Franchisography

Round 1 of this year’s Listener Pick Tournament is over and Nick & Scott are here to discuss where the choices made by our listeners on Discord and Patreon have led us. There were surprising victories and devastating losses, but no obvious frontrunners. Let’s break it down.

Daily match-ups end March 31st!

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 a biopic that mixes the lives of two women into complimentary story about transforming yourself into the person you want to become.

Nora Ephron was sick with a diagnosis that only gave her months to live. With treatment, she would live much longer than anticipated but knew that her next film would be her last. As such, when Sony Pictures’ Amy Pascal offered Nora the chance to direct a dual biopic about a food blogger attempting to cook every recipe in Julia Child’s famous cookbook and Julia Child learning to cook in France and eventually getting her cookbook published, Nora jumped at the chance to tell their stories.

Join Nick and Scott as they interpret the deeper meaning behind 2009’s JULIE & JULIA, Nora Ephron’s final 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 story of a divorcée looking for love in the wrong place.

With the financial success of The Holiday, Nancy Meyers basically had a blank check to get anything greenlit she wanted, so for her next film she looked at her own life and her relationship with Charles Shyer as inspiration for a what if scenario in which a divorced woman has a steamy affair with her ex husband. 

Join Nick and Scott as they pretty wildly different experiences with a film that doesn’t demand much from it’s audience (despite its title) with 2009’s IT’S COMPLICATED.

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 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.

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 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!

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

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