Some child actors seem like they’re just born to be stars (we’ve all watched that one kid’s audition video for E.T., and if you haven’t, put that in the queue for the weekend). But way back before we got movies like The Goonies, producer Hal Roach had already revolutionized cinema’s approach to incorporating kids in the motion pictures. Instead of just having them be set dressing, or using them as plot devices, why not just make movies in which kids … act like kids?

Ray teaches Rob about the Our Gang films and the child stars who made them so iconic; the archetypes that the film series relied upon to create unforgettable characters; how Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer actually terrorized many of his castmates; the lives, and passings, of other notable “Little Rascals” after they left the film series; why getting dinner with Robert Blake might have been hazardous to your health; and whether or not the Our Gang curse is backed up by the evidence.

If you like what we’re doing, please support us on Patreon, or you can subscribe to our bonus content on Apple Podcasts. And we’d love to find even more listeners, so if you have time, please leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you have any other thoughts or feedback you’d like to share with us, we’d love to hear from you - feel free to email us or send us a message on social media. 

Thank you as always for your support, and if you have any thoughts or feedback you’d like to share with us, we’d love to hear from you - feel free to send us a message on social media! And we’d love to find even more listeners, so if you have a second, please leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts.

TEAM

Ray Hebel

Robert W. Schneider

Mark Schroeder

Billy Recce

Daniel Schwartzberg

Gabe Crawford

Natalie DeSavia

ARTICLESEPISODE CLIPS

Our Gang: Inside the Clubhouse (1984) (Part 1 of 10)

Our Gang: Inside the Clubhouse (1984) (Part 5 of 10)

Our Gang: Inside the Clubhouse (1984) (Part 2 of 10)

Our Gang: Inside the Clubhouse (1984) (Part 7 of 10)

Our Gang: Inside the Clubhouse (1984) (Part 3 of 10)

Our Gang: Inside the Clubhouse (1984) (Part 4 of 10)

To Tell the Truth - Freckles From “Our Gang”; Bronx Zoo Nursery Director (Nov 26, 1957)

Buckwheat Hoax

ADDITIONAL MUSIC & SOUND EFFECTS

“Happy Bee,” “Frog Legs Rag,” Trouble,“ ”Mister Exposition"

• Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

• Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Additional Sound Effects from Final Cut Pro, iLife, and Logic Pro