SMALL TALK & BIG KITCHENS, our mini-series on the romcoms of Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers, continues with the story of two women ready to be the protagonists of their own Christmas romance. 

The reaction to Something’s Gotta Give was largely positive, but Nancy felt every compliment came with an asterisk: if this chick flick hadn’t been about people over 55, it never would have been as interesting. So with her follow-up film, Meyers wanted to make a romcom that gave women permission to embrace the simple pleasures of the genre no matter how dopey and tropey they might be.

Join Nick and Scott as they swoon over the impeccable vibes of a Nancy Meyers’ transatlantic Christmas classic, 2006’s THE HOLIDAY.

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

SMALL TALK & BIG KITCHENS, our mini-series on the romcoms of Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers, continues with the convoluted cinematic sitcom adaptation about a sitcom reboot.

After being involved with three flops in a row (2 movies and a play), Nora needed an easy win. So when Columbia Pictures head honcho Amy Pascal called asking for Nora’s help with an adaptation of Bewitched that already had Nicole Kidman attached to star, Nora was positive she had the perfect take on the material that would be a guaranteed blockbuster hit.

She was wrong.

Join Nick and Scott as they stare directly into the existential open maw of metatextual cosmic horror that is 2005’s BEWITCHED while wishing for a movie that actually knows how to properly use Will Ferrell in a romantic context.

Become a Premier Tier PATREON supporter to hear our “Franchise Potential” companion podcast, plus bonus podcasts each week including Dueling Genre Tonight hosted by Nick!

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

It’s a Listener Pick Tournament Bonus-ode!

With March less than two weeks away, Nick & Scott are joined by Patreon Producer Mark Ybarra to reveal the 32 franchises that were chosen for this year’s Listener Pick Tournament and discuss their potential as future Franchisography mini-series.

Daily match-ups begin March 1st!

Vote in our March Madness Listener Pick Tournament by Joining the Dueling Genre Discord Server: https://discord.gg/rngwTkz8yw

Get a second vote in every daily match-up by supporting us on PATREON!

Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

SMALL TALK & BIG KITCHENS, our mini-series on the romcoms of Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers, continues with the movie that defied Hollywood’s accepted ageism by focusing on romantic leads over the age of 55.

Fresh off of the massive success of What Women Want, Nancy circled back on a concept she had been thinking about for over a decade. a romcom about find love after a certain age. After pitching the movie to Sony Pictures with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson in the lead roles, the film was greenlit and became another massive success, proving that a 57 and 65 year old could still headline romance.

Actor, writer, and podcaster Lauren Milberger joins Nick & Scott to gush about 2003’s SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE, which has so much to say about love, loneliness, and relationships while also being a stealth coming-of-age film.

Become a Premier Tier PATREON supporter to hear our “Franchise Potential” companion podcast, plus bonus podcasts each week including Dueling Genre Tonight hosted by Nick!

Join the Dueling Genre Discord Server: https://discord.gg/rngwTkz8yw

Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

SMALL TALK & BIG KITCHENS, our mini-series on the romcoms of Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers, continues with the movie that became the then-most successful film ever directed by a woman.

After her divorce from Charles, Meyers was eager to make her next film independently of her ex-husband. When the opportunity came along to rewrite a script about a man who gains the power to hear everything women are thinking, Nancy wrote two drafts before agreeing to direct. Starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt, WHAT WOMEN WANT was a box office juggernaut, grossing nearly $400mil when it was release in 2000’s holiday season, cementing Nancy Meyers as one of the biggest directors in Hollywood.

Join Nick & Scott as they mourn the loss of the specific kind of movie star that could make a movie like this work, while still raising an eyebrow at certain story choices (especially that abrupt ending!)

Become a Premier Tier PATREON supporter to hear our “Franchise Potential” companion podcast, plus bonus podcasts each week including Dueling Genre Tonight hosted by Nick!

Join the Dueling Genre Discord Server: https://discord.gg/rngwTkz8yw

Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

SMALL TALK & BIG KITCHENS, our mini-series on the romcoms of Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers, continues with the movie that brought the romantic comedy into the age of the internet.

With the creative freedom rewarded to her by the studios after the success of Sleep in Seattle, Nora made two films: the critical and commercial holiday flop Mixed Nuts, and the moderately successful critical flop Michael; but Nora wanted another hit. So, when producer Laura Shuler-Donner offered Ephron the chance to write and direct a remake of 1940’s The Shop Around the Corner, Nora jumped at the opportunity and knew the romantic comedy was the perfect vehicle to reteam with her Sleepless co-stars Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

But 1998’s YOU’VE GOT MAIL wouldn’t just be a remake of Shop that replaced anonymous letters with anonymous emails, it would be about David and Goliath, how business can be personal, and a love letter to the Upper West Side.

Join Nick & Scott as they discuss their deep-seeded nostalgia for “clutter-core” and the New York City of the late 90s. Plus, is this movie the Rosetta Stone to Scott’s brain?

Become a Premier Tier PATREON supporter to hear our “Franchise Potential” companion podcast, plus bonus podcasts each week including Dueling Genre Tonight hosted by Nick!

Join the Dueling Genre Discord Server: https://discord.gg/rngwTkz8yw

Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

February is almost here and March is right around the corner…

…which means it’s almost time for this year’s Listener Pick Tournament!

Join Nick and Scott as they discuss this year’s Tournament rules and regulations! What’s off limits? What’s back IN limits?

Find out all of the details and get your picks ready as nominations are officially open on the Dueling Genre Discord Feb. 1 thru Feb. 14!

Join the Dueling Genre Discord Server to nominate franchises and vote on which ones make into the tournament: https://discord.gg/rngwTkz8yw

Become a Premier Tier PATREON to suggest MORE franchises and get DOUBLE VOTES** in this year’s listener pick tournament!

(**the opportunity to vote twice if you’re on Patreon AND Discord)

Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

SMALL TALK & BIG KITCHENS, our mini-series on the romcoms of Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers, continues with the remake that introduced the world to Lindsay Lohan.

With everything she had learned while making Father of the Bride Part II with her husband, Meyers was eager to make her first film from the director’s seat. But after turning down the chance to direct The First Wives Club in favor of a project with Hugh Grant that would eventually fall through, Nancy was watching the original Parent Trap with her daughters one day and had the idea to make her directorial debut a remake of her own.

After a greenlight from Disney, a nationwide search for a “little Diane Keaton” to play the twins, and a production full of special effects shots designed by an experience cinematography who knew how to make them look natural, Meyers’ remake of THE PARENT TRAP was released in 1998 to box office success, critical acclaim, and the charm and adoration of Millennial children everywhere. 

Join Nick & Scott as they enjoy every second of this feel good family film about twin sisters separated at birth by a dark pact made between their ambitious parents.

Become a Premier Tier PATREON supporter to hear our “Franchise Potential” companion podcast, plus bonus podcasts each week including Dueling Genre Tonight hosted by Nick!

Join the Dueling Genre Discord Server: https://discord.gg/rngwTkz8yw

Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

SMALL TALK & BIG KITCHENS, our mini-series on the romcoms of Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers, continues with the movie that broke conventional wisdom and dared to save the meet cute of its romantic leads until just before the closing credits rolled.

After the success of When Harry Met Sally…, Nora Ephron made her directorial debut with the (underrated and barely seen) coming-of-age dramedy This Is My Life. But when Life failed at the box office, Nora was worried she would never get the chance to direct again. So when the opportunity came along to pay her bills with a rewrite of an original screenplay that needed some TLC, Ephron took the gig without hesitation. 

Rewriting the film about star-crossed soulmates from opposite sides of the country with actors Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in mind, Ephron fell in love with the story and wanted the studio to hire her to direct the eventual film. After a lunch meeting wherein Nora “directed” everyone’s orders, it was decided she had what it took to handle the production and was given the greenlight to make SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE as her second feature film.

Join Nick & Scott as they “Podcast In Los Angeles” about how this movie made Tom and Meg one of the most iconic romantic duos of all time, despite sharing less than two minutes of screentime.

Become a Premier Tier PATREON supporter to hear our “Franchise Potential” companion podcast, plus bonus podcasts each week including Dueling Genre Tonight hosted by Nick!

Join the Dueling Genre Discord Server: https://discord.gg/rngwTkz8yw

Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

SMALL TALK & BIG KITCHENS, our mini-series on the romcoms of Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers, continues with a look at a pair of heartwarming remakes about a father learning to let go of his adult daughter… by replacing her with a new one.

After a successful career throughout the 1980s, the filmmaking team of Nancy Meyers (co-writer/producer) and husband Charles Shyer (co-writer/director), known colloquially around town as “the Schmeyers”, were offered the opportunity to remake a classic Spencer Tracy comedy film that they both adored. Starring Steven Martin and Diane Keaton, 1991’s FATHER OF THE BRIDE was a big hit, and when it was time to make a sequel, Nancy was offered the chance to direct it herself.

Not wanting her directorial debut to fall under the shadow of her husband’s film, she opted instead to let Charles direct again while she would take on a much more creative role on the set of the sequel, especially in regards to set design and costuming, so that by the time 1995’s FATHER OF THE BRIDE PART II was released, she knew that she would be ready to direct a movie of her own.

Join Nick & Scott as they discuss a pair of sweet family films that ultimately lead Nancy Meyers directly to the director’s chair.

Become a Premier Tier PATREON supporter to hear our “Franchise Potential” companion podcast, plus bonus podcasts each week including Dueling Genre Tonight hosted by Nick!

Join the Dueling Genre Discord Server: https://discord.gg/rngwTkz8yw

Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra