I’m back with a brand-new podcast, people! For those of you who voiced concern over the utterly vicious, Uruk-Hai army of a head cold I had last week—and to those three of you, thank you—know that I am back. I am alive. I am ready to, once again, answer your questions about what’s really going on in show business.
As promised, this week I dig deeper into the Hollywood Black List, the annual survey of the most popular scripts that, for whatever reason, have yet to make it to the big screen. As Black List founder Franklin Leonard tells me this week, if you’ve been to the movies recently, chances are, you’ve seen a Black List script. Why do so many future Oscar-winning films end up on the Black List? Wouldn’t a project with Oscar potential shoot straight to the top of the production schedule? You’d be surprised. Listen to learn more.
Also!
- Game of Thrones obsessives Sean Serino and Nerd Out co-host Lisa B. Jenkins critique the recent season finale, including the producers' decision to leave out that really big plot point from the books.
- Inside dish on how children are cast for massive touring musicals. (Hint: They’re children. They're all the same.)
- Plus! The real reason why someone like Kendall Jenner gets to walk the red carpet at Cannes and you don’t.
Have a listen! I’ll be over here. Hacking up a lung. No, no. Go. Go on without me. Save yourselves.
If you've ever wondered why so many pop stars like to compare themselves to slaves–I'm looking at you, Prince–this is the episode for you. Yes, famous musicians are insanely rich, so rich that they can wear mountie hats made by Vivienne Westwood and not lose any of their friends.
But that doesn't mean that record labels are beneficent overlords. They're pretty cut-throat when it comes to money, actually. Spurred on by listener James L. and assisted by music industry vet Lisa Jenkins (co-host of The Nerd Out), I dig deep into the cesspool of the music industry to explain precisely how cut-throat we're talkin'.
Also this week: Another listener wrote in to ask what this here Hollywood Black List is all about. So I answer that question too.
But maybe you're not into the music industry. Maybe you don't care about record labels. Or black lists. Maybe you don't even care about Prince, which would make you a hater of America and all things funky, by the way.
Maybe–maybe–all you care about are dudes in gold sequined pants. If that's the case, you have something in common with a certain Saturday Night Live alumna who happened to hang out on a stage with my co-host earlier this month. My co-host was wearing gold sequined pants at the time, see, the very garment you see in this photo. And then....
Oh, just listen, already. It's pure–well, gold.
This week I promised you a podcast jam-packed with answers to your burning Hollywood questions, and here it is. Red carpet reporter and reality TV obsessive Lawrence Yee joins me for this episode, in which…
- A listener named Kaitlin wonders what goes on behind the scenes whenever a star appears on a talk show. (Hint: Absolutely nothing that hasn’t be pre-approved by at least 6 people.) And by the way: The typical talk show guest makes more in a day than many people make in a week. God bless America!
- Fame Fatale fan Julia expresses grave worry over poor, bony Matt Bomer in The Normal Heart. And I do nothing to curtail that worry. In fact, I disclose that some actors undergo 300-calorie-a-day diets to get that thin. And, yes, says JJ Virgin, nutritionist and author of The Virgin Diet, that’s hella dangerous.
- Yet another listener asks for advice on resurrecting a TV show that should probably stay dead. Is there anything she can do?
It’s all ready for you.
