Franchisography

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.

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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 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.

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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 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.

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Prepare to open your hearts to a brand new era of FRANCHISOGRAPHY as we begin SMALL TALK & BIG KITCHENS, our mini-series on the romcoms of Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers, with the film that many credit as the greatest romantic comedy of all time.

While Nora had been a journalist, a satirist, and an essayist before writing her first screenplay in the mid-1970s, it wouldn’t be until the mid-1980s that Ephron would pen her first romantic comedy when director Rob Reiner pitched her on an idea he had about two platonic friends who vow to never have sex with each other because it will ruin their friendship but then have sex anyway and fall in love. Nora would write the screenplay using a journalistic approach to researching the male perspective that would form the character of Harry, and her own satirical wit and experiences as a woman to form Sally’s point of view, leading to a film full of funny, honest observations about the state of modern romance.

Featuring two star-making performances from the relatively unknown Meg Ryan as the neurotic leading lady and comedian Billy Crystal as an unlikely leading man, the film was released in 1989, and became a box office smash that kicked off a golden age for romantic comedies that lasted for twenty years.

Join Nick & Scott as they laugh, gush, and swoon over 1989’s WHEN HARRY MET SALLY… the very first romcom penned by Nora Ephron.

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

It’s a Betweenisode!

Join Nick & Scott as they rank the Santa Clause franchise, pitch ideas for a Santa Clause reboot, and announce our next (quite lengthy) mini-series!

Next week: New year, new mini-series!

FRANCHISE POTENTIAL: Rise of the Guardians (2012) episode now available on PATREON!

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

Carol Newman is dead. Only Mrs. Claus remains. As the confines of her new life in the North Pole begin to suffocate her, Scott Calvin breaks protocol and invites his entire blended family to the North Pole to keep Carol company as the pressures of the Christmas season pile around him.

Also adding to Santa’s grievances is the arrival of the mischievous and selfish Jack Frost, intend on stealing the glory of Santa and Christmas for himself. It’s 2006’s THE SANTA CLAUS 3: THE ESCAPE CLAUSE.

Nick and Scott struggle to find something shiny in this lump of coal as Santa Clause season on FRANCHISOGRAPHY comes to a close!

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Scott Calvin is dead. Only Santa remains. And with the combined forces of Scott’s 90’s business know-how and good old fashioned Christmas magic, the happiness of the world’s children is up a whopping 86%, even as the world grapples with the murky landscape of a post 9/11 socio-political arena.

This halcyon status quo is threatened however, when a hitherto unseen fine print of the infamous Santa Clause reveals that Santa must find a wife before Christmas, or lose his powers forever. Can Santa find love? Can Scott Calvin remember how to be a normal man on Earth?

Join Nick and Scott on another festive FRANCHISOGRAPHY as they debate the merits of this much more cuddly and kid-friendly sequel, 2002’s THE SANTA CLAUSE 2.

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

FRANCHISOGRAPHY gets into the holiday spirit with a deep dive into the beloved Santa Clause Trilogy!

America’s ultimate 90’s funnyman Tim Allen stars as ultimate 90’s corporate dad, Scott Calvin, a recent divorcee struggling to find any holiday spirit when Christmas Eve just means arguing with his ex-wife and her obnoxiously evolved new beau and struggling to connect with his increasingly estranged son, Charlie. Scott’s life changes forever when Santa Claus himself falls off the roof and presumably breaks his neck or spine something because he like, instantly dies, leaving this cynical boomer dad with the sacred task of bringing holiday cheer to children all over the world.

Does Scott Calvin have what it takes to become Kris Kringle, Santa Claus, Père Noël, Babbo Natale, Pelz-Nickel, Topo Gigio? Does this 90’s kid classic hold up in today’s modern world?

Ryan Cultrera (host of The Hallo-Rewind and Sounds Scary) joins Nick and Scott as they share a bowl of sugar, do some shots of brown liquor and celebrate this offbeat holiday favorite, 1994’s THE SANTA CLAUSE

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

It’s a Betweenisode!

Recorded less than 24 hours after the 2024 Presidential Election…

Join Nick & Scott as they discuss the election results, rank the Purge franchise, pitch ideas for a Purge anthology series and what a final Purge film should be, and announce our next mini-series (which might just give you tonal whiplash)!

Next week: A new franchise begins!

FRANCHISE POTENTIAL: Humane (2024) episode now available on PATREON!

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

Purge creator James DeMonaco decided to end the series and when he realized the story would focus on immigration, he realized he needed a Latino director at the helm. After seeing his renowned work as a television director, DeMonaco turned to director Everardo Valerio Gout who wrapped on the “final” Purge production in February of 2020, just before a global pandemic would lead a nationwide lockdown.

Originally intended for release in July of 2020, it wouldn’t be until a year later in July of 2021 that THE FOREVER PURGE would finally hit theaters. And by that time, the idea of this being the last Purge film had already faded as DeMonaco began work on a sixth Purge film that will eventually see his return to the director’s chair.

Join Nick and Scott as they pour over the details of the Texas setting of the very rural, not-so-final Purge movie.

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra