The weekend of August 2, 1985 was a great one for moviegoers... provided that those moviegoers were 14 years old! Or 4 years old! Everyone else was pretty much out of luck. Join the boys as they wax nostalgic about WEIRD SCIENCE, FRIGHT NIGHT, and SESAME STREET PRESENTS: FOLLOW THAT BIRD!

What do Chris Sarandon and his vampiric sidekick have in common with Bert and Ernie? Who was the more statuesque beauty - Kelly LeBrock or Big Bird? And which of the weekend’s teenaged actors would Jason prefer to watch die onscreen? The answers are all here!!!

The movies may be fantastical, but the struggles are REAL! Listen as Dan tries in vain to rank Muppets! Witness Jason’s futile call for Anthony Michael-Hall to be “canceled”! And marvel as Fred desperately attempts to defend Fright Night’s Zach Galli...I mean William Ragsdale! 

When Oscar The Grouch gives a more grounded performance than Bill Paxton or Roddy McDowall, you know that subtlety isn’t the weekend’s strong suit. In that spirit: HEY. THIS IS THE SUMMARY FOR EPISODE 11 OF OPENING WEEKEND. YOU LISTEN TO IT NOW, OKAY?

This week, the boys travel back to July 25, 1980, and revisit what might very well be the most quotable comedy of all time: CADDYSHACK! Join Jason, Fred, and Dan as they take a deep dive into the lore of Bushwood and chat about the making of the film with Angie D'Annunzio himself, Peter Berkrot!

Rarely have three grown men been this excited to talk about anything! From Dan’s love of Ted Knight’s deadpan delivery to Jason’s love of Bill Murray’s Cinderella story and Fred’s love of Cindy Morgan’s (Edited For Television), this episode has it all (if by “all” you mean anecdotes, memories, critiques and defenses of a movie that decided it needed to add an animatronic rodent to the proceedings during post-production because the film was missing a throughline)!

Find out how Special Guest Peter Berkrot got cast in the film, how he responded when Bill Murray came at him with a scythe on his first day of work, what an insecure Rodney Dangerfield shared with him and his young co-stars, how he felt during the film’s NYC premiere, and which of the four comedy stars at the heart of the movie actually knew their lines (two hints: Ted and Knight).

It’s easy to grin when your ship comes in, but if you’re looking to make $14 the hard way, you may just get nothing and like it. In any event, be the ball, learn to think like a gopher, and you’ll find that you’re a tremendous slouch, so… you got that going for you… which is nice… on a Very Special TENTH Episode of OPENING WEEKEND!!!

This week, the boys travel back to July 15, 1988, and a pair of sleeper hits about robberies gone wrong that stole the summer box office: DIE HARD and A FISH CALLED WANDA!

From Kevin Kline’s Oscar-winning sadism to Alan Rickman’s career-launching terrorism, this week’s episode is full of great actors doing terrible things that sickos like Jason, Fred, and Dan just LOVE to watch!

Is Die Hard the greatest action movie of all time or the greatest alt-Christmas movie of all time (or both)? Did John Cleese really write A Fish Called Wanda just to make Michael Palin suffer/stutter? How close did Jamie Lee Curtis and Bruce Willis come to not having jobs that summer? And what does Frank Sinatra have to do with any of it?

If you’ve ever wondered where Fred learned to lie (hint: it involved the Village Bath Club), what Jason used to teach (a clue: it involved showing Eddie Murphy’s Delirious to a bunch of 7th graders), and why Dan equates John McClane with Jesus Christ (spoiler alert: it involves holes and/or feet), this is the episode for you! 

So c-c-c-come out to the c-c-c-coast, we’ll get together, and have a few laughs with Episode 9 of OPENING WEEKEND!

This week, the boys travel back to July 13, 1990, and the release of two very different “New York Stories” — the year’s biggest hit, GHOST (starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg), and Bill Murray’s directorial debut, QUICK CHANGE (starring Murray, Geena Davis, and Randy Quaid). 

Onscreen it was a week of deadly muggings and botched getaways, but offscreen, the boys saw their own share of trials and tribulations - Fred’s breakup, Jason’s vandalism, and Dan’s confrontation with what can only be described as projectile defecation... This episode brings the nitty AND the gritty!

It’s also a week chock-full of transitional pop culture milestones! Bill Murray’s shift from ne’er-do-well wiseacre to contemplative, crying-on-the-inside clown begins here... Whoopi Goldberg’s shift from movie star to full-blown National Treasure begins here... and Sheila’s shift from “Day Player” to “Series Regular” begins RIGHT HERE! 

So let’s all get dirty at the old pottery wheel (#notnecessarilyaeuphemism) with Episode 8 of OPENING WEEKEND

This Fourth of July, the boys travel back to 1994 and celebrate their independence from logic, comprehension, and good taste with a trio of holiday head scratchers -- BABY’S DAY OUT, BLOWN AWAY, and THE SHADOW!

...If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if a baby crawled across a highway, then you don’t know how highways work! Neither does BABY’S DAY OUT!

...If you’ve ever assumed that Irish people sound like cereal mascots eating colorful marshmallows in enchanted forests, then you’ve never met an Irish person! Neither has BLOWN AWAY!

...If you’ve ever believed that you could be a superhero by wearing Carmen Sandiego’s hat, Harry Potter’s scarf, and Sam The Eagle’s nose, then you don’t know what makes a hero super! Neither does THE SHADOW!

Remember, kids — Listening to Jason and Fred’s blood pressure go up as they disagree with Dan about Joe Mantegna’s acting is as American as apple pie! So do your patriotic duty (not to be confused with Mantegna’s idiotic doody) and pledge allegiance to Episode 7of OPENING WEEKEND!

Things get dark and gritty this week as the boys travel back to June 25, 1982 to reappraise a couple of sci-fi classics, and to ruminate on the most dystopian vision of them all: Barry Bostwick in a Lycra jumpsuit… It’s Opening Weekend’s first quadruple bill — BLADE RUNNER, JOHN CARPENTER’S THE THING, MEGAFORCE, and MONTY PYTHON LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL!

LEARN…  all about the new dance craze sweeping the nation (or, at least, the podcast booth): The Persis Khambatta Love Jump! 

DECIDE… if THE THING is an allegory for disease, a meditation on the breakdown of society, or just an excuse to kill a bunch of dogs and make a guy’s head plop off of his body like a doody and then grow spider-legs and stuff!

FEEL… Fred’s horror as Jason and Dan admit that they (shudder) actually dig Harrison Ford’s Naked Gun-style voiceover in BLADE RUNNER!

DISCOVER… Sheila’s true feelings for Dan!

FIND OUT… how many times Jason can work variations on the phrase “Gurrera’s Dry Bed” into a conversation!

And MAKE SURE… to listen allllllll the way to the end of the episode for a call-in from a VERY special guest!

It’s time for something completely different: Episode 6 of OPENING WEEKEND!

Tonight we’re gonna dance with the devil in the pale moonlight and party like it’s 1989 as Jason, Fred, and Dan fire up the Batmobile (and power up the um… shrink machine thingy, I guess?) to revisit the two big releases of June 23rd: BATMAN and HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS!

The weekend marked the dawn of many now-common cinematic occurrences: It was the first time Disney flicks and superhero movies ruled the box office simultaneously… the first time The Joker became the “go-to” role for status-obsessed Oscar nominees to play… AND the first time Rick Moranis appears to have been considering retirement! 

Questions abound! When should Michael Keaton rub another man’s rhubarb? Were Matt Frewer and Jim Carrey separated at birth? How will the boys conjure Gabe Kaplan this week? Will Sheila ever put down some roots? Will Dan and Fred ever finish that Arms of Steel workout they started back in New Jersey? And most importantly, will we ever truly know how Jason feels about Jack Nicholson? Find out on Episode 5 of OPENING WEEKEND!

If you throw us the idol, we’ll throw you the whip! OPENING WEEKEND returns as Jason, Dan, and Fred travel back to grade school and reminisce about their hopes, their fears, and - in Fred’s case, at least - their many, many lies as they revisit the three big theatrical releases of June 12, 1981 — CLASH OF THE TITANS, HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART I, and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK!

The 80’s were known for their big-screen action icons, and the beginning of the decade was no different! Just check out the beefcake on display this week: Mel Brooks! Burgess Meredith! Sid Caesar! Denholm Elliott! Sir Laurence Olivier! Henny Youngman! Dom DeLuise! (And, y’know, some guy named Harrison something-or other…)

Find out what Dan’s wife thinks of Bubo the mechanical owl from CLASH OF THE TITANS! Hear what Jason’s wife does whenever the Nazis open the ancient relic in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK! Marvel at the fact that Fred still has a wife now that she knows about his decades-old web of lies (which has entangled friend and foe alike with deceitful tales of a flying horse, a dying monkey, and - you guessed it - Cloris Leachman). 

That’s right, friends. The Inquisition’s here and it’s here to stay in Episode 4 of OPENING WEEKEND!

OPENING WEEKEND returns as Jason, Dan, and Fred power up their proton packs and revisit the three big theatrical releases of June 8, 1984 — GHOSTBUSTERS, GREMLINS, and BEAT STREET!

Which of the boys was on a breakdancing crew, and which was scared of the song “White Lines”? Which is more disturbing - Phoebe Cates’s monologue about her dead father, or the idea of Dan performing a strip tease to it? And how many different ways can three grown men mangle Rick Moranis’s speech about Slors? Press ‘play’ and find out! 

From the subway platforms of the South Bronx to the snowy sidewalks of Kingston Falls and the interdimensional dominion of Gozer the Gozerian, Jason, Fred, and Dan take a nostalgic look back at Ronald Reagan’s “Where’s the beef?” Eighties and some of the biggest megahits of the decade (that’s right, we’re looking at you, BEAT STREET… oh, wait). 

When there’s something strange in the neighborhood, Episode 3 of OPENING WEEKEND is ready to believe you!

OPENING WEEKEND returns as Jason, Fred, and Dan travel back to their carefree college days and feel their achey-breaky-hearts burn for the three major releases of May 28, 1993 — CLIFFHANGER starring Sylvester Stallone and John Lithgow, MADE IN AMERICA starring Whoopi Goldberg and Ted Danson, and SUPER MARIO BROS. starring Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, and an army of animatronic dinosaur heads. (Yep, you read that right.) 

Does Jason really wish that Spike Lee had directed Made In America? Does Fred really believe that Super Mario Bros is the Nostradamus of kiddie flicks? And how many different theme songs will Dan sing/fart before the episode is over? The answers may surprise you!

From John Lithgow’s unfortunate Anglo-accent to Ted Danson’s intimate, introspective meditations on sperm and Dennis Hopper’s apathetic rendition of a Trumpian reptile king, one thing is for certain — white men ruin everything. KIDDING! Or are we? Only one way to find out! Join us at the mental multiplex for this, the second episode of OPENING WEEKEND!