Because of this, more people went to more movies more often. And, since this was before multiplexes, movie theaters were more random. You didn't have 16 screens in one building. You had sixteen different movie theaters scattered around town. 

John Gaspar has written a book about a very strange event at one such theater in one of my favorite cities in the goddamn world, and yours too, Minneapolis, Minnesota. The book is called Held Over: Harold And Maude At The Westgate Theater and it tells the story of Hal Ashby's 1971 black comedy Harold and Maude, that starred Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort, that ran for two years at the Westgate in the Minneapolis suburb of Edina. The film ran for so long, the neighbors protested, demanding a new movie! It's a terrific book about what movie going in America used to be like, before the multiplexes took over.

John and I are joined by Ari Kahan, who is the archivist of The Swan Archives, which is I can best describe as a labyrinthine database covering all things pertaining to 1974's Brian DePalma cult classic, Phantom Of The Paradise.

Don't know too much about Phantom Of The Paradise you say? No worries, you will by the time we get there, True Tales From Weirdsville takes us on a deep dive inside that mid 70's glam-rock Faustian gem, Phantom Of The Paradise.

Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald is here. Kevin is known for his TV show Emergency Room Vets on Animal Planet. In addition to being a veterinarian, he is an animal preservationist, a conservationist and before that, he was a rock 'n' roll tour bouncer. There are stranger tales to be told, I'm sure, but I can't say I know of any off the top of my head. Kevin has a memoir out now, telling the details of all the many lives he's lead, called It Started With A Turtle, and he's here today to tell us all about it. 

Comedian par excellence Greg Proops is here to tell us about his new comedy album, Free State Of California, out now.  

True Tales From Weirdsville takes a deep dive into a side of The King Of Rock 'n' Roll that you might not know about. Elvis Presley, practitioner of the occult. It's weird, but it's all true, and that makes it just the tale for True Tales From Weirdsville. 

And now, it is on to our filthy business. https://www.DanaGould.com

We have enough show here to stuff your pillowcase, so grab a bag of candy and settle back. Howard Berger and Marshall Julius are here to discuss their new book, Making Monsters, inside stories from the creators of Hollywood's most iconic creatures. This is a terrific book, basically it's a high school yearbook for professional monster kids. Rick Baker, Tom Savini, Michael Giacchino, Larry Karaszewski, Ve Neill, Richard Edlund, Derek Mears, Bill Corso, David Dastmalchian, Mick Garris, Mike Mendez. The list goes on and on and on. Monster kids who grew up but never put it away, and followed their passions right into show business. Packed with photos and interviews, it's really a terrific piece. Making Monsters, by Howard Berger. The Academy Award winning make up artist, he is the B in KNB FX and Marshall Julius, author and film critic and - get this – he's British. He's from the United States of Britain.

Daren Docterman is also here. Daren is an illustrator and set designer, he's worked on The Abyss, Monster House, Master and Commander, he was the VFX supervisor on the director's cut of Star Trek - The Motion Picture. He, along with Mark Altman and Ashley Miller, make up The Inglourious Trexperts. Check out that podcast. And, like Howard Berger and Marshall Julius. He's a pal. We've had meals. Quite a few. Daren Dochterman. True Tales From Weirdsville takes a deep dive into American International Pictures and it's genre output in the '50s and '60s. It gave us Roger Corman, It Conquered The World, Invasion Of The Saucer Men, The Amazing Colossal Man, I Was a Teenage Werewolf. And then it segued into the '60s with the Vincent Price / Edgar Allen Poe films like The House Of Usher, The Pit and The Pendulum, and so and and so forth. And then, as a Halloween bonus, we're going to go back into the archives and present you the True Tales we did on Orson Welles' War Of The Worlds broadcast. It's all here. It's all for you. And now, I can hear the kids at the door, and so it is on to our filthy business.

Matt Braunger is here! Matt is a hilarious comedian and a good buddy of mine. A friend of the show, as they say. Matt has a brand new podcast out called Tank Top Talks and it's exactly what it sounds like. People in tank tops, talking about tank tops and people. You can listen to it, watch it on YouTube. You get it. Tank Top Talks. 

And Paul Myers is here. What I said about Matt, same goes for Paul. Paul's not a stand up, but he's a brilliant journalist and writer. He's written, among other books, The Kids In The Hall, One Dumb Guy, A Wizard A True Star: Todd Rundgren In The Studio, and Barenaked Ladies: Public Stunts and Private Stories. His new book is required reading for any comedy fan - John Candy: A Life In Comedy. Paul's here to discuss the book and the amazing life and career of the great John Candy. 

True Tales From Weirdsville takes a look at something we all do, sleep, and asks the question, what could go wrong? Actually a lot. There are some dudes in prison right now for things they claim happened while they were asleep. And we're going to investigate.

And now, it's on, to our filthy business.

Eddie Muller is an expert in film noir. If you like movies with private eyes, tough guys and saucy dames who kiss and lie, Eddie is your dude. Eddie is the host of TCM's Noir Alley, which is forever and always a celebration of all things noir. He has a new book out called Dark City Dames, which examines the lives and careers of a group of actresses from the heyday of film noir. As you may suspect, their true life stories are often more intense than the movies they made. Eddie is also the author of Dark City, San Francisco Noir, The Art Of Noir, the novels The Distance and Shadow Boxer. He is a fascinating guy. It was a great interview. I could have talked to him all day to be honest. 

Also, one of my favorite people, Katharine Coldiron, is back. Katharine also has a new book entitled Out There In The Dark. It's part memoir, part film criticism. Maybe one could say it is memoir AS film criticism. Or film criticism as memoir? You decide. But I read it in one sitting. It's a great. Informative, honest, brave, it's a terrific piece of work.

True Tales From Weirdsville takes a deep dive into the cult classic Gun Crazy. Informed in large part by the book Gun Crazy And The Origin Of American Outlaw Cinema by, you guessed it, Eddie Muller, Gun Crazy is not only a terrific cult film, but it's also an incredibly important one, kicking off as it did, an entire subgenre in American film, one that still thrives today. That is, the stories of sociopaths in love. Gun Crazy. If you can find two words that better describe this country, you let me know. 

While struggling to fight the fires, with thousands of people in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena losing everything the city was now mourning its coolest resident. And if you don't live here I really cannot understate what a presence he is. There is a rotating sculpture of his head in head in Santa Monica. People gathered at the Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake where he used to go for coffee and a chocolate shake every day at 2:00 PM. The gathered at Jumbo's Clown Room, the Hollywood Boulevard strip club where he, as legend has it, he wrote Blue Velvet. Every sidewalk sandwich board in town bore a chalk drawing of his iconic quiff.

So, as I began the next podcast, I figured I would dedicate the True Tales From Weirdsville segment to Mr. Lynch. But it quickly became apparent that it was way too much story for just one segment and it eventually stretched over three episodes.  And so, for your listening pleasure, we stitched 'em together, and here they are. Enjoy.

https://www.DanaGould.com

Will Sloan is here! Will is a journalist and author. He is the host of the podcast The Important Cinema Club (highly recommended). Will has a new book coming out called Ed Wood, Made in Hollywood USA which is a serious reappraisal of Wood's filmography. No, it doesn't posit that he was actually the greatest filmmaker of all time but it does make an attempt to put Wood's work into context with regard to what stories he was trying to tell, keeping in mind the resources he had available to him at the time and, even more so, the cultural forces pushing against him. Glen Or Glenda specifically. 

Alexandra Seros is here. She has a new book out entitled Ida Lupino, Forgotten Auteur. Ida Lupino s well known as an actress, starring in several classic Hollywood films, and many of the great film noirs like High Sierra, They Drive By Night and While The City Sleeps. But she also was a great director. One of the first women directors in Hollywood. And not just a director, she directed several terrific and important films, like The Hitchhiker, Outrage and The Bigamist. Her story is fascinating, She was obviously incredibly intelligent. So intelligent, in fact, that she knew she had to pretend she was less intelligent than she was so they men that ran her exclusively all male field wouldn't feel threatened and prevent her from working. Crazy

Speaking of directors, True Tales From Weirdsville finishes our three part story on the life and career of David Lynch, as seen through the eyes of his magnum opus, Twin peaks. It's a little bigger than a normal segment, but he warrants it. 

Mike Reiss is here! Mike is an old pal of mine. Incredible, smart, kind and funny gentlemen. One of the original Simpsons writers, he goes back to season… one. If that's good enough for you. He is also, a world traveller, although he doesn't really want to be, and he talks about it at length in his new Substack, which you can get, called Now I've Seen Everything. Mike Reiss ladies and germs. You're gonna love it.

True Tales From Weirdsville takes us into the second part of our story of David Lynch through the lens of his magnum opus Twin Peaks. This segment cover the fascinating period from the height of his and the show's fame to their mutual, absolute, rock-bottom. It's the story of Hollywood, of America itself, I tell you! From the top of the heap to the bottom of the barrel. From the belle of the ball to the bum on the bench, from the homecoming queen… to a dead body, wrapped in plastic.

Harry Medved and Bennet Yellin are here. Harry Medved wrote the book the 50 Worst Movies of All Time when he was in high school! He was 15 when he wrote that book. And that was in the late 70's before VHS tapes. He also wrote, with his brother Michael, the Golden Turkey Awards, which, as you know, is what helped put Ed Wood back on the map in the mid-eighties. 

He has a series now on PBS called Locationland, where he takes audiences on a tour of famous film locations, this was back when films had locations, as opposed to standing in front of a green screen at a warehouse in Atlanta. I recently had the pleasure of joining Harry on a tour of the locations for a little film you may have heard me talk about, Plan 9 from Outer Space. 

Bennet Yellin is an author and screenwriter, he's written, with the Farrelly Brothers, There's Something About Mary, Dumb And Dumber, Dumb And Dumber Two. Bennet and Harry have been friends for eons and they are here to talk bad movies, good movies and Ed Wood movies which are, of course, an alchemic mixture of the two.

True Tales From Weirdsville tells the tale of the place both wonderful and strange, Twin Peaks. Like everyone else I was super bummed out by the passing of David Lynch in January. I think it was a combination of things. The election, we were in the middle of these catastrophic fires and then, just when things couldn't get worse, they did. As much as I love David Lynch and his work, and have back to…I guess Blue Velvet, what he stood for meant more to me than any particular film or television show or what have you. 

He was uncompromising in his vision, you could like it or not. That wasn't the point. That's a rare thing these days, when studios and networks seem to be operating under the belief that the only audience worth getting is everyone alive, and anything less is a failure. Twin Peaks, it's origins, success, fall from grace and resurrection is a terrific microcosm of how Lynch's refusal to compromise created something far greater than the sum of it's parts, it flew against convention, challenged audiences. In the case of Fire Walk With Me, it really challenged audiences. But in every instance, time has proven Lynch's instincts were right, so we're going to do a two, possibly three part series on Lynch's career through the lens of Twin Peaks.

And NOW, it's on to our filthy business.

https://DanaGould.com

Drew Friedman is here. Drew Friedman is one of the premiere illustrators and cartoonists in America. You know his work from The New York Observer, the New Yorker, his books, Warts And All, Old Jewish Comedians, More Old Jewish Comedians, Still More Old Jewish Comedians, Too Soon, Drew Friedman's Sideshow Freaks, Heroes Of The Comics, More Heroes Of The Comics, the list goes on and on. In 1987 I discovered his book Any Similarity to Persons Living Or Dead is Purely Coincidental and it quite literally redefined my sense of humor. It is hard to articulate the impact the book had on me. No kidding. Drew has a new book out called Schtick Figures, portraits of people important to Drew. And me. People he refers to as The Cool, The Comical and The Crazy. Portraits of people like Gilbert Gottfried, #2 and #3 as only Drew can draw them. Drew is also the subject of a new documentary that's about to be released entitled The Vermeer Of The Borscht Belt, Drew Friedman is here. 

Kurt Sayenga is a writer, director and producer. We first met when Kurt ran the series Eli Roth's History Of Horror. Kurt now has a series on Shudder called Horror's Greatest. Season #2 just dropped, with guests like Davi Dastmalchian, Joe Hill, Jonah Ray, Alex Winter, Mick Garris, yours truly and many, many more. Kurt's here to talk about the show and the topics covered this season as it continues to explore our fascination with all things cinematically horrific. 

Cinematically horrific. If you want to examine the realistically horrific, True Tales From Weirdsville takes a deep dive into the 1957 classic A Face In Crowd, starring Andy Griffith, written by Budd Schulberg and directed by Elia Kazan. It tells the cautionary tale of what happens when a corrupt, amoral grifter gains a position of power and influence in America. It was made in 1957 and it was a FREAKISHLY predictive film. 

https://www.DanaGould.com

But I'm still me and you're still you, so let's be who we are and do what we do. 

Bob Fingerman is here. Bob is an old pal, and one of the finest comic artists in the biz, Bob gained fame in the 90's with his comic Minimum Wage which was one of my favorites of the era, along with Dan Clowes' Eightball and Peter Bagge's Hate. Bob has a new graphic novel out called Printopia and a new book that's sort of a career retrospective to date (anyway, he's still a young man) called That's Some Business You're In. We'll be talking about that, his days writing for Cracked and then later MAD working with Harvey Kurtzman, all that and more, Bob Fingerman. 

Burt Kearns is here. Burt had visited us before discussing his books The Show Won't Go On as well as his biography of the great and fascinating Lawrence Tierney. But his new book holds a special fascination for me, and probably you if you're listen to this podcast with any regularity. It's called SHEMP! And it's about Shemp Howard, The great Stooge. People think Shemp replaced Curly. He did not! Curly replaced Shemp, and then Shemp re-replaced Curly after that. But it's not just Stooge lore, although there's a lot. It's also about showbiz in the 1930's and 1940's, the experience of American immigrants and how they helped define our culture and so much more. It's a great read. It has a forward by your friend and mine, Drew Freidman. SHEMP! With an exclamation point.

https://www.DanaGould.com

What a show we have for you today. Mike McCarty and James Knight are brothers, even if they don't have the same last name. And they are the hosts of a new horror podcast called The Head, the Tail and the Whole Damn Thing. It's not your ordinary horror podcast as you will soon learn. I have known Mike forever. He is a special effects make-up artist who has worked on Blade Runner 2049, Mind Hunter, The Exorcist, The Orville, Stan Against Evil, if anyone remembers that show. James is an actor and educator but together, they share a love of all things creepy, and, most importantly, they are great guys and they're super funny. Mike McCarty and James Knight. 

Also, Rob Zabrecky, or just Zabrecky, if you are a fan of magic, is here. Rob is an actor, and an author and a musician, a Valley kid, who has since gone on to become a professional illusionist and a walking encyclopedia if all things magic. Rob runs the Houdini seance at The Magic Castle and is here today to talk about the history of Midnight Spook Shows! He's also performing one at the Mayan Theater this month here in Los Angeles, but we have him right here, right now, Rob Zabrecky. 

True Tales From Weirdsville takes us on a deep dive on Dracula, from Bram Stoker's book to Hamilton Dean's west end production in the 1920's all the way up to Gary Oldman's fright wig. We'll discuss which film version is closest to the book, and why, but also ask, how much does that actually matter?

Sam Morrill is here. Sam is one of the best comedians out there right now. Flat out. Done. His special You've Changed is currently on Amazon Prime and his previous Netflix special, Same Time Tomorrow is now available on his YouTube channel. One of the best, Same Morril is here. 

Also, in our second half, moving into our holiday mood, Orenda Fink is here. Music fans will know Orenda as the co-founder of Azure Ray, she's also performed with Rilo Kiley and The Feint among others, but she has a new book out entitled The Witch's Daughter which is a memoir of her childhood with a mother who was a self-proclaimed witch. Whether she has supernatural powers or not remains to be proven but she put a lot of time and energy into casting spells and the like. It's an entertaining and sometimes harrowing story, to be completely honest and she's here to talk all about it. Orenda Fink.

True Tales From Weirdsville takes you into through the past 80 year history of UFOs in America, from the famous Kenneth Arnold Mt. Ranier sighting that coined the phrase "flying saucer" in 1947 to the revelation in the pages of the New York Times of the Department Of Defense's Office Of Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification. And. Along the way. One of my favorite topics, UFO religions! 

Drew Landry is here. Drew is one of my favorite comedians here in Los Angeles. He's a buddy, he's super funny, and he has a new special out called All My Friends Are Dead. Drew started doing stand-up at 13, which means that, even though he's only 30 years old, he's already a worn out tired has been. NO! That's me. Comedian Drew Landry. Comin' at ya.

Additionally, you've all heard of The Criterion Collection, But have you heard of Vinegar Syndrome? Vinegar Syndrome is basically The Criterion Collection for exploitation films and drive-in movie fair. They are archivists, film restoration experts and curators of our rich exploitation cinema heritage. They have a new box set out called The Lost Picture Show, which features titles like The Las Vegas Stranger, Violated! and The Sex Serum Of Dr. Blake (also known as Voodoo Heartbeat). From Vinegar Syndrome, Dino Proserpio and Oscar Becher are here. 

True Tales From Weirdsville takes an unflinching look at a movie you may not have seen but you have definitely heard of. Caligula! Starring Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, Peter O'Toole and Sir John Gielgud. What's the one thing that all these actors have in common? They all wish they weren't in Caligula! Find out why!

As we always say, this show is brought to you by you. If you enjoy it, please consider being a Dana Gould Hour Sky Cadet. Go to DanaGould.com, and sign up for our Patreon. Five bucks a month gets you extra audio content video content and some other junk.

And now… it's on… to our filthy business.

Rachel Feinstein is here. Rachel is a really, really, funny stand-up comedian whoes new special Big Guy, is now in Netflix. You may know Rachel from Inside Amy Schumer, the show Not The Place, she's also on Amy's new show Life and Beth, she's been on Crashing, Red Oaks, and you will probably recognize her voice from Grand Theft Auto if you happen to play that. Do you play Grand Theft Auto, or do you just live it? I'm not sure. 

Speaking of spies True Tales From Weirdsville tells the sordid tale of the origin of the CIA, from its sketchy beginnings in World War 2 as the OSS into the mysterious behemoth it is today.

Additionally, we have nothing short of a broadcasting legend, George Schlatter, who re-invented how sketch comedy is presented on television, with the legendary Laugh-In, he produced series and specials for Cher, Mohammad Ali, Frank Sinatra, he is 93 and still going strong and he has a new book out entitled Still Laughing: A Life In Comedy and he is here to talk about it. George Schlatter. 

True Tales From Weirdsville takes you into the world of cinematic legend Roger Corman, from the Creature From The Haunted Sea up through his two late 60's counter-cultural epics The Wild Angels and The Trip.

Christina Ward, like Max, is a pal o' mine. She is the Vice President and Editor at Feral House Publishing, and she has written a book called Holy Food: How Cults, Communes and Religious Movements Influence What We Eat. I learned a whole bunch of stuff I didn't know including, what major religion used to suggest that after someone died, it was a good idea to eat cake off their corpse.

True Tales From Weirdsville tells the stranger than fiction tale of California's weird association with religious cults, focusing on two strange organizations that were both HUGELY popular, that both started out with seemingly good intentions, and how, one, specifically, went VERY off the rails. This is the tale of Aimee Semple Mcpherson's Four Square Gospel Church, and Charles Dederich's Synanon. You won't believe your ears!

Our old friend Greg Proops is back! Greg has a new album out called French Drug Deal. He is also in a new film called First Time Caller. He's out on the road with Who's Line Is It Anyway and is getting ready to record the follow up to French drug Deal AND, greg is going to tell us all about what it is like to perform the Nightmare Before Christmas LIVE concerts, which he does, and about which I am so jealous. 

Also, Leland Sklar is with us. If you own a radio, you have heard Leland's work. Leland is one of the preeminent session musicians on Los Angeles a bass player of world renown. To let you know how long Leland has been making music, he tells a story in the interview where he was doing a session with another guitarist, and that guitarist was just forming a new band, but was unsure what to call it so he asked Leland, "I don't know, do you think The Eagles is a good name?" 

Leland can be seen in a new documentary by Denny Tedesco, who made the documentary The Wrecking Crew. This new film is called The Immediate Family and it is available now to stream, and I can't recommend it strongly enough. And we will be hearing all about it, in today's episode. 

True Tales From Weirdsville goes deep on of my favorite musicians who is also tangentially featured in Immediate family, Warren Zevon. That story is stranger than fiction.

Kliph Nesteroff is here. Kliph is a fantastic writer who has been here before discussing his books, The Comedians and We Had A Little Real Estate Problem. He is here to talk about his spectacular and, in my opinion, mandatory reading new book, Outrageous, A History Of Showbiz and the Culture Wars. It's one of my top five books of this year, just phenomenal and I'm really excited for you to hear him talk about it. 

Also, actor Steven Weber is here. You know Steven from Wings, the TV miniseries The Shining, Chicago Hope and so much more. He is also a hilarious guy, a monster kid, and a terrific storyteller, so happy to have finally nabbed him to be on. Steven Weber is here. 

True Tales From Weirdsville takes the idea of no good deed going unpunished to a whole new level, it's the making of Monty Python's Life Of Brian.

Aaron Lee is with us today. He is what you'd call a fellow traveler. A horror movie nerd, comic book fan and The Cramps devotee who has come to unburden his sympatico soul with us. Aaron is a hilarious writer who's been an essential writer on, among others, Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, the upcoming TED TV and so many more. But it's Halloween, so we're talking monsters, with Aaron Lee.

Also, my very dear friend Bill Corso is here. Bill is one of the most famous and successful make-up men in Hollywood today. In addition to being the governor of the make-up branch of the Motion Picture Academy, he is also the personal make-up artist of Jim Carrey, Harrison Ford and so many others. Here to talk latex, glue and other fun things to sniff, it's Bill Corso! 

True Tales From Weirdsville is going to take you down to the basement and unearth the down and the dirty in the world of James Warren Publications, which gave the world Creepy Magazine, Eerie, Magazine, Vampirella Magazine and, of course, Famous Monsters Of Filmland Magazine. It's the weird and wonderful world of James Warren and Forrest Ackerman, two dudes who could not be more different if they tried to be.

Two fantastic guests today, my lordy. First off, a guy that I cannot believe that I know. He is in my favorite movie of all time, he has appeared repeatedly in one of my favorite TV shows, and he lived in my favorite city during one of its most fascinating periods. From Planet Of The Apes, and Dragnet and so much more, actor Lou Wagner is here. 

Also, comedian and author Wayne Federman is here. In addition to being a fine comedian in his own right, Wayne is a comedy historian. He is the author of a terrific book called The History Of Stand Up, from Mark Twain To Dave Chapelle and he was also the producer of the fabulous two part HBO documentary George Carlin's American Dream, directed by Judd Appatow and Michael Bonfiglio, Wayne Federman is here. 

True Tales From Weirdsville takes a deep dive into a famous L.A. murder that occurred right down the street from good old Falcon's lair Recording Studio, of course this was long before I got here, but our guest Lou Wagner was here. And although he's all alibi's up he's got some stories to share, so we'll give you some background to boot. 

Also, the author Ed Canfield is here to talk about his book Fact, Fictions, and the Forbidden Predictions of the Amazing Criswell. As usual, truth is stranger than fiction, and Mr. Criswell, God Bless 'em was a delightful five star nutball with a shithouse crazy wife. Hooray! 

True Tales From Weirdsville takes a look back to a time when conspiracies were harmless fun, that you could enjoy and indulge in even if you liked Jewish people. It's true! There really was such a time! Specifically, we're looking at the at the radio show that defined an era, Art Bell's Coast To Coast AM. If you don't know what I'm talking about, oh my Lord, just you wait. 

Our first guest today, is a returning champion. Burt is the co-author, along with Jeff Abraham of The Show Won't Go On, the true stories of performers and actors who have literally died on stage. Burt has a new book that he's written solo, it's autobiography of actor Lawrence Tierney. Lawrence Tierney broke the big time when he came out of obscurity to star as Dillinger in the 1945 films of the same name, and went on to a career playing tough guys and criminal psychos. Unfortunately for Mr. Tierney, it was not a big leap. Lawrence Tierney was in jail as much if not more as he was on the screen. He'd go up for drinking, fighting, fighting while drinking and drinking while fighting. Burt's new book, Lawrence Tierney, Hollywood's Real Life Tough Guy, tells the story of a truly larger then life genuine old school Hollywood nutball and I cannot recommend it highly enough. 

Also, comedian Zach Noe Towers is here, Zach was the co-host of the show Sex Before The Internet, I figured what's a lot of violence without at least a little sex. Zach is based here in LA and is incredibly funny. Zach Noe Towers. 

True Tales From Weirdsville takes a deep dive into origins and effects of the of the rumor, started in 1969, that Paul McCartney was dead. A rumor so pernicious that McCartney had to take to the covers of Time, Life and Rolling Stone to assure the world that he was not, in fact, dead. 

Then we'll rocket immediately back to being ridiculous. True Tales From Weirdsville takes a deep dive into - again - something that seemed interesting on its surface, but, when you scratch the surface, you learn of a fascinating story underneath. A story more fascinating than anyone knew. The making of Jaws 2. It's a much more interesting story than the one projected on screen. 

And we'll wrap the show with a wonderful interview with spookily talented Maurice Lamarche. Maurice is one of the preeminent voice actors in animation right now, as well as being a terrific comedian and actor in his own right. Probably most known at the voice of The Brain in Pinky And The Brain, he stands along with our own announcer, Tom Kenny, as one of the giants in animation voice acting.

Also, Devo founding member Jerry Casale is with us to talk about not only the early days and development of his legendary band Devo, the fact that Devo's main theory, de-evolution, might be coming true his new EP The Invisible Man, his entrance into the world of being a wine maker and also (drum roll) fatherhood.

True Tales From Weirdsville takes a deep dive into the mind and tumultuous life of Charles Addams and how he turned a couple silly one panel cartoons into a an American comedy franchise that is still going strong today, some eighty years after its inception.

True Tales From Weirdsville takes a deep dive into the world of the late great, brilliant but haunted Peter Sellers, specifically his barely released 1973 film Ghost In The Noonday Sun, which is the subject of the compelling making-of documentary The Ghost Of Peter Sellers.

It's Halloween and we have another king size episode (sorry Joe and Jillinda). We have three, count 'em, three big interviews. Mick is a horror film legend. He is the writer of, among many many others, Hocus Pocus, The Fly 2, he wrote and Stephen King's Riding The Bullet, directed Stephen King's Bag Of Bones, directed films in the Psycho franchise, created the Masters Of Horror TV show on and on and on. he is now the host of his own excellent podcast called Post Mortem, but he was gracious enough to appear on this, our annual Halloween Pageant, Mick Garris is here.

Additionally, in addition to being a bona fide rock star, with his band Possum Dixon, he has since become a magician and has won six, count 'em, six awards from the Academy Of Magic Arts. He runs the séance in the prestigious Houdini room at Los Angeles estimable Magic Castle, he is the author of the book Strange Cures and he has a new album that he is here to talk a out called Séance where YOU, the listener, get to participate with Rob in a genuine séance at your own home in beautiful high fidelity sound, Rob Zabrecky is here.

And THIRDLY, I daren't say lastly, LA punk rock legend and genuine witch, Pleasant Gehman is back with us to talk about her new book, Rock n Roll Witch.

True Tales From Weirdsville tells the tale of Harry Houdini, not only was he a skilled magician and clearly he world's most accomplished escape artist, he was also a famous spiritualist debunker. Not because he didn't believe, but because he wanted to believe so badly. Harry Houdini, the guy you only think you knew, only not really, kinda.

True Tales From Weirdsville has the story of MKUltra, the CIA's experiments with LSD in the 1950's. It could also be known as Operation: What Could Go Wrong?

Well, as it turns out, most, not all, but most of these shows all came from the same TV season. Star Trek, Batman, The Monkees, Lost In Space… The network television season that began in the fall of 1966 was the first all-color television season in American. It was really the dawn of modern television and, of course, all the stuff we see today was already going on back then. And there's a new book about it called PrimeTime '66 – 67 by Tom Shubilla and here's here. And THEN, one of the giants of that era of television was Irwin Allen. Allen gave us Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, Lost In Space, Land Of The Giants, The Time Tunnel and then turned around gave us The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno. A true giant of 60's TV and 70's film, and my good friend Bond, Jeff Bond has a new, massive book, It's not even a book, it's a tome, called The Fantasy Worlds Of Irwin Allen and he's here to talk about THAT.

True Tales From Weirdsville is taking a deep dive into the mind of Bob Rafelson who not only created that gem of the 1966 TV season The Monkees, but also made the Monkees movie, HEAD, which is really about what a jerk you were if you liked the Monkees. Starring The Monkees. And then he made Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces. You know, just 'cause. And episode image by the great Drew Friedman, by the way!

We also have the lovely and talented Greg Proops who is here to discuss not only his new album In The City, also available on Amazon Prime, but also his tour with Whose Line Is It Anyway and a little discussion of the state of the state of comedy which is, you know, great!

We have Two True Tales From Weirdsvilles this month. The first is a look at one of my favorite things, The Law Of Unintended Consequences. You know, let's say you pass a big law, or, say overturn a right people have had for fifty years… You think you know how it's going to pan out. All neat and tidy. But you know what? Even under the best of circumstances, there's the law of unintended consequences. Things are not going to turn out exactly the way you want. As the old saying goes, all the best laid plans of mice and men. Will take a look at classic example of The Law Of Unintended Consequences, one that I have some personal knowledge of.

And a bonus True Tales, more in keeping with the tone of the show, about the Kung Fu craze of the mid 70's. Bruce Lee, Kung Fu, Billy Jack, the whole shebang.

And TV's Frank himself, from Mystery Science Theater and The Mads, Frank Conniff is here to talk about lockdown in New York, having a Goddamn quadruple bypass and his new book, Billy Gillis, Seven Year-Old Screenwriter and our hundred year friendship.

True Tales From Weirdsville takes a deep dive into the world of Mickey Cohen. In his day, Mickey was one of the most fanous people in LA but he wasn't a movie star. He was gangster. A gangster who, at one point, as you will hear, in a court of law, mind you, brought the LAPD to its knees.

True Tales From Weirdsville does a deep dive into the time Monty Python's Terry Gilliam got into a fight with Universal Studios over his film Brazil. It got very personal and very public very quickly. And how it all got resolved… well. It oughta be a movie!

I don't know if you are a collector of Blu Rays; or subscribe to The Criterion Channel (which I highly recommend) but Criterion continues to curate an amazing library of rare and also classic films. And a movie doesn't have to be 100 years old to be a classic, as evidenced by Susan's filmography there. Criterion has also saved a lot of movies from oblivion and helped get them in fornt of new audiences. Truly the Lord's work, assuming the Lord is a movie nerd.

If you're a fan of Hanging with Dr. Z, Rusty Steel and Claudine are here! Or as they are known in real life, Paul Greenberg and his beautiful wife Jackie Harris Greenberg. They are here to talk about not only Hanging With Dr. Z but their wide-ranging careers and brushes with show biz greatness, I kid you not.

Lastly, True Tales From Weirdsville takes a deep dive into the little movie that could, but then, really, kinda didn't -- Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

No, I'm kidding. He's very happy. in fact he has a podcast that can help you if you have a problem, called This Might Help, and you'll heart all about that shortly.

Also, Katharine Coldiron is with us again. Katharine is a film critic and cinema scholar who wrote the monograph about plan 9 From Outer Space that we discussed in the Halloween episode. Today we talk about Nightmare Alley, Freaks, Vampire Circus, and all kinds of films set in creepy carnivals and the like.

I discovered an amazing new podcast recently by Adam Roche called the Secret History Of Hollywood, this has joined Karina Longworth's You Must Remember This podcast in my automobile listening. Through these two podcasts, my weird show biz knowledge has increased tenfold, and today, based on stuff I heard there and some research I did with my own self, True Tales From Weirdsville is going to discuss one of the sickest galdanged romantic triangles in history. The story of David O. Selznick, Jennifer Jones and Robert Walker. It is.. trust me. This story is nuts.

True Tales from Weirdsville has a deep dive into the career of director William Castle, who gave us movies with built-in gimmicks like Emergo! and Percepto! as well as Rosemary's Baby among other things.

This is the first episode of the 11th season of the Dana Gould Hour podcast and I want to thank you all for continuing to listen and sticking with us.

The air is brisk the trees are up and Covid's back! It must be Christmas! But here's hoping that your safe and cozy for the holidays, and we've put together a little something here to listen while you wrap the presents. It's another old school two hander episode to send you off into 2022.

Katharine Coldiron is here. Katharine is an author and a film critic who has written a book about Plan 9 from Outer Space. It's a part of a series of monographs about cult films. You'll get all the details on the interview, and I highly recommend them. The Plan 9 book is great, very illuminating, and I know a lot about Plan 9, but Katharine's book really managed to articulate stuff about the film that I had always felt but couldn't quite put into words, if that makes any sense. Katharine Coldiron talking about Plan 9 and other films that are so bad they're great.

Also, Martin Olson is here. Marty is a writer, an author and a musician. I have known him since I started in stand up way back in the day in Boston Massachusetts. Marty is here to talk about his new book, The Encyclopaedia of Hell, Vol. 2, the Conquest Of Heaven, which basically reads like the novelization of a terry Gilliam film he hasn't gotten around to making yet. Or if JRR Tolkein was a comedy writer. Or.. well,. Listen to the interview and judge for yourself.

And of course, True Tales From Weirdsville takes a deep dive into my favorite Christmas movie, John Carpenter's The Thing!

Additionally, Adam Carsten is here. Adam has a documentary out that you have to see called Live At Mr. Kelly's. If you are in any way interested in stand up comedy, or jazz, or the nightclub culture of midcentury America, this doc is a must see, covering the stories of Mr. Kelly's, the London House and all the legendary nightclubs that made Chicago the cultural nexus it was in the 50' and 60's. Stand up comedy, jazz, Playboy magazine, all that stuff flourished in that era and Live At Mr. Kelly's tells the story in a way that is a an incredible and entertaining education, but that also leaves you wanting to learn more.

First up, Jeff Abraham and Burt Kearns are here to discuss their book The Show Won't Go On, which is an excellent reference, it's an exhaustively researched reporting of the most shocking and bizarre deaths on stage by performers. Think there are one or two? There are over a hundred in here. Stuff I knew, stuff I didn't know, and stuff I didn't know about people I knew. The Show Won't Go On! An excellent show biz reference that no collection should be without and we're going to discuss it right here.

Also, Ken Daly, longtime friend of this podcast and Matt Weinhold, the host of the great Monster Party podcast, are here with their 2021 horror movie recommendations and also, just to shoot the baloney and crack each other up because they are also two of my closest friends, so enjoy that, it's a great conversation. Lots of laughs. Oh, I love humor! https://DanaGould.com

We also have Melanie Chartoff with us today. Melanie first became famous on the show Fridays, which was ABC's answer to Saturday Night Live. In addition to Melanie, Fridays gave us Larry David and Michael Richards among others. Melanie was in the famous Andy Kaufman sketch where he purposefully tanked it on live TV and got into a fight with the show's producer Jack Burns. She has had a long and storied career after that of course on Newhart and many other shows but she's here to talk about her new book, Odd Woman Out: Exposure in Essays and Stories.

We've got a hot show for you though. See how I did that? Bobcat Goldthwait is with us. Bob is one of my best friends, and we've got a movie coming out together in the fall that we made called Joy Ride that we're going to tell you a little about, as well as some other interesting stories from our past, and our present. Some stuff about Bob's friendship with Robin Williams, and his return to stand up.

We have two fantastic guests. Karie Bible came to Los Angeles by way of Texas, fell in love with LA and its history, and submerged herself in that history by way of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where she has been giving tours for lo about 20 years now. She has amazing stories of both the living and the dead, and we are super happy to have her today.

And also, our old pal Alison Martino, a famed Los Angeles historian, she of the the L.A. Conservancy, the Vintage LA Facebook group and Vintage LA on Insta.

https://DanaGould.com

We also have True Tales From Weirdsville and all sorts of delights and surprises. https://DanaGould.com

To that end, I have summoned The Smartest Man In The World, Greg Proops to the show. Greg is a terrible terribly funny man and host of the eponymous podcast, The Smartest Man In The World. And together, we will try to make some sense of, as I like to say, "the modern scene."

The other book is Night Gallery The Art Of Darkness which comes out next month, it is a large format coffee table book with beautiful full color illustrations with those famous paintings from the Night Gallery with essays about each episode. The book was curated by Scott Skelton and Jim Benson. Anne wrote the forward along with Guillermo Del Toro.

My other guest is the very talented and very funny, Grey De Lisle. Grey has been a pal of mine for too long than either one of us cares to discuss. You might not recognize her face, but you've heard her voice. In addition to being a very talented singer and comedian, Grey is one of he most successful voice over actresses in show business. She's Daphne on Scooby Doo, she's Catwoman, she's on The Simpsons. Grey's going to tell is about her storied career, nay marriages and stuff I'm too bashful to mention. All here for your listening pleasure.

And now… it's on… to our filthy business.

https://DanaGould.com

We have an excellent episode in store for you. Rob Zabrecky is here! You may know Rob from his previous role as the lead singer for Possum Dixon but he has since gone on to create Zabrecky, a magician of note and renown. 

We also have Laurent Bouzerau. Laurent has directed, among other things, the excellent Natalie Wood documentary What Remains Behind currently on Netflix, The Richard Zanuck doc "Don't Say No Until I Finish" and many others. He has just finished work archiving and curating, The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection, the brand new 4K Ultra HD combo pack which includes the UNCUT version of Psycho as well as restored prints of The Birds, Rear Window, and Vertigo.

https://DanaGould.com

But we do have a great show for you today. Formerly known as TV's Frank and Prof. Clayton Forrester, as well as the voice of Crow, now known as The Mads, Frank Conniff and Trace Beaulieu.

Thanks to Zoom, the new way we communicate, and hats off to all those people in Congress who were smart enough to invest in it just prior to the world knowing why we'd be needing it, we caught up with Frank in New York City and Trace in the wilds of the Minnesota woods.

We also have a True Tales from Weirdsville that starts with the mask debate and ends up in the movie Halloween II, so enjoy that.

All that, and so much more, for your pandemic listening. And so, with that, it's on to out filthy business.

https://DanaGould.com

Although we are not going back to the old set up of the show we do have a second interview this episode. Chris Condon has an excellent graphic novel that just got released called That Texas Blood and talked to Chris about that.

So as I say, it's a cruel summer. But on we go. Hakuna Matada, all that. As Elvis Costello sang in one of my favorite songs, Tokyo Storm Warning, "We're only living this instant."

And so it's on…. to our filthy business.

https://DanaGould.com

This was really a perfect storm. With the effects of the lockdown, the proliferation of cell phone videos pulling the veil back on systemic police brutality, then the one two three of Breonna Taylor, Aubrey Adams and George Floyd, now you have a real tinderbox and with a pyromaniac in the White House, the results are sadly predictable. And in this country, sadly unavoidable.

Now, my guest is a good friend of the show and the co-host of one of my favorite podcasts Hacks On Tap, which is a weekly political round up that he co hosts with David Axelrod. Mike is a political strategist, a Republican never Trumper and an all-around great guy. This interview was recorded before the spate of riots and social unrest so that topic is not broached, but we do cover the pandemic, and the election. What I love about Mike's analysis is that he has a baseball coach's approach to elections because he used to run campaigns. He gets right down into the nuts and bolts of what you need to do to win. Because if you don't win, you don't get to do what you want. And that's the truth, Ruth. https://DanaGould.com

Danny and I were on the phone and he was telling me a hilarious story about having to criss-cross the country just as the nation was sliding into lockdown. I stopped him about halfway through the call and said, wait I should be recording this, and I did, and here it is.

Speaking of lockdown, since we're all stuck in the house I thought we'd take a True Tales From Weirdsville look at agoraphobia, and some of its famous, and not so famous sufferers. All of that and more, available right here, so sit back, relax, and let's get on… with our filthy business. https://DanaGould.com

John Doe, Exene Cervenka, Billy Zoom and DJ Bonebrake formed X in the heyday of the late '70's LA punk scene. Their first album, Los Angeles, was released in 1980, and they quickly made an indelible mark on American music.

I love 'em and I always have. Now I had heard, being a fan and all, that they were recording some stuff, and I naturally assumed it was a one-off for a soundtrack or somesuch. But them, on the 40th anniversary of the release of Los Angeles, Bandcamp announced that the album ALPHABETLAND was available for immediate download.

The huh the whaaaaa? So I bought it, sat down to listen. And I knew it would be good. But, you know, it's their first album in 27 years. I was prepared to grade on a curve.

No need. It. Blew. My. Socks off. From the first cut to the last, it is a 27 minute punk rock fist to the solar plexus. tt starts out great, it never lets up and it ends with a flourish. Now many of you may recall that last year Mr. Doe and our mutual friend Tom De Savia were kind enough to invite me to moderate the panel for the book More Fun In The New World, which is the second installment of their two part oral history of LA Punk, the forst being Under The Big Black Sun, both available where fine books are sold. Tom was kind enough to make a call and I am very happy to say we have John Doe and DJ Bonebrake on the podcast today to talk about the album. So let's get right to it.

https://DanaGould.com

We are all fine here high atop the Mulholland Drive view shelf. We are home and doing what we are supposed to are doing (which is not much) and I hope you are doing the same.

My guest is Roger Nygard, an incredibly talented director and writer best known for the hit documentary Trekkies. He also made a brilliant film called The Nature Of Existence and his new documentary is called The Truth About Marriage. It's incredibly entertaining and genuinely informative (and I say that as someone who was married). Speaking of marriage, we have a True Tales deep dive into the very same subject, as well as a look inside one of the most f'd romantic comedies ever – The Graduate.

Now, this episode was recorded BEFORE the explosion of the coronavirus, so it doesn't hang heavy over the conversation. Hopefully that will seem more refreshing than bizarre.

Regardless, let's now get on with our filthy business….

And now, it's on to out very clean and responsible, germ-free business. https://DanaGould.com

Jay created Duff Beer, Kang & Kodos and so much more. He was also a writer on Frasier for which he won and Emmy and Jay created, with me, one of my first pilots, the late lamented World On A String, which got made, did not go to series, but did inadvertently lead to me joining The Simpsons myself.

Jay is also a second-generation comedy writer. His dad Arnie was a writer for the Tonight Show, The Carol Burnett Show and Mad Magazine. Jay grew up in that world. Tons of amazing stories,

On True tales from Weirdsville this episode we have the strange, ugly and oh so prescient story of Confidential Magazine. Anyone who's ever read a James Ellroy novel will know Confidential as off the record, on the QT and very hush hush.

For me. I'll be on tour with Bobcat Goldthwait this month. February 6th we will be in Atlanta once again, trying to show that almost killed us this time.

So please come on out. For details on these and other exciting opportunities, go to DanaGould.com/events.

We have a wonderful show to send you off into the holidays and then we'll see you again in the New Year with a couple surprises. Mehopes you like them.

Two great guests today, Pixies guitarist Joey Santiago is here. The Pixies have been one of my favorite bands since I first started seeing them when we were both starting out back in Boston. And I'm incredibly happy to have Joey on the show. They have a new album out called Beneath The Eeire. It's great. I own it. You should too.

Also, Los Angeles historian Alison Martino is here. Alison was a producer on Hollywood Mysteries and Scandals and runs the Vintage Los Angeles Facebook and Instagram accounts. She grew up in Los Angeles. Her dad was the singer Al Martino who played Johnny Fontaine in The Godfather, so she has seen it all from a first hand perspective.

I have some great shows coming up in the new year, including a staged reading of Plan 9 at Sketchfest in San Francisco. Go to https://www.DanaGould.com/events for information and ticket links.

And now! It's on…. to our filthy business!

https://DanaGould.com

Joining us are Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. They're the writers of Ed Wood, as well as Man On The Moon, The People vs. Larry Flynt, The People vs. OJ Simpson, Auto Focus and the soon-to-be streaming and currently in theaters Eddie Murphy tour de force, Dolemite Is My Name.

Dr. Herbert West himself, Re-Animator's Jeffrey Combs is with us as well. He'll be talking about Re-Animator, his time in the Star Trek universe as well as his amazing one-man show about Edgar Allen Poe.

And the host of Monster Party, Matt Weinhold is onboard. He'll be joined by writer / director and friend of the podcast Mike Mendez to discuss the year in horror movies and, as usual, so much much more.

If you live in the L.A. area, October 29th at Largo, it's our annual Halloween tradition, Plan 9 From Outer Space LIVE. Starring Dana, Bobcat Goldthwait, Janet Varney, Matt Braunger, Tom Kenney, Jonah Ray, Laraine Newman, Paul F. Tompkins, Steven Webber, G. Charles Wright, Ron Lynch, David Koechner and Jackie Harris-Greenberg with live music by the inimitable Eban Schletter. It's one night only. October 29th in Los Angeles.

For ticket links and information for this and many other live shows, please go to DanaGould.com/events.

You will also see a link to our Patreon page, https://www.patreon.com/danagould. Last month, Patreon fans got access to a complete interview with soft-skinned, almond-eyed podcast ingénue Eddie Pepitone. Just for Patreoners. This month you can enjoy Dana's Halloween Mixes!

What's that, you say?

Several years ago Dana put together three CDs of vintagey weird old Halloween music. Stuff, like Black Cat by Tommy Collins or Skeleton In The Closet by Louis Armstrong. Well, this month, our Patreon followers have access to all of those files and more! It's five bucks a month. You get a little something extra. Five bucks. Be a part of it.

But in the meantime…

The kids are at the door. Let's get at it.

I'll have Bob on soon and we'll go through this whole mess here on the show. In all honestly, it was a completely random, last minute circumstance that resulted in me not being in the passenger seat of that car and if I had, I am not 100% sure if I'd have strolled away. Best case scenario is I would have been profoundly fucked up for a long, long, time, so I'm, yeah. It was life-changing. I'm a lot more aware and grateful of stuff. Don't take shit so seriously. I'm a much safer driver. Yeah. Lots of stuff.

For the record, it was a small dog that ended up sitting in the passenger seat and it survived fine. It got dumped in the floor by the impact and is a-okay.

Today we have one of my favorite guests, he of the podcast Advice From A Dipshit, Mr. Matt Braunger is here. Matt had a new special out on Amazon prime called Finally Live In Portland. Also, if you heard the last podcast, Music For Weirdos, Christ, that seems a lifetime ago, you heard the hilarious Pleasant Gehman. Pleasant is more a force of nature than she is a human being so we brought her back for a full interview.

https://DanaGould.com

Anyway, I'm a big fan of west coast punk, specifically the bands of the late 70's early 80's west coast punk scene. And a year ago found this amazing book by John Doe, of X, one of my favorite bands, and Tom DeSavia, a music A&R exec. The book was called Under The Big Black Sun and it was an oral history of the first three or four years of the West Coast punk scene. I tore that book, them bought and listened to the audio version, just loved it. Lo and behold, John and Tom have continued the story with Under The Big Black Sun, taking us through the 80's heyday of the scene. The book is fascinating and full of stuff that I did not know. Did you know that the Go-Go's started out as a punk band, and that they were, in fact, notoriously some of the hardest partiers in the scene? It's true.

Anyway, I was performing at a club here in LA that I love called Largo and saw that John and Tom were going to be having a book event with some of the other authors from the book. Skateboard pro Tony Hawk, Charlotte Caffey of the Go-Go's, Pleasant Gehman from the Screaming Sirens, and I asked Flanagan, who runs Largo, if the event was sold out. He asked me if I'd like to moderate it. I tried my best to act cool, and I did and we recorded it and here it's here.

Now, one of the kids who grew up in the San Fernando valley in the early 80's who listened to that music and went onto form his own band was Rob Zabrecky. Rob became the front man of Possum Dixon in the mid '90s and, well, to know about his life, by all forms of rationale and logic, eh should be dead. But he ain't! And to see where he has ended up in life… He's here as well today to talk about his new book, Strange Cures.

Anyway, this is a very special episode because all of these people are talented creative people who I look up to an admire and through this podcast have become friends and that's really the best thing there is. https://DanaGould.com

The book is entitled The Lady From The Black Lagoon and was written by Mallory O'Meara. It tells the story of Millicent Patrick. Millicent worked in the Universal Studios makeup department in the early 1950s. One of the things that Millicent was responsible for was the design of none other than the Creature From The Black Lagoon.

We also have Hollywood makeup legend Thom Burman and William Conlin who are here to talk about their new documentary Making Apes. The movie tells the story of how makeup artist John Chambers, and his apprentice (Thom Burman) revolutionized special effects makeup, and did it in only a couple of months. It's also the story of John Chambers, who, if you saw the film Argo, was the man played by John Goodman. Oh yeah, I forgot, the whole time he did this, he was also secretly working for the CIA.

https://DanaGould.com

DanaGould.com

John and Bjo Trimble. For those of you who don't know John & Bjo, I'm very excited you get to hear their story for the first time. In the late 1960s, they were fans of a little TV show called Star Trek, and when it was announced, during Star Trek's second season, that the show would not be returning for a third, they sprang into action. John and Bjo knew that TV shows don't go into syndication unless they have three seasons - that gives you enough episodes strip the show. In other words, you need enough episodes to run five nights a without repeating episodes too quickly. You needed volume. And two seasons was not enough.

In those pre-internet days, John and Bjo started the letter writing campaign that saved Star Trek. Thanks to John and Bjo Trimble, Star Trek had three seasons, which allowed it to be syndicated, which allowed it to catch on, find its audience and become the juggernaut that it is today.

We also have Paul Myers. Paul Myers is a smart funny, exuberant writer, and good friend of mine. His new book is called The Kids In The Hall: One Dumb Guy, and tells the story of his discovery of The Kids In The Hall, how they rose to fame in Canada, made the move to the United States and became, quite literally, the comedic voice of their generation. I strongly believe that. Paul also wrote an amazing book about Todd Rundgren called A Wizard A True Star, Todd Rungren In The Studio. Paul, John and B Joe, if I may paraphrase the Isley brothers, has his thing and he does what he wants to do.

https://DanaGould.com

So that word gets bandied about a couple times, so enjoy! But all these guys are hilarious, their segments here are hilarious and their podcast is certainly hilarious. Also, comedian, writer and host of the podcast Cool Playlist Eliza Skinner is here.

Me? I'm around. And I'm fine. A lot of people reached out after the last episode pursuant to my conversation with Mike Carano with a "Hey, you okay?" and the answer is, "Yes. I am. Very, in fact." But thanks so much for your concern. I'm great, as I've said, having one of these brains is a double edged sword because they same brain that makes the good stuff makes the bad so you have to be careful, but it IS the price of admission. https://DanaGould.com

http://DanaGould.com

We have two awesome interviews this month. One of them, I'm not going to lie, is a holdover from last month. I recorded it for Halloween, but realized that, even for this podcast, a nearly four hour episode was probably pushing it. So, we have, for your post-Halloween, post Thanksgiving, pre-Christmas holiday enjoyment -- Mike Mendez! The director of Big Ass Spider, The Convent and Don't Kill It, as well as being a writer on Season three of Stan Against Evil. And with Mike we have Axelle Carolyn, a film director, a writer on Sabrina and author of the new book, The Girls' Guide To Ghost Movies.

We also have a very special guest. Tom Wright, who not only is a legendary TV director having shot episodes of the X-Files and Supernatural, he got into directing through story board and graphic design, having worked for Alfred Hitchcock among others, and is the man, the one man, who painted all those paintings that you see on The Night Gallery. And he is here today.

http://DanaGould.com

http://DanaGould.com

Watch your many social media platforms for specifics of live my live performances. On October 5th, I will be in Massachusetts performing at the Norwood Theater in Norwood. One night only. Tickets available on the performing live page of DanaGould.com. And then (drumroll) October 11th, only in Los Angeles and only at Largo, a live stage reading of Plan 9 From Outer Space!

It's now a tradition with myself, Bobcat Goldthwait, David Koechner, Janet Varney, Laraine Newman, Kevin MacDonald, Matt Braunger Rob Zabrecky, Ron Lynch, Nate Mooney, Debra Baker Junior, Ken. Daly, G Charles Wright, The Poubelle Twins and live music by Eban Schletter. I really hope you can come down and be a part of the show. It's one of my favorite things I do all year.

Starting in November, I will be embarking on the Beautiful Showbiz tour. I will be in Atlanta Minneapolis, Philadelphia Madison, Wisconsin. I'll be winding up on December 13th and 14th at the punchline in San Francisco as always details and ticket links for these shows can be found on the performing live page at DanaGould.com.

There's more to talk about -- my book Planet of the Apes Visionaries as out and our little podcast now has a delightful Patreon feature. Why not join? Become an official Dana Gould Hour Sky Cadet!

But we have an amazing show this month! From Turner Classic Movies, Ben Mankiewicz is here. Ben is smart, funny, knows everyone in show business, comes from a family of Hollywood royalty and DC political insiders. Talk about connected. What's he doing here, you might ask? Well, he thought he was doing WTF. No, I'm just kidding. Ben's a friend. Also, speaking of friends, from he Simpsons, the author of the new behind the scenes book about The Simpsons, Springfield Confidential, Mr. Mike Reiss is here.

http://DanaGould.com

However, I didn't have time to do my laundry properly, much less get a podcast going, but I didn't want the month to go by with nothing to show for it. So, we're going to take some of my favorite middle pieces (those sort of journalistic chunks that I put in the middle of the podcast) most especially ones from our early early days, which we haven't re-run. And I wrote a new one that will lead off the show and we'll do sort of a best of story time episode.

But in the meantime, enough of my talking. It's time for more of my talking.

http://DanaGould.com

Well, we got it done and it's a still a great one. Two great guests.

Shaun Cassidy was an undisputed teen idol in the 1970's with a hit TV show – The Hardy Boys - and hit albums, his debut album entitled, oddly enough, "Shaun Cassidy" went multi-platinum and netted him a number one single. He then switched gears in his career and became a writer, creating one of my favorite TV shows, American Gothic, and many, many more. Shaun Cassidy is here today with April Richardson.

Eddie Pepitone was also a teen idol, scoring huge hits in the early 70's with his band Eddie and the Peptones. He later starred in Columbo: The Next Generation and I am just about at the end of this gag. But needless to say, Eddie Pepitone is here today.

As for me, I am, as I said, in working away on the show which accounts for why this show is a week late, Next month we're going to have a special episode with some of my favorite middle pieces, and some other surprises, and then we'll be back in action.

http://DanaGould.com

As for me? I'm back on tour later this summer after we wrap filming season three of Stan Against Evil, which is, as we speak, in the high dudgeon of pre-production. By the way I have just learned we have our own recap podcast, Pod Against Evil. Give it a listen, won't you? http://DanaGould.com

http://www.DanaGould.com

Joe Frank sadly passed away in January of this year. He was 79. But he leaves a legacy of an amazing body of work and I cannot recommend it strongly enough. And it is all available to you, at JoeFrank.com.

During this show, I'm going to be talking to our own Eddie Pepitone, another big fan of Joe's work, and Dave Carlson, who wrote and directed the documentary Joe Frank: Somewhere Out There and you can learn everything about that at JoeFrankMovie.com.

Now, I'm not getting a dime off of any of this. I'm a fan and if you enjoy what I do, I think you'd really dig, so I'm trying to hep you cool cats to some wow new sounds.

There will be no middle piece this show, no Two Guys From Boston, though both will be back next month, in between the interviews, I will be interspersing some of my favorite monologues from Joe, it's about, .000000001 % of his work, but hopefully it will whet your appetite enough to go to JoeFrank.com and JoeFrankMovie.com to take a bigger bite.

I want to personally extend my thanks to Michal Story and Logan of my favorite and at the end of the episode, we're going to play half hour piece that I wrote that Joe produced and aired in his show In The Dark in 1993. I want to thank Farley Zeigler, Michal Story Dave Carlson and Logan at Joe Frank.com for their permission in using these pieces and for making them available.

http://DanaGould.com

We also have the hosts Jack O'Brien and Miles Grey of The Daily Zeitgeist Podcast, along with their producer, and co-host of the excellent podcast Ethnically Ambiguous, Anna Hossnieh is with us.

Me? Well, I'm busier than a one-armed traffic cop with a skin rash. Stan Against Evil is coming back for e third season on IFC, and I'm busy right now working on the scripts and stories for that, couple other very exciting projects in the works that I'm not at liberty to discuss at the moment but that I assure you are super groovy.

If you are in the Washington DC area, I'll be in Arlington Virginia at the Arlington Drafthouse on Friday and Saturday, February 2nd and 3rd.

On Feb 22, 23 and 24th I'll be in Denver Colorado at The Comedy Works, and on March 1, 2 & 3rd I'll be right here in Southern California at the good ol' Irvine Improv. Big invite to all my OC peeps to come on down to the Irvine Improv.

For ticket links and all other info, just tawdle on down to the live events page at http://www.danagould.com/events

You'll be glad you did!

DanaGould.com

We have two incredible interviews and a heapin' helpin' of audio extras for your listening pleasure. First of all, it IS December, and that calls for a year-end recap. Last year, I'm sure you recall how, prior to election day, we all thought we knew how the year was going to turn out. Well it didn't quite work out that way, did it? So joining me at the mic today is none other than Mike Murphy. I'm a Democrat, he's a Republican but outside of that, we walk alike, we talk alike, we even wear our socks alike. Mike has no love for the President, and neither do I, but he has some excellent insight into how the other side approaches this most unique period on out history.

Joining Mike and myself is Pete Aronson. Pete has held many an executive position in show bidness, as well as being a very talented writer and all around funny guy in his own right. If you are a fan of Stan Against Evil, you have Pete to thank for it. But more than all of that, he's a smart cookie and I'm eager to get this rolling.

We also have Danny Bland with us. Compared to Mike and Pete, Danny is a disreputable hobo. Hobo, I say! And that's why we're friends. Danny is, among other things, the road manager for The Blasters, and, yeah, I'd say he has some stories. He's also the author of the excellent novel In Case We Die which details his oh so fun recovery from heroin and the people he met along the way, Danny, well, you'll hear it. I'd like to have Danny on every month. He is the real deal.

For details, tickets and links to all of my live show malarkey, please visit the live appearance page at DanaGould.com.

I will be back at one of my favorite clubs in the country The Laughing Skull in Atlanta on Jan 4th, 5th and 6th, and then I'll be back up to San Francisco on Jan 18th, 19th and 20th for good ol' Sketchfest.

On Jan 19th at the Marines Memorial Theater, the folks who brought you last year's live staged reading of Plan 9 From Outer Space are reconvening for a live stage reading of The John Travolta classic, The Boy In The Plastic Bubble. It stars not only Stan Against Evil actors like me, Janet Varney, Deborah Baker Jr and Nate Mooney, but also Scott Adsit from 30 Rock, Maria Bamford from Lady Dynamite, and Steven Ogg from The Walking Dead, as well as Bob's Burgers' Ron Lynch. The Boy In The Plastic Bubble. See it. We want to put our germs on you.

Lastly, if you are in the DC area, I will be at the Arlington Drafthouse in in Arlington, Virginia on Feb 2nd and 3rd.

http://DanaGould.com

Also, I was recently in the lovely city of Chicago, Illinois where I was able to speak with the one and only Rich Koz himself, otherwise known as Svengoolie. He of ME-TVs SciFi Saturday night. An American institution and, as America's leading horror movie host, a man I am somewhat if not very jealous of.

http://DanaGould.com

Speaking of me, which is a great title for a book, you may want to come see me perform my live comedy all professional joke telling show.

December 14, 15 & 16, I'll be in San Francisky Ca. at the Punchline. My good buddy Emma Arnold will be joining me at those shows. They're sure to sell out, so get your tickets early. And then show up, and get them oily.

Jan 4, 5 & 6 I'll be in my home away from home Atlanta, GA. At the Laughing Skull. One of my favorite clubs in one of my favorite cities, how can you go wrong?

Feb. 2 7 3rd I'll be in Arlington, VA. At the Alamo Drafthouse and Cinema, so all my DC friend are encouraged to hie on out, and Feb 22 – 24 finds me in Denver, CO. at The Comedy Works.

For details on all of this and more, toddle on over to Dana Gould.com and click on the See Me Live page. Or Calendar or whatever it's called. You'll see it. DanaGould.com

And nowwwwwwwwwwww let's do, our filthy business.

Enjoy.

October 29th is a sweet ass day if you live in Los Angeles. It's Plan 9 From Outer Space LIVE at Largo on La Cienega. Joining me will be Janet Varney, Paul F. Tompkins, Laraine Newman, Brian Posehn, Jonah Ray, Matt Braunger, Ron Lynch, Deborah Baker, Jr., Nate Mooney, G. Charles Wright with live musical accompaniment by Eban Schletter and stage design by Pam Severns. Go to http://LARGO-LA.com for tickets.

November 1st, season two of Stan Against Evil premieres on IFC. You had to have been living under a rock if your even a casual fan of this podcast and haven't heard me blather on and on about that. Season one is on Hulu now if you'd like to catch up.

Dana Gould's live events are on his events page. November 2nd through 4th, 2017, I'll be at Zanies in Chicago. And I promise, it will be very zany. I swear, it will be zany. November 16th through 18th, it's back to my hometown of Boston Massachusetts to Laugh Boston, where I'll be performing with former podcast guests, personal friends, and estimable comedians in their own right, Valerie Tosi and Ken Reid.

Don't live in Chicago or Boston? You can buy my album, Mr. Funny Man, on Kill Rock Stars Records, available on iTunes and Amazon.

October 5th I'll be joining John C McGinley, and Janet Varney at the Javitts Center in New York for the Stan Against Evil Panel at New York Comic Con.

October 6th it's PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE LIVE at the Littlefield Theater in New York, with myself, Gilbert Gottfried, Janet Varney, John Hodgman Michale Ian Black, Jean Grea, Scott Adsit, Adam Savage, Ron Lynch and Mark Gagliardi, and Ennis Esmer

October 6th will also see the release of my new album, if that's what they're called, Mr. Funny Man. On Kill Rock Stars records, cassettes and 8 track tapes.

October 12, 13 and 14 I will be back in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the ACME Comedy Club.

After we recorded the interview, I thought, you know, I should write the middle piece about Jerry Lewis. He's a pretty interesting dude. And then, I went to bed, and woke up in the morning and learned that Jerry Lewis had died.

Oy. Hope it wasn't me. In any event, although I have never met Jerry, I did see him in what must have been one of his last public appearances here in LA. But, I know people who know Jerry, so I made a couple phone calls and got them over here. So with apologies to Valerie Tosi, who will be appearing next month, my guests today are...

The brilliant and hilarious Mike Carano. If you are a fan of comedy, you may not know him, but every comedian you know knows him. Also, director Steve Kessler, who directed Vegas Vacation, The Independent and Paul Williams Still Alive. And writer director Rob Cohen. I squatted in Rob's office at The Ben Stiller Show in 1992 and we've been friends ever since. Rob has directed SPEECHLESS, MARON, and half of season 2 of STAN AGAINST EVIL. Also, actor, writer artist and Jerry Lewis expert, Ken Daly is here.

As far as I'm concerned, come see me. Live appearance info is at http://DanaGould.com/events

He played Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day, he was the other amnesiac in Memento, he was Commissioner Jarry on Deadwood, the list goes on and on and on and on. He has a much beloved show on public radio, which is also a podcast, called the Tobolowsky Files and now he has new book entitled My Adventures With God.

It's not so much a religious book, thank God, but it is the story of his ups and down in life, catastrophes, successes, and his struggle to obtain some sort of connection with a power greater than himself. As he writes so eloquently, "It's hard to believe in nothing. Even cats believe in suppertime. As much as we love certainty, we are often shaped by the invisible, the unexplainable--something we call faith. We are inclined to acknowledge the holy. Even if it is only a paper heart we find in an old suitcase."

Stephen is the best storyteller I know, and that's saying a lot and I'm honored he's here.

Joining Stephen is author Maggie Rowe. Maggie has been a good friend of mine for a long, long time. If you had asked me "Of all your friends, who would you say was the most, you now, 'normal'? Maggie would have been high on the list. And then, one day, while a-shootin' at some food, she casually mentioned that she had spent time in a psychiatric hospital and I went, "Oh realllllllly?" Her story is utterly fascinating and is the subject of her new book Sin Bravely.

Maggie grew up in a moderately religious household but at a very young age, became obsessed with the fear that she was going to Hell. She struggled with this throughout her adolescence. Have you ever had a beautiful young girl walk up to you in a shopping mall and tell you you were going to Hell? If so, it might have been Maggie.

Eventually, realizing she was heading down a road where she might end up, shall we say, something-something for Cocoa Puffs, Maggie checked herself into a Christian psychiatric hospital. I know, to many of you that might sound like a contradiction in terns, but you have to hear the story. It includes a former biker and meth-head struggling with anger management issues, a set of identical twins tormented by erotic fantasies. I'm honored to have both Maggie and Stephen on this episode.

http://DanaGould.com

http://DanaGould.com

http://DanaGould.com

Me? I will be in Philadelphia, Pa at Helium on March 3, 4 & 5th 2016 and at The Wheeler Opera House in Aspen on March 11th 2016. Then I will return to one of my favorite places in the whole wide country, Portland, Oregon to play the Helium THERE on March 24th, 25th and 26th 2016.

So, lots of places to see me do my clown act. Details and ticket links on the Live Shows page, hey, while you’re there, why not become a supporter of the podcast? You can become a member if you like and we appreciate it, or just use DanaGould.com to click on our Amazon banner and shop away.

But for now, sit back, relax, and enjoy!

But for now, sit back, relax, and enjoy!

http://www.danagould.com

Thank you all for your patience in between broadcasts. This show is worth the wait. It's composed of two separate shows.

The first a live performance at the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland during the Bridgetown Comedy Festival. That show features Arden Myrin, Steve Agee and Baron Vaughn.

The second show was recorded at Falcon's Lair recording studios high atop Mulholland Drive in sunny and parched Southern California and features Nicole Powers co-host of Suicide Girls' Radio, April Richardson of stage and screen and finally, Alison Rosen herself of the Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend podcast.

With Ken Daly, John Ennis, Eddie Pepitone, Matt & Carrie Weinhold, Music by Andy Paley