Hello! And welcome to season 15 of the Dana Gould Hour Podcast. Fasten your enthusiasm harness, we are blasting off again. Mark Malkoff has a new book entitled Love, Johnny Carson: One Obsessive Fan's Journey To Find The Genius Behind The Legend. Johnny Carson is so larger than life now it's important to sometimes take a step back and appreciate his accomplishment. Unlike today, when there are 8,000 channels, and three network late night talk shows. Johnny Carson hosted The Tonight Show when there were around ten channels total and one, count 'em, one late night talk show, which he hosted for 30 years. He interviewed over 25,000 guests, navigated America's cultural conversation from President Kennedy through President Clinton. Mark's book covers the debuts of then-unknown comedians who are now household names. He talks about Johnny's feuds, and he had some. There were periods of time when William Shatner and Orson Welles were banned from the show. But Mark's book is very affectionate. It's honest without being exploitive. It dishes a lot of dirt but it's never bitchy, I can't recommend it enough. Mark Malkoff. Right here. In the human flesh. The second interview is with two dudes who have written extensively about two films from a very special time in American cinema-going. Back in the 70's, you see, before cable and VHS tapes and streaming, if you wanted to see a movie, you had to wait and catch it on television. And if you wanted to see it uncut, you had to find it playing in a movie theater. And that's it.

Because of this, more people went to more movies more often. And, since this was before multiplexes, movie theaters were more random. You didn't have 16 screens in one building. You had sixteen different movie theaters scattered around town. John Gaspar has written a book about a very strange event at one such theater in one of my favorite cities in the goddamn world, and yours too, Minneapolis, Minnesota. The book is called Held Over: Harold And Maude At The Westgate Theater and it tells the story of Hal Ashby's 1971 black comedy Harold and Maude, that starred Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort, that ran for two years at the Westgate in the Minneapolis suburb of Edina. The film ran for so long, the neighbors protested, demanding a new movie! It's a terrific book about what movie going in America used to be like, before the multiplexes took over. John and I are joined by Ari Kahan, who is the archivist of The Swan Archives, which is I can best describe as a labyrinthine database covering all things pertaining to 1974's Brian DePalma cult classic, Phantom Of The Paradise. Don't know too much about Phantom Of The Paradise you say? No worries, you will by the time we get there, True Tales From Weirdsville takes us on a deep dive inside that mid 70's glam-rock Faustian gem, Phantom Of The Paradise.

Happy holidays! It's the post-Thanksgiving pre-Christmas episode of The Dana Gould Hour Podcast. I think we can squeeze one more in before Christmas. That's certainly my intention, which is not to say that this episode is not what you'd call BOFFO.

Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald is here. Kevin is known for his TV show Emergency Room Vets on Animal Planet. In addition to being a veterinarian, he is an animal preservationist, a conservationist and before that, he was a rock 'n' roll tour bouncer. There are stranger tales to be told, I'm sure, but I can't say I know of any off the top of my head. Kevin has a memoir out now, telling the details of all the many lives he's lead, called It Started With A Turtle, and he's here today to tell us all about it.

Comedian par excellence Greg Proops is here to tell us about his new comedy album, Free State Of California, out now.

True Tales From Weirdsville takes a deep dive into a side of The King Of Rock 'n' Roll that you might not know about. Elvis Presley, practitioner of the occult. It's weird, but it's all true, and that makes it just the tale for True Tales From Weirdsville.

And now, it is on to our filthy business. https://www.DanaGould.com

It's that time again! It's October. The sun goes down in the afternoon now. Night has a chill. And at CVS and Walgreens, they are already putting up the Christmas decorations. That's right, it's Halloween. But none of that for us! We are firmly planted in autumn. As Ray Bradbury once wrote, "Something, something, something, autumn something." By Ray Bradbury.

We have enough show here to stuff your pillowcase, so grab a bag of candy and settle back. Howard Berger and Marshall Julius are here to discuss their new book, Making Monsters, inside stories from the creators of Hollywood's most iconic creatures. This is a terrific book, basically it's a high school yearbook for professional monster kids. Rick Baker, Tom Savini, Michael Giacchino, Larry Karaszewski, Ve Neill, Richard Edlund, Derek Mears, Bill Corso, David Dastmalchian, Mick Garris, Mike Mendez. The list goes on and on and on. Monster kids who grew up but never put it away, and followed their passions right into show business. Packed with photos and interviews, it's really a terrific piece. Making Monsters, by Howard Berger. The Academy Award winning make up artist, he is the B in KNB FX and Marshall Julius, author and film critic and - get this – he's British. He's from the United States of Britain.

Daren Docterman is also here. Daren is an illustrator and set designer, he's worked on The Abyss, Monster House, Master and Commander, he was the VFX supervisor on the director's cut of Star Trek - The Motion Picture. He, along with Mark Altman and Ashley Miller, make up The Inglourious Trexperts. Check out that podcast. And, like Howard Berger and Marshall Julius. He's a pal. We've had meals. Quite a few. Daren Dochterman. True Tales From Weirdsville takes a deep dive into American International Pictures and it's genre output in the '50s and '60s. It gave us Roger Corman, It Conquered The World, Invasion Of The Saucer Men, The Amazing Colossal Man, I Was a Teenage Werewolf. And then it segued into the '60s with the Vincent Price / Edgar Allen Poe films like The House Of Usher, The Pit and The Pendulum, and so and and so forth. And then, as a Halloween bonus, we're going to go back into the archives and present you the True Tales we did on Orson Welles' War Of The Worlds broadcast. It's all here. It's all for you. And now, I can hear the kids at the door, and so it is on to our filthy business.

Hello! And welcome to our September episode! Hopefully it's still September by the time you hear it, but not to worry! The Halloween episode will be out long before Halloween. The reason this was so late is I basically did both episodes at once, in addition to getting three kids back in high school, college and grad school, so, ya know. It's all here and / or on its way.

Matt Braunger is here! Matt is a hilarious comedian and a good buddy of mine. A friend of the show, as they say. Matt has a brand new podcast out called Tank Top Talks and it's exactly what it sounds like. People in tank tops, talking about tank tops and people. You can listen to it, watch it on YouTube. You get it. Tank Top Talks.

And Paul Myers is here. What I said about Matt, same goes for Paul. Paul's not a stand up, but he's a brilliant journalist and writer. He's written, among other books, The Kids In The Hall, One Dumb Guy, A Wizard A True Star: Todd Rundgren In The Studio, and Barenaked Ladies: Public Stunts and Private Stories. His new book is required reading for any comedy fan - John Candy: A Life In Comedy. Paul's here to discuss the book and the amazing life and career of the great John Candy.

True Tales From Weirdsville takes a look at something we all do, sleep, and asks the question, what could go wrong? Actually a lot. There are some dudes in prison right now for things they claim happened while they were asleep. And we're going to investigate.

And now, it's on, to our filthy business.

Welcome to the dog days of summer. We've got an action-packed episode to get you to through August, so fasten your enthusiasm harness, and get ready to listen, and enjoy.

Eddie Muller is an expert in film noir. If you like movies with private eyes, tough guys and saucy dames who kiss and lie, Eddie is your dude. Eddie is the host of TCM's Noir Alley, which is forever and always a celebration of all things noir. He has a new book out called Dark City Dames, which examines the lives and careers of a group of actresses from the heyday of film noir. As you may suspect, their true life stories are often more intense than the movies they made. Eddie is also the author of Dark City, San Francisco Noir, The Art Of Noir, the novels The Distance and Shadow Boxer. He is a fascinating guy. It was a great interview. I could have talked to him all day to be honest.

Also, one of my favorite people, Katharine Coldiron, is back. Katharine also has a new book entitled Out There In The Dark. It's part memoir, part film criticism. Maybe one could say it is memoir AS film criticism. Or film criticism as memoir? You decide. But I read it in one sitting. It's a great. Informative, honest, brave, it's a terrific piece of work.

True Tales From Weirdsville takes a deep dive into the cult classic Gun Crazy. Informed in large part by the book Gun Crazy And The Origin Of American Outlaw Cinema by, you guessed it, Eddie Muller, Gun Crazy is not only a terrific cult film, but it's also an incredibly important one, kicking off as it did, an entire subgenre in American film, one that still thrives today. That is, the stories of sociopaths in love. Gun Crazy. If you can find two words that better describe this country, you let me know.

Like a lot of you, I was moved by the passing of film director David Lynch this past January. Much more than I thought I would be, to be honest. A lot of it had to do with the timing. He was such a part of Los Angeles. He made movies set here. He did a daily weather report. He talked at length about how much he loved the light, the feeling of Old Hollywood, the smell of night-blooming jasmine, and he left as the city was on literally burning down around us. On top of that, we were four days away from a new president who is the embodiment of everything Lynch is not. It was like Dale Cooper died four days before Bob become President. Everywhere you turned on the news there was another scumbag asshole winning the lottery, and just when things could not get worse, reality said, "Wait! I got one more!"

While struggling to fight the fires, with thousands of people in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena losing everything the city was now mourning its coolest resident. And if you don't live here I really cannot understate what a presence he is. There is a rotating sculpture of his head in head in Santa Monica. People gathered at the Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake where he used to go for coffee and a chocolate shake every day at 2:00 PM. The gathered at Jumbo's Clown Room, the Hollywood Boulevard strip club where he, as legend has it, he wrote Blue Velvet. Every sidewalk sandwich board in town bore a chalk drawing of his iconic quiff.

So, as I began the next podcast, I figured I would dedicate the True Tales From Weirdsville segment to Mr. Lynch. But it quickly became apparent that it was way too much story for just one segment and it eventually stretched over three episodes. And so, for your listening pleasure, we stitched 'em together, and here they are. Enjoy.

https://www.DanaGould.com

Aaaaaaand we're back. It's summer here and the livin' is easy. For someone. Somewhere. It must be, right? It's summertime and the livin' is easy. For bears. It was also the night that the skeletons came to life!

Will Sloan is here! Will is a journalist and author. He is the host of the podcast The Important Cinema Club (highly recommended). Will has a new book coming out called Ed Wood, Made in Hollywood USA which is a serious reappraisal of Wood's filmography. No, it doesn't posit that he was actually the greatest filmmaker of all time but it does make an attempt to put Wood's work into context with regard to what stories he was trying to tell, keeping in mind the resources he had available to him at the time and, even more so, the cultural forces pushing against him. Glen Or Glenda specifically.

Alexandra Seros is here. She has a new book out entitled Ida Lupino, Forgotten Auteur. Ida Lupino s well known as an actress, starring in several classic Hollywood films, and many of the great film noirs like High Sierra, They Drive By Night and While The City Sleeps. But she also was a great director. One of the first women directors in Hollywood. And not just a director, she directed several terrific and important films, like The Hitchhiker, Outrage and The Bigamist. Her story is fascinating, She was obviously incredibly intelligent. So intelligent, in fact, that she knew she had to pretend she was less intelligent than she was so they men that ran her exclusively all male field wouldn't feel threatened and prevent her from working. Crazy

Speaking of directors, True Tales From Weirdsville finishes our three part story on the life and career of David Lynch, as seen through the eyes of his magnum opus, Twin peaks. It's a little bigger than a normal segment, but he warrants it.

Aaaaaaand we're back so let's get to it. Jane Borden is here. Jane is the author of the book, Cults Like Us: Why Doomsday Thinking Drives America. It is everything I love in a book. It's informative, it's funny, it's about weird shit that's true and I can't recommend it highly enough. Jane Borden, coming right up.

Mike Reiss is here! Mike is an old pal of mine. Incredible, smart, kind and funny gentlemen. One of the original Simpsons writers, he goes back to season… one. If that's good enough for you. He is also, a world traveller, although he doesn't really want to be, and he talks about it at length in his new Substack, which you can get, called Now I've Seen Everything. Mike Reiss ladies and germs. You're gonna love it.

True Tales From Weirdsville takes us into the second part of our story of David Lynch through the lens of his magnum opus Twin Peaks. This segment cover the fascinating period from the height of his and the show's fame to their mutual, absolute, rock-bottom. It's the story of Hollywood, of America itself, I tell you! From the top of the heap to the bottom of the barrel. From the belle of the ball to the bum on the bench, from the homecoming queen… to a dead body, wrapped in plastic.

Hello and welcome back to The Dana Gould Hour. Your brief audio respite from the world's worst reality show, reality. Samm Deighan is here. She is a film historian and author and has written such books as The Legacy Of World War 2 in European Art House Cinema and a study of Fritz Lang's child murder romp M. Her new book, written with Andrew Nette is entitled Revolution In 35 MM, Political Violence And Resistance In Cinema, From The Art House To The Grindhouse 1960 to 1990. It covers everything from The Battle Of Algiers to Coffin Joe to Zabriskie Point.

Harry Medved and Bennet Yellin are here. Harry Medved wrote the book the 50 Worst Movies of All Time when he was in high school! He was 15 when he wrote that book. And that was in the late 70's before VHS tapes. He also wrote, with his brother Michael, the Golden Turkey Awards, which, as you know, is what helped put Ed Wood back on the map in the mid-eighties.

He has a series now on PBS called Locationland, where he takes audiences on a tour of famous film locations, this was back when films had locations, as opposed to standing in front of a green screen at a warehouse in Atlanta. I recently had the pleasure of joining Harry on a tour of the locations for a little film you may have heard me talk about, Plan 9 from Outer Space.

Bennet Yellin is an author and screenwriter, he's written, with the Farrelly Brothers, There's Something About Mary, Dumb And Dumber, Dumb And Dumber Two. Bennet and Harry have been friends for eons and they are here to talk bad movies, good movies and Ed Wood movies which are, of course, an alchemic mixture of the two.

True Tales From Weirdsville tells the tale of the place both wonderful and strange, Twin Peaks. Like everyone else I was super bummed out by the passing of David Lynch in January. I think it was a combination of things. The election, we were in the middle of these catastrophic fires and then, just when things couldn't get worse, they did. As much as I love David Lynch and his work, and have back to…I guess Blue Velvet, what he stood for meant more to me than any particular film or television show or what have you.

He was uncompromising in his vision, you could like it or not. That wasn't the point. That's a rare thing these days, when studios and networks seem to be operating under the belief that the only audience worth getting is everyone alive, and anything less is a failure. Twin Peaks, it's origins, success, fall from grace and resurrection is a terrific microcosm of how Lynch's refusal to compromise created something far greater than the sum of it's parts, it flew against convention, challenged audiences. In the case of Fire Walk With Me, it really challenged audiences. But in every instance, time has proven Lynch's instincts were right, so we're going to do a two, possibly three part series on Lynch's career through the lens of Twin Peaks.

And NOW, it's on to our filthy business.

https://DanaGould.com

Aaaaaaand we're back. Episode 1 of season 14 of the Dana Gould Hour Podcast. Has anything of interest happened since the last episode? Don't think so. Certainly not here in Los Angeles, or America. Okay. Great. Let's get at it!

Drew Friedman is here. Drew Friedman is one of the premiere illustrators and cartoonists in America. You know his work from The New York Observer, the New Yorker, his books, Warts And All, Old Jewish Comedians, More Old Jewish Comedians, Still More Old Jewish Comedians, Too Soon, Drew Friedman's Sideshow Freaks, Heroes Of The Comics, More Heroes Of The Comics, the list goes on and on. In 1987 I discovered his book Any Similarity to Persons Living Or Dead is Purely Coincidental and it quite literally redefined my sense of humor. It is hard to articulate the impact the book had on me. No kidding. Drew has a new book out called Schtick Figures, portraits of people important to Drew. And me. People he refers to as The Cool, The Comical and The Crazy. Portraits of people like Gilbert Gottfried, #2 and #3 as only Drew can draw them. Drew is also the subject of a new documentary that's about to be released entitled The Vermeer Of The Borscht Belt, Drew Friedman is here.

Kurt Sayenga is a writer, director and producer. We first met when Kurt ran the series Eli Roth's History Of Horror. Kurt now has a series on Shudder called Horror's Greatest. Season #2 just dropped, with guests like Davi Dastmalchian, Joe Hill, Jonah Ray, Alex Winter, Mick Garris, yours truly and many, many more. Kurt's here to talk about the show and the topics covered this season as it continues to explore our fascination with all things cinematically horrific.

Cinematically horrific. If you want to examine the realistically horrific, True Tales From Weirdsville takes a deep dive into the 1957 classic A Face In Crowd, starring Andy Griffith, written by Budd Schulberg and directed by Elia Kazan. It tells the cautionary tale of what happens when a corrupt, amoral grifter gains a position of power and influence in America. It was made in 1957 and it was a FREAKISHLY predictive film.

https://www.DanaGould.com