Dennis the Menace | S2E6 - Retromade

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:06):
In this neighborhood,this is an emergency.
He's outta school for the summerwhere people cherish peace and
quiet, won't get a moment of peace.
Hey, Mr.
Wilson.
Tell him I'm sick.
I won't f for you, George.
Hi, Mrs.
Wilson.
Is Mr.
Wilson here?
Why doesn't Mr.
Wilson get up real, real, real early?

(00:29):
Usually know what I do.
My dad's asleep.
He doesn't wanna be.
Wilson, he feels warm.
You need.

(00:54):
Now John Hughes brings one of your alltime favorite cartoon characters to life.
Smile
for a whole new generation to discover.
Don't embarrass me.
You'll love Mr.
Wilson some menace.
Mrs.
Wilson, the Mitchells.

(01:14):
Margaret, we could bury you alive.
I pound you a face.
Joey Switchblade, Sam,and a menace named Dennis.
Kids are kids.
You have to play by their rules.
You have to roll with the punches.
You have to expect unexpected.

(01:40):
Dennis the Menace, that's me.
America's classic kid in a classicAmerican comedy directed by Nick
Castle, a John Hughes production.

Katie (02:02):
Hello.
Hello, I'm Katie and this is RetroMade Your Pop Culture Rewind.
Now, today we're gonna go back , only to1993 today to revisit Dennis the Menace,
the classic comic strip troublemakerwho comes to life with nonstop chaos.
I have a brand new guest that I'mthrilled to introduce you all to Amy Lewis

(02:25):
of the Pop Culture Retrospective podcast.
It's a show that I couldnot relate to more.
It very much speaks to me, Amy.
So welcome to Retro Made.
Please tell us about you and your show.

Amy Lewis (02:39):
All right.
Well, thank you so much for,for having me on your show.
I really appreciate it.
You know, US women with, you know,Ready voices really need to stick
together and I think that youcertainly fall into that category.
So, yes, so my show is the PopCulture retrospective podcast.
Good job pronouncing that.
Sometimes people have a hard time.
It's a little bit of a, a tongue twisterat times, but, yeah, I started shows about

(03:03):
five years ago now, which is just crazy.
So in May it'll be five years.
And I started the show about ayear after my sister unfortunately,
away very tragically she had along, unfortunate battle with
significant mental health issues.
And so unfortunately that.
Ultimately you know, playedout in an unfortunate way.

(03:26):
But taking sort of that grief and tryingto take a spin on it, I decided to channel
my grief into, kind of reminiscing aboutmy childhood and teenage years growing
up with my sister because we lovedwatching movies together, listening
to music together, talking about thethat we had as kids, reciting lyrics

(03:50):
to rainbow bright songs together.
So I thought instead of sort of sittingand feeling horrible about all this,
which I mean of course does happen Idecided to just think about times in our
lives that were really fun and hilariousand, our generation is sort of notorious
for just really amazing, pop culturethat is funny, diverse, corny, cheesy,

(04:14):
profound, and everything in between.
So, yeah, so I've been on this journeynow for almost five years and it's
been absolutely incredible and I hadno idea what I was getting myself
into when I started this podcast, butdoing it and loving it and getting
to meet so many incredible people.
And it's just pretty amazing thatsomething so meaningful and positive and

(04:38):
special and unique has come about becauseof this unfortunate situation in my life.
So thank you for lettingme be on the show.

Katie (04:48):
Oh my gosh.
You, you couldn't have said it any better.
I just wanna kind ofreiterate that, you know.
Well, first of all,congratulations on five years.
That's,
that's a feat.

Amy Lewis (04:58):
it.

Katie (04:59):
And second of all, I think you, it's, the show is really good,
like the quality of your contentand you know, your sense of humor
and

Amy Lewis (05:10):
dry.
A little sarcastic.

Katie (05:12):
I love it.
And, but, and you always honoryour sister with the shows.
It's just a wonderful balanceof memories and like you said,
you turning something reallyunfortunate into something positive.
So I highly recommend you all checkout pop culture retrospective with Amy.

Amy Lewis (05:29):
Oh, well, yes.
Thank you so much.
Yeah.
Thank you for

Katie (05:33):
Yes.
And before we before we get into thetime capsule of 1993, I wanted to
share with you all a book that wasrecommended by a listener, Jen h Thank
you so much for your recommendation.
I had to put it on my list at thelibrary and it's here, it is called,
you Couldn't Ignore Me if you TriedThe Brat Pack, John Hughes and their

(05:55):
Impact on a Generation by Susanna Gora.

Amy Lewis (05:58):
Oh,

Katie (05:59):
Here is the book now.
I haven't started it yet.

Amy Lewis (06:02):
Yeah.

Katie (06:03):
But you know, I'm a big fan of the Handy Andy Library

Amy Lewis (06:05):
Yes.

Katie (06:06):
so I'm gonna dive into this, you guys.
And so be on the lookout forsome tidbits in future episodes.

Amy Lewis (06:12):
Nice.
Oh, that'll be yeah,that'll be a great read.
I'm not, I'm not familiar withthat book, so I bet that's
that's gonna be a good one.

Katie (06:18):
I wasn't either.
And this whole season is about John Hugs.
So again, thank you Jen,for your recommendation.
All right, Amy, are you ready toyou know, spin this pop culture
retro made time capsule wheel

Amy Lewis (06:31):
Yes, I am.
I always like to say that.
It'd be nice if I could remember.
You know, what the Constitutioncon consisted of, or, you know,
president was number 10, but Idon't remember that kind of stuff.
But I do re remember a lot
of unnecessary stuff from mychildhood and adolescence.
So we'll see if that proves to be correct.

Katie (06:50):
useless trivia is my favorite kind of trivia.
Alright, can you see the wheel, Amy?

Amy Lewis (06:55):
can, yes.
I'm ex I've, I've listened to said wheelon the show and so I'm really excited
to actually see said wheel in person.

Katie (07:03):
All right.
Hopefully hopefully we get some good ones.
The first category we comeupon is prime time rewind.
Okay.
So.
These are the top fiveprimetime TV shows from 1993.

Amy Lewis (07:21):
Okay.

Katie (07:21):
I have some clues, but do you have any guesses before I give you any clues?

Amy Lewis (07:27):
See.
I.
I think I would have some guesses.
Yes.
I'm trying to think.
1993, I think Cheers had ended.
So that would've been, youknow, very high up there.
But I'm trying to think.
1993 specifically, I'm gonna say Show.

Katie (07:47):
Nope.

Amy Lewis (07:48):
Oh, okay.

Katie (07:49):
I think that probably ended just a little bit.
Yeah, yeah,

Amy Lewis (07:53):
Okay.
Yep.
Seinfeld.

Katie (07:56):
Seinfeld is number three.

Amy Lewis (07:59):
Okay.
Man, why am I drawing a blank?
1993

Katie (08:05):
Suburban sarcasm.

Amy Lewis (08:07):
Suburban sarcasm.

Katie (08:10):
It's a, it's a, an auto city.
It's set in an auto city

Amy Lewis (08:14):
Home improvement.

Katie (08:15):
home improvement,

Amy Lewis (08:17):
I was, I was, I was like thinking 1993.
'cause I think sometimes there'slike, these things are on the
cusp, but it's like, was that like
96 or 91?
You know?
So anyways.

Katie (08:25):
Yep.
Yep.
Let's see.
Roseanne.
Yep, yep, yep.

Amy Lewis (08:31):
Okay.

Katie (08:32):
We have one set in Minnesota,

Amy Lewis (08:36):
Coach.

Katie (08:37):
coach, and the number one is not a sitcom.

Amy Lewis (08:44):
Okay.

Katie (08:45):
serious show,

Amy Lewis (08:47):
Hmm.

Katie (08:49):
investigative journalism.

Amy Lewis (08:52):
Okay.
Hmm.
1993.

Katie (08:56):
It's got a very iconic
opening.

Amy Lewis (09:00):
Mm-hmm.
This is book, I'm trying to think.
It says CSI, but I feel likethat it started after that.

Katie (09:08):
It is, it is.
It's nonfiction.

Amy Lewis (09:10):
Okay.
Hmm.
I'm trying to think.
Not unsolved Mysteries, is it?

Katie (09:16):
You're getting, you're getting warmer.
Give up.

Amy Lewis (09:19):
I think so, because I never watched a lot of like serious
stuff or scary stuff and still tothis day I'm a bit very skittish, so.

Katie (09:25):
It's 60 minutes.
I wanted to do tick, tick,tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.
But yeah you kind of forget aboutthat kind of a show when you're,
when you're kind of talkingabout, but that was number one.
Show

Amy Lewis (09:35):
Hmm.

Katie (09:35):
time.
60 minutes, man.

Amy Lewis (09:37):
I think that's usually when I was like, ah, time to go to bed.

Katie (09:40):
same.
I would, that was not my jam in 93.

Amy Lewis (09:42):
Right.
When Andy Rooney came on and complainedabout something, I'm just like, I'm done.
I'm going to bed.
Goodnight.

Katie (09:48):
Alright, the next category is return to tune time.

Amy Lewis (09:52):
Hmm.

Katie (09:53):
This animated series, which debuted in 19 90, 19 92, but was incredibly
popular into 93, followed a group ofmutant superheroes who dealt with both
personal challenges and powerful enemies,
all while exploring themesof prejudice and acceptance.
What was the name of this show?

Amy Lewis (10:14):
Okay.
Is it, is it Teenage Media ofTurtles or is it Mighty Morphin?
Power Rangers.

Katie (10:20):
You're close.
It's X-Men, the animated series.

Amy Lewis (10:23):
Oh, which I was like super into.
Yeah.

Katie (10:26):
I was not, I've never seen that one.

Amy Lewis (10:28):
Interesting.

Katie (10:30):
yeah,

Amy Lewis (10:30):
I guess I
didn't pay attention tothe whole prejudice thing.
'cause I was a little bit too naive to

Katie (10:35):
right.
The, it's funny, revisiting things.
All right, let's, let's, let'sdo another category here.
Big screen time machine.
So this is box office, the top fivemovies at the box office for 93.

Amy Lewis (10:53):
Yep.

Katie (10:55):
Any guesses off the top of your head before I start with clues?

Amy Lewis (10:58):
See.
Yeah, I think I might, Ithink I might need clues.

Katie (11:02):
So, prehistoric creatures roared.

Amy Lewis (11:07):
Jurassic Park

Katie (11:08):
Very good.
Very good.

Amy Lewis (11:09):
I like to tell a fun story about Jurassic Park.

Katie (11:12):
Oh,

Amy Lewis (11:12):
which is not that great of a story.
But anyways, I don't know howwe ended up agreeing to all go
see it in the movie theater.
But like both me and my mom are likeI said, skittish fearful, don't wanna
watch anything stressful or likepeople dying or people getting injured.
But in Jurassic Park, you know,there's dinosaurs constantly
coming out trying to attack people.
And my mom kept like digging herfingers into my arm, the whole movie.

(11:36):
And by the end of the movie, my arm waslike completely red and like irritated.
'cause she was so scared.
And I was like so scared Iwasn't even paying attention.
And she likes to, likes to denythat this happened, but it did.

Katie (11:49):
oh my God.
And you were what?
Like she's making your child at this time.
That's like child abuse, Amy.

Amy Lewis (11:55):
know.
Call DHHS, what's the statueof Limitations is 31 years.
Is that too long?
Yeah.
So it was very scary at the time.
And those special effectshold up pretty well.

Katie (12:05):
They
do.
I actually really liked Jurassic Parker.
I don't remember it beingthat scary, but great movie.
Great movie.

Amy Lewis (12:11):
definitely.

Katie (12:11):
That, that was the number one.
So good guess.

Amy Lewis (12:15):
Yeah,
but keep, keep going.
Clues are good.

Katie (12:17):
cross Dressing Got parental,

Amy Lewis (12:20):
Mrs.
Doubtfire.

Katie (12:22):
Mrs.
Doubtfire.
Yes.
Let's see.
A young lawyer joins a small butprestigious law firm only to find
out most of their clients areon the wrong side of the law.

Amy Lewis (12:36):
Hmm.
I'm just gonna guess.
'cause again, it's like the topmovies may have not necessarily
been targeted toward my demographic.
Was it like the firm?

Katie (12:46):
The firm.
Yep.

Amy Lewis (12:47):
Okay.
Nice that

Katie (12:49):
and then in a similar vein from a title pers title, structure perspective,
wrongfully accused of murdering his wife,
Harrison Ford,

Amy Lewis (13:01):
Oh.
Yeah.
not coming to me.

Katie (13:07):
The Fugitive.

Amy Lewis (13:11):
oh yeah.

Katie (13:12):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (13:12):
saw,
yes.
That was like, yeah, I remember.
I remember that being extremely popular,

Katie (13:16):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (13:17):
sense.
Yes.

Katie (13:18):
Yes.
We have both of Fugitive and the firm.

Amy Lewis (13:20):
Yeah.

Katie (13:20):
And then the, the last one is a Tom Hanks romantic
comedy.

Amy Lewis (13:26):
Mm-hmm.
Sleepless in Seattle.

Katie (13:28):
Very good.
Very good.
All right.
I think we have timefor one more category.

Amy Lewis (13:34):
I live for this kind of stuff.

Katie (13:36):
I know.
Ooh, oh, stars and scandals.
Let's see here.
93.
I don't know.
How's your supermodel knowledge?

Amy Lewis (13:48):
Of this era, probably better than anything after, so,

Katie (13:52):
Yes.
Okay.

Amy Lewis (13:53):
yeah.

Katie (13:54):
supermodel arrested in 93 after a well-publicized altercation
with a member of the press.
She's known for being kind of a bitch.

Amy Lewis (14:04):
Naomi Campbell.

Katie (14:05):
Very good.
Very good.

Amy Lewis (14:07):
Yeah.
I remember.
And she like, like whackedsomebody with a purse or something
like that, or, I'm trying to

Katie (14:12):
You have a better memory.
I don't really recall this one, butI very much remember Naomi Campbell
and the, the nineties era supermodels.
Very much.
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (14:22):
Do I know that?
Because I have no, I mean, no.
Fashion sense.
I mean, period.
I mean based, I thinkthat's pretty obvious,

Katie (14:30):
Well, if you grew up at the time, I mean, how could you avoid it?

Amy Lewis (14:32):
right?
That's, it's just
so interesting that like they,these, yeah, these supermodels
sort of infiltrated everything.
'cause it's like what exposure did Ihave to any, like the fashion industry

Katie (14:43):
Did you get magazines?
Any of those, like teen magazines?
They were all over.

Amy Lewis (14:47):
Yeah,
that's
probably
why.

Katie (14:49):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (14:49):
That's probably why.

Katie (14:50):
Yeah.
I, I probably have told this story before,but I mean, and, and I, you know, gotta
find a scapegoat somewhere for all ofour eating disorders in the nineties.
Right.
So they, I just remember being like 12reading these magazines and being like,
why don't I have a 22 inch waist like

Amy Lewis (15:08):
Mm-hmm.

Katie (15:09):
Naomi Campbell or whoever, Christy Turlington.
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (15:13):
Yeah.
Really.
Oh my gosh,

Katie (15:15):
Okay.

Amy Lewis (15:15):
so
bad

Katie (15:16):
Okay.
Similar.
Okay.
I'll do one more starsand scandals question.
This rapper in 93 faced multiple legalchallenges, including charges related to
his involvement in a violent altercation.
The controversy would follow him foryears despite his growing fame, and then
he was later involved in a murder trial

(15:38):
in 93.

Amy Lewis (15:39):
Snoop Dogg.

Katie (15:40):
Snoop Yep.
Yep.
Very good.
Amy, you did pretty good.
I gotta say.

Amy Lewis (15:45):
thanks.
Yeah, I remember 1993
quite well, so it was, it was a good year.

Katie (15:52):
Yeah, I feel like I like some of the eighties movies better,
but I was too young to remember.
A lot of the trivia, so, yeah.
The nineties, man.
Okay.
Now before we start talking aboutDennis the Menace, you know,
this season is about John Hughes.
Do you have any particularthoughts about him as a writer or
director, or how you came to startwatching his movies if you did?

Amy Lewis (16:15):
Yeah, I was essentially raised, I would say, on John Hughes
movies and I think a lot of thatcame from both my dad and my sister.
So I know you recently did, well,very recently did an episode on
Ferris Beeler's Day Off, and that is

Katie (16:29):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (16:30):
all
time favorite movie.
I grew up just outside of Chicago.
Both my parents grew up in the city, so wehave a lot of ties to the City of Chicago.
So huge influence on us and grew upwatching the Breakfast Club Pretty In
Pink was probably one of my sister'sfavorite movies of, of all time.
And so, and Home Alone, I mean, thelist just goes on and on and on.

(16:52):
And so I definitely was oneof those families that fell
into the, you know, watch.
dozen or so movies like amillion Times, and several of
those were John Hughes movies.
So, I'm certainly a fan.
Some of them, you know, certainlyhold up better than than others.
But I think in the grand scheme ofthings, I think we've all been sort of
impacted in some way, shape or form bya John Hughes movie if you grew up in

(17:15):
the, in the eighties or or nineties.
So I'm certainly, I would saya, a pretty, pretty big fan.

Katie (17:22):
Well, I'm very jealous that you grew up just outside of chicago,
so you have kind of that extracloseness with, with his films.

Amy Lewis (17:30):
Yeah.
Yep, definitely.
And what we'll be talking aboutlater too, grew up pretty close
to where they filmed the movie.
Very familiar with that community.
So, that, location connection.
I have big time with John Hughes movies.

Katie (17:44):
Ugh.
Love it.
All right.
Well, without further ado, let's getinto the movie Dennis the Menace.
Okay.
It was released June 25th, 1993.
It's rated pg.
It's got a much lower IMDB rating thanthe last several John Hughes movies.

(18:06):
We covered with 5.7,

Amy Lewis (18:08):
I

Katie (18:09):
which is actually generous.
Given some of the other like RottenTomatoes and some of the other critics.
They were not kind to this movie.

Amy Lewis (18:17):
no, they weren't.
And I think I, I kind ofknow why in some ways.
Yeah.
Why they would be, yeah.

Katie (18:24):
So the director here is not John Hughes.
So John Hughes was a writer here.
The director is Nick Castle.
Does that ring a bell in any way with you,
Amy?

Amy Lewis (18:34):
I am trying to remember, wasn't he connected with like
something a little bitlike on the darker side?
I'm trying to remember what it

Katie (18:42):
Definitely.
Yeah.
Halloween.
Yeah.
He was like the sh the Mike Meyers yeah,
in Halloween.
So he worked with JohnCarpenter quite a bit.
We talked about Nick Castlein the Escape from New York
episode because he co-wrote that.

Amy Lewis (18:55):
Mm-hmm.

Katie (18:56):
And then I did read though that, and we'll get into Warner Brothers
Association with Dennis the Menace,but they, when they purchased the
movie rights to the character of Dennisthe Menace, they offered the role to
direct to Tim Burton, which would'vebeen a very different movie, right.

Amy Lewis (19:14):
Yeah.
Oh, wow.

Katie (19:15):
yeah,

Amy Lewis (19:16):
a very interesting take.
Yeah.

Katie (19:19):
definitely.
So, so, yeah, so Nick Castle directedthis, John Hughes wrote, and then Hank
Ketchum is also a accredited writerbecause he was the original 1959 TV show
writer.
Now, are you familiar with the, youknow, what's your history with Dennis
the Menace, like the comic strip,the cartoon, the original show?

(19:41):
Did you watch any of those?

Amy Lewis (19:43):
yes.
I was a huge.
Huge.
Dennis ais fan.
I was actually looking onmy bookshelf the other day.
have like old comic bookcompilation books of his of Hank
Chu's of the original series.
Huge fan.
I watched the black and whiteTV series on Nick at night.
I think it was,

Katie (20:03):
Mm,

Amy Lewis (20:03):
think it would

Katie (20:03):
yeah.

Amy Lewis (20:04):
day.
I think when I

Katie (20:05):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (20:05):
from
school,
sometimes it would be on.
And I own DVDs of that original show.
I watched the cartoon, the, theDek cartoon religiously as a kid.
Recorded a lot of those onto blank.
VHS tapes.
Bought the series when it came outonto VHS and then eventually onto
DVD, which one of the DVDs is stillcurrently stuck in a, in our DVD

(20:29):
player, which I need to remove.
Haven't done it.
The Made For TV movie I was obsessed with.
I could do a whole podcastepisode just about that.
So when I heard that thismovie was coming out, I was.
Over the moon, because if there ever waslike a Dennis and Enni dork that, know,
is still alive today, that would be me.

(20:50):
To the point where I think even likesome of my, like the neighborhood kids
would like joke and say like, it'sDennis and Enni and, I was just enamored.
I don't know.
I can't quite identifywhy, but I loved Venni.
I mean, emphatically as achild and still to this day,

Katie (21:06):
Were you mischievous and pesky, like him or,

Amy Lewis (21:10):
not really.
That's the thing.
I don't know what it was like I was,yeah, didn't really get in any trouble.
I mean, did you know things I probablyshouldn't have, but certainly not
known as like being the, you know,kid in the neighborhood that's
gonna, you know, annoy the crap outof everybody and knock everything
over and break a bunch of stuff.
That certainly wasn't me, butthere was just something about it.

(21:30):
I I that I just, I.
I don't know, just thoughtwas funny or entertaining or
maybe it was a dynamic between
Dennis and his next door neighbor.
I, I don't know quite what it was.
And I was also a bigtomboy too, so I really

Katie (21:43):
Mm.

Amy Lewis (21:43):
people don't
use that term anymore, but you know, Iwas a huge tomboy, so a lot of the TV
shows and movies and stuff that I relatedto more were like, you know, little
boys that wanted to shoot slingshots.
Like that stuff I wanted todo and ride bikes and skin my
knees and play in the dirt.
That was all stuff I wanted to do.
So I always related a lot more tolike little, boy characters when I

Katie (22:07):
Catching bugs.
And like

Amy Lewis (22:09):
exactly.

Katie (22:10):
he, comes cruising down with his I, you know, wagon full
of like terrors in my opinion.
There's like snakes and stuff.
I'm like,

Amy Lewis (22:17):
Yeah.

Katie (22:17):
thanks.
But I remember catching ladybugsand now I'm like, oh, 'cause
I'm such an animal person.
And I'm like, you shitty little kid.
Why?
And lightning bugs.
Why did I catch these creaturesand put them in a jar?
That was so mean of me.

Amy Lewis (22:29):
know I did too.
Or we'd step on them and pull itback so you'd see like the glow guts

Katie (22:34):
I didn't do that.
Oh my God.
Oof.

Amy Lewis (22:37):
Yeah,

Katie (22:37):
Yikes.
Well, I am kind of embarrassed then to bedoing this episode with you, Amy, because
I am so not, I'm like the opposite.
I'm, I'm coming to this with a vagueunderstanding of, you know, what, that
it was based on like an old, like acomic strip and that there was a tea.

(22:58):
I know.
I'm aware that it exists,

Amy Lewis (23:00):
Yeah.

Katie (23:00):
that's kind of it.

Amy Lewis (23:01):
Yeah.

Katie (23:01):
So I feel bad covering this with you.

Amy Lewis (23:04):
That's okay.
No, I think, you know, I, I'm flattered.
I mean, what are the chances thatlike, some random person is gonna be
really into 10, that as a woman isgonna be really into Dennis the Menace?
So,

Katie (23:16):
Good point.

Amy Lewis (23:17):
It's
It's
not
something that I don't, I mean, Idon't, I can't think of one other
person in my life that I couldshoot the breeze with about Dennis.
'cause that person does not,

Katie (23:25):
doesn't
exist, Okay.

Amy Lewis (23:26):
at least in my circle.
So you're It's okay.

Katie (23:29):
Well, thank you for making me feel better.
Well, so if, if there's any of you outthere like me that are less aware so
Dennis the Menace is everyone's favoritekid from the comics back in the day.
When his parents need to go out of townon business, they both just so happened
to have work trips the same weekend.

Amy Lewis (23:46):
Yep.

Katie (23:46):
And they cannot find a babysitter for him.
He has to stay with the neighbors,George and Martha Wilson.
And he drives Mr.
Wilson crazy, but it's not malicious, youknow, he's just trying to be helpful even
to the thief who has arrived in town.
So we'll get to all of that.

Amy Lewis (24:03):
Yep.
Trying hard not to roll my eyesabout that part, but continue.

Katie (24:08):
So, Walter Mattau is the perfect Mr.
Wilson, isn't he?

Amy Lewis (24:14):
He is brilliant.
I mean, is fantastic in this movie.
I mean in everything but amazing.

Katie (24:22):
He, he really was good.
I mean, I, I only know him as playinga grumpy old man in, in any movie.
Like he plays that perfectly.

Amy Lewis (24:33):
He does.
Yes.
And I looked up some informationabout Walter Mattau today, just outta
curiosity 'cause I've always adored him.
And my dad is the same age asWalter Mattau is in this movie.
And my dad seems about 20 yearsyounger than him, which is
just a very bizarre realization

Katie (24:51):
he supposed to be in the movie?

Amy Lewis (24:53):
I don't think they ever really said, I mean, probably
like sixties or seventies.
And he's like 73 in this movie,

Katie (25:01):
Hmm.
Okay.
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (25:03):
So, I think, you know, I, I think when the comic strip would've come
out, I probably would, you know, people,things did happen a lot younger, so I'm
guessing probably in the comic books, hewas supposed to be probably like early

Katie (25:14):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (25:16):
But yeah, in real life he was 73.
I was like, dear God, thathas the same age as my dad.
This is really weird.
So

Katie (25:21):
Oh my gosh.
This comes up.
This comes up every,literally every movie.

Amy Lewis (25:26):
Yeah.

Katie (25:27):
People just looked so much older back in the day.

Amy Lewis (25:32):
Oh my God, yes.
Holy

Katie (25:34):
know, like a, like a woman my age back in the day would be like,
well, let's put her out to pasture.
She's done and over with, you know?

Amy Lewis (25:41):
either gonna play a grandma role or you're done.
So

Katie (25:44):
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (25:44):
pretty much.

Katie (25:45):
wild.

Amy Lewis (25:46):
I know.
Well, and I think Walter Math,although, you know, unfort, I could
see him having sort of like a partingkind of hard outside of things.
I think he looked like he was 90 for, youknow, a very, since he was like 40, so

Katie (26:00):
He is one of those, there are a handful of those Yeah.
That we talk about.
He definitely is.

Amy Lewis (26:04):
Yeah.

Katie (26:05):
Did, were you familiar with the actor who played Dennis?
Mason Gamble?

Amy Lewis (26:09):
Not really, not not prior to, no, I think he was kind
of like a, a, a relative unknown.

Katie (26:15):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (26:16):
but prior to this film and yeah, he was, I guess, selected out of.
Tens of thousands of

Katie (26:22):
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (26:22):
that,
Kids
that auditioned for the role, whichis just, I mean, unbelievable.
And I'm not really sure if there wasanybody else that was like more well
known that was also up for the role.
But he, he won it.
And yeah, I

Katie (26:35):
Oddly enough.
A lot of times.
So in some of the triviathat we'll get to later.
I have a lot of casting could have gonea different way, but none for Dennis.
Nobody well known.
He cer, he certainly was a cute kid

Amy Lewis (26:49):
Yes.

Katie (26:50):
I don't even like kids.
But he was, he was very cute.

Amy Lewis (26:53):
Yeah.

Katie (26:53):
Not really in anything.
Like he did go on to be inRushmore Gatica and Spy Hard

Amy Lewis (26:58):
Yeah.

Katie (26:59):
and apparently he's supposed to be a 5-year-old, but he was seven.
The, the actual actor was seven.

Amy Lewis (27:05):
okay.

Katie (27:06):
So the actress who plays Mrs.
Wil Wilson Martha

Amy Lewis (27:10):
Yes.

Katie (27:11):
extremely famous and, but her name didn't just come to me.
It's Martha, or I'm sorry, Joan
Playwright.
Yes.
Do you have, do youhave thoughts about her?

Amy Lewis (27:21):
Yeah.
Same.
Same with me, is like, yeah, she'sthis super well known, had been
acting for decades and decades andwas married to somebody very famous.
But I think I only knewof her from this movie.
I can't think of anything else that Iremember watching that she was in, but
I think that she was also well cast.
I thought that she did a great job too.

(27:41):
I think they really, the two of themreally made, made the movie kind of

Katie (27:47):
mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (27:47):
quasi tolerable to watch.
So, which, you know,

Katie (27:51):
Yeah.
Yeah.
She, you probably do know her from shealso starred in 101 Dalmatians from 1996.
Also John Hughes film.

Amy Lewis (28:00):
Yep.

Katie (28:01):
And then she was in Flubber in 97 with John, another John Hughes film.
Now she's a dame, or she was a dame

Amy Lewis (28:09):
Yes.

Katie (28:10):
and also a Baroness.
Married to Lawrence Olivier.

Amy Lewis (28:14):
Yeah.
I like, how did that happen?
I, that's just,

Katie (28:20):
she was his third wife and, and his widow.
So she was married Timwhen he passed away.

Amy Lewis (28:24):
yeah.

Katie (28:24):
But yeah, like a stage actress, a career that spanned like six decades.
Oscar nominated, she won twoGolden Globes, so yeah, she's
Joan playwright.
I wouldn't have come up with that onmy own, but she did look very familiar.

Amy Lewis (28:40):
And she should have won an Oscar for her
performance of reading that poem

Katie (28:44):
Oh,

Amy Lewis (28:44):
poem to
Dennis at
bedtime.
It's like, I remember watching that asa kid, getting oh my God, this is so

Katie (28:50):
teary.

Amy Lewis (28:50):
Yeah, so

Katie (28:51):
Yeah,

Amy Lewis (28:52):
wanna
lay in the fetal position and cry silentlyto myself and listen to her recite that
again because it's so, so well done.

Katie (28:59):
You're right.
I had kind of forgotten.
There was a sweet moment when 'causeat first you're like, oh, they aren't
really gonna show their marriage.
But they, they do.
She

Amy Lewis (29:09):
Yeah.

Katie (29:10):
kind of, they talk in bed about they never had children.
And so they talk a little bitabout that and she's like, it's
not that that's bothering me, it'sthat I wanna talk to you about it

Amy Lewis (29:20):
Yeah.

Katie (29:21):
I can't.

Amy Lewis (29:22):
Right.

Katie (29:23):
It's like kind of a,

Amy Lewis (29:25):
moments that like, in
this
beautiful like script writing andthen the next moment the stupid
switchblade Sam crap happens.
And it's like, what in the.
We could have eliminatedhalf an hour of this movie

Katie (29:35):
Oh my God.
What was the plot?

Amy Lewis (29:38):
I don't know.
And that, but unfortunately, fortunately,or unfortunately, you know, the whole
switchblade Sam thing is that my sisterand I would recite to each other for
no reason for a really long time.
Especially like the scene where he takesthe apple from the kid that's cross-eyed
as my sister just outta nowhere.
Be like, what you got

Katie (29:56):
Uh.

Amy Lewis (29:57):
uh, Apple.
I mean, it's like, does that, I mean,that could be a whole episode by itself.
Like, why the heck was thisperson in the movie, like

Katie (30:07):
Which, which person?
The cross-eyed kid or switch played Sam?

Amy Lewis (30:11):
yeah.
Really.
And the like with theemphasis of the whole

Katie (30:13):
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (30:13):
thing
is a foot

Katie (30:14):
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (30:14):
age.
And

Katie (30:15):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (30:17):
why?
So we're, you know, knocking somebodywith a disability, which, you know, I

Katie (30:22):
93, you know?

Amy Lewis (30:23):
to, you know,
I've got two, you know,neurodiverse children.
I don't appreciate the,you know, cross side jokes.
Not that that has anything to do with

Katie (30:29):
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (30:32):
and then, and then the switchblade Sam thing.
Seriously, on.
There's never some creepy robberslash stabber slash filthy
whatever in any Ns amount of stuff.
So I could really go off on atangent, but I'm gonna restrain

Katie (30:45):
Oh, there wasn't, that's, that is interesting.
Well.

Amy Lewis (30:47):
of, but

Katie (30:48):
That's a good po.
Ugh.
I almost don't know which directionto go with, with So Switchblade Sam.
Sam is played by Christopher Lloyd,and I love Christopher Lloyd, but it,

Amy Lewis (30:59):
same, he's he's a brilliant actor.
Brilliant actor

Katie (31:03):
he was very similar to Uncle Fester in a lot of ways, though.
There were things he did in this that Iwas like, oh, that's very Uncle Ester.

Amy Lewis (31:10):
I didn't even think of that, that, but you're absolutely right.
Yeah.
Yep.

Katie (31:15):
I think the reason, so it's interesting to hear that this did
get pulled out of nowhere, and Ihadn't seen this movie, so I, I did
see it in the theater at a matinee.
I remember like our small towntheater going to the matinee.
I remember loving it and oddly enough,I probably only saw it like that
one time, you know, 30 years ago,

Amy Lewis (31:36):
Yeah.

Katie (31:37):
Until I re-watched it last night.
And it's funny because the,this, the one scene that I.
I remembered a few, but thescene I remember most was the
apple with, with that kid.

Amy Lewis (31:51):
you

Katie (31:51):
And

Amy Lewis (31:52):
Sport.

Katie (31:53):
I, that's the, for whatever reason, that was the most memorable thing to me,

Amy Lewis (31:57):
Yeah.

Katie (31:58):
the way he said it.
And
yeah.

Amy Lewis (31:59):
that's, that is a red flag, if that's

Katie (32:03):
Oh my God.

Amy Lewis (32:04):
That's,

Katie (32:05):
did not recall how gross this hobo like stereotypical old timey
train hopping hobo is, is what he was.

Amy Lewis (32:16):
Yes.
A hobo Yes.
My, my dad went as a hobo for Halloweenas well back, back when, but yes.
I, I don't understand.
Well, I guess one thing I learned was thatknow, John Hughes did Home Alone, and I
think Christopher Lloyd was offered a roleof one of the robbers or whatever, you
know, one of the bad guys in the movie.

Katie (32:34):
Yeah, it was Joe Pei's
role, I wanna say.
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (32:36):
And
he turned it down and healways kind of regretted it.
And he said that to John Hughes.
So then the minute that there was someother you know, villain person to play,

Katie (32:45):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (32:46):
John
Hughes booked him for that.
But it's like, I would've neverthought that that would've been
incorporated into a Dennis a Meni movie.
I mean, it had nothing.
To do with

Katie (32:57):
To do.

Amy Lewis (32:58):
And um, e Ebert even threw that right under the bus.
What did this have to do with anything?
Because there's all thesebeautiful tender moments between
Dennis and Wilson and and Mrs.
Wilson.
That was such a beautiful thing.
And then there's like this Yeah.
Hobo that fills up on refried beansor whatever, and you know what I mean?

(33:19):
Is trying to allegedly stab applesand, you know, maybe stab children.
I, I don't, I don't get it.
And

Katie (33:26):
Yeah, he's just like hanging about, hanging about the town for three days.
Doing just, just being creepy, you know?
Just walking around being creepy.

Amy Lewis (33:34):
right.

Katie (33:34):
It didn't have anything to do with anything.
And now that you say that, you're right.
So John Hughes, clearlyit was like a ham fisted.

Amy Lewis (33:41):
Mm-hmm.

Katie (33:42):
I gotta figure out a way to get Christopher Lloyd in a
robber role in one of my movies,so I'll write that into this.

Amy Lewis (33:48):
right.

Katie (33:49):
Very much so.

Amy Lewis (33:51):
I mean, there's so much that more they could have done with him
and still included him in the movie.
But it

Katie (33:57):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (33:57):
make sense.
And just, and I can hear that.
I forgot what that music sounds likeevery time that his character comes
onto the screen and I rewatch the movietoo, and I was already just like, oh
Like, here comes this like creepy guywho is still really creepy to this

Katie (34:13):
Oh, gross.
Very gross.
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (34:17):
you know,

Katie (34:18):
Ugh.

Amy Lewis (34:19):
it's not
even about being homeless, hobo, whatever.
I mean, just

Katie (34:22):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (34:22):
presence
of
every, I mean, I mean, that's the

Katie (34:25):
His hair, his teeth, his sinister nature.
Yeah, it, it was, it was a bit much, Ithought too, even like for this PG movie

Amy Lewis (34:35):
Right.

Katie (34:35):
speaking of the music Jerry Goldsmith famous, you know, prolific
career spanning over 50 years wedid let's see what episode we talked
about last season where CherryGoldsmith did the score was Kurt
Russell film executive decision.
But it sort of seems like, I mean,he has what movie did he not score?

(34:56):
It seems like he's
scored so many.

Amy Lewis (34:59):
Right.
And it was brilliant.
I mean, the music islike sinister, creepy.
I mean, it's fantastic.
But again, that is not, that does notfit the, you know, the theme or whatever
you wanna say to, you know, it's notstaying true to the whole Dennis and Meni

Katie (35:15):
Mm-hmm.
Good point.

Amy Lewis (35:17):
yeah.
it just doesn't it doesn't jive.
And so if that could have beencut out, there still would've
been like a story there.
Like he was not necessary tothe, you know, to the story

Katie (35:29):
No, because then there was the, it was like, well, which was
the A plot and which was the B plot,the flower extravaganza with the
orchid or, and that getting ruined.
I don't know.
It does seem to be
there, there was no like,overarching plot to the movie.

(35:50):
It just seemed to meanyway just a series of
hijinks just kind of shoved together.

Amy Lewis (35:59):
Yeah.

Katie (36:00):
A little bit.
And, and it, I remember really liking,I remember like being a kid and
thinking a ton of, it was funny, but

Amy Lewis (36:06):
Yes.
It's

Katie (36:07):
it didn't, it didn't work so much when I re-watched it.
And the first thing I thought of was like,this is just home alone, but by accident
lit, it's literally home alone,but the kid is doing it by accident

Amy Lewis (36:21):
right?
Basically, yes.

Katie (36:23):
and not as good.

Amy Lewis (36:24):
No, not even close.

Katie (36:26):
And it's wild.
Then, because I, that's the, Ikept thinking being like, wow,
this is literally home alone.
And then afterwards I was likereading some of the reviews and
stuff, and so clearly that's a ever,that's a common criticism, I guess.
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (36:42):
ICII am, I can't believe that Hank Ketchum was okay with that,
and I don't really know that muchabout him personally, actually do have
his like, biography that's not in nolonger in like publication might found
a old, old copy of it or whatever.
I'm gonna sit down and read at somepoint when I have three minutes.
But I, I mean, I, I don't know howI would be like, are you kidding me?

(37:04):
Don't take my, you

Katie (37:05):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (37:07):
this, you know, comic strip that I put together, you know, 40 years
ago and destroy it with this, you know,character that's gonna terrify children
when this movie is aimed at children.
I, I, I just, yeah,

Katie (37:21):
It's odd.
You're right.
What did you think about the parents?
So played by Leah Thompson as the mom.

Amy Lewis (37:29):
Yep.

Katie (37:30):
We all know Leah Thompson and then Robert Stanton plays
Henry the dad, who is, you know.
He didn't, he really wasjust like a Melba toast type

Amy Lewis (37:40):
Yeah.

Katie (37:41):
you know,

Amy Lewis (37:42):
Yep.

Katie (37:43):
or milk toast.
What's the, what's the phrase for just, eh

Amy Lewis (37:46):
I don't know a tool,

Katie (37:49):
yeah.

Amy Lewis (37:50):
do

Katie (37:50):
Yes.

Amy Lewis (37:50):
anymore?
A
tool?

Katie (37:52):
I don't know.
It's so nineties.
It's so nineties.
I love it.

Amy Lewis (37:54):
is

Katie (37:55):
But he, aside from his look, I thought his look was spot
on with the, the comic strip,

Amy Lewis (38:02):
Yes.

Katie (38:03):
the dad served like zero purpose other than that.
And Leah Thompson's the mom, I don't know.

Amy Lewis (38:08):
Yeah.
May, maybe she could be CrystalChristopher Lloyd, the dad or something.
I mean, come on.

Katie (38:13):
He actually was considered no.
Yeah.
Maybe I'm getting it wrong.
Let me, let me double check.
I have,

Amy Lewis (38:19):
decent, like well-known actors that were considered for the role.
I don't know how

Katie (38:23):
mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (38:24):
kind of like Carson Daley, if you will, like just, we always talked
about Carson Daley was a tool when

Katie (38:30):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (38:31):
again,

Katie (38:31):
It was Daniel Stern

Amy Lewis (38:33):
okay.

Katie (38:33):
who I was thinking of from home alone.
That was considered for bothSwitchblade Sam and the dad,

Amy Lewis (38:39):
wow.

Katie (38:40):
But anyway, go on.
Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt

Amy Lewis (38:42):
No, that's okay.
No,

Katie (38:43):
Carson Daly being a tool.

Amy Lewis (38:44):
Yeah, or, or like, or like my mom would say he's a big zero.
I'm, I'll let her know that she'll,I'm sure she'll listen to the show.
I'm, I'm not kidding.
But I thought, I mean, Leah Thompson,I thought, you know, she did, you
know a good enough job as as Aliceand you know, certainly stood out
more a lot more than the dad, but I

Katie (39:00):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (39:00):
had
more dialogue and I think I.
Although this movie is set in thenineties, which you kind of feel like
a sort of as a progressive time, itstill kind of isn't either because she's
still sort of doing the mom stuff andgetting flack for being a mom by another
woman coincidentally, which is, you

Katie (39:19):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (39:20):
interesting.

Katie (39:20):
yeah.

Amy Lewis (39:21):
But I thought

Katie (39:21):
Major clashing with a woman who has kids versus one who, who
doesn't have kids, but she has a life.

Amy Lewis (39:28):
right.
Yeah.

Katie (39:30):
That's what she says.

Amy Lewis (39:31):
I know, as I've totally forgot about that.

Katie (39:33):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (39:34):
unnecessary you know, other story,

Katie (39:36):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (39:37):
plot
line
that's like not necessary.
But I thought she did.
Yeah, I thought she did agreat you know, a great job.
But I think, yeah, thedad could have been.
You know, cast better.
'cause I think the, the whoeverplayed the father in the original
series, the, you know, the teleoriginal live action television
series, I thought that, you know, dadwas definitely more memorable than,

Katie (39:58):
Mm.

Amy Lewis (39:58):
The
dad in this movie.
So,

Katie (39:59):
Okay.

Amy Lewis (40:00):
yeah.

Katie (40:01):
Interesting.
Okay.
Now I actually did kind of get akick out of the annoying little girl.

Amy Lewis (40:07):
Mm,

Katie (40:08):
Like Margaret Wade,

Amy Lewis (40:10):
Yeah.

Katie (40:11):
by Amy Saka.
S gets sits, Saka sits.
That's a hard, that's a hard name to say.
Amy.
SS

Amy Lewis (40:22):
I'm sure people really butchered, I mean, made fun

Katie (40:24):
yeah.

Amy Lewis (40:25):
so Poor thing.

Katie (40:26):
She was like just a, a mini adult.
I, I kind of got a kick out ofher just because of all the adult
things she was doing and saying.

Amy Lewis (40:35):
Yeah.
Yeah, she was pretty fun.
I mean, she, she looked likekinda like an American doll

Katie (40:39):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (40:39):
like with our
curls and the, the, glasses and stuff.
But yeah, I think she did a good jobof playing sort of like an annoying
neighborhood girl you know, that wantedthe boys to play what she wanted to play.
So I think she was pretty you know,pretty convincing in that role.
So, yeah, not too bad.
I don't think I, I certainly don'tremember her from anything else
either, but I probably wouldn'thave recognized her if she was in

(40:59):
something else too, just because of hercostuming and stuff for, for the movie.
So,

Katie (41:05):
She didn't, I think she did a few things, but both her and the,
the kid who played Joey, the otherfriend, like the other little boy,

Amy Lewis (41:12):
yeah.
Mm-hmm.

Katie (41:14):
he's played by Kellen Hathaway and neither of those two really.
Went on to really do much else.
So this was kind of it.

Amy Lewis (41:23):
Well, I'm
sure when people saw this moviewere like, oh, you're in that movie.
Nevermind.

Katie (41:28):
I thought Joey was really cute.
I thought he was like a cute little kid.
And I thought she did a good jobas an annoying, annoying kid.
The chief of Police ispretty well known though.
Paul Winfield.

Amy Lewis (41:39):
yeah.
He's definitely one of thosepeople who are like, I know
I've seen him in something.
Yeah.

Katie (41:44):
He was in Cliffhanger.
Mars attacks the Terminator

Amy Lewis (41:48):
Hmm.

Katie (41:48):
I've never seen this, but I hear it's pretty good.
Star Trek, the Wrath of Khan.

Amy Lewis (41:53):
Oh yeah.
I've never, never got into Star Trek, but

Katie (41:55):
yeah.
Me neither.
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (41:57):
yeah.
Some of, I mean, they got, they certainlygot some big names for the movie.
And again, I'm just, I guess Iwas surprised that Walter Mattau
especially would agree based onthe whole switchblade Sam thing.
'cause I feel like he would've been, toassume or stereotype, but I feel like he
would probably would've been familiar withthe comic strip just solely based on age.

Katie (42:18):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (42:18):
And so I'm just surprised that he's like, you know, oh yeah, sure.
Like he gets like kidnappedand swallows a key.
That's, that's, that sounds great.
Sign me up.
Yeah.

Katie (42:30):
Sign me up.
Uh,

Amy Lewis (42:32):
Fall
onto like
a couch that like fell in the river.
Great.
I'll be in that movie.
That sounds wonderful.
Yeah.

Katie (42:38):
I don't know if well, actually he kind of had a resurgence in the,
what year did grumpy old men come out?
Like he kind of had a,

Amy Lewis (42:45):
Some

Katie (42:45):
like, maybe the,

Amy Lewis (42:46):
I think it was right around then.
91, 92, something like that.

Katie (42:51):
So maybe he was just kind of riding the wave with it.
The last two people that I wantedto talk about on the cast uh,
Natasha Leon I love her so much.
She plays the babysitter Polly.
And I don't know, I,I I just dig her ever.
You guys all know who she is.
She's been in like tons and tons of stuff.

(43:11):
She's been em nominatedfor an Emmy five times.
Very famously in Orange is thenew black Russian doll poker face.
And then, oh, she was also like backin the day in PeeWee's Playhouse.
I think her name was Opal in that.

Amy Lewis (43:28):
wow.

Katie (43:29):
And then the movie Slums of Beverly Hills and American Pie.
Those are some those are all big hitters.
So you know, NA, Natasha Leone,redheaded known for her hair.
Like that's a, that's a look that she has.

Amy Lewis (43:42):
Yep.

Katie (43:43):
And then her boyfriend, very stereotypical in the movies,
the babysitter invites herboyfriend over to make out, and
the boyfriend is none other than

Amy Lewis (43:53):
Buzz from home alone, which I can't think of.
I don't know his real name,unfortunately, which is

Katie (43:58):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't, yeah, I didn't write.
Yeah.
But yeah, it's buzz from home alone.
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (44:02):
Which I feel like his character was more, his, his
brief appearance in the movie wassignificantly more enjoyable than.
The other like subplot line characters.
'cause he was really

Katie (44:16):
Agreed.

Amy Lewis (44:17):
yeah.
And I feel,
like to this day, and, and thismovie was not something that I
watched religiously as a kid.
'cause I, you know, I kind of liked it, Ithink just because it was Dennis a menace.
But still to this day, I like find myself,like, when my kids were little in the
tub, I felt like saying sobbed Saba,you know, I will never be big e nug.
You know?

Katie (44:37):
He can't read.

Amy Lewis (44:38):
Again

Katie (44:38):
Well.

Amy Lewis (44:38):
Not
that,
you know, probably peoplelike, mm, cancel this
now.
But at the time I thoughtit was hilarious and,

Katie (44:44):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (44:45):
Yeah.

Katie (44:46):
Last night when I was watching it, I was like, why is the boyfriend
basically doing the babysitting?
Where's Polly?
He was in there reading the book whileDennis was taking his bath, he was
in there reading the book to him.
It's like, where, where's Polly?
What's she doing?
She's the babysitter.

Amy Lewis (45:01):
That's true.
That's true.
Who knows?
I mean, she's willing to likemake out with the lights out.
I mean, who knows what

Katie (45:09):
She's,

Amy Lewis (45:09):
is
hitting up with, you know,going, hitting up the bars or
something with switchblade and

Katie (45:15):
yeah.

Amy Lewis (45:15):
you

Katie (45:16):
Lou mls.
That one.

Amy Lewis (45:17):
Mm-hmm.

Katie (45:18):
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (45:18):
Yep.

Katie (45:19):
indeed.

Amy Lewis (45:20):
questionable.

Katie (45:21):
Well, speaking of questionable this poor kid, Mason Gamble, got a Rousy
nomination for his his role in this.

Amy Lewis (45:30):
Yeah.

Katie (45:31):
I.
don't think they do for kids anymore.
I don't.
Right.

Amy Lewis (45:34):
I don't, I doubt it.
Which is, which is good.
Because I and I've always kind offelt this way anyways, but I had an
episode on of my show recently whereI got to interview two individuals
that put together a film aboutkind of, what can happen to child
actors, you know, as they get older.
And, know, I feel like that'ssomething that I'm kind of like

(45:58):
sensitive to for some reason.
I, I don't really know why.
'cause
I
like was always really sadabout like Dana Plato and like,

Katie (46:04):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (46:04):
kind of
went

Katie (46:04):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (46:05):
and, you know, Gary Coleman people were so awful to him, you know?
And so I am glad, I hopethat they did away with that.
I mean, it's certainly not a great movieand probably, you know, not maybe his
favorite piece of work that he ever did,but I think yeah, giving a, you know,
7-year-old kid to say oh, guess what?
Like your movie sucked.

Katie (46:26):
Not even that the movie sucked that his, his performance, you know,
which I didn't think that's interesting.
But we, you know, I, Igo off on the razzies.
It's it, they do low hanging fruit.
Like they don't really choose.
Yeah.
So,

Amy Lewis (46:40):
Right.

Katie (46:42):
and there was also a stinkers bad movie award for this movie.
A nom.
A nom.
They didn't win.
For worst resurrection of a TVshow, which Concur probably.
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (46:53):
Again, just 'cause it's, if it was its own thing, if it
was just called, if the movie was

Katie (46:58):
Hmm.

Amy Lewis (47:00):
Bob the Kid Next door, you know, that'd be one thing, but
it's tied to this, you know, beloved
comic Strip.
You know, I think that that's wherethe criticism, you know, where
people sort of drew the line, isthat it's tied to this beloved thing.
But yeah.
I'm glad you know, Razzie,that's just, yeah, not cool.

Katie (47:19):
You bring up a good point though, tying it to Dennis, the
menace is probably, I'm just guessinghere, what got butts in seats?
It made a, it was asuccess at the box office.
It was made for $35 millionand made 117 million,
Worldwide.
So again, things that make moneyaren't always quality and vice versa,

Amy Lewis (47:43):
Right?
Yeah.
and
people, and, and they're playingand playing on the nostalgia, you

Katie (47:47):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (47:48):
talk,
I I'm always get worked up whenthere's like reboots and you know,
that's so dumb and, you know,can't they think of anything else?
But I wasn't thinking about thinkingthat actually, you know, in, in 1993
when I was begging to go probablysee this movie 50,000 times.
But same thing.
I mean, it's like rebooting somethingthat was decades old already.

(48:08):
You know, when you stray too far, thenthat's, you know, then that's where
the real fans start coming out and.
Throw yeah, throw Rotten Tomatoesat the screen and get upset, so,

Katie (48:17):
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
But, so I take it thatyou loved it as a kid.
What's your history with this movie?

Amy Lewis (48:23):
I think again, I think I was because I was already, regardless,
it had nothing to do with this movie.
I was a huge fan of Dennis Meni severalyears before this movie even came out.
So I was like, likedit, hadn't even seen it.
And I think

Katie (48:36):
Hmm.

Amy Lewis (48:36):
had
the
movie poster of it hanging inmy room before it even came out.
So I think at the time you know,rose colored Glasses, thought
it was amazing, loved it.
You know, really likedDennis, the character liked
alter au absolutely loved it.
But now as an adult, I, youknow, unfortunately don't
think it holds up pretty well.
It doesn't hold up very well,

Katie (48:57):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (48:57):
I
think it's
not really something Iwould wanna watch with my.
kids either especially my, my older sonI think would be absolutely terrified,

Katie (49:07):
Oh, switchblade Sam.

Amy Lewis (49:08):
and would probably never wanna watch it.

Katie (49:11):
Oh.

Amy Lewis (49:12):
I think that, I think that character alone would be, would make both
of my kids actually pretty nervous becauseit's, it feels like a, like a weird not
horror movie, but just like a weird creepy

Katie (49:26):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (49:26):
that,

Katie (49:27):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (49:28):
you
know,
oh yeah, let's watch that movie with a guywith the rotten teeth and the oily hair.
I don't, you know, they'renot gonna say that.
So I don't,
no.
So

Katie (49:38):
And you have little kids though, right?

Amy Lewis (49:40):
yeah, they're, they're eight and 10.
And my, my, my, my 10-year-old is hasa lot of, a lot of challenges and you
know, things that make him uncomfortable

Katie (49:48):
Hmm.
Okay.

Amy Lewis (49:49):
and so I think this would be.

Katie (49:52):
No, boy.
No.
Yeah, yeah.

Amy Lewis (49:54):
because I, there's so many things that, you know, when you
become a parent or you beca becomean auntie or you become a, you know,
your best friend has a, has a baby,and you're involved in their life.
There's certain stuff youkind of wanna show them.

Katie (50:04):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (50:04):
Dennis was like a huge part of my life, but this is like ab,
I think I've shown them the cartoon,

Katie (50:09):
Okay.

Amy Lewis (50:11):
But I, I don't, I have no desire, sadly, to sit
down and watch this with them.

Katie (50:15):
Hmm.

Amy Lewis (50:16):
fast
forwarded through those

Katie (50:17):
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (50:18):
than that, I
mean, not really.
So, which is, that's not howshould, they should have thought
about that, you know, in advance,

Katie (50:24):
Good point.

Amy Lewis (50:25):
you know, are,
people gonna watch thiswith their kids in 30 years?
No.
So, yeah,

Katie (50:32):
There were,

Amy Lewis (50:33):
a,

Katie (50:33):
yeah, it, I mean, in addition to the, you know, all of that.
I mean, I don't know, we're notsupposed to really pick it apart, but I,

Amy Lewis (50:41):
yeah.

Katie (50:41):
an adult, like watching this, I'm like, we see like kind of the opening of
this very you know, what, what's the word?
Perfect little Norman Rockwell.

Amy Lewis (50:52):
Yeah.

Katie (50:52):
town

Amy Lewis (50:53):
Yeah,

Katie (50:54):
and, and you know, so clearly it's a very safe place to live.
And we see everybody includingthe neighborhood cats.
And of course, Mr.
Wilson is like, oh crap.
They can hear Dennis coming, he's pedalingon his bike with his, with his wagon full
of weird stuff, and they're like, oh,we gotta get outta the way of the chaos.
And Mr.
Wilson goes and pretends to sleep,but why doesn't he lock the door

(51:19):
if he knows he'll just come in?

Amy Lewis (51:21):
right, and that was like a really unnecessarily long opening scene

Katie (51:25):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (51:25):
Like just again to something that like just doesn't make sense.
Like why would you think oh, weshould have them like give him an
aspirin even though he is sleeping,but he should like shoot it.
And it's like.
Can we just I, I mean, I'm not awriter, you know, a television or
movie writer, not a screenwriter.
I write and run-ons.

(51:47):
However, I mean, really, I have you know,they probably had way more knowledge
of the whole Dennis and Meni backstory.
I mean, they've got frickingHank Ketchum right there.

Katie (51:58):
Good point.

Amy Lewis (51:59):
you know, like that's what you open with.
Really?

Katie (52:02):
Really good point.
I do remember getting a kick out ofwhen I was a kid, so I mean, I, me
as an adult, I'm not the audience.
I mean, it's, it needs to be youknow, passable enough for like adults
to watch with their kids, I guess.
But I remember thinking all ofthese gags and like the, the
slapstick stuff was hilarious.

Amy Lewis (52:23):
Yeah.

Katie (52:24):
watching it last night, I guess I was just sort of like, this is not funny.
I don't know.
Did you find any of them, any of the,you know, chaos slapstick moments?

Amy Lewis (52:35):
Yeah.
You know, I, it's funny, I've um, beenlike necessarily like a huge slapstick
comedy person, and I love, I mean, Ilove comedy that's like, you know, my
favorite but I, you know, that I feellike there's always has to be like the,
something happening to a man's groin area,

Katie (52:52):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (52:53):
Don't
find funny.

Katie (52:54):
Yep.

Amy Lewis (52:55):
like
oldest trick in the book.
So like that whole thing wherehe like does the splits, like
completely unnecessary and like veryuncomfortable actually to, to watch.
And uh, didn't need to seeWalter Matthau in a, in a
compromising position like that.
But no, I didn't find, mean, andagain, there's, I feel like there's so
much stuff that could have happened,like so many more dynamics that could

(53:15):
have been more more entertaining.
I mean, I guess kind of like the, thewhole scene with the garden lanterns
falling on his face and then like Dennispulling off one and talking to him.
I mean, that was kind of funny and.

Katie (53:27):
Mm-hmm.
That's true.

Amy Lewis (53:28):
You know, that was kinda like like an old man and the little
kid kind of thing that made sense.
But the other stuff, it'slike shooting an aspirin into
somebody's mouth is a slingshot.
That's just dumb.
I don't know, like not very creative.
Don't know.
And it's like, and, and why wouldlike some kid sneak up into a
bedroom of a neighbor's house?
It's like, yeah, moviesare all like unrealistic.
I mean,

Katie (53:48):
Right, right.

Amy Lewis (53:49):
but
it's not relatable.

Katie (53:51):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (53:51):
I was, I
snuck up, you know, I went up to myneighbor's bedroom last night too.
This is great.
I can relate to this kid.
No, you didn't.
You know, it's

Katie (53:58):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (53:59):
I, I don't know, it's one of those things too where I think it's
written by somebody that's like, notDennis's age well, obviously, but is
it that somebody that's like so farremoved from being a 7-year-old kid
that it's like really obvious, you know?

Katie (54:14):
A, that's a good way of putting it.

Amy Lewis (54:15):
yeah.

Katie (54:16):
mean, I, I, at first, like I had to.
For the first probably 20 minutes ofthe movie, I was like, is this set in
the fifties or is this current day?

Amy Lewis (54:27):
Yes,

Katie (54:28):
we go back and forth.
There are a lot of things that arevery old timey, but then clearly
it's set in current day because ofthe cars and they have a microwave
and the phones and stuff like that.
But,

Amy Lewis (54:38):
Right?

Katie (54:39):
Like the old timey blocks, the mo, like when we first meet Alice, her
hair and her dress is Uber 1950s, butthen the next scene she has like a normal
hair, like for the ni you know, it's,

Amy Lewis (54:52):
Right?

Katie (54:53):
like the Wilson's clothing, very old timey, just the whole train hopping
weirdo, like the verystereotypical nature of that.
And maybe that was meant tocall back to the original show.
I, I don't know.
I couldn't really quite tell.
Just even Dennis, like this, thiskid is just out playing outside

(55:15):
all day every day, you know, withhis overalls and no shirt and no,
no one is ever supervising him

Amy Lewis (55:22):
I mean, if that didn't leave a really bad farmer's tan, don't
know what would, I would, I refuse tolet my children have a overalls tan

Katie (55:34):
tan.

Amy Lewis (55:35):
just
unacceptable.

Katie (55:36):
It is.

Amy Lewis (55:37):
what's that gonna,
look like when he goes swimming?
I mean, that's gonna look terrible.
You know what I

Katie (55:42):
Good point, good point, good point.

Amy Lewis (55:44):
If he was gone all

Katie (55:45):
Oh,

Amy Lewis (55:45):
there's
no
way.

Katie (55:47):
he did say something, I did take note of that for a five-year-old to say
something about, oh, when he's being,when he was sort of like, taken hostage,
so to speak by Christopher Lloyd, he'slike, oh, well we gotta swing by my house.
I gotta pick up this and this,and I gotta get my sunscreen.
And I thought, what 5-year-oldknows about putting sunscreen on?
Good for him.

Amy Lewis (56:06):
Okay.
Well.
Maybe there was nofarmer's stand after all.

Katie (56:11):
But also what, what five-year-olds are just out and about
adventuring in the forest with allday, every day, just five-year-olds.

Amy Lewis (56:19):
Mm-hmm.

Katie (56:21):
Nobody's ever watching these kids, ever.

Amy Lewis (56:23):
no.
Mm-hmm.
Nope.
I mean, no wonder he's alwaysdoing something, you know, got
no, no boundaries, no rules.
Whatever.

Katie (56:33):
He doesn't,

Amy Lewis (56:34):
know, you
wanna run away with the hobo?
That sounds great.
You, do you, you do you?

Katie (56:40):
the parents were major pushovers.
I mean from a parent, like I'm nota parent, but I'm watching this.
Like, Come on.

Amy Lewis (56:50):
Mm-hmm.
Oh yeah.
know, but sometimes you just, you know,you're so exhausted that, you know, it's
just whatever things, just, things justhappen 'cause you're just haven't slept in
years and your decision making skills are

Katie (57:05):
whatever, go, go
go hang out with a hobo.
I don't care.

Amy Lewis (57:10):
right.
Yeah, exactly.
You know, I'm so tired of you and yourattitude and cleaning up after you.
You know what, go find a nice hobo.
Go find a nice, go joina nice hobo family.
You hate this family so much.
You go join a hobo family.

Katie (57:22):
Yes.
That was always the threat.
Yep.
Yep.

Amy Lewis (57:25):
Mm-hmm.

Katie (57:26):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (57:27):
Oh, you
think, it's, you think it's bad.
Here

Katie (57:29):
Rough hair.
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (57:31):
beans that
are
opened with a pocket

Katie (57:33):
A switchblade.
A switchblade.
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (57:37):
Okay.

Katie (57:37):
I will say there was one part of this movie that I genuinely got a kick out
of because because I'm easy and basic, Iguess the, the phone hanging up montage.

Amy Lewis (57:49):
That was

Katie (57:51):
Partially because it just showcased all of the different types
of phones that were a thing in 1993.

Amy Lewis (57:58):
Yes.
Yep.

Katie (58:00):
Duck phone,

Amy Lewis (58:01):
mm-hmm.

Katie (58:02):
clear phone with the colorful insides,

Amy Lewis (58:05):
Mm-hmm.

Katie (58:06):
phone, I forgot that of those ever existing in the first place.
And then,

Amy Lewis (58:12):
for a 32nd
phone call.

Katie (58:14):
Yep.
And then several different versions ofthat, like fancy, ornate with the gold,
like rich person phone, you know what I,

Amy Lewis (58:24):
think it's called a princess phone.

Katie (58:25):
is that what it's called?
Yeah.
I don't know what, okay.

Amy Lewis (58:27):
I don't know why I know that.
Again, not helpful informationfor getting into college,

Katie (58:32):
Useless information.
And then there was like a yellow retrophone and the I liked the red phone that
the, the Mitchell's had in their house.
So I really did kind of like.
Nobody wants to babysit Dennis'cause he's such a terror.
And we just, we solved the nineties funds.

Amy Lewis (58:47):
Mm-hmm.

Katie (58:48):
That was

Amy Lewis (58:49):
Yeah.
Well, and I think it also is like reallysatisfying to slam a phone, you know?
So that's a, that's a lost art too.
So there's a lot of elementsto why that was such a great,
great scene and a great song too.
that just made it fun too.
So yeah, definitely a great, you know,and a good moment for like the, the
parents' characters and which again, theycould have done more stuff with that too.

Katie (59:10):
mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (59:12):
yeah, it's it's an interesting movie.

Katie (59:15):
One other que again, there's a lot of questions that I, you know, again,
I'm in my forties watching this movie

Amy Lewis (59:22):
Same.

Katie (59:22):
night after 30 years, and I'm like, okay, I don't
know anything about dentures,

Amy Lewis (59:27):
Mm-hmm.

Katie (59:27):
but Mr.
Wilson has dentures, butthere's gold teeth in them.
Is that a thing?
Why would there be gold teeth in dentures?

Amy Lewis (59:35):
That I have no idea.
Unless he had, like his real, originallyhad his teeth, like a tooth replaced with
a gold tooth and then wanted it salvaged

Katie (59:46):
To match.
I don't
know.
anybody know anything about, arethere any dentists out there that
can fill me in on, on what the storyis with gold teeth in dentures?

Amy Lewis (59:57):
Yeah.

Katie (59:57):
that would be a thing?

Amy Lewis (59:58):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, no idea.
But I mean, there's a lot ofunknowns and, you know, why did
he have chiclets locked in a safe

Katie (01:00:10):
Were they

Amy Lewis (01:00:11):
yeah.
He had a run home and, or was itin a safe, like a sec, like a bank
or like a piggy bank or some kind

Katie (01:00:16):
Yeah, yeah,

Amy Lewis (01:00:18):
box or something.
It's

Katie (01:00:19):
yeah.
It was the special box.
Yep.

Amy Lewis (01:00:21):
auto, like that's what you put in there was like Chiclets really.

Katie (01:00:24):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:00:25):
But I don't, I don't know why that, yeah, gold teeth.
I mean, maybe it was just, you know, theywere something and they'd wanna throw
them out or, you know, I don't know.
That's a,

Katie (01:00:36):
The the things that come to mind when I'm watching a movie nowadays.
Hmm,

Amy Lewis (01:00:40):
There's probably some kind of symbolism though, I'm sure, to it.
'cause you know, John Hughes alwaysthrew little, you know, things in a

Katie (01:00:46):
you're right,

Amy Lewis (01:00:48):
some
reason for it.
There has to be.
'cause that's too bizarre.

Katie (01:00:52):
you're right.
And speaking of which, so John Hughesis, is famous for kind of reusing
actors and there's, you know, BenStein who is in Ferris Bueller's
Day off that we just covered.

Amy Lewis (01:01:02):
Hmm

Katie (01:01:02):
I didn't notice him, but I saw that he was on the cast list.
He like was one of their,was it the mom's boss?
Like he was in the workplace?
Must have been very brief moment.
'cause I missed it and then I just decided
mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:01:16):
no, that's interesting.
Yeah.
Who know?
Yeah.
That's, that is a mystery.
Yeah.

Katie (01:01:23):
Okay.
And then similarly, he's kind of knownfor having either scenes while the credits
are rolling or post credited scenes.
There wasn't any post creditedscene, but there was, the main work
lady got her come up and by Denniswhile the credits were rolling.

Amy Lewis (01:01:37):
Yes.
Which is another thing Itotally, totally forgot about.

Katie (01:01:40):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:01:41):
was,
Weird a weird, a weird ending.
After all that, which

Katie (01:01:46):
It was, wasn't it?

Amy Lewis (01:01:47):
which again is like not, you know, Dennis's whole thing is not about
like revenge or you know, intentionallyyou know, messing with somebody,
you know, I, I just, again, it goesagainst the, the whole thing, you know?

Katie (01:01:58):
Yeah.
It, it's like he acts, it's likehe, he's, I mean, I'm sure he
would be diagnosed with something.
Not like he just can't help himself.
He, he, he's, nothing is ill intent.

Amy Lewis (01:02:07):
right.

Katie (01:02:08):
not ill intentioned, but a, he just, he just causes
chaos everywhere he goes.

Amy Lewis (01:02:12):
Yep.
S
severe A DHD or

Katie (01:02:15):
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:02:16):
Mm-hmm.
Yep.

Katie (01:02:18):
Now, did you babysit when you were, you know, a teen or a preteen?

Amy Lewis (01:02:23):
I did a little bit.
I wouldn't say that thatwas my favorite job to do.
That was more of like my, my sisterwas really into, into babysitting
and would buy babysitters clubbooks with her babysitting money.

Katie (01:02:35):
Oh,

Amy Lewis (01:02:36):
who?

Katie (01:02:37):
I love that.

Amy Lewis (01:02:38):
yeah, I did.
I mean, I did kind of here andthere a little bit, but I was
not big into I was not, yeah.
That was, I was kinda likenot cut out for babysitting.
No.

Katie (01:02:47):
And watching this made, it totally reminded me why I
always, I hated babysitting.

Amy Lewis (01:02:53):
Yeah.

Katie (01:02:54):
like I was, I.
Walter Math, like I think sincebirth, I have been a grumpy
old man and I'm an annoyed by
the innocent, but annoyingnature of children.

Amy Lewis (01:03:08):
Yeah.
To that.
You
know
what, and I think, I think that'sgood to know that honestly, like
if that's not your thing and yeah.

Katie (01:03:13):
so I did not have children because
I did.
Yeah.
I purposely, yeah.

Amy Lewis (01:03:17):
I get it.
Yeah.
Totally makes sense.
Yeah, I, I was not cut out forbabysitting or, you know, I remember
there was like one house at my sisterand another friend of mine, like always
kind of ended up sort of randomlybabysitting at, and their house was
a mess and it like, drove us insane.
And like all you wanted to do whenyou were there was just like clean

(01:03:38):
the crap out of the house because

Katie (01:03:39):
Hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:03:39):
so
messy.
And it's like, how doesthis family live like this?
So it's like you get aninsight into people's lives
that you don't need when you

Katie (01:03:47):
Great point.
Really good point.
The only thing I liked about itwas like the parents would all
sometimes order us pizza for dinner.

Amy Lewis (01:03:56):
Yeah.

Katie (01:03:57):
It's like, that was, that was the bonus for me.
But yeah, same.
My sisters, I have two oldersisters and they were both super
into babysitting and they neverunderstood why I didn't like it.
And now that they know me and as anadult, they're like, yeah, I get it.
Your kids are not your,
your jam.

Amy Lewis (01:04:12):
No.
And I think at that age too, tolike, to have the forethought
or whatever, to be like, okay,I'm gonna plan these activities.
I wouldn't, I didn'tthink like that, you know,

Katie (01:04:21):
Hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:04:21):
just not
how my brain worked as a, you know, and Ithink, and you know, our age too, like our
generation, you know, we were babysittingit at 10, 11, 12 years old, which I

Katie (01:04:31):
Yep.

Amy Lewis (01:04:32):
horrified to have a

Katie (01:04:34):
So different now.

Amy Lewis (01:04:35):
or a 12-year-old, no

Katie (01:04:37):
Babysit.
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (01:04:38):
you
know, on God's green earth, wouldI have a 12-year-old come over here
to babysit my not gonna happen.
But yeah, I just did not have thethat skill set to think, oh, we're
gonna need okay, three hours,so we're gonna need like dinner.
And we're, I, I did not think like that.
It's just what do I do?
You know, no,

Katie (01:04:53):
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Well, neither is neither was Mr.
Wilson because on the rainy daywhen, when Dennis has to stay
inside, he can't go outside and

Amy Lewis (01:05:03):
Yeah,

Katie (01:05:04):
havoc on the forest or whatnot.
He just, he doesn't knowhow to deal with that.
Like he cannot cons contain his boredom.
And he's basically likeany kid, will you play?
I can't remember.
Will you he wants to play some gameor, I can't remember what he asked Mr.

Amy Lewis (01:05:19):
and robbers or something like that.

Katie (01:05:21):
And Mr.
Wilson's no, I'm an adult.
I'm Finicking here withmy, my coin collection.

Amy Lewis (01:05:28):
yeah.
Well, here's my
question
that, because I think I, this is oneof those moments where I didn't know
what meant until like way later whenyou saw this movie and he and Mr.
Wilson kept saying, I need thegd, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Did you

Katie (01:05:41):
Gd,

Amy Lewis (01:05:42):
I

Katie (01:05:43):
probably not.

Amy Lewis (01:05:44):
I think I remember watching this kid.
I'm like, he keeps saying gd.
Does he mean is that like a brand?
Do they own a bunch ofthings and the brand is gd?
What does that mean?
And then I, then I think I watchedit again as, I don't know when maybe.
10 years ago.
I'm like, oh my God.
He means God damn.
Which I did, did not pick up on

Katie (01:06:03):
Good point.
I probably didn't either, but Idid note it 'cause he does it a co
Like last night when I watched it,I did note it 'cause it's PG movie.
And also he's, you know, that typeof a man probably doesn't swear.

Amy Lewis (01:06:15):
Right.

Katie (01:06:16):
so yeah, the
I,

Amy Lewis (01:06:19):
Where are the
I,
was like, gd, Gar is that the brandname of is there a company called
GD and they make garden lanterns?
Okay.
That's how naive I waswhich is I guess good,

Katie (01:06:27):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:06:29):
yeah.

Katie (01:06:29):
So I don't think this will surprise you given what we all
talk, what we just talked aboutwith Hank Chu's or original story,

Amy Lewis (01:06:39):
Yeah,

Katie (01:06:39):
John Hughes.
Did you see that he never watcheda single episode of the show?

Amy Lewis (01:06:45):
no,

Katie (01:06:46):
He drew his inspiration only from the comic strip.
He never saw the TV show.

Amy Lewis (01:06:53):
I need to leave.

Katie (01:06:54):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:06:54):
that
is Wow.

Katie (01:06:56):
Well, it makes sense though, right now.

Amy Lewis (01:06:58):
that's true.
I guess I would just want to, Imean, again, and what do I know?
I'm just like a, you know what I mean?
I don't know anything about the,the, the movie biz, but I would've
thought that he'd, and so iconic,you know, and of course I'm
biased, but Yolks is a huge fan.
But how would you not wanna watch that?
It's not like, it's like tortureto watch it or something.
I mean, it's, out of all things fromthat era, I mean, it's a pretty, you

(01:07:22):
know, tolerable funny show to watch.
I mean, so that's, that's surprising.
But

Katie (01:07:28):
I know.

Amy Lewis (01:07:28):
a

Katie (01:07:28):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:07:31):
so I guess on the one hand I could kind of see it too.

Katie (01:07:34):
Yeah.
And the more I'm kind ofgetting to know him through
this season, I think he can, I.
In some ways be difficult to work with.
There was another director I thinkthat they had on board that they
ended up replacing before Nick Castlecame on board because of creative
differences with John Hughes.
I mean, that could mean a numberof different things, but but yeah,

(01:07:56):
he only drew inspiration from theactual comic strip and not the show.

Amy Lewis (01:08:01):
Which again,
how did that translate intothis POS, you know what I mean?

Katie (01:08:10):
Yeah, he was, I mean, I, I guess I'm, you know, all of the, just
little, you know, he's like a bullin a China shop and is annoying his
neighbor, but then the SwitchbladesSam thing is the outta left field bit.

Amy Lewis (01:08:27):
Whoever, whoever really took the lead on switchblade Sam
needs to, I don't know, be punished.
And I don't know what that lookslike, but that was a big mistake.
I.

Katie (01:08:39):
Well, not to be morbid, but I think that did happen.
'cause John Hughes died and I'mpretty sure he was the one that was
like, Hmm, I'm gonna write him in.
Because he originally, youknow, like we talked about,
he wanted to be in home alone.
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (01:08:52):
It's true.
That's what
it caused.
He
thought, he thought wasreflecting on his career and
then
thought about oh, pretty pink and16 candles and such, plate salmon.
And that's just when he, that'swhen the heart attack happened.

Katie (01:09:05):
It, yep, indeed.

Amy Lewis (01:09:06):
Yep.
Sorry, too sorry.
Too, too

Katie (01:09:09):
Too soon.
Too soon.

Amy Lewis (01:09:11):
Too
Sorry.
Not Sorry.
No,
I've got,
I have
grief myself.
I deal with grief throughhaving a dark sense of humor.

Katie (01:09:17):
There you go.
There you go.

Amy Lewis (01:09:18):
anybody.
That's how I cope,

Katie (01:09:20):
No, no, no, no.
Nobody, I don't think the listenersof, of retro easily offended people.

Amy Lewis (01:09:25):
Oh, good.

Katie (01:09:25):
So Warner Brothers, I talked about, or I brought up earlier and
I wanted to come back to it 'cause Iread, this was their first film Warner
Brothers Family Entertainment's,inaugural film, first of five films
that the, that particular divisionreleased in 93, the Family Edition,

Amy Lewis (01:09:42):
Hmm.
Ouch.

Katie (01:09:44):
free Willie Secret Garden, the Nutcracker and Batman Mask of the Fantasm,

Amy Lewis (01:09:52):
I do not remember that at all.

Katie (01:09:53):
I don't either.
And then and then Dennis the Menna.
So that was, those were the fivemovies that the family entertainment
portion of Warner Brothers.
And it was also the first film where theyintroduced the version where the logo is
with Bugs Bunny leaning against the w.

Amy Lewis (01:10:10):
Yes.
My goodness.
Yeah, I remember this.
The, I, I, I, I think I saw the secretgarden in theaters and probably saw
free Willie also in the theater.
And also.
to recreate the scene where thewhale jumps over the kid with a pool
toy, but that's for another time.
But

Katie (01:10:29):
Wait, were you the, were you, who were you in this recreation?
The whale?

Amy Lewis (01:10:36):
no I Wow.
No I'm kidding.
No.

Katie (01:10:39):
No, I didn't

Amy Lewis (01:10:40):
No, I
know.
I know.
I'm kidding.
I'm kidding.
No.
I was one of the people Ithink, who was like chucking the

Katie (01:10:46):
to

Amy Lewis (01:10:47):
Whale toy over the girl who had her hand out, like

Katie (01:10:50):
Okay,

Amy Lewis (01:10:50):
and thinking of Michael Jackson song.
So,

Katie (01:10:53):
that's right.

Amy Lewis (01:10:55):
but I

Katie (01:10:55):
Oh,

Amy Lewis (01:10:56):
yeah, I mean, on the

Katie (01:10:57):
free will.

Amy Lewis (01:10:58):
tier of all the, you know, those five movies, I mean, this
pretty low and

Katie (01:11:05):
Yeah, I don't,

Amy Lewis (01:11:05):
from a
true diehard, you know,

Katie (01:11:07):
yeah, that's a, I I'm interested that, I mean, I guess it's very
interesting for me to hear that fromyou, but I guess because you hold
it so dear and this fell so short

Amy Lewis (01:11:16):
Mm.

Katie (01:11:17):
and Yeah.
I can see why you have feelings.
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:11:20):
You know, it's like when the, not that I don't know anything
about Star Wars, but you know, whenso's like the Phantom Menace, I think
people got really mad about those.
'cause they weren't like theoriginal movies or something.
You know, this is on the

Katie (01:11:31):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:11:31):
level as
that.

Katie (01:11:33):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I, I, I'm glad that there's anothernon Star Wars person because I,
sometimes I feel like I'm likethe only person on the planet,

Amy Lewis (01:11:42):
Mm.
I, I,
think for me it's it's like, it hasto do with, I'm trying to remember
who I was talking to about this,but, the whole like fantasy movie
thing, I just can't, I cannot follow.
It's like you don't understand the movie.
They have to go through the fifthdoor and get the book and put it
on the, on the number on the shelf.
That's by the It's like, Idon't want to hear anymore.

(01:12:08):
I don't wanna see that movie.
I don't wanna read that book.
That sounds terrible.
I do

Katie (01:12:13):
I, oh my God.
Amy,

Amy Lewis (01:12:14):
at all.
It

Katie (01:12:15):
same

Amy Lewis (01:12:16):
makes my, it makes my,
blood boil at how much I can't stand it.

Katie (01:12:20):
Harry Potter.
Lord of the Rings.
No thank you.
No, desire at all

Amy Lewis (01:12:24):
No, my youngest son is obsessed with Harry Potter, which is wonderful.
I can't stand those movies at all.
And I'm sure, you know,people are going to

Katie (01:12:35):
screaming at us right now,

Amy Lewis (01:12:35):
Throw their

Katie (01:12:36):
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (01:12:36):
like out the oncoming traffic 'cause they're so angry.
But I can't follow that stuff at all.
No, I'm not interested.
Oh, but you didn't, you didn't read the,the fourth book where the, where the
owl comes and then it drops the notes.
I know that sounds horrible, butdid you like watch that movie?
That was really funny.
Or did

Katie (01:12:56):
Agreed.

Amy Lewis (01:12:57):
it's like

Katie (01:12:57):
Yeah,

Amy Lewis (01:12:58):
learn something or laugh and if that doesn't happen, then I'm out.

Katie (01:13:02):
I'm with you.
I think we have very similar tasteand I, and that's why I think I,
your show resonates with me so much.

Amy Lewis (01:13:08):
Likewise,

Katie (01:13:10):
well the, speaking of the,

Amy Lewis (01:13:11):
tri, you know, you do the,

Katie (01:13:12):
yeah,

Amy Lewis (01:13:12):
they're like,
yeah,
stick to the facts.
People, not the oh, look at the ma,they got to the second level of the map.
It's like, no, no,

Katie (01:13:20):
I think that's why I didn't it the one Kurt Russell movie that I did
not like from last season, Stargate.

Amy Lewis (01:13:25):
Hmm.
Mm-hmm.

Katie (01:13:26):
Was like weird.

Amy Lewis (01:13:27):
haven't

Katie (01:13:27):
Yeah.
You wouldn't, you would hate it.
I did not like it at all.
I was like, why you, how can youscrew up Kurt Russell plus Egypt?
Add some fantasy weirdness to it.
That's how mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:13:37):
mm-hmm.
Yep.
The only like fantasy movie I feellike I can tolerate is Labyrinth.

Katie (01:13:43):
You know, there are exceptions to all of my, I I feel like I'm like
such an, I really am a grumpy old man.
'cause there's so manythings that I dislike.

Amy Lewis (01:13:50):
Mm-hmm.

Katie (01:13:52):
there are exceptions to that same, I also love
labyrinth,

Amy Lewis (01:13:56):
Mm-hmm.

Katie (01:13:57):
yeah, it's an exception to the rule.
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:13:58):
Yes.
Yeah, no, I agree.
And I, we went, I remember goingto the movie theater to see the
first, the whole like, mocking bird,mocking Jay, what is that series?
The, I'm

Katie (01:14:08):
Oh,

Amy Lewis (01:14:08):
the first
book
is.

Katie (01:14:10):
Oh,
yeah.
With

Amy Lewis (01:14:11):
can't read it from

Katie (01:14:12):
the Hunger Games, I wanna say.
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:14:14):
The Hunger Games.
never read the books, heard theconcept, so that I said, that sounds
terrible, somehow was to go see themovie in the first five minutes.
I knew that I was gonna hate thatmovie, and I did, and I sat there
for like however long that moviewas, which was way too long.
Anything

Katie (01:14:33):
do tend to run long.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:14:36):
over a minute for that movie was too long for me, and I like was
stewing in my chair the whole time.
It's like, I do not want, I haveno interest in how this, these
people are classified and no.
Mm-hmm.
Nope.
Doesn't do it for me.
I don't get it makes

Katie (01:14:52):
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (01:14:52):
very

Katie (01:14:53):
it is wild.
It's wild how, you know, everybody hassuch different tastes in, in movies
and how they, you know, there's somany different VE Venn diagrams that.
Some word crossovers in some cases.

Amy Lewis (01:15:07):
Yes.

Katie (01:15:07):
but so Dennis, the menna casting wise I, Leslie Nielsen I saw was
originally offered the role for Mr.
Wilson.
I'm very glad that it's
Walter Mattau.

Amy Lewis (01:15:19):
Yeah.
He doesn't, and Leslie Nielsen's,you know, great and everything, but
he doesn't have the same, think likegenius comedy, I think presence that
like a Walter Mattau does he's justkind of just slapstick, I feel like.
Period.
Which is, Which is,
great,

Katie (01:15:35):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:15:36):
is
fine.
But Walter Mattau is likea good combination of, of
subtlety that it's like.

Katie (01:15:42):
Subtlety.
That's it.
That's what it is.
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:15:45):
Like that scene, the
scene where he wins the garden, whateverthing, and he's like really affectionate,
like smiling next to his wife, and thenwhen he turns around and stands up in
front of everybody, his demeanor changes.
immediately to be more serious

Katie (01:16:00):
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:16:00):
so
spot
on.
And it is just so, just sowell executed that Yeah.
Thank God.
Walter Mattau was was cast in the, is

Katie (01:16:08):
Yeah, agreed.

Amy Lewis (01:16:09):
Yeah.

Katie (01:16:09):
Agreed.
Some other, like big hitters wereconsidered too, Mickey Rooney, Mel
Brooks, Tim Conway ed Asner all consideredlike all, all kind of from that same

Amy Lewis (01:16:19):
Yes.

Katie (01:16:20):
silk.
You know,

Amy Lewis (01:16:21):
Yeah, I,

Katie (01:16:22):
Tim Curry was considered for Switchblade Sam after he was
in Home Alone, two lost in NewYork, another John Hughes movie.

Amy Lewis (01:16:31):
yeah.
And took a, let's go back toSwitchblade Sam for a second.
Okay.
But again, the name too,it's like that is just.
A horrible name.
Couldn't it have justbeen like hobo number one?
Like why did he have tobe called Switchblade Sam?

Katie (01:16:46):
It's never said in the movie, is it?

Amy Lewis (01:16:48):
yeah, exactly.
That sounds like the name of ahorror movie is called Switchblade.
If they should just make a movieseparate called Switchblade Sam,
that character just, I mean, goes,you know, goes nuts and you know,

Katie (01:17:04):
Agreed.

Amy Lewis (01:17:05):
know.

Katie (01:17:06):
Agreed.

Amy Lewis (01:17:06):
Mm-hmm.

Katie (01:17:07):
Well, so do you think it would've been better with another, you know,
either a Tim Cur, Tim Curry, or like DannyDeVito, Michael Keaton, bill Murray, Jack
Nicholson, Michael Richards, Daniel Stern,Willem, Defoe, those were all considered.
Do you think it would've workedbetter with any of those or,

Amy Lewis (01:17:25):
I think it would've been, I don't think anybody could
have salvaged that 'cause it

Katie (01:17:29):
mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:17:29):
make
sense.
And I think that's a testamentto how, how brilliant of an
actor Christopher Lloyd is like

Katie (01:17:36):
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (01:17:36):
so
good.
You know, it just didn'thave a place in this movie.
So I, I don't know, like

Katie (01:17:42):
Yeah, you're right.
It didn't like, I, despite my beinglike, oh, that's a little too Uncle
Festy in some cases, but but yeah,I, I thought he did a good job.
It was just like, what,what's happening here?
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
I did see that a numberof people for Alice.

Amy Lewis (01:17:57):
Hmm.

Katie (01:17:57):
Basically all the, like all of the blonde popular women of the time,
Melanie Griffith, Madonna, MichellePfeiffer, Kelly Preston, Sharon Stone,

Amy Lewis (01:18:07):
Mm.

Katie (01:18:08):
all of them considered, I'm not a hugely a Thompson person.
Like I don't dislike her, butshe's not I don't love her.
So I could have taken any of those other,Kelly Preston probably would've been good.

Amy Lewis (01:18:20):
Yeah.
Yep.
I,

Katie (01:18:22):
Honestly.
Sharon Stone has a little, maybe that,that could have been interesting.

Amy Lewis (01:18:27):
Yeah, she yeah, she could have, well, that, that would've been
very interesting if she was Alice.
Yeah.
I think I could see where LeahThompson feels a little bit more kinda

Katie (01:18:38):
Sweet.

Amy Lewis (01:18:38):
girl
next
door kind of thing, you know?

Katie (01:18:40):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.

Amy Lewis (01:18:42):
Madonna really, I mean.

Katie (01:18:44):
Yeah.
Sharon Stone and Madonna seem similar.
And then Melanie Griffith andKelly Preston and Leah Thompson
seem kind of similar, but

Amy Lewis (01:18:52):
Yeah.

Katie (01:18:52):
yeah.
Interesting.

Amy Lewis (01:18:54):
Yeah.

Katie (01:18:54):
Tim Allen, Jerry Seinfeld, ed O'Neill and Rick Baris
were considered for Henry,

Amy Lewis (01:19:01):
Mm.

Katie (01:19:02):
which Henry was a,
it was such a nothing role.
Those are all very famouspeople for such a nothing

Amy Lewis (01:19:09):
Mm-hmm.

Katie (01:19:09):
role.
That's interesting.

Amy Lewis (01:19:11):
role.
Yeah, a

Katie (01:19:13):
I love that.

Amy Lewis (01:19:13):
big zero.
My mom is will never say youknow, would never say anything
like disrespectful or like anexpletive or anything about anybody.
It's always very likeappropriate and like done.
So instead of saying you know,he's a big blah, blah, blah, blah.
Expletive, expletiveshows he's a big zero.
So yeah,

Katie (01:19:33):
That's a, that isn't.

Amy Lewis (01:19:35):
But Rick Moranis, I could have seen I mean he would've
probably at least done something withthat to make it more interesting.
Just 'cause he's like atbeing kind of a nerdy,

Katie (01:19:43):
mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:19:44):
and, and, and Henry is kind of a nerdy sort of person, so
I think he would've been, at leastmade it more interesting, I think.

Katie (01:19:53):
Good point.
Yeah.
There.
I thought the dad looked the part, but

Amy Lewis (01:19:58):
That's probably the

Katie (01:19:58):
just

Amy Lewis (01:19:58):
got it.

Katie (01:19:59):
yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.

Amy Lewis (01:20:01):
Which is, yeah.

Katie (01:20:02):
Well, I will say rewatching this last night, Dennis Thees was very.
A very different experience to my originalmatinee viewing experience in 1993,

Amy Lewis (01:20:15):
Yeah.

Katie (01:20:15):
I am still glad that I did revisit it.
And Amy, thank you forrevisiting it with me,

Amy Lewis (01:20:21):
Yes.

Katie (01:20:22):
to reminisce both Dennis Menace and 1993.
It's

Amy Lewis (01:20:27):
Hmm.

Katie (01:20:27):
a little, little little gem of our childhood memories.

Amy Lewis (01:20:30):
Yes.

Katie (01:20:31):
do you have closing thoughts about the movie?
And then don't forget to tell uswhere we can find you and, and
I don't know, a little previewof what you've got upcoming.

Amy Lewis (01:20:38):
Sure.
Yeah.
So, let's see.
I think in conclusion I am youknow, I think it's been made very
clear that I'm, you know, nota, not a huge fan of this movie.
And I think the reason why, ifI wasn't such a huge Dennis, the
Meni fan, I probably would not beas critical as I, as I would be.
I probably would've just beenlike, oh yeah, you know, it's a kid

(01:21:00):
movie from the nineties, whatever.
You just got some funnymoments or whatever.
But I think because I have thatdeep dorky long standing connection
with Dennis and Menis, I think it'shard for me to sort of, speak, you
know, super highly of this movie.
So is it worth watching as an adult?
I mean, I guess if there'snothing else to watch sure.

(01:21:22):
For me, just, you know, focusingon Walter Maow will, will serve you
well.
and so where you can find me the bestplace to go probably is my website,
pop culture retrospective.com.
You can find all of mypast episodes blog posts.
Links to my Instagram account TwitterX, whatever you call it um, like that.

(01:21:45):
I also have a YouTube channel that Itry to get episodes posted onto and
little clips of stuff here and there.
And then shows that I'mcurrently working on.
I am working on a showabout my show's very, I.
it's very heavily like researchedbased, which is why it's kind of on a,
sort of un undetermined release cycle.
I try to get out a couple episodesa month as time, time allows.

(01:22:07):
I'm working on an episodeabout Shell Silverstein, which
has been really interesting.
And also working on a retroTech part two episode.
We're gonna be talking about someof the kids' electronics that
came out in the, in the eighties.
Like the speak and spelland things like that.
And kinda

Katie (01:22:21):
Oh, fun.

Amy Lewis (01:22:22):
behind?
Yeah.
What's the backstorybehind the speak and spell?
How did that come about?
You know, always like to kind of teachlisteners about pop culture and stuff.
And then I'm also gonna be havingan author on my show coming up.
He's written a book that was set in1995 which is really interesting.
And a fun read.
So, I.
There's always, always something inthe works on my show that's focused on

(01:22:44):
the eighties and nineties and early twothousands in memory of my sister and
yeah, pop culture retrospective.com.

Katie (01:22:52):
I'll have Amy's information in the show notes for you listeners.
Yeah, you have a lot of your episodesare varied, so there's, there really is
kind of a little for everyone, whetherit's music or movies or TV shows.
I especially loved thetoday's special episode.

Amy Lewis (01:23:07):
nice.
Oh god.
that's
that's

Katie (01:23:09):
Yeah,

Amy Lewis (01:23:10):
the

Katie (01:23:10):
yeah.
I know.
I,

Amy Lewis (01:23:11):
like I

Katie (01:23:12):
yeah.

Amy Lewis (01:23:12):
groove was around that
episode is when I kind of likefelt a little bit more comfortable.
Yeah.

Katie (01:23:17):
Really liked it.
Well, so you guys, if you liked thisepisode of Retro Made, please let me know.
You can email me at retromade podcast gmail.com.
If you are new to the show, youcan also find Retro Made Podcast
on the Directors Chair network.
So head over there.
There's a lot of other podcastsabout different directors
like Ed Swick Brian De Palma.

(01:23:39):
Let's see, Michael Mann.
And if you are joining repaid fromthe Director's Chair podcast, welcome.
I hope you enjoy.
And until next time, be kind, rewind.

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Dennis the Menace | S2E6

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Dennis the Menace | S2E6