Ready for a walk down the darker side of 90s cinema? In this episode of VHS Therapy, sisters Mary and Teddy revisit Jonathan Demme’s 1991 classic The Silence of the Lambs - a psychological thriller that won all five major Academy Awards and changed how we look at serial killer movies forever.

⚠️ Parental Warning: This episode discusses mature themes including violence, psychological horror, and serial killers. Listener discretion is advised.

• Why Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling remains one of the strongest female leads in thriller history.

• How Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter became a pop culture legend with just 16 minutes of screen time.

• The disturbing legacy of Buffalo Bill’s mirror dance and how it shaped horror tropes in the 90s.

• Behind-the-scenes trivia that will change the way you watch this film.

• How The Silence of the Lambs blurred the line between crime drama and psychological horror.

🎙️ Hosts:

• Mary Meyst-Huset – Finally understanding these movies 30+ years later
• Teddy Micklos – can't whistle to save her life

🔗 Links & References:

• Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@vhs_therapy_pod⁠⁠
• Follow us on TikTok: ⁠@vhs_therapy⁠
• Movie trailer / IMDb page: ⁠⁠Silence of the Lambs⁠
• Where to watch: HBO Max | Amazon Prime | Apple TV | Google Play | Fandango at Home

📌 Where to Listen:

Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | Anywhere you hid your VHS tapes

🙌 Support the Show:

• Subscribe and leave us a 5-star review (it helps other 80s & 90s kids find us!)
• Share this episode with your childhood BFFs who also watched movies way too young

Pop quiz, hotshot: what happens when you put Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, and Dennis Hopper on a runaway bus that can’t drop below 50 mph? You get Speed (1994),  the ultimate ‘90s adrenaline rush.

📝 What You’ll Hear in this Episode:

• 🚨 Keanu Reeves, unlikely action hero — how his quiet intensity worked against the musclebound stereotype of the era.
• 💥 Sandra Bullock’s breakout role — why Annie flipped the “damsel in distress” trope upside down and turned her into America’s sweetheart.
• 🎥 The culture of spectacle — how Speed reflected (and predicted) our obsession with televised chaos, from the OJ chase to viral media today.
• 🎲 Behind-the-scenes trivia — from Keanu’s buzzcut to the secret ghost writer, plus a few set secrets that will blow your mind.
• 🏎️ A pure action movie — no Marvel quips, no CGI overload, just relentless thrills that defined the genre.

🎙️ Hosts:

• Mary Meyst-Huset – true crime critic
• Teddy Micklos – Keanu’s BFF

🔗 Links & References:

• Follow us on Instagram: ⁠@vhs_therapy_pod⁠
• Follow us on TikTok: @vhs_therapy
• Movie trailer / IMDb page: ⁠Speed
• Where to watch: HBO Max | Amazon Prime | Apple TV | Google Play | Fandango at Home

📌 Where to Listen:

Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | Anywhere you hid your VHS tapes

🙌 Support the Show:

• Subscribe and leave us a 5-star review (it helps other 90s kids find us!)
• Share this episode with your childhood BFFs who also watched movies way too young

Hello new name!! This week on VHS Therapy, Mary and Teddy sharpen their swords (and their side-eye) for Disney’s 1993 The Three Musketeers. Once upon a time, we swooned over dreamy Chris O’Donnell and thought swashbuckling duels were the height of cinema. Turns out, the rewatch left us questioning everything except Tim Curry’s ability to deliver a line like the deliciously evil legend he is.

Along the way, we talk Oliver Platt stealing the show, why some musketeers phoned it in, Teddy’s brief kindergarten identity crisis, and the thrill of sneaking into 90s movie theaters. Spoiler: the Bryan Adams soundtrack may still be the best part.

📝 What You’ll Hear in this Episode:

• Chris O’Donnell’s 90s heartthrob moment (and that wig).
• Oliver Platt: the only one having fun on set.
• Kiefer Sutherland and Charlie Sheen’s very different approaches to “not trying.”
• Tim Curry proving villains are more fun than heroes.
• 90s nostalgia: name changes, sneaking into movies, and VHS rentals.

🎙️ Hosts:

• Mary Meyst-Huset – keeper of a secret,longstanding Chris O’Donnell crush
• Teddy Micklos – Mildred, briefly

🔗 Links & References:

• Follow us on Instagram: @vhs_therapy_pod
• Follow us on TikTok: @vhs_therapy
• Movie trailer / IMDb page: The Three Musketeers
• Where to watch: Disney+ | Amazon Prime | Apple TV | Google Play | Fandango at Home

📌 Where to Listen:

Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | Anywhere you hid your VHS tapes

🙌 Support the Show:

• Subscribe and leave us a 5-star review (it helps other 90s kids find us!)
• Share this episode with your childhood BFFs who also watched movies way too young

📼✨ Welcome to VHS Therapy! We’ve officially rebranded from Why Were We Allowed to Watch This? and here’s why:

• Our old name was a little too much of a mouthful.
• We wanted to make it easier for you to find us (and share us!).
• Teddy may or may not have uttered the phrase “Follow that Duck” 🦆 (which isn’t actually a thing).
• And now… we can expand our nostalgic chaos into the 80s. 🎬

Same sisters, same questionable childhoods, but now with double the VHS trauma.

In this week’s episode of Why Were We Allowed to Watch This?, Mary and Teddy revisit Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. We dive into the film’s iconic casting choices (Keanu Reeves as Shakespeare’s angriest villain, Denzel Washington’s royal swagger, and Emma Thompson stealing the show), the misogyny of Shakespeare, and why this sun-soaked Tuscan comedy-drama is equal parts cringe and classic.

📝 What You’ll Hear in this Episode:

• Breaking down the Shakespearean accents in the 1993 Much Ado About Nothing cast
• Teddy’s disappointment in not meeting Keanu Reeves… yet
• How rewatching in 4K changes the way we saw this film as teens in the 90s
• Theater kid energy and 90s Shakespeare adaptations
• And yes, we talk about the movie too

🎙️ Hosts:

•  Mary Meyst-Huset – Expert VCR operator
• Teddy Micklos – Keanu Reeves’ future best friend

🔗 Links & References:

• Follow us on Instagram: @WhyWereWeAllowedPod
• Follow us on TikTok: @WhyWereWeAllowedT
• Movie IMDb page: MuchAdo About Nothing
• David Tennant & Catherine Tate in “Much Ado About Nothing” stage play on YouTube
• Where to watch: Amazon Prime | Apple TV | Google Play | Fandango at Home

📌 Where to Listen:

Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | Anywhere you hid your VHS tapes

🙌 Support the Show:

• Subscribe & leave us a 5-star review (it helps other 90s kids find us!)
• Share with your BFFs who also watched movies way too young

🎧 Episode Summary:

In today’s episode, Mary & Teddy dive into the 1994 drama Quiz Show. About the quiz show scandals of the 1950s, we have an in-depth discussion about villains, the role of women in the movie (or lack thereof), and how entertainment still manipulates the audience today.

📝 What You’ll Hear in this Episode:

• Character analysis from Charles Van Doren to Herb Stempel

• Our critique of the movie

• What we would change if we remade the movie in 2025

• Obscure trivia facts courtesy of IMDB and ChatGPT

🎙️ Hosts:

• Mary Meyst-Huset – witty commentary, the voice of reason (sometimes)

• Teddy Micklos – chaos agent, pop culture fact-dropper

🔗 Links & References:

• Follow us on Instagram: @WhyWereWeAllowedPod

• Follow us on TikTok: @WhyWereWeAllowedT

• Movie IMDb page: Quiz Show

• Where to watch: Amazon Prime | Apple TV | Google Play | Fandango at Home

📌 Where to Listen:

Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | Anywhere you hid your VHS tapes

🙌 Support the Show:

• Subscribe & leave us a 5-star review (it helps other 90s kids find us!)

• Share this episode with your childhood BFFs who also watched movies way too young

This week we revisit Now & Then, the 1995 coming-of-age film that promised a balance of “now” and “then,” but really gave us a full buffet of “then” with just a garnish of “now.” From séances and occult experiments to baffling boy nudity, this movie raised a lot of questions for us as kids... and even more as adults. Luckily, it also gave us one of the best soundtracks of the 90s and Rosie O’Donnell as the big sister we always wanted.

What You’ll Hear in this Episode:

• Why these four girls were (maybe?) even friends after 25 years
• The questionable decision-making of 12-year-olds
• Sleepovers, séances, and casual occult dabbling
• Appreciating Rosie O’Donnell and 90s girlhood icons
• Why this soundtrack still slaps today

🎙️Hosts:

• Mary Meyst-Huset – Middle School Seance Coordinator
• Teddy Micklos – Keeper of sleepover secrets

🔗Links & References:

• Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@WhyWereWeAllowedPod⁠⁠
• Follow us on TikTok: ⁠⁠@WhyWereWeAllowedT⁠⁠
• Movie IMDb page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Now & Then (1995)
• Where to watch: Amazon Prime | Apple TV | Google Play | Fandango at Home

📌 Where to Listen:

Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | Anywhere you hid your VHS tapes

🙌 Support the Show:

• Subscribe and leave us a 5-star review (it helps other 90s kids find us!)
• Share this episode with your childhood BFFs who also watched movies way too young

In this episode of Why Were We Allowed to Watch This?, we’re heading to Blaine, Missouri to revisit Waiting for Guffman. Written, directed, and starring Christopher Guest, this cult mockumentary about community theater, misguided ambition, and the heartbreak of a missing Broadway producer still has us laughing (and cringing) decades later.

What You’ll Hear in this Episode:

• The brilliance of the ensemble cast (Catherine O’Hara forever 💅)
• Why small-town theater feels oddly profound and relatable
• The parallels between delusion in the movie vs. real life
• Aliens, stool capitals, and improv comedy supremacy
• Why this movie still works as the ultimate satire of theater kids everywhere

🎙️Hosts:

• Mary Meyst-Huset – Community Theater Critic
• Teddy Micklos – Aspiring stool capital queen

🔗Links & References:

• Follow us on Instagram: ⁠@WhyWereWeAllowedPod⁠
• Follow us on TikTok: ⁠@WhyWereWeAllowedT⁠
• Movie IMDb page: ⁠Waiting for Guffman (1996)
• Where to watch: Amazon Prime | Apple TV | Google Play | Fandango at Home

📌 Where to Listen:

Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | Anywhere you hid your VHS tapes

🙌 Support the Show:

• Subscribe and leave us a 5-star review (it helps other 90s kids find us!)
• Share this episode with your childhood BFFs who also watched movies way too young

This week we’re trekking back to A Far Off Place, the 1993 Disney adventure starring a young Reese Witherspoon and Ethan Embry as teenagers forced to cross the Kalahari Desert to survive. This movie was deeply impressionable on two young girls from Wisconsin, though one of us (looking at you, Teddy) may have been a little too obsessed.

What You’ll Hear in this Episode:

• Baby Reese Witherspoon finding her star power
• Ethan Embry: a heartthrob blossoms
• Why Disney loved putting kids in survival peril in the 90?
• Which sister still secretly wishes she could trek the Kalahari

🎙️Hosts:

• Mary Meyst-Huset – always finding a way to tie a literary reference
• Teddy Micklos – Brings the snacks

🔗Links & References:

• Follow us on Instagram: @WhyWereWeAllowedPod
• Follow us on TikTok: @WhyWereWeAllowedT
• Movie IMDb page: A Far Off Place
• Where to watch: Amazon Prime | Apple TV | Google Play | Fandango at Home | YouTube | Disney +

📌 Where to Listen:

Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | Anywhere you hid your VHS tapes

🙌 Support the Show:

• Subscribe and leave us a 5-star review (it helps other 90s kids find us!)
• Share this episode with your childhood BFFs who also watched movies way too young

This week on Why Were We Allowed to Watch This?, we revisit Problem Child - the so-called “family comedy” that convinced a generation of kids that adoption leads to arson, chaos, and oversized bow ties. Spoiler: our opinion hasn’t changed much since childhood, except now we have the vocabulary to explain why it’s even more unhinged than we realized.

What You’ll Hear in this Episode:

• A fangirl take of John Ritter and his legacy
• Why this movie aged terribly
• The strange obsession with violence in the 90s
• Our unfiltered take on “family comedy” gone wrong
• A very tasteful, but necessary, discussion about male anatomy

🎙️Hosts:

• Mary Meyst-Huset – Bow Tie Arson Investigator
• Teddy Micklos – Collector of Dubious Facts

🔗Links & References:

• Follow us on Instagram: @WhyWereWeAllowedPod
• Follow us on TikTok: @WhyWereWeAllowedT
• Movie IMDb page: Problem Child (1990)
• Where to watch: Amazon Prime | Apple TV | Google Play | Fandango at Home

📌 Where to Listen:

Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | Anywhere you hid your VHS tapes

🙌 Support the Show:

• Subscribe & leave us a 5-star review (it helps other 90s kids find us!)
• Share this episode with your childhood BFFs who also watched movies way too young