Fake Presidents

This Halloween, let's take a spookily ironic look at every president ever portrayed in any episode of any version of THE TWILIGHT ZONE! (It's not that many)

Believe it or not, it wasn't until Jordan Peele's 2019 reboot of The Twilight Zone that we got the series' first truly fake president. In "The Wunderkind," John Cho stars as a hotshot campaign manager, Jacob Tremblay as the 11-year-old candidate for American president Cho takes under his wing, John Larroquette as "a" fake POTUS (but not "the" fake POTUS of the episode), Allison Tolman as the episode's sole voice of reason, and Jordan Peele as the narrator.

We'll also be taking a look at some real American presidents portrayed fictiously in "classic" episodes of The Twilight Zone from the 60s and 80s, like an undead JFK and a very dead Lincoln.

Find us on Threads and Instagram at Fake_President. Or email us at fakepresidents [at] gmail.com to join the conversation!

00:00 - Intro

02:22 - "The Passersby" (1961)

06:12 - "Profile In Silver" (1986)

10:41 - "The Wunderkind" (2019)

48:55 - Closing

49:58 - Post-Credits Bit

Did you know there's a fake president in Jason Statham's pulpy, hit actioner THE BEEKEEPER? We didn't! Not until a listener gave us the heads up.  British thespian Jemma Redgrave plays the American president. Josh Hutcherson is her not-quite-failson. Jeremy Irons is back in Alfred-mode. And Minnie Driver inexplicably gets a couple scenes for no real apparent reason. We know what this movie says about scamming the elderly (it's bad!)... but what does it say about American politics in the year 2024?

Find us on Instagram and Threads at Fake_Presidents or email us at fakepresidents [at] gmail.com to join the conversation... or just to give us a heads up about other fake potuses secretly lurking in unexpected movies!

It's the last cinematic voyage of the original Enterprise crew, but the first (and only) for the new Federation President, played by The 70s Show's Kurtwood Smith.  Kurtwood joins William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, as well as Star Trek newcomers Kim Cattrall, Christopher Plummer, David Warner, and... Christian Slater?

What kind photos did Kim Cattrall get in trouble for taking on the set after hours? How much Shakespheare in space is too much? If the Klingons in this cold war-inspired story are supposed to be Russians, and the Federation supposed to be Americans, does that mean Kurtwood Smith's alien president is supposed to be... Ronald Reagan?  Let's find out!

Find us on Threads and Instagram at Fake_Presidents or email us at fakepresidents [at] gmail.com, to join the conversation!

From a Ken Doll in fatigues to "action figures" with kung fu grip to an afterschool cartoon and finally to... a live action theatrical release! It's 2009's G.I. JOE: RISE OF CORBA. The fictional President is nameless, but is he also faceless? (Well...technically, yes, in a way, but we'll get to that...)

THE MUMMY'S Stephen Sommers directs a cast of literally thousands (of names).  Every character (except for The President) has at least two names, some have three.  It's needlessly complicated. But is the nefarious plan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's The Doctor aka Cobra Commander aka Rexford "Rex" Lewis also needlessly complicated? (Yes, yes it is. Very much so.) 

Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, Rachel Nichols, Sienna Miller, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dennis Quaid, Lee Byung-hun, Arnold Vosloo, Ray Park, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and an uncredited Brendan Fraser star alongside Sir Jonathan Pryce as the faux potus. 

Find us on most social media sites at "Fake_Presidents." Or email us at fakepresidents [at] gmail.com if you want to be in the next mail bag. (And you do!)

00:00 Intro 2:32 - Background 10:47 - The Channing Tatum Game 16:45 - The Plot 33:18 - What is the movie trying to tell us? 40:35 - What do we know about this POTUS? 43:36 - Approval Ratings 49:54 - Closing 51:39 - Post-Credits Bit

It's a house divided in this episode as our hosts have very differing takes on just how successfully this new film from writer/director Alex Garland (ANNILHILATION, EX MACHINA) infuses its narrative with grounded politics... and whether it needs to at all?

Nick Offerman gets an upgrade from municpal parks and rec employee to POTUS.  Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, and Stephen McKinley Henderson are journalists caught in various crossfires. And Jesse Plemons gets to recreate the moment he and Kirsten Dunst first fell in love in real life.

Join us on Threads and Instagram at Fake_Presidents or email us at fakpresidents [at] gmail.com to join the convo! 

In the spring of 2022, a new play opened on Broadway called "POTUS," with the lengthy subtitle: "OR, BEHIND EVERY GREAT DUMBASS ARE SEVEN WOMEN TRYING TO KEEP HIM ALIVE." 

From the director of "THE PRODUCERS" (the Broadway musical), this comedy starred Vanessa Williams, Julianne Hough, Rachel Dratch, Suzy Nakamura, Lilli Cooper, Lea DeLaria, and Julie White.

Neither of us were able to catch it. 

But this past winter, the show came to Los Angeles...

And one of us was there!

Now you can be there too. Via us!

Or, rather, via Ben.

Find us on Instagram and Threads at Fake_Presidents to join the conversation...

00:00 - Intro 01:06 - Some MANHUNT and Garfield assassination talk 04:38 - Background on POTUS, the play 10:33 - Portrait Corner! 16:49 - The Plot 26:20 - Party and Politics 32:58 - Legacy and Approval Ratings 34:48 - Closing 36:07 - Post-Credits Bit

Eric couldn't sleep and happened upon a late night rerun of a classic TV show from the 80s that suprisingly had a fake president. Which got us wondering... what other TV classics have one-off, nearly disposable fake presidents?!

Oh, and we talk about Gareth Edwards' THE CREATOR. Well, we talk about whether or not we should talk about it.

00:00 - INTRO 03:01 - THE CREATOR 07:48 - HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN 23:06 - SEAQUEST DSV 41:02 - LOST IN SPACE 49:19 - SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH 57:28 - CLOSING 58:56 - Post-Credits Bit

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We finally get to do something we don't usually get to do...speculate about the future! Ben and Eric take a look at two new trailers with heaps of potential for (prestige) fake POTUSes to see what 2024 may have in store for fictional politics. 

Nick Offerman is a fake president while America is torn asunder in Alex Garland's CIVIL WAR? Kate Winslet is the head-of-state of a fascistic European nation in HBO's THE REGIME? SAY NO MORE. (Actually, do say more, because these trailers are scant on details...)

Oh, and we also follow-up on a couple projects with some interesting new developments.  Which presidential loser gets to finally be POTUS in FOR ALL MANKIND season 4? (hint: they got the popular vote!) And which "incendiary" holiday movie we covered is now getting a sequel!?! (Seriously, of all the movies we've covered, it's truly the LAST one we'd ever thought would get a sequel.)

Find us on Threads or Instagram to join the convo. 

A "Hallmark-style" holiday rom-com featuring a fake president? Of course we had to watch it! (So you don't have to!)

CHRISTMAS AT THE HOLLY HOTEL is a fictional movie about a real hotel that once played a role in George H.W. Bush's ill-fated reelection campaign. It stars no one you'll recognize, directed by no one you've heard of, but it's made lovingly by people who seem to care very much about getting every detail of this hotel right. 

But what about the details of the phony potus?  Did they get those right?

Let's find out...

Find us on Threads or Instagram or email us at fakepresidents [at] gmail.com to join the convo!

Uma Thurman is the faux potus in Amazon's romantic comedy RED, WHITE, AND ROYAL BLUE. Taylor Zakhar Perez is the young, handsome First Son whose public feud with a young, handsome British Prince (played by Nicholas Galitzine) threatens his mom's reelection campaign.  But things get even messier when the hate gives way to VERY different feelings for each other...

Can a congresswoman from Texas win the presidency if she can't even win a statewide election in own state?  Can a college-aged first kid throw a rager on the White House lawn? Do political rom-coms even need a grand gesture?  This is a movie where the romance might be the queer, but the politics are oddly straight.

Find us on Threads and Instagram at Fake_Presidents. Or email us at fakepresidents [at] gmail.com to join the convo!