It Happened One Year

The old standard returns! It Happened One Year is once again looking at what aired on November 3rd in 1984, checking in over a year since exploring ABC's programming! This time, Sarah & Joe delve into the hard-boiled, sexy, action dramas that were Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, Airwolf, and Cover Up! Along the way, much discussion is made about Stacy Keach's mustache, how Oscar winner Ernest Borgnine found himself flying that helicopter, the tragedies and controversies of Cover Up, the poor adult audience subjected to early '80s television, and of course, the glorious return to It Happened One Year of show favorite, Bubba Smith.

Geraldine Ferraro is dead. So are Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Kennedy, Pat Nixon, Lady Bird Johnson, and all the members of the Female United Politicians of America, but that isn't going to stop them from lending their assistance to the 2024 Presidential campaign on Earth, from their gathering place at the Radisson Valhalla Inn & Suites located on the celestial plane. President Biden's alarming debate performance has the group worried about the future of democracy, and so they take a trip through history to the 1984 Election, to see what can be learned from the first time a woman featured on a major party ticket.

It Happened One Year presents its fifth fully scripted, full cast episode, featuring this supernatural take on the election year frenzy. Be sure to vote next Tuesday, but first come along for this wonky look at the great beyond!

Story by Sarah Rusakiiwicz

Written by Sarah and Joe

Directed by Joe Cetta

Cast

Geraldine Ferraro - Lana Cooper

Eleanor Roosevelt - David Munchak

1984 Geraldine Ferraro - Sarah Rusakiiwicz

Walter Mondale - Matt Moran

Jackie Kennedy - Kristin Mann

Pat Nixon - Angie Buonincontro

Lady Bird Johnson - Alex Ferrer

Bella Abzug - Jo-Elle Munchak

Betty Freidan - Shannon Hosey

Joan - Jennifer Nack

Martha Mitchell - Monica Mauricio

Edith Wilson - Danielle Harris

Elizabeth Cady Stanton - Sam McChuri

William Henry Harrison - The Batman

Charles Manatt/Mario Cuomo - Nick Perfetto

John Zaccaro - Joe Cetta

Mark the Announcer - Jon Deiner

Cathy the Announcer - Kristen Gaydos

Gloria Coppernotch - Nancy Cohen

Redbook Interviewer - Becky Schmidt

Dave Wizardsleeve - Duke Tumbleweed

Irving R. Levine - Dave Gardon

Katie Porter - Abigail Perfetto

With Election Day right around the corner, It Happened One Year finally gets around this season to discussing the biggest news story of 1984 - the Presidential election between Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale! Sarah & Joe being the political nerds they are go deep into the Democratic primaries, discussing Ted Kennedy's reluctance, Gary Hart's late surge, Jesse Jackson's implosion, and Mondale's emergence, which leads directly into his desperation choice of a running mate - the first woman to feature on a major party ticket, Geraldine Ferraro! Campaign ads, other potential veeps, the debates, and the stunning outcome all factor in, as the hosts desperately try to avoid talking about the onrushing 2024 election. 

The first presidential ticket to feature a woman was formed in 1984, when Walter Mondale selected Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, and history was made! In 2024, with another historic Election Day bearing down, It Happened One Year transports you to the great beyond, as a coalition of female political figures gathers in hopes of aiding a current candidate to gain the title of Commander in Chief! Written by Sarah & Joe, Ferraro! is the fifth scripted episode in the show's history, and features dozens of performers from that illustrious group - the Mighty IHOY Players! Listen to the trailer now, and tune back in on November 1st for full epic tale!

Despite being a classic of the American theater and winning a rare Pulitzer along the way, Sarah & Joe were largely unfamiliar with Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George, but that has all changed! It Happened One Year once again wanders into the rare live theater corner and kicks around the musical painting biopic for good and all. Along the way there's some discussion of what makes a good musical, what are particularly bad musical-to-movie adaptation, and not nearly as much singing as you'd expect!

101 episodes and nearly three years later, It Happened One Year is finally talking Muppets again! Given the rousing success of Season One's breakdown of 1994's felt properties, it was only natural that Sarah & Joe would tackle that beloved classic from '84 - The Muppets Take Manhattan! From its sorrowful place as the final, big screen Jim Henson Muppet outing to the singularity of its setting and vibe in the franchise canon, from the outstanding bunch of cameos to the solid batch of songs, all corners of Manhattan Melodies and the gang's tribulations in dragging their college show to Broadway are discussed!

Despite the Paris games wrapping up, Olympic fever still grips It Happened One Year, as it's time to cover the glittering Los Angeles Summer Games of 1984! Sarah & Joe tackle some of the biggest stories and stars of those contests, including the rise of women's American gymnastics, fronted by Mary Lou Retton, the record-setting run (and jumps) of Carl Lewis, the controversial collision of Mary Decker and Zola Budd, the amazing streak of Edwin Moses, and much more! Then, as season three of the show has now stretched across multiple sports' years, the hosts again tackle predictions for the onrushing NFL season - with particular emphasis on the hometown Bears burgeoning chances!

Recorded on the day Joe Biden decided to drop out of the presidential race, Sarah & Joe take a pretty unhinged tact in attempting to discuss the cult classic film pitting Buckaroo Banzai and the Hong Kong Cavaliers against Dr. Emilio Lizardo aka John Whorfin and his gang of aliens! Kamala Harris's chances as the potential first female president, the greatness of Ellen Barkin, Donald Bigbooté, rankings of all significant northeast Pennsylvania figures, the future Joe Biden Presidential Library, lamenting the Buckaroo Banzai sequel that never was, Perfect Tommy, Liz Cheney, the Syracuse University history department, and much more fills this wild evening's show. Listen as a pizza is made live on tape!

Originally intended as the wrap-up to Episode 27's discussion of 1984 and Joe Biden's floundering campaign, this follow-up recording went completely off the rails with the hours-old assassination attempt on candidate Donald Trump, and so - in order to not overwhelm the creaky narrative of that show - here is the rest of Sarah & Joe's conversation from that day. Enjoy?

It's true, the classic novel was published in 1949, but it's quite obviously relevant to this season, and to the modern day, and thus - It Happened One Year is going all-in on George Orwell's 1984! Sarah & Joe discuss the history of the novel and their reactions from recent reads. Then, the greatest marketing tie-in of all time - Michael Radford's 1984 starring John Hurt and Richard Burton, filmed during the timeframe of the novel's setting, and released in that title year! Suck it, 2012 (2009) and Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)! Finally, some little discussion of our current verging-of-dystopia here in America - the impending (possible) Biden v. Trump rematch. 

(This all leads directly into the bonus episode, also available right now!)