries to ask them like on a human level.

647

:

Hey, in the springtime at Easter,

Colleen and I are going to get married.

648

:

Would you please at least bring baby

Jonathan to the wedding so she can

649

:

see him one last time or, or whatnot.

650

:

, This is not well received and

they sort of shoo him out of camp.

651

:

So he's like, assuming

that the answer is no.

652

:

Then, you know, it's springtime

and it's now a combo ceremony.

653

:

We have the wedding ceremony combined

with the unveiling of the clock

654

:

tower in the town square, right?

655

:

Well, what do you know?

656

:

Somebody's coming along on the

horse with a baby and Drury does in

657

:

fact bring the baby to the wedding.

658

:

, gives him to Collie and she's

holding him and crying and the end.

659

:

So at first I thought Kurt asks him

to bring the baby to the wedding.

660

:

And he thought about it and was like,

I'll be a human and at least, you know,

661

:

bring the baby to his mother's wedding.

662

:

But then I thought, well, maybe

we're meant to believe that this

663

:

is like a major act of kindness

and that their feud is over because

664

:

does he actually give back the baby?

665

:

He decides.

666

:

It's not fair.

667

:

He's being a good, a good person.

668

:

The bigger man, shall we say.

669

:

So, I don't know.

670

:

What do you guys think?

671

:

Do you think that he's being the bigger

man, giving the baby back to her?

672

:

Or is he just bringing the

baby to attend the wedding?

673

:

What do you think?

674

:

Also, don't forget about

the bear in the clock tower.

675

:

The bear that comes out to ring the

bell in the clock tower is not actually

676

:

the stuffed bear that they killed.

677

:

It's just like a, I don't

know, a figurine of a bear.

678

:

So I don't know, I was

really let down by that.

679

:

What was the whole point of the bear hunt?

680

:

Why'd you kill that bear?

681

:

Okay, there's really not very much

trivia about Winter People, you guys,

682

:

again, I had never even heard of this

movie to be honest with you until

683

:

I started doing the season of the

Ultimate Everyman on Kurt and Patrick.

684

:

So I really do want to hear from you

guys on socials or email or what have

685

:

you, if you've seen this or have you

read the book, please let me know.

686

:

The only trivia I could find is

that this is actually the first film

687

:

produced by Castle Rock Entertainment

and that this movie was filmed

688

:

on the Toe River in Speer, Ohio.

689

:

Which is Avery County, North Carolina,

and the current, apparently, I don't

690

:

know how true this is, the current

residents still talk about meeting

691

:

Kurt Russell and Kelly McGillis.

692

:

And they especially remember how kind

Goldie Hawn was to the local residents.

693

:

I would like to, I would

like to think that's true.

694

:

All right, you guys, while

I really am intrigued by old

695

:

timey Appalachian stories.

696

:

I definitely don't want to

live in its depression era.

697

:

So I'm happy to return to present day

reality until next time, be kind, rewind.

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