It might come as a surprise to some folks that Steven Spielberg directed the pilot for Columbo, titled Murder By The Book, but that he did and it turned out to be one of the most important projects of his early career as his success with this episode is what got him the gig directing Duel.

If you're going to talk about Columbo and Spielberg then you're going to need a guest who knows their whodunnits and howcatchems. Writer/Director Rian Johnson has made a name for himself in the murder mystery realm with his Knives Out films and the currently airing Poker Face, a sort of modern day take on the Columbo formula.

We discuss the differences between a whodunnit and a howcatchem, the stengths and weaknesses in both forms of mystery storytelling, and what Spielberg's cinematic eye brings to this pilot that helped him stand out as a young, upstart 24 year old trying to make his mark in the industry that he loves.

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The Spiel co-host, Josh Robert Thompson, is stepping away from the show, but before he leaves to pursue his own creative endeavors he and Vespe take a look back at his time on the show, discuss our favorite episodes, guests, and experiences while he was behind the mic.

You'll hear plenty of behind the scenes stories, more Spielberg, Lucas, and Morgan Freeman impressions, some Scott Wampler anecdotes and even a rant about Uwe Boll being terrible. In short, it's a hell of a send off for Josh Robert Thompson as he ends his reign at The Spiel.

So, sit back, relax, and get ready to laugh as Vespe and JRT look back at the last year of nerdy Steven Spielberg discussions.

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Veronica Cartwright joins The Spiel hosts to talk about her incredible career, from The Twilight Zone to The Birds to Alien and Witches of Eastwick, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and, yes, even Scary Movie 2.

Cartwright also shares her thoughts on Steven Spielberg's career, including an incredible anecdote of watching Jaws for the first time with Richard Dreyfuss.

There are so many great stories packed into this chat that it's hard to hint at them all, but you will get her memories on working with Hitchcock, Ridley Scott, George Miller, and so much more.

Her new film, The Ruse, hits theaters across the country May 16th.

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Charles Soule (author of the Star Wars: The High Republic series as well as some of the best Star Wars comic books) joins the show to talk all about one of the most controversial and heavily debated Steven Spielberg films: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

We all know co-host Josh Robert Thompson goes to bat for this one, but does Soule? We dive into the George Lucas of it all, a topic that Soule has a lot of insight into considering how closely he has studied Lucas's output while he plays in that massive Star Wars sandbox.

There's a healthy range of opinion on this title and you're going to get some unfiltered opinions that range from "are you crazy?" to "don't be so mean" as three self-identified Indiana Jones nerds break down the fourth installment (and final Spielberg-directed entry) of this iconic series.

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Incredible composer Bear McCreary (God of War, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Battlestar Galactica, Happy Death Day) knows a thing or two about composing badass scores. Vespe challenged him to come up with top 5 favorite John Williams/Steven Spielberg collaborations and the resulting episode sees McCreary putting his Top 5 against Vespe' Top 5.

Originally only available on the show's Patreon, this wonderfully nerdy chat is now available for all to hear. What comes out on top? Does Jurassic Park beat out ET? What about Jaws or Schindler's List? Certainly Indiana Jones has to enter the conversation at some point, right?

You'll only know if you listen!

If you want to support the show and sign up for the Patreon to get access to bonus episodes like this one on the regular, then head over to The Spiel's Patreon page and sign up!

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The Spiel welcomes Anthony Breznican, Vespe's Kingcast co-host and entertainment reporter extraordinaire at Vanity Fair, to talk about Amblin's Innerspace. This weird-ass movie was directed by Joe Dante and produced by Spielberg and is all about a shrunk down Dennis Quaid getting injected into Martin Short's butt and that's just the start of this crazy '80s flick. Bond-esque villains, mini-Kevin McCarthy, a pissed off screenwriter and a who's who of very famous people that almost made this movie. Innerspace is a trip and a hell of a lot of fun to revisit.

If you dig The Spiel, consider joining The Spiel's Patreon. Throw us a few bucks a month and you'll not only directly support the show, you'll also get bonus episodes and access to the Discord.

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I think we can all agree that Steven Spielberg knows how to end a movie. He's got some all-timer endings in his filmography, but he also has some divisive endings. We're talking about War of the Worlds, A.I., Munich, and more.

Noted filmmaker, podcaster, entertainment host, and professional geek Clarke Wolfe (Malum, Torn Hearts, Sending in the Wolfe podcast) joins JRT and Vespe to examine some of these endings and, surprise surprise, there isn't always agreement about how well these more divisive endings work.

This episode was originally released at The Spiel's Patreon and if you want to hear episodes like this before anybody else, throw the show a few bucks over at www.patreon.com/thespielpodcast.

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The Goonies is an important movie for folks of a certain generation, including the absolute madman who is this week's guest. You know him from Pitch Perfect 2, The Suicide Squad, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Silicon Valley and now he's here to talk about The Goonies, Richard Donner's coming-of-age adventure story produced by Steven Spielberg.

We bounce around a lot in this episode, going from behind-the-scenes trivia to random Arnold Schwarzenegger impressions to a serious discussion about the authorship of this movie. We even have some great ideas for the poor bastards tasked with writing The Goonies 2 that may or may not involve casting Flula as the new Sloth who speaks only through his butthole.

As always, if you dig the show and want to get extra bonus episodes how about heading over to our Patreon (www.patreon.com/TheSpielPodcast) and throwing us a few bucks? We'll make it worth your while!

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Leave it to Vespe and JRT to turn a conversation about the 1995 Amblin family adventure story CASPER into a lewd, R-rated talk about ghost titties. In our defense, bad influence (and James Beard award-winning author) Mallory O'Meara is our guest and despite all of our best efforts when we three get together things get chaotic and talk quickly turns to horniness.

Does Casper hold up? Which of the three Uncle ghosts do you most relate to? Is it possible that '90s Bill Pullman and '80s Alec Baldwin are the same person? Did Amblin think twice about making a family comedy about a dead child? We ask all these important questions and much more.

If you want to support the show and want access to a bunch of cool bonus episodes, make sure to sign up for our Patreon at www.patreon.com/TheSpielPodcast!

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Celebrated genre author Stephen Graham Jones (The Indian Lake Trilogy, Mongrels, I Was A Teenage Slasher) is a huge fan of both Twister and Twisters, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and shows up this week ready to talk about what made him laugh, cry, and jump for joy in both the 1996 original film and its 2024 sequel.

Topics include: An all new patented crazy wildlife story from Mr. Jones, how scary mother nature is, the frequent references to The Shining in Spielberg's work, how rad Bill Paxton was as a performer and a human being, and what pitfalls we all felt the sequel managed to avoid.

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