EP. 310.5 — Last Looks: Open Marriage

Paul Scheer [00:00:00] Changing your safe word, comics and culture and the best music docs you’re not watching. All this and more on today’s Last Looks. Places, people! 

Last Looks Intro [00:00:11] [Intro Song]

Paul Scheer [00:00:39] Hello, my sex club mannequins and shirtless Dorito munchers. The password to this episode is Kumquat. I’m your host, Paul Scheer, and welcome to How Did This Get Made: Last Looks where you get to voice your issues on Open Marriage, not open marriage in the general sense, but the movie and Jason and I chat about all the stuff that we are currently into. Plus, we are going to play an exclusive deleted scene from our last episode and reveal next week’s movie. And as always, I will try to solve your problems on Paul’s Help Line. But first things first, a big shout out to War Widow. I love that opening song. And if you want to make your own song for the show, please do. We are looking for second opinion themes. You can bring them to us. We also are looking for themes for this Last Looks. That’s right. Send them here to HowDidThisGetMade@Earwolf.com. Keep ’em short. 15 to 20 seconds is best. Let’s get into it. I know we talk a lot about movies, but there are bigger things out in the world. You got problems. Let me solve them. It is now time for Paul’s Help Line. 

Paul’s Help Line Intro [00:01:42] [Intro Song]

Paul Scheer [00:02:06] Thank you, A.C. Gravy for that theme. I love it. Themes are getting better and better every single week. I love all of these. And we have a true great call coming up. I mean, all the calls this week have been really stellar, but this one was a particularly interesting one. Why don’t I let Anonymous take it away? 

Listener [00:02:27] Hi, Paul. I have an issue with my stepfather. I really think he’s more or less my father. But he’s in his seventies. And I just found out looking at Twitter that if you look at his tweets and replies that he’s replying to a lot of these like spam, you know, these spam porn things, you get saying really nasty things like if you want to bleep some of this or whatever. But, you know, I would. If you believe that myself, I would, you know. Yeah. You’re sexy. Nice cammeltoe. Nice tits. You know, stuff like that. Sorry I didn’t bleep myself there. But anyway, so I was wondering, what should I do? Should I tell him that everyone can see that? But then I risk embarrassing him? I don’t know. Is there a better way of telling them? I was trying to think of a way of showing him that they’re, you know, not his, but someone else’s. I don’t know. So anyway, I thought I’d get your advice. I love the show. Thanks. Bye. 

Paul Scheer [00:03:34] Wow. I was not expecting this. And I totally get your dilemma. I mean, this is a tough thing to do. How do you bring it up? And I have a solution because this was just in the news. Sam Jackson had been liking a lot of posts from porn sites on his Twitter and people started commenting on it. There’s been a few other celebrities that also have done that. And I think you can casually bring up, oh, my gosh, did you see that story about Sam Jackson? And then he’ll be like, What do you mean? Oh, well, whenever you like or respond to something, everyone can see it and then let it dawn on him. Okay, wait a second. Now he keeps on doing it. He’s been fairly warned. But that way you get to have a funny little story with him. You don’t look down on it. You don’t make it like a big deal. But you just let him know that. Yeah, it was. It was embarrassing for everyone to see what Sam Jackson was into, and I think that might be the best way to handle it. Tell me how it goes. Please call back. I want to hear. Okay. Next up, we have Chris from Illinois. He’s a teacher with a great question. Chris, take it away. 

Listener [00:04:50] Hi, Paul. This is Chris from Illinois. I have a comics question for you. Since I know you, you and Jason are avid readers. I teach in a school district that has a program for teachers to teach other teachers. I want to present a class and how American comics have reflected American history. The topics I have thought of so far are World War Two, the Comics Code Authority, Civil Rights, and the political use of the Punisher symbol. What topics can you think of that I should present? Maybe Jason has some ideas too. Thank you so much. Bye bye. 

Paul Scheer [00:05:25] Wow. I love this. And I think you’ve covered a lot of interesting ground already. One that just jumps out at me is the Watchmen, right? Because the Watchmen really, I think, is a reflection of a lot of questions that we are asking ourselves about morality and what is good and what is done for the greater good. There’s a lot there, obviously steeped in history, as Nixon, I believe, is on his fifth term as president when Watchmen takes place. So that would be one that I feel like is so chunky and you could really take away a lot of different lessons there. That one is a perfect one to be pulled apart. I also would recommend maybe looking at the idea of acceptance across the board. You know, comic books did things in really interesting ways. Like, for example, the X-Men had a gay wedding and that was a big deal, I think, you know, to have this issue of the X-Men in 2012 come out that tackled something like that, it may have introduced a lot of people to something in a way that might have given them a way to accept it if they were against it. And I think that continues on and on. As you see these heroes, these Marvel characters changing, like whether it’s in 2014 when Thor becomes a woman or how Spider-Man becomes Miles Morales. You know, the idea of the reflection of the culture and the changing times and not every character has to be a white man, I think is really interesting. And you could really step back and just do a whole feature on Miss Marvel, which is, you know, this amazing character, obviously the Disney Plus show there, too. But the story behind it is really interesting as well, because there had never been a reflection of a character like this in the Marvel world before. So I do think that we could talk about the idea of, you know, taking the modern world and infusing it into our comic books. I think that there’s so much here, and this is just off the top of my head. I will ask Jason about it. We’ll get back to you some more. All right. Great question. But we are always looking for more of Paul’s Help Line voicemails. So if you need some advice, give me a call. At 619-PAUL-ASK, that’S 619-728-5275. Last episode, I put a call out to anyone who needs help with Valentine’s Day ideas and I got zero calls. Come on. I’m the love doctor. Give me a chance to give you some advice about sweeping your partner off their feet. Or if you just want to vent about shitty past Valentine’s Day gifts, shitty Valentine’s dates. I want to be your sounding board. You don’t have to even call it a question. You can just call to bitch about how much you hate Valentine’s Day. Again, the number is 619-PAUL-ASK. All right, people, we are going back live at Largo. That’s right. In February, the movie is Ambulance. Check the Largo calendar to see if tickets are still available. And you can always check out Jason and I doing live improv with our group, Dinosaur, pretty much the last Thursday of every month on stage at Largo. Go to Largo-LA.com for tickets and info, and every Thursday night Rob Huebel and I go live on Twitch and YouTube and Facebook to do a show with our special friends and just kind of fuck around and have a good time. So check that out at Twitch.tv/friendzone. But coming up we’ll get into your questions and comments and concerns about Open Marriage. But first, you’ve probably noticed on the podcast, I often introduce myself as Tall John Scheer. And if you are newer, How Did This Get Made listener, we realize that you might be perplexed by this moniker. So every now and then we will help explain why I call myself Tall Jon and Dishes Queen on our Discord pulled some clips from our old Jaws 3D episode and Serenity episodes that explain the origin of Tall John Scheer. So courtesy of Dishes Queens, we’ll be right back after this brief How Did This Get Made History lesson. 

Paul Scheer [00:09:29] I also was a lone name person. There was no Paul. 

June Diane Raphael [00:09:33] What are you talking about? You both have very common boy names. 

Paul Scheer [00:09:37] Barely ever heard it. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:09:38] I was very special. June, I was very special. I was alone in the world as a Jason. 

Paul Scheer [00:09:43] You know, it was so hard for people to pronounce my name. Do you pronounce the L? Is it a strong L? 

June Diane Raphael [00:09:48] Well, I do remember not to get off on too much of a tangent, but Paul and I had to pick up a pizza in Ojai once and– 

Paul Scheer [00:09:56] Oh, my God. 

June Diane Raphael [00:09:57] We were staying with a group of friends over Thanksgiving. But it was like the day after and nobody wanted to cook. Jason, you weren’t invited, I guess. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:10:03] I must not have been there at this house in Ojai that apparently a group of you were at. 

June Diane Raphael [00:10:08] Yeah, I don’t remember why you weren’t there. 

Paul Scheer [00:10:10] Lots of them were best friends. 

June Diane Raphael [00:10:11] So the next night after Thanksgiving, we ordered pizza so we didn’t have to cook. 

Paul Scheer [00:10:17] That’s the way we roll. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:10:18] Because otherwise you cook the whole time. 

June Diane Raphael [00:10:24] So we got to get the pizzas. Paul and I go to get them. Everybody else stays back. And people are hungry. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:10:31] People are hungry. 

June Diane Raphael [00:10:33] People are hungry. Yeah. And we get to the pizza place and we’re waiting. 

Paul Scheer [00:10:40] Well, we go in there, we’re like–.  

June Diane Raphael [00:10:43] Wait Paul, Paul. We’re waiting. We’re waiting. And Paul says, “I’m sorry. I’m just checking in because we ordered, like five pies.” A lot of people were there.  

Jason Mantzoukas [00:10:52] And yet I didn’t get invited. 

June Diane Raphael [00:10:54] You definitely weren’t there. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:10:55] Wow.

Paul Scheer [00:10:56] Yeah, so many people. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:10:57] Five pies worth of people. 

June Diane Raphael [00:10:58] Paul’s like, “I gotta. I’ve ordered five pies for Paul.” She’s like, “Ah, I don’t have that order.” And we’re like, “What?” And she’s like, “I don’t. I have nothing here for Paul.” And we’re like, “We just called. What do you mean? You said to come by in 40 minutes.” She’s like, “I’m so sorry. I don’t have anything here for Paul.” And I’m like, freaking out. I’m like, “Paul, all of our dear friends are back there. Everybody’s so hungry.” 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:11:30] Not all of your dear friends. Let’s just say. Let’s qualify that. 

June Diane Raphael [00:11:35] Okay, the people in our life that we choose to holiday with. 

Paul Scheer [00:11:38] Holiday with, that’s good. And spend holidays, not like vacation holidays. Not in the British sense. Like holidays. 

June Diane Raphael [00:11:46] Federally sanctioned holidays. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:11:47] Like a bank holiday. 

Paul Scheer [00:11:48] Yes, we bank holiday. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:11:50] Is this your bank holiday group? 

Paul Scheer [00:11:51] Yes. It’s a very odd group. Great people. Odd group. 

June Diane Raphael [00:11:55] So then she says, “Oh I don’t have anything here. I, I guess I have an order for five pizzas for Tall.” 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:12:08] Tall? 

Paul Scheer [00:12:11] I’m enjoying watching June tell this story. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:12:13] I love that somehow the story is getting slower and slower and slower. Oh, I have five pizzas for tall. 

Paul Scheer [00:12:27] Tall. 

June Diane Raphael [00:12:28] Tall. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:12:28] I hope your answer was like, “Well, that’s not us. Because we are Paul.” 

June Diane Raphael [00:12:33] And Paul goes, “I guess that’s me. I think you misheard me.” And she’s like, “No, no, no. This is for a Tall.” 

Paul Scheer [00:12:40] Tall. The name. The common name Tall. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:12:45] Wow. 

June Diane Raphael [00:12:47] It was a wild ride. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:12:48] That’s a ride. 

Paul Scheer [00:12:51] It is now time for second opinions. 

Audience Member [00:12:55] This movie was horrid. Don’t know what the hell I just watched. Let’s head on off to Amazon to see what other people thought. June, John, and Jason read second opinions. June, John and Jason read second opinions. 

Unidentified [00:13:21] John? Give it up for Dana, who thought my name was John. June, John, and Jason. The host of How Did This Get Made. That’s a shirt.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:13:38] I think I see what’s happening. That’s the shirt. June, John, and Jason, She might have been mistaken for June and I’s other podcast. June, John and Jason, which we do with the film critic. 

Paul Scheer [00:13:54] You do it with John Ratzenberger from Cheers. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:13:58] That’s the T-shirt. June, John and Jason we should decide who John is. 

Paul Scheer [00:14:02] John Lennon. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:14:05] Oh, I love that. 

Paul Scheer [00:14:07] I want to leave that one in just because that’s because it hits crazy and repeated it so many times. It wasn’t a slip of the tongue. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:14:21] Here’s the thing. It’s easier to say John in that structure. June, John, and Jason right? Rather than June, Paul. It’s like the hard P stops you continuing forward later. So I understand for song reasons why she changed it. 

June Diane Raphael [00:14:36] There’s no world in which you just let go of Paul from here on out. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:14:41] Or you guys become Pune, Paul and Pason. 

Paul Scheer [00:14:49] Last week we talked at length about Open Marriage. We had questions and we might have even missed a few things. Here is your chance to set us straight. Fact check us, if you will. It is time for Corrections and Omissions. 

Corrections & Omissions Intro [00:15:02] [Intro Song]

Paul Scheer [00:15:06] Thank you, MadLicks, for that great theme. Okay, let’s go to the Discord. JakeZ23, writes, “The first time the couples go to the sex club, Vulvania says tonight’s safe word is suspenders. Why change the safe word every night? I get changing the password. But why is it necessary to change the safe word too? Wouldn’t it be better to have a standard safe word all the time?” Jake! Holy shit. I can’t believe we didn’t pick up on that. Yeah, they shouldn’t change the safe word. That should be the only thing that is consistent. Maybe she was reminding them, like, “Oh, the safe word is always suspenders.” But also suspenders? Well, I mean, look, you’re cutting out a large portion of pleasure if you, you know, can’t use suspenders in whatever you want to get up to in those rooms. I would say use something that you would never use there. You know, maybe like Brother P-touch label printer is a safe word. That would be something that you probably wouldn’t use in, you know, group sex or, you know, swinging. Or maybe you would because maybe you’d have to label who’s my partner who’s not, I don’t know. Anyway, nothing is really safe. So there we go. Cameron H. “I love the fact that Dylan doesn’t even try to cover for Becca when Ron calls the hospital asking after her. I mean, he knows they’re having marital problems, and it’s clear that Becca has lied to her husband about her whereabouts, and he’s like, Nope, she hasn’t been here for 3 hours. Bye. He doesn’t even do Becca The courtesy of texting her up. By the way, you’re jealous husband is checking in on you, so be prepared for some questions when you get home. Dylan is a supportive and resourceful friend, but he clearly loves to stir up some of that shit too. Amen, Cameron. Great call. And I think that really speaks to the actor Dylan, who shows you that he is a friend. But you know what? He’s also a little mischievous. All right. GreyestHound writes, “Regarding the paternity test, Becca takes a hair from a hairbrush to use as a DNA sample. Dylan referenced watching true crime shows to know how to get a sample from someone without them knowing. But anyone who watches true crime would know that a shred of hair is a very poor source of nuclear DNA, and it would be useless in a paternity test.” GigiTastic chimes in, says, “Well, you know, you can actually get what are called non invasive prenatal paternity test where you need to take bloodwork from the mother. And it’s important here, a cheek swab from the father. So there’s really no way that they got the DNA needed to find out if shirtless Ron was the father. I’d like to think that Dylan’s ex-boyfriend just kind of faked up the results to give her a peace of mind. And you know what? Back to Dylan. That’s where he’s a good friend. He’s mischievous. He’s going to maybe screw you over about your jealous husband looking for you, but he’s also going to make sure that that jealous husband feels like he has paternity over his son.” You know, it’s it’s hard. It’s hard out there. Ginger writes, “In the first sex club scene, the bartender asks what drinks they want after the two females state they aren’t drinking. Ron says nothing for me. I’m the designated driver. Guess what, Ron? 50% of your party just said they’re not drinking. You don’t have to be the designated driver anymore.” Well, look, maybe Ron is like I agreed to it, so I’m mentally ready to be it. And now that you’re not drinking, that doesn’t mean that next time we go out, I won’t drink. I don’t want to switch back and forth. Maybe he feels like when they go out next time he’ll be more ready to drink. Who knows? But yeah, Ron doesn’t really need to, like, lean into the designated driver when the majority of the parties isn’t drinking. I think that’s the thing. He doesn’t have to announce I’m the hero here because no one’s drinking. So good call there. All right, let’s go to the phones. We have a great call here that kind of describes what it is like in sex clubs in L.A.. Take a listen. 

Listener [00:18:46] About the sex clubs, in L.A.. I am experienced in this area. It is technically legal in L.A., but they do– the police are constantly shutting down various sex club. I know someone who was literally in the middle of a party when the police raided it here in L.A. two years ago. Mostly they’re in houses. People get AirBnB and they send out emails. And also there’s no sex clubs where there’s no rules allowed. There are always rules. I’m trying to think what else. I’ve never seen people wear masks. There’s usually some kind of buffet area, which I find a little gross, and I’ve never seen anyone fall asleep in one of the back rooms. But, you know, it might happen. 

Paul Scheer [00:19:37] Wow. I love this. Thank you for sharing. The buffet does seem unappealing on some level, but I do love what you kind of brought up here. You’ve given us more details and honestly have made it more interesting than the movie did, because how interesting would it have been if they just were going to different Airbnbs? That’s why you need the text to know where the club is, because the clubs constantly move. And of course all clubs have rules and I doubt they change the safe word every night, although if they do, let us know, anonymous. All right, back to the discord from friend of the pod, “Just pointing out that Vulvania is played by the amazing Debra Wilson, who is the longest serving original cast member on MADtv.” Yes. So many people brought this to our attention. Rocket Wesker chimes in to add, “Deborah Wilson is a prolific voice actor, including voicing characters on Star Trek Prodigy, a show that Jason also appears in.” Yeah, I love Deborah Wilson, and honestly, I did not put it together. Sometimes it just goes over my head too. So hats off to Debra Wilson, who had, I think, the most interesting character in this entire film and really carried it with an ease and didn’t make her character out to be something weird or stereotypical. Way to go. Danny The Wall writes, “Despite the awesomeness of the name of Vulvania, I’m conflicted by the character. It’s great to have a person of color as one of the only six actors in the story, but disappointing that in a role that’s meant to be exoticized as the other. She’s bald, black, tattooed, placed in the world of the story to represent the bad and evil side of this not mainstream world. And isn’t it strange that the only ones who, quote unquote belong to the seedy open relationship world are the outsiders, the gay Dylan and the exotic for Vulvania? Further proof that this is conservative propaganda trying its hardest to show how terrible anything is other than traditional white marriage making babies.” Danny the Wall, I can’t argue with you. That is a very astute point, and I think you are right. I think it could be read that way. I also feel like, based on the conversation we’ve been having here, that Vulvania and Dylan are the most interesting characters. So through the eyes of what you’re saying, like a conservative eye, I could see how they are dangerous or exotic, but from somebody who may be a little bit more open, they also seem the most three dimensional. I don’t know if that solves anything, but just a different way of looking at it. But point taken, this shit is bananas. Anna as I think the name that she’s trying to get out there, “If Ron and Becca are out of the open marriage, why do they still have the Caligula app? Why do couples go to the club in the first place when they’re just going to be with each other again? Why not stay at home?” Hmm. That is a good question. Maybe it’s like those apps you just never delete. I mean, I have plenty of apps on my phone that I never delete. And then every now and then I’m like, why is Minion Rush still on here? Why do I have Potbelly? The app that’s like a sandwich store that I love, but there’s none nearby, so I don’t need that app. It was just when I was shooting something in like Boston that I had that app, so I buy that they just didn’t get a chance to erase it. Cameron H writes, “I adored the scene where Mindy’s machinations are revealed. She orders them all to strip and informs them she’s going to murder everyone after they all have sex one last time. And Max’s first response is indignation that her Caligula texts got Ron fired. Bro, I think you got bigger issues in the moment.” Yeah, Cameron H, you’re right. Look, sometimes you just don’t want your friend to get fucked over at the job. Maybe he would just get a, you know, maybe he was basically taunting her, like, “Mindy, you will try to kill us, but we will survive.” And truthfully, he was right. He was right. So I’m glad that he got a dig in about getting Ron fired. Wow. So many great corrections and omissions this week, but there can only be one that is the best. And this week the best is our Anonymous from L.A.. Thank you for opening our eyes. And you don’t win anything. But you do get this amazing song from Garrett Parker. Hit it, Garrett. 

Music [00:24:02] [Music]

Paul Scheer [00:24:06]  All right. Thank you, Anonymous, for sharing a true look at the world of L.A. Open relationships and sex clubs. If you want to chime in with your own thoughts about the latest episode, hit us up at the Discord. At Discord.gg/HDTGM, or call us at 619-PAULASK, that’s 619-PAULASK. Coming up, Jason and I chat about all the things that we are watching. But first here is a bonus deleted scene from our Open Marriage episode where I tell a brief story about running into J.K. Simmons at the dentist. Back after this. 

Paul Scheer [00:24:38] J.K. Simmons, awesome dude. Lovely guy. Came on NTSF early on in the series before we knew what it was. Got the comedy, killed. And I’ve always had a really nice relationship with him. We share the same dentist and my dentist says, ” Oh, J.K’s here, you should go say hi. And I go, “Oh, I don’t want to.” And they’re like, “No, no, go say hi to J.K..” I’m like, Well, I mean, not really. I don’t want to go. And they bring me into JK’s room where J.K. is getting, you know, dentistry done. His mouth is open. He’s in a chair. And it’s like, J.K., Paul’s here. And I’m like, Hey, how? I’m like, It was the most awkward. I feel like my dentist messed up my relationship with J.K. to come in to anybody in the middle of dentistry and have a conversation. 

June Diane Raphael [00:25:25] That’s like a hippa violation, it must be. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:25:27] That’s insane. 

June Diane Raphael [00:25:28] That’s utterly insane. That’s really upsetting. I don’t want anyone to see me at the dentist, ever. I mean, I had to go to, obviously, Dr. Mario where the orthodontist is an adult, and it was just like sort of an open floor plan situation where there were– it was me and like 15, ten year olds getting braces at the same time. So I had to get all of my orthodontic work done in community, which was very embarrassing. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:25:55] But also that’s when you started working on your Highlights magazine. 

Paul Scheer [00:25:59] You were this and that, a frick and frack.

June Diane Raphael [00:26:02] Goofus and Gat. What was their name? Gallant. 

Paul Scheer [00:26:08] All right, people, you know that How Did This Get Made is double dipping. That’s right. Every Monday, we are rereleasing an older episode from the Vault. This week’s Matinee Monday was Body of Evidence. And next week we are going all the way back to 2013 for our episode on Congo with Nick Wiger. So check that out and try to figure out why we picked Congo. It might be about a film coming up, which we’ll announce in just a bit. Okay. We have spent a lot of time hearing from you. But now it’s time for me to just chat with my good friend Jason. Seth Chatfield play us in. 

Just Chat Song [00:26:46] [Intro Song]

Paul Scheer [00:27:03] Jason, it’s been a while, and I know I’ve been anxious to get into what you’ve been up to because I know that right now, this kind of end of year, beginning of New Year is a time where I really get to watch and pull things in and I feel full and excited by what I’ve been watching and old stuff and new stuff. I’m still arguing that you should get a Letterbox account because I don’t even think that people– you can have a fake one. I would just follow you because that’s– 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:27:31] That’s what I was going to ask you. I meant to have this conversation with you offline, but is there a way that I can– because I know it’s a social– it’s a public facing thing, but I mean, like, let’s say, for example, we’re going to watch Open Marriage for the show. Right? Which we did. Does that mean can people search Open Marriage and see who watched it and be like, oh, I bet that’s. 

Paul Scheer [00:27:50] Well, you could you don’t have to log everything that you watch. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:27:55] Oh. Oh, I thought you automatically knew. 

Paul Scheer [00:27:57] No, no, no, no, no, no. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:27:58] I see. I see. You’re entering it. 

Paul Scheer [00:28:00] You enter it when you enter it. Now, I do like to put a How Did This Get Made movie up there every now and then because I feel like for fans of the show they get a little sneak preview. But I don’t really write anything about all this stuff, but I kind of keep it more as like a log of like, what have I watched for just logging purposes. It’s all there.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:28:20] Well I do that anyway. I keep track. Yeah, well, I mean, it’s a good way to get into it. Steven Soderbergh just last week put out his end of the year, what he watched. 

Paul Scheer [00:28:31] I love that. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:28:31] Read, the whole thing. It’s fascinating. And he’s been doing this for years. And as a result, I started doing it years ago. So I just write down everything I watch, read or listen to. 

Paul Scheer [00:28:41] I, I would like to keep track of what I read because I read so much and I feel like I don’t ever keep track of it. And that bums me out like, you know, not bums me out, but I think it’s smart. Just why not? I mean, it’s so easy to open up that Letterbox and I just input it or get inspired by it, which I like. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:29:01] I like that. I like that. Okay. What do you got? What? 

Paul Scheer [00:29:04] I want to just talk about one movie that I really got excited about that’s old and I want to know if you have any connection to it. Have you ever seen The In-laws? 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:29:15] Oh, of course. Peter Falk. Incredible movie. This is a legendary comedy. Serpentine. Legendary comedy from my childhood. 

Paul Scheer [00:29:23] Same and June too. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:29:26] This is an Alan Arkin, Peter Falk. You know, it’s not a romantic comedy. It’s a comedy about their kids are getting married and they get sucked into like a foreign dictator. Complete insanity, CIA spy mission, basically. 

Paul Scheer [00:29:47] Yeah. It really is like a buddy comedy where Alan Arkin plays the best straight man of all time. The dynamic between the two of them is awesome. And you don’t know what Peter Falk’s endgame is, but Peter Falk is involved in some bad business and the action scenes are great. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:30:07] Oh, they’re so fun and so funny. I think this might have been the first time I saw either of these actors. 

Paul Scheer [00:30:11] I think so too. I might have known Columbo. I might have. I don’t know. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:30:16] Yeah, you’re right, Maybe. Maybe I did. 

Paul Scheer [00:30:18] But Columbo wasn’t funny like this, and I just had revisited it and I was like, Oh, my God, this movie makes me laugh so hard. The action is really great. But the thing I realized and June and I were talking about this a lot, is the scenes are incredibly static. Like the camera kind of just stays in one spot and they’re running around and I don’t know if that makes it better, but there is something about the comedy in just a locked off shot that made me–

Jason Mantzoukas [00:30:47] The frames are big and wide and they are entering and exiting. I was just going to look up who– did you look up who directed it? 

Paul Scheer [00:30:55] Arthur Hiller, I believe. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:30:57] Oh, okay. 

Paul Scheer [00:30:58] I want to say Arthur Miller. But I think it is Arthur Hiller. Or maybe I’m wrong. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:31:03] You’re right. No, no, no, you’re right. Arthur Hiller. This movie is fantastic. Oh, he did The Hospital, See No Evil, The In-laws. 

Paul Scheer [00:31:12] Silver Streak, another great buddy comedy movie with Gene Wilder. And Richard Pryor. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:31:15] Interesting. Interesting. 

Paul Scheer [00:31:17] And also Love Story. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:31:20] Yeah. Holy shit. But. Author, Author. What a wild list. 

Paul Scheer [00:31:27] Yeah, I went back and looked and then I actually just bought the Criterion DVD of it because there’s like Alan Arkin doing commentary on it. Yeah. And there’s some really fun little things like Ed Begley Jr’s in it. He’s very young. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:31:40] I got to rewatch it. I haven’t watched in years, but that was a real favorite in my family. 

Paul Scheer [00:31:46] Same. My dad loved it. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:31:48] Yeah. 

Paul Scheer [00:31:48] Yeah it’s this one that is a fun one to go back to. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:31:51] I’m going to blast from the past you and see if you have any allegiance to this movie, which I’ve been looking for for ages and has just not been available but now is streaming I think on maybe HBO, which is Johnny Dangerously. 

Paul Scheer [00:32:04] Oh. I loved that movie. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:32:10] I mean, this movie, this is a Michael Keaton mobster like 30s era mobster, kind of aping all the gangster tropes. 

Paul Scheer [00:32:19] It’s like Airplane or Top Secret. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:32:22] Yes. It’s a spoof movie of mobster movies. Except it’s not so spoofy as to be sketches. It still has a propulsive narrative. 

Paul Scheer [00:32:31] Directed by Amy Heckerling. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:32:33] It’s an Amy Heckerling movie. Weird Al music in it. It’s fantastic. 

Paul Scheer [00:32:37] It’s really funny. Joe Piscopo, Danny DeVito. I remember one scene super clearly, which is like they’re in a car chase. And one of the ways that they’re getting away is they have like different wallpaper on the car so they can get away. It’s very visually fun, but also like, I loved Michael Keaton when I was a kid. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:33:00] He’s so good. 

Paul Scheer [00:33:01] And he’s so good in this movie. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:33:03] This movie, Mr. Mom, he was so good in Mr. Mom, I remember he was just so funny. I watched that and I watched Better Off Dead the other day. 

Paul Scheer [00:33:12] Oh, wow. These are movies that– Better Off Dead to me. That, and One Crazy Summer, which were both directed by the same guy, both starring John Cusack, I mean, essentially had a little bit of a Preston Sturges vibe in the sense that a lot of the cast merge or are there. And those movies I always felt like were the ones that I knew that no one else knew because they were just like these little weird–

Jason Mantzoukas [00:33:37] They were funny, but a little weirdo. Savage Steve. Savage Steve Wilson? 

Paul Scheer [00:33:42] Savage Steve Holland. Right? 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:33:44] No, no, you’re right. It is Holland. I’m sorry. Sorry. I misheard you. 

Paul Scheer [00:33:47] And he also, I think, has gone on to direct a bunch of Disney stuff now. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:33:54] Oh, I didn’t look. That’s great. 

Paul Scheer [00:33:55] Yeah, his big claim to fame. But I love those movies. And John Cusack. Again. John Cusack being the John Cusack that I love. I was like, Oh, that’s my favorite. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:34:04] Yeah. That’s my favorite. Like, like that era of and then Say Anything and like that era of John Cusack. And then, of course, the adult John Cusack of, you know… 

Paul Scheer [00:34:14] Grosse Pointe Blank. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:34:16] I loved Grosse Pointe Blank. Oh, my God. But then the Nick Hornby. 

Paul Scheer [00:34:20] Oh, yeah. Yes. High Fidelity. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:34:22] High Fidelity is what I’m thinking of. And then all the way, I just watched Serendipity recently. The rom com with him and Kate Beckinsale. Fantastic. Absolutely terrific. 

Paul Scheer [00:34:31] There is a great clip. I should try to find it. If we do I’ll pop it in. But where John Cusack was on like CONAN and he was in this movie called Must Love Dogs. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:34:43] Yeah. 

Paul Scheer [00:34:43] Conan was like, Must Love Dogs. You know, tell me about it. And goes, “Well, let me tell you, you get a bunch of scripts and sometimes you look at the paycheck of them and the one that has the most, you say, all right, Must Love Dogs. It was very–. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:35:02] Wow. 

Paul Scheer [00:35:03] That was it. Like I always am amazed at that because I feel like I’m so conscious of respecting. Even if I don’t believe in something, I will at least do due diligence. But to go out on a major late night talk show and shit on the movie. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:35:17] Where are you promoting it. Where you’re promoting the movie actively in the moment. That’s wild. 

Paul Scheer [00:35:24] It’s such a fuck you. And I can also see how that, like, not kills your career, but, like, gets people so nervous about anything.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:35:34] Yes, absolutely. Oh, my God. Yeah. 

Paul Scheer [00:35:39] I remember when I live in New York City, they were shooting City Hall, that Al Pacino movie with Bridget Fonda in front of my house. And I was so excited. I lived on Park and 20th. So everything that shot in Gramercy Park, all the trucks lined up in front of my house. So it was like Harrison Ford and John Cusack. And it was just great to– I had to walk there and, like no one could shoo me away because it was my front step and I felt like I could hang out in my lobby and just wait to see people. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:36:12] That’s very cool. 

Paul Scheer [00:36:13] Sam Jackson the only person who would not sign an autograph for me, but also respectful. Like looked at me and was like, “No.” Like, not even in like, I think if I was a child, he would have done it. It was like, “You’re too old.” 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:36:29] Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Paul Scheer [00:36:30] Not into that. And I as I get older, I kind of respect it. I do. Like in the moment, I was crushed, but also he didn’t see, like, I don’t know. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:36:39] He wasn’t rude about it or he wasn’t mean or anything. He just wasn’t. Sometimes people will ask me for something like if I’m working or something, I’ll say, “Oh, I’d rather not right now.” 

Paul Scheer [00:36:48] Yeah, you actually do a great job of that. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:36:51] Very polite. But I mean, I’d rather not right now. 

Paul Scheer [00:36:56] I was telling Huebel about this last week that there was this moment where I lost track of my kids on vacation and by losing track of them, it was they were out of sight. Right. And I went to go look and I couldn’t see them. And I was in a moment of panic. The whole thing probably took about 3 minutes. But in that moment of panic, walking up and down these stairs, this guy came up to me and was like “Andre!” And I was like, “Dude, I can’t right now. I got to go.” I’ve never been– 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:37:33] Help me set my line up. 

Paul Scheer [00:37:35] I was like, I need to find my kids. But yeah. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:37:41] Oh, my God.

Paul Scheer [00:37:41] Those are those moments where it is just funny to see how different people react. And I’ve seen certain people reacted in crazy ways. Have you been diving into any of these Oscar movies or have you been doing that kind of world? 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:37:57] You know what, I’ve barely scratched the surface. I just have been setting up my screeners and getting all that going. I’ve been sucked into– I’ve been really heavily watching like a lot of dad TV, a lot of like Slow Horses season two, a lot of SAS Rogue Heroes, season one. But then also I will say I watched all of Letterkenny season 11 came out. 

Paul Scheer [00:38:27] I saw that. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:38:29] So good. What else? Oh, you know what? I’ve been watching a bunch of music documentaries, all of which are fantastic, even if they’re not about necessarily artists or stuff that I am super passionate about. So like I watched the Ronnie James Dio documentary, Dio: Dreamer’s Never Die. It’s absolutely fantastic. The Meet Me in the Bathroom documentary, which is about the Williamsburg music. 

Paul Scheer [00:38:59] Yeah, I read that book. There’s something about that book that reminds me of what we were doing in comedy. And I don’t mean to be like lofty. And we were just not as cool as that, but we were working kind of the same spots. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:39:15] Paul, when I tell you, when I’m watching the documentary, there are a number of occasions where I’m like, “Oh wait, I was at this show.” It’s possible I might be in this crowd. It was really weird to be watching a thing, a documentary that is demonstrably about the past and recognize it as my youth. I’m like, Oh, that past, I was present for. 

Paul Scheer [00:39:43] I remember like The Strokes being at UCB and I remember like, Julian Casablancas being somewhere or like, “Oh, he was just here.” 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:39:53] The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the TV on the Radio guys. James Murphy. I remember talking to James Murphy a thousand years ago. 

Paul Scheer [00:40:00] Can I tell you the weirdest moment for me? You know, obviously we like a lot of similar music. I mean, you obviously know a lot more than I do in that world. But I will say that I was a huge fan of all these bands were talking about, but especially. Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And when I go to my kids preschool a handful of years ago, I realize that Carrano is also going to my kid’s preschool. And so for one of their events, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs played at the fucking preschool for 50 people and it was the best. I also have friends who go to a very rich school out here that Beyonce and Jay Z go to. And like Beyonce did the Christmas concert. And I was like, whoa, that was amazing. This is very chill. It was like, oh, yeah, we’ll play some songs. And I was like, Oh, this is great. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:40:50] I really enjoyed that documentary because it really was like, it was both really cool. It’s a lot of music that I like, but then also nostalgic for my twenties and thirties, frankly. And then, incredibly, a band I absolutely love and have seen numerous times with our good friend Owen Burke. There is a 50th anniversary for King Crimson, a documentary called In the Court of the Crimson King, and it is fantastic. 

Paul Scheer [00:41:16] Oh, I love. I know that you guys go to that. And every now and then I do want to know what’s going– not what’s going on there. But I love that bond. That you have that bond. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:41:26] It is all like 65 year old dudes with long gray ponytails, me and Owen, and then like, two and a half hours of intense progressive rock.

Paul Scheer [00:41:39] I can’t get enough! I know that we have to keep this one short, but I will tell you one thing that you should maybe put on your list. It’s kind of bridging the gap of music and movies. Matilda, the musical on Netflix, you saw it? 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:41:57] You know how I feel about musicals. I hate them. 

Paul Scheer [00:41:59] I know. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:42:00] But boy, is this dynamic and electric to watch. 

Paul Scheer [00:42:04] It’s so good and has one of your favorites in it. I mean, Emma Thompson is– 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:42:08] The queen. 

Paul Scheer [00:42:09] And unrecognizable. I saw this on stage in London years and years ago, and it was one of those shows that really resonated to me because very rarely do you see a show about kids where adults are wrong. And the way they captured it, the way it looks, I don’t want to keep us, but I was like, That is a must watch. It’s really, really good. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:42:32] And this is coming from someone who hates musicals. I thought it was impeccably done, really very, very immersive and compelling. The kid performances are incredible. I thought it was great. 

Paul Scheer [00:42:45] I know. It’s really good. All right. So Jason we’ll do more chat. 

Jason Mantzoukas [00:42:48] Absolutely. 

Paul Scheer [00:42:48] We’ll talk soon. 

Paul Scheer [00:42:50] All right. Thank you, Jason, and thank you, Seth Chatfield, for that amazing Just Chat theme that brought us into the section. Any singer songwriters out there, If you want to record new songs for Just Chat, let us know. Send them to HowDidThisGetMade@Earwolf.com and keep them on the short side now that we got Open Marriage out of the way, let’s talk about next week’s movie. We are going from sex clubs to Irish pubs. That’s right. Next week we are gearing up for Valentine’s Day by watching the 2020 romantic drama Wild Mountain Thyme. The movie stars Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan, Christopher Walken and Jon Hamm. It’s written and directed by John Patrick Shanley, who also penned the How Did This Get Made Classics January Man and Congo. That’s why we are rereleasing that and this upcoming Monday. Here’s a short breakdown of the plot. “A pair of star crossed lovers in Ireland get caught up in their family’s land dispute.” I mean, that kind of is it and it really isn’t. Anyway, Rotten Tomatoes gives this film a 26% rotten. Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian says Blunt and Walken’s brogue off makes this the King Kong versus Godzilla event of inauthentic Irish voices. Wow. Let’s listen to the trailer. 

Trailer Audio [00:44:05] All her life, Rosemary. He’s been in love with Anthony. 

Trailer Audio [00:44:08] It’s not normal. 

Trailer Audio [00:44:09] I don’t care. 

Trailer Audio [00:44:10] And Anthony never noticed. 

Trailer Audio [00:44:13] You are famous for what goes by ya. 

Trailer Audio [00:44:15] Now, all that is about to change. From the writer of Moonstruck. 

Trailer Audio [00:44:24] I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of living in the rain. 

Trailer Audio [00:44:27] Wild mountain Thyme. 

Paul Scheer [00:44:28] Let me tell you, people there are bigger problems at play here than the accents. You can stream Wild Mountain Thyme on Hulu and Hoopla. You can also watch it for free on Kanopy, which is a free streaming service offered by many local public libraries. Or you can rent it on Apple TV, YouTube or Amazon Prime Video. Thank you everybody for listening. And remember to rate and review the show. It helps. It helps. And if you listen on Apple Podcasts, make sure you are following us. Visit us on social media @HDTGM and for commercial free access to How Did This Get Made and our entire archive and so much more, sign up for Stitcher Premium. For a free one month trial, use the code “bonkers”. A big thank you to our producers Scott Sonne, Molly Reynolds, our movie picking producer Avril Halley, our engineer Alex Gonzales, our publisher, July Diaz. Our amazing art is provided by the Ghost of Craig T Nelson on Instagram and of course, Kyle Waldron, who also is on Instagram. Check out their work. Always so funny. We will see you next week for Wild Mountain Thyme.