Nostalgic Nightcaps

All-4-One, James Brown, Fleetwood Mac, Tears for Fears...all iconic sounds of our lives. Now their hits from years ending in 5 go head-to-head in a song bracket showdown to close out 2025. Will Taylor Swift sneak in at the last minute? Will Kaycee talk way too much about One Direction? And most importantly… will you be listening along with us (do it! )?

Happy New Year!!

What’s there to say about the 5s? Well…we have a whole lot. We are exploring the past 6 decades of years ending in 5s including a very hot Christopher Plummer tearing up the Nazi flag, video games, an iconic Sweet Valley High reference for the ages, celebrity gossip, and more. Did we cover everything? Of course not. But these were the things and events that were important to us, and we can’t wait to share them with you.

This week, we’re very grateful for Diane Keaton and The First Wives Club (1996). What a movie! An absolutely stacked cast, starting with our favorite ladies Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, and Bette Midler. We chat the sudden hunkiness of Dan Hedaya (aka Cher’s dad on Clueless), Leslie Gore’s iconic “You Don’t Own Me”, and the reasons why this movie is such a classic Girl Sleepover Joint. Plus, the Spice Girls-ification of our lives, and Kaycee learns some surprising new facts about Ashley. This movie is an important part of our lives, and we can’t wait to share it with you, too!

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We’re having a major Keat Down over Diane Keaton in the month of Dianovember…and we’re starting with the often overlooked film Baby Boom (1987). What’s a high-powered businesswoman to do when she’s suddenly put in charge of a baby? Diane Keaton delivers all the best laughs and typical breakdowns as she moves from her high-rise NYC apartment to a farm in small-town Vermont, and meets the very hot and maddening Dr. Cooper, all while trying to find her way in this world. We talk the importance of the home and domesticity, the current branding of wife and motherhood as conservative, and the new ways we saw this movie as thirty something year olds. Plus, we try to explore why in the world a young Ashley would be so into movies marketed for 40 year old divorced women, and the way Diane Keaton was a big part of our early friendship as thirteen year olds. 

Back in elementary school classrooms on late October days, we (and so many others) were being scared silly by the works of Alvin Schwartz…and now we’re digging into why.

From “The Green Ribbon” to “The Hook,” we’re revisiting Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and In a Dark, Dark Room, iconic horror collections that terrified an entire generation. We’re breaking down the stories that haunted us for years, potentially scarred us for life, and secretly taught us about fear, control, and the patriarchy.

Grab your flashlight and your drink, because we’re talking folklore, fear, and the freaky genius (and fastidious research) of children’s author Alvin Schwartz. 

For this episode’s sources & further reading, plus other nostalgia, check out Kaycee on Substack: Paperback Retrospective.

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In this house, we love flawed, kind of evil female characters.

And that’s why this film is so complicated for us. Don’t just stand there with your 22 year old skin and tits like rocks, and help us figure out this movie! Bottoms up, we’re watching Death Becomes Her (1992) to kick off the Halloween season.

Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@nostalgicnightcaps⁠⁠

We grew up glued to the TV, and nothing stuck with us quite like the theme songs of our favorite childhood TV shows. But what really makes a great one? 

This week on the pod, we’re putting 16 iconic intros head-to-head in the Ultimate TV Theme Song Bracket. From 90s TV sitcom favorites to retro classic cartoons, guest (and husband of the pod) Ryan joins us as official Brackateer to help crown the greatest TV theme song of all time.

The contenders:

Friends · Scrubs · X-Men: The Animated Series · Hey Arnold · Step By Step · The OC · Cheers · Doug · Fresh Prince of Bel-Air · The Brady Bunch · Tiny Toon Adventures · Muppet Babies · Sister Sister · Gilligan’s Island · The Nanny · The Jeffersons

Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@nostalgicnightcaps⁠⁠

For supplementary reading on this episode and other nostalgia, follow Kaycee on Substack: ⁠Paperback Retrospective⁠

She had style, she had flair, and in 1993, Fran Drescher brought the hilarious Fran Fine to our television sets (and our hearts) in The Nanny pilot episode.

In this week’s episode, we talk sitcoms, from favorite theme songs to sloppy nineties TV dads to the classic trope of misunderstandings.

We also share our own pitch for a reboot of The Nanny, wander into some Saturday Night Live tangents, and discuss the eternal uncoolness of rich people. Fashion, analysis, and more come together in this deep dive into one of the most iconic, funny, and stylish sitcoms of the nineties.

Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@nostalgicnightcaps⁠⁠

For supplementary reading on this episode and other nostalgia, follow Kaycee on Substack: ⁠Paperback Retrospective⁠

It was 1995, but the Bradys never left 1975…and that was how we got the satirical parody The Brady Bunch Movie.

In this week’s episode, we’re diving back into both the 70s and the 90s to talk about watching old sitcoms via Nick at Nite, being obsessed with The Monkees, and our forever love for Shelley Long.

Plus, Gary Cole…hot!?!  Revelations, critical analysis, and more in this goofy blast from the past.

Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@nostalgicnightcaps⁠

2007... what a year. We were stepping into our senior year just as Gossip Girl premiered. Sidekicks, MySpace, and Angels and Airwaves, this was the moment when technology, pop culture, and teen drama collided. 

We’re back in NYC this week to talk about the nostalgic trip that was the pilot episode of Gossip Girl…and the surprising ways it mirrors today’s pop culture landscape. A little B & S, a little Lonely Boy, and a whole lot of DRAMA. You know you love us.

Note: This episode contains discussions of sexual assault, suicide, and eating disorders. 

Follow us on Instagram: ⁠@nostalgicnightcaps⁠

Theme Music:

Ghost Riders - Vince McGill

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

⁠https://uppbeat.io/t/vince-mcgill/ghost-riders⁠