A Christmas Story

During the season five finale, Anna and Derek chat about just how annoying Randy is, why Ralphie's parents aren't as oblivious as once assumed, and much more during their discussion of the holiday classic A Christmas Story (1983).

Connect with '80s Movie Montage on Facebook, Twitter/X or Instagram! It's the same handle for all three... @80smontagepod.

Anna Keizer and Derek Dehanke are the co-hosts of ‘80s Movie Montage. The idea for the podcast came when they realized just how much they talk – a lot – when watching films from their favorite cinematic era. Their wedding theme was “a light nod to the ‘80s,” so there’s that, too. Both hail from the Midwest but have called Los Angeles home for several years now. Anna is a writer who received her B.A. in Film/Video from Columbia College Chicago and M.A. in Film Studies from Chapman University. Her dark comedy short She Had It Coming was an Official Selection of 25 film festivals with several awards won for it among them. Derek is an attorney who also likes movies. It is a point of pride that most of their podcast episodes are longer than the movies they cover.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_04 (00:00):
There we

SPEAKER_00 (00:12):
go.
For one brief moment, I saw thebolts silhouetted against the
lights of the traffic and thenthey were gone.

SPEAKER_04 (00:20):
Oh,

SPEAKER_03 (00:23):
fuck.

SPEAKER_01 (00:26):
Hello and welcome to 80s Movie Montage.
This is Derek.

SPEAKER_03 (00:29):
And this is Anna.

SPEAKER_01 (00:29):
And that was Peter Billingsley as Ralphie Parker,
not actually saying, oh fudge,after that gibberish profanity
from Darren McGavin as the oldman Parker.
Oh

SPEAKER_03 (00:43):
my gosh, you're really going for it.

SPEAKER_01 (00:44):
In 1983's A Christmas Story.

SPEAKER_03 (00:46):
Oh my gosh, I'm kind of scared for next season and
these intros that you're giving.
I can

SPEAKER_01 (00:53):
make them longer if that...
If I'm cutting too short.

SPEAKER_03 (00:56):
That's the goal.
That's

SPEAKER_01 (00:58):
the goal.
All right.
I'll work on it.
I'll work on it.

SPEAKER_03 (01:00):
Which, by the way, season five finale.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:05):
This episode.
That's what this is.
This is what this is.
Yes.

SPEAKER_03 (01:09):
Yes.
Yeah.
That's one of my favorite parts.
Oh, fudge.
But we did talk about when wewere watching it for the
podcast, the fact that neitherparent even seems to consider
the possibility that Ralphielearned that language from the

(01:30):
dad is kind of ridiculous.

SPEAKER_01 (01:32):
That is the joke.

SPEAKER_03 (01:34):
Yeah, I guess so.

SPEAKER_01 (01:35):
He actually he did make a point of just saying like
he actually had to put effortinto all the gibberish that you
hear when the dad is swearing inorder to preserve the PG rating.

SPEAKER_03 (01:46):
That makes a lot of sense.
That's actually exactly whatwhat's his name did in Home
Alone as well.

SPEAKER_01 (01:53):
Oh, really?
Joe Pesci.
Yeah.
Just,

SPEAKER_03 (01:55):
yes.
Which, that's actually so funny.
I wonder if he, like...
It's kind of like an homage in aweird way to this performance
because it's exactly the same interms of the gibberish swearing.

SPEAKER_01 (02:07):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (02:07):
Yeah.
What was the one you said thatyou liked?
Something platypus or no?

SPEAKER_01 (02:11):
Platypus snot.

SPEAKER_03 (02:12):
Platypus

SPEAKER_01 (02:13):
snot.
That's when he's working on thefurnace in the earlier part of
the movie and we had closedcaptions on and I'm like, hmm, I
wonder if it'll actually give usanything.
It was mostly just likeunintelligible shouting, but for
platypus snot.

SPEAKER_03 (02:27):
So much more when you have subtitles on.

SPEAKER_01 (02:30):
Or

SPEAKER_03 (02:30):
closed captions.
Yeah.
So A Christmas Story, 1983, likeyou said.
And let's dive in.
So a couple interesting thingshere about the writing credits.
The first person that I'm goingto name is Gene Shepard.
And I did not know this before Iwas doing the research for this

(02:51):
movie.
Gene Shepard.
Yeah.
Not only– is the author of thenovel on which the screenplay is
based.

SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
Okay.

SPEAKER_03 (03:00):
He is the narrator.
Which is...
And we'll get to that more indepth, but he's adult Ralphie.

SPEAKER_01 (03:06):
Which is super impressive because that is one
of the standout...
He's a great voice.
Yeah, it's perfect.

SPEAKER_03 (03:15):
He's a great voiceover actor.
Yeah.
So he hasn't been with us for awhile.
He passed away in 1999.
But when you look through...
Oh, I'm sorry.
I didn't even say the novel.
So I love the title of thenovel, In God We Trust, All
Others Pay Cash.
Okay.
And I get the sense that maybesome of this was based on his

(03:38):
childhood.
That's kind of where...
the inspiration came from someof these stories.
And when you look through hisIMDb writing credits, there are
some like TV movies that he'scredited for, The Phantom of the
Open Hearth, The Great AmericanRoad Racing Festival, and Ollie
Hop Noodle's Haven of Bliss.

SPEAKER_01 (03:59):
I love it.

SPEAKER_03 (04:00):
There's also a Christmas Story Live TV movie.
Is that the one that had MayaRudolph in it maybe?
Yeah.
Possibly.
Possibly.
And then some of his othercredits.
So he did like My Summer Story.
Oh,

SPEAKER_01 (04:16):
yeah.
That was like the first sequel.
And they were like going on asummer vacation or something.
I never saw it.
I think.
Yeah.
Is

SPEAKER_03 (04:26):
it still Ralphie Parker?
It

SPEAKER_01 (04:28):
is.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (04:29):
Yeah.
So I think he follows thischaracter quite a bit.
Then there's A Christmas Story2.
And then most recently, althoughhe had been passed at the point
of this happening, he has acredit for A Christmas Story
Christmas.

SPEAKER_01 (04:42):
What if I told you that the dad in The Summer Story
is Charles Grodin?

SPEAKER_03 (04:48):
Now I know what you're talking

SPEAKER_01 (04:49):
about.
That's the old man.
Interesting.

SPEAKER_03 (04:51):
Okay.
All right.
But yeah.

UNKNOWN (04:54):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (04:55):
Great writer, obviously, to come up with these
stories.
And wow, what a voice he had.
He does a great job in thisfilm.
So we have a couple otherscreenplay credits.
One is Lee Brown.
So same credit for My SummerStory as well.
And A Christmas Story Live, theTV movie.
And then lastly, we have BobClark, who we'll talk about him

(05:17):
a little bit because he's alsothe director of this film.
So...
Such an interesting filmographyfor this guy.
In theory, we can bring him upagain.
I

SPEAKER_01 (05:30):
don't

SPEAKER_03 (05:30):
know if we

SPEAKER_01 (05:31):
will, but...
Well, it's probably like someother family comedy or
something, right?

SPEAKER_03 (05:36):
Well, that's just it.
So strictly speaking, becauseI'm going to have a couple
directing credits that don'talso fall under writing credits,
but strictly speaking, hiswriting credits include...
I feel like I've brought this upbefore for some reason.
Children shouldn't play withdead things.
Okay.
was a movie.
So here we go.
He wrote Porky's.

(05:56):
I

SPEAKER_01 (05:59):
didn't know that anyone wrote Porky's, honestly.
Yeah,

SPEAKER_03 (06:01):
I know.
It's a real triumph of cinematicwriting, huh?

SPEAKER_01 (06:07):
It is.
It is.

SPEAKER_03 (06:08):
So he has credits for Porky's, Porky's 2, The Next
Day, and then character creditfor Porky's Revenge.

SPEAKER_01 (06:15):
So we've joked about it so many times.
It comes up With any movie wherethere's just some egregious
nudity, the first thing youthink of is Porky's from that
era of movies.
I don't know what it's evensupposed to be about.

SPEAKER_03 (06:30):
Okay.
Is there an actual thing?
So here's the thing.

SPEAKER_01 (06:34):
Okay.

SPEAKER_03 (06:36):
From my recollection, Porky's was on
cable quite a bit.
There wasn't a ton of helicopterparenting when I was younger.
So...
Unfortunately, I was exposed toPorky's at kind of a young age.

SPEAKER_01 (06:50):
Do you want the synopsis?

SPEAKER_03 (06:51):
I think it's like college kids.

SPEAKER_01 (06:53):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (06:53):
It's like Revenge of the...
It's not Revenge of the Nerds,but it's like really along those
lines, right?
In

SPEAKER_01 (06:57):
1954, a group of Florida high school guys try to
help their buddy lose hisvirginity, which leads them to
seek revenge on a sleazynightclub owner and his redneck
sheriff brother for harassingthem.

SPEAKER_03 (07:12):
I mean, I don't remember any of that.
There's just a lot of boobs.
But...
I mean, the 80s were such aninteresting time for this.
Well, I guess it has carried on.
It's not just the 80s, but the80s, I feel, began this trend of
movies where it's like, gottalose your virginity.
Gotta lose your virginity.
Like, it's weird.
It's weird that that was a focusof so many movies.

SPEAKER_01 (07:34):
It was a huge thing in the 80s.
It is

SPEAKER_03 (07:36):
bizarre to me.
Like, you know what movie weshould do about a kid trying to
get laid?
Like, I don't know.
It's just...
No.

SPEAKER_01 (07:43):
Oh, I thought you really wanted to make that
movie.
I'm like, yeah, we couldprobably make that movie.

SPEAKER_03 (07:47):
I mean, it certainly isn't just the 80s because
obviously like American Pie is ahuge example of that.
But

SPEAKER_01 (07:52):
it's because of those.
Yes, it

SPEAKER_03 (07:54):
is because of

SPEAKER_01 (07:54):
those.

SPEAKER_03 (07:55):
Or like Superbad, things like that, like

SPEAKER_01 (07:59):
that kind of thing.
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (08:02):
Anyway, so...
Anyway,

SPEAKER_01 (08:05):
that's the guy that made A Christmas

SPEAKER_03 (08:07):
Story.
Yeah, and I'm almost in with hiswriting filmography.
So, Loose Cannons also has acredit for My Summer Story.
And then, like, he's all overthe place.
He wrote Baby Geniuses.
Of course.
Like, wild.
And then he has a credit as wellfor A Christmas Story Life.
Okay, so we're going to stay onBob Clark for his direction of
this film.
So...

(08:28):
A lot of what he wrote he diddirect, but he also kind of was
a doctor for hire on some stuff.
So he did direct ChildrenShouldn't Play With Dead Things.
Okay.
And then here's what's even morebizarre about this guy's
filmography in terms of likerange of genre.
He is the director of theoriginal Black Christmas.

SPEAKER_01 (08:47):
That's crazy.
Right?
That's really...
So he has like

SPEAKER_03 (08:52):
horror, family fare.

SPEAKER_01 (08:54):
Yeah, boobs.
Boobs.

SPEAKER_03 (08:56):
It's

SPEAKER_01 (08:56):
impressive range.

SPEAKER_03 (08:57):
Right?
It kind of is.

SPEAKER_01 (08:59):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (09:00):
But yeah, he directed that.
He did direct the first twoPorky films.
He did Rhinestone.
Sure.
With Stallone and Dolly Parton.
Yeah.
Loose Cannons.
So he wrote and directed that.
My Summer Story as well.
So he comes back to...
Oh, Ralphie Parker.
And then he did direct BabyGeniuses as well.
It's its sequel, Super Babies.

(09:22):
Baby Geniuses 2.
Jesus Christ.
His final– this is interesting.
I feel like I don't see this aton.
His final credit was anuncredited credit for a film
called Blonde and Blonder.

SPEAKER_01 (09:32):
That can't be very common for the director to be–
to have an uncredited credit,right?

SPEAKER_03 (09:36):
Yeah.
I thought that was interesting.
So, okay.
Moving on to cinematography,Reginald H.
Smythe.
Thank you so much.
As of, I don't think it wouldhave changed in the time that I
did my research.
So he had 92 cinematographycredits.

(09:56):
53 of those were short films.

SPEAKER_01 (09:59):
Okay.

SPEAKER_03 (10:00):
So I did not name, but that seemed to be kind of
his bread and butter.
I didn't really get into thenature of what the short films
were, but did a lot of shortfilms.
But some of his other creditsinclude, so these are features,
A Name for Evil.

SPEAKER_01 (10:14):
Oh.
What was it?
What was the name?
I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 (10:19):
I don't know.
No.
He shot Black Christmas.

SPEAKER_01 (10:23):
Okay.

SPEAKER_03 (10:23):
So that was kind of their first collaboration.
He also shot Porky's and Porky's2.

SPEAKER_01 (10:29):
I've always heard of those movies as being
groundbreaking in terms ofcinematography.

SPEAKER_03 (10:35):
Yes, exactly.
It is a really interesting...
I'm trying to put myself in thehead of a cinematographer who
has to frame up a boob shot.
I mean, it's very technical.
I'm sure.
Yeah, it's just bizarre.
He shot a TV series.
So I'm guessing this is basedoff the film The Hitchhiker.

(10:57):
And then his final credit wasthe Bob Clark film Loose
Cannons.

SPEAKER_01 (11:01):
Fun fact about Reggie Morris.
I don't know if he went byReggie ever.
Reggie.
Born on the 4th of July.
Oh,

SPEAKER_03 (11:07):
interesting.
That is always interesting.

SPEAKER_01 (11:09):
In the UK, so it wouldn't have mattered.

SPEAKER_03 (11:11):
Oh, that's very funny.
They're like, yeah.
Yeah.
So, July 4, any ordinary day.
Okay, so we are moving on to twogentlemen that we have talked
about not too long ago.
So, we're talking about thecomposers of this film.
Paul Zaza.
Zaza.
I love saying that name.
Paul Zaza and Carl Zitrer.

(11:34):
Okay.
Zitrer.
Really?
No, you say

SPEAKER_01 (11:37):
it.
What?
Zitrer.
Zitrer.
Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_03 (11:40):
Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 (11:41):
It just comes out that way.

SPEAKER_03 (11:43):
It comes out that way.
So they collaborated on thisfilm, and they weren't– I don't
know how you put it.
They weren't exclusive to eachother in terms of collaboration,
but they did collaborate on likea couple films.

SPEAKER_01 (11:57):
Okay.

SPEAKER_03 (11:58):
Zaza has

SPEAKER_01 (11:58):
– They had an open relationship.
Yes,

SPEAKER_03 (12:00):
exactly.
Zaza has a little bit of alonger filmography, at least of–
projects that I was familiarwith.
Some of his films, I think Ihave almost all films for him.
Stone Cold Dead.
So...
Super

SPEAKER_01 (12:14):
dead.

SPEAKER_03 (12:15):
This is the most recent time we've talked about
both of them.
Prom Night.
Okay.
So they scored Prom Night, andhe actually has credits for the
entire franchise.
So there is a Prom Nightfranchise that...
Hello, Mary Lou, Prom Night 2,Prom Night 3, The Last Kiss, and

(12:36):
Prom Night 4, Deliver Us fromEvil.
So

SPEAKER_01 (12:39):
you did all of them.
It sure felt like things werewrapped up in the first one, but
we know.
We talked about that in thatepisode.

SPEAKER_03 (12:46):
I haven't really actually watched the other ones.
I've heard they're actually notterrible.
And...
I think it's like kind of maybean anthology in terms of like
they're continuing on with maybea general theme of high school
kids getting murdered, but Idon't think it involves the same
characters.

SPEAKER_01 (13:01):
Oh, okay.
So I think

SPEAKER_03 (13:03):
we also talked about him for My Bloody Valentine,
which was earlier this year.
He did score Porky's.
There's music in that movie?
Yeah, I know, right?
He did a film called Melanie.
Meatballs 3, Summer Job.
He also scored Clark's LooseCannons.

(13:23):
A lot of guys coming togethermultiple times collaborate.
This– I feel like I brought thisup not too long ago.
Maybe it was from Prom Night.
Flesh Gordon meets the CosmicCheerleaders.

SPEAKER_01 (13:36):
Okay.
That– I

SPEAKER_03 (13:40):
feel like IMDb is getting a little bit relaxed on
because we'll we'll get to it.
We'll get to it in a second withone of our main characters.
They, I think, have now allowedmention of like a more adult
type films.

SPEAKER_01 (13:57):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (13:58):
So and in any case, Zaza also scored the TV series
Renton 10, Canine Cop, The Rage.
And then he also did BabyGeniuses as well as Superbabies.
Baby Geniuses 2.
Okay.
His partner on this film, alittle bit of a shorter
filmography, although this isinteresting because he did
collaborate with Clark onChildren Shouldn't Play With
Dead Things.

(14:18):
This is Carl now, right?
This is Carl.
I'm not going to say his lastname again.
It's Carl.
Carl! I feel bad aboutbutchering it.
He also did, love this one,Blood Orgy of the She-Devils.

SPEAKER_01 (14:31):
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
That sounds intense.

SPEAKER_03 (14:34):
It definitely seems like there was like an early,
like in both of their earliercareers, focus on horror because
he scored Black Christmas.
And he also, again, like Imentioned, collaborated with
Zaza on Prom Night.
And then he also scored wherethey worked together again on
Porky's.
And he also has a credit forPorky's 2 the next day.

SPEAKER_01 (14:53):
Okay.

SPEAKER_03 (14:55):
Okay, film editing.
Can

SPEAKER_01 (14:57):
I, I have two more for him, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_03 (14:58):
Oh, go

SPEAKER_01 (14:59):
for it.
These are just related.
So they're not like, he was anadditional music editor and a
supervising music editor onPrancer and Moonstruck,
respectively.

SPEAKER_03 (15:09):
Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_01 (15:10):
Two movies that we covered and really enjoyed.

SPEAKER_03 (15:12):
Yeah, we love those movies.
Okay, Stan Cole.
So he cut this film.
And let's see.
I have mostly film, a little bitof TV for him.
So he was the editor on BlackChristmas.
He did a film, My Pleasure is MyBusiness.

UNKNOWN (15:33):
Nice.

SPEAKER_03 (15:34):
I think that's a great title.
King Solomon's Treasure.
He was the editor on Porky's andPorky's 2.

SPEAKER_01 (15:43):
I see a sense of theme here.
Look, I'm always kind ofsurprised at whatever pops up.
There's always something wherethere's like this common thread
through a movie.
The last fucking thing that Iwould have ever imagined.
Like all

SPEAKER_03 (15:56):
these guys working on fucking Porky's.

SPEAKER_01 (15:58):
All Porky's all the time.
All

SPEAKER_03 (16:00):
Porky's all the time.
These guys must have reallyliked working together.

SPEAKER_01 (16:03):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (16:03):
Because now there is like a common refrain for
multiple films already.

SPEAKER_02 (16:08):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (16:08):
He was the editor on Rhinestone.
He also did cut the TV seriesThe Hitchhiker.
He did also cut Lou's Cannons.
He...
Kind of a weird connection withZaza.
So he comes back for Prom Night4, Deliver Us From Evil.
So he does that one.
He cuts Baby Geniuses and SuperBaby's Baby Geniuses 2.
Are

SPEAKER_01 (16:28):
there only two of those?
I can't believe there are onlytwo Super Genius Baby Geniuses.
I feel like there was

SPEAKER_03 (16:32):
probably other properties related to that.
Got to be.
But I didn't put them down.
He was the editor on Blonde andBlonder.
So that was the last credit forClark that was uncredited.
And then he did some...
TV movies, specifically Murder,She Wrote.
He did four of those.
Okay.
So, okay.
Moving on to the stars of thisfilm.

(16:53):
I am not ordering them the waythat IMDb ordered them.

SPEAKER_01 (16:57):
I think that I get the top two billing being Old
Man and Mom, Mother Parker.
But Peter Billingsley is likecriminally low down on this
list.
We're starting with him.
We should, right?
We're

SPEAKER_03 (17:10):
starting with Ralphie.
I mean, come on.
What?
Yeah.

UNKNOWN (17:13):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (17:13):
So Peter Billingsley, he is Ralphie,
Ralphie Parker.
And he does a great job in thismovie.
I'm always very impressed bygood kid

SPEAKER_01 (17:28):
actors.

SPEAKER_03 (17:28):
Yeah.
So he's the star of this film.
He's the main character of thisfilm.
And he was like a pretty...
I don't know, prolific isprobably a little hyperbolic,
but he did a lot of acting whenhe was a kid.
Now as an adult, every once in awhile you see him in something,
but for the most part, he's likea producer now.

(17:50):
That's more so what he does.
But strictly speaking, actingcredits, these are all when he
was still fairly young.
Honky Tonk Freeway.
Okay.
I think I have, yes, I have allfilms for him.
The Dirt Bike Kid.
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (18:05):
The Dirt Bike Kid, that sounds familiar.
I

SPEAKER_03 (18:07):
think I said this wrong the last time, and I don't
remember why I brought it up,but I said, I think, Ruskies,
but you, I think, corrected me,and you were like, no, it should
be Ruskies.

SPEAKER_01 (18:17):
It's for sure Ruskies, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (18:18):
But it's R-U-S-S.
Isn't that Russ?
Ruskies?

SPEAKER_01 (18:23):
I mean, I think the pronunciation is a long U for...
You're right,

SPEAKER_03 (18:27):
you're

SPEAKER_01 (18:28):
right.

SPEAKER_03 (18:29):
It's Ruskies.
Ruskies.
Beverly Hills Brats.
So here we go.
As an adult, some of hiscredits, this one's fun.
I think it's literally, blinkand you'll miss him, but he is
in the movie Elf.

SPEAKER_01 (18:44):
Amazing.

SPEAKER_03 (18:44):
Do you know who he is?
I

SPEAKER_01 (18:46):
do.
Yes.

SPEAKER_03 (18:47):
But that's because I'm...

SPEAKER_01 (18:49):
Who is Ming Ming?
That's what he has listed.
That's his credit in

SPEAKER_03 (18:55):
elf.
Oh, well, then that's the elf.

SPEAKER_01 (18:57):
That's, I guess, his elf name.
His elf name?
Okay.
Okay.
There were two others that Iwanted to mention.

SPEAKER_03 (19:02):
Oh, I'm not done yet.

SPEAKER_01 (19:03):
Okay.

SPEAKER_03 (19:04):
Yeah.
But I was waiting for you toexplain which elf he is in elf.

SPEAKER_01 (19:09):
I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 (19:09):
Oh, okay.
So when Buddy...
It's early in the film.

SPEAKER_01 (19:14):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (19:15):
And Buddy clearly is showing he does not have the elf
capabilities to make toys theway that elves usually make
toys.

SPEAKER_01 (19:22):
He doesn't.
He's still really good, though.

SPEAKER_03 (19:23):
He's still really good.
So he comes up to the elf that'skind of supervising everybody to
give him his daily total.
He

SPEAKER_01 (19:31):
did have glasses on.

SPEAKER_03 (19:32):
That's Peter Billingsley.

SPEAKER_01 (19:33):
Okay.

SPEAKER_03 (19:34):
That's the elf.

SPEAKER_01 (19:35):
Okay.
I don't know.
I honestly am surprised I didn'trecognize him.

SPEAKER_03 (19:39):
It's the blue eyes.

SPEAKER_01 (19:40):
Yeah.

UNKNOWN (19:41):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (19:41):
uh well the other the other ones i'm gonna say
really quickly you can bring upif i miss some he's in the
breakup iron man for christmas'sspider-man far from home and of
course he is the star he comesback as ralphie adult ralphie
for a christmas story christmas

SPEAKER_01 (19:57):
is he he's in iron man

SPEAKER_03 (19:58):
that's what there's a it might be a blank and you
miss it role i don't rememberhim he

SPEAKER_01 (20:04):
had a producer credit on iron man too

SPEAKER_03 (20:06):
Yeah, he's done well for himself as a producer.

SPEAKER_01 (20:10):
He was also in two episodes of The Wonder Years,
which was created in part- Ofthe nostalgia.
Not based on, but yeah.
Yeah, I don't think The WonderYears would have happened if not
for A Christmas Story.
I

SPEAKER_03 (20:24):
could see that.

SPEAKER_01 (20:25):
And then he also was in 11 episodes of a TV show
called Sherman Oaks.

SPEAKER_03 (20:30):
You know what?
I saw that.

SPEAKER_01 (20:32):
Yeah.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (20:33):
And I didn't put it in because I was like, nobody's
going to.

SPEAKER_01 (20:36):
I found that interesting.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (20:41):
Moving on.
So adult Ralphie in this film.
So we don't see adult Ralphie.
We just hear adult Ralphie.
As I mentioned, is Gene Shepard.
So of the IMDb credits for himwhere it's like narration, voice
work, it's mostly is likeRalphie Parker.
So it's not like he broke out todo other stuff.

(21:05):
Like he kind of stayed withinthe properties that he had
created himself.

SPEAKER_01 (21:09):
I can only assume it wasn't for a lack of
opportunity.
Like he just wanted to do thatbecause, again, he was a great
voice performance.

SPEAKER_03 (21:18):
Very much so, yeah.
And it might have been somethingwhere it's like, well, I know
these-

SPEAKER_01 (21:22):
It would have fallen flat without it.

SPEAKER_03 (21:24):
Yeah.
I know these properties.
I made these properties.
I love these properties.
That's why I want to do itspecifically to tell these
stories.

SPEAKER_01 (21:31):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (21:32):
But-

SPEAKER_01 (21:32):
I'm sure you can find someone who wrote something
who is absolute garbage atnarrating it.

SPEAKER_03 (21:38):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (21:39):
So just because he knows it and he wrote it?

SPEAKER_03 (21:41):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (21:42):
He knows

SPEAKER_03 (21:43):
intonation.
He knows where to put emphasis.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay, moving on to– it's wild tome, but I guess Ralphie's
parents never referred to eachother by a first name.
They sure don't.
So we don't know first names.
Melinda Dillon, we just know asMother Parker, which is kind of

(22:03):
a wild way

SPEAKER_01 (22:03):
to– It's really weird.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (22:06):
But– That's how she's credited.
So, yeah, I don't think old manParker, who is the dad, ever
says her first name.
She never says his first name.

SPEAKER_01 (22:15):
Fair is fair.
Neither one of them have a name.
We've covered several movies nowwhere the mom is just mother.

SPEAKER_03 (22:20):
Yeah, yeah.
I guess it's fair play that bothof them have no name.
She's a super familiar actress.
She passed away not too longago.
She passed away in 2023.
She had stopped acting, Ibelieve, like well before that.
Her last credit, I think, was in2007.
So it had been a while by thetime she had passed away that

(22:40):
she had acted.
Really?
And also, Oscar-nominatedactress.
Really?
Okay.
Yes, multiple times over.
So she also is kind of all overthe place with her credits.
Gosh, did I even see this?
I might have even seen thismovie before Christmas Story.
I personally...

(23:01):
I think my first memory of heris from Slapshot.

SPEAKER_01 (23:04):
Yeah,

SPEAKER_03 (23:05):
I knew you were going to say that.
And they're just kind of havinga conversation in bed.

SPEAKER_04 (23:23):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (23:23):
And the entirety of the scene, she is topless just
talking to him, which I guessthat is maybe a more realistic
depiction of how a scene likethat would go.
But yeah, she's just sittingthere and having a conversation
with him.
Okay.
So that's her in that.
My guess is that when you thinkof Melinda Dillon, you probably

(23:45):
first think of...

SPEAKER_01 (23:46):
Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

SPEAKER_03 (23:48):
Correct.

SPEAKER_01 (23:49):
Yeah.
No topless scenes.
Just a really good movie.

SPEAKER_03 (23:53):
For which she got a Best Supporting Actress
nomination.

SPEAKER_01 (23:57):
That's cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I can see that.

SPEAKER_03 (23:58):
Yep.
Yeah.
She's very good in that.
What was her kid's name?

SPEAKER_01 (24:04):
Barry.

SPEAKER_03 (24:04):
Barry.

SPEAKER_01 (24:05):
Yeah.
I only remember it because it'slike.

SPEAKER_03 (24:08):
What a name.
Barry.
I mean, it's a perfectly finename.
Sorry to anybody named Barry outthere.
It

SPEAKER_01 (24:14):
was a good first season of one show.

SPEAKER_03 (24:17):
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
So she gets another BestSupporting Actress nomination
for yet another film that sheco-stars with Paul Newman,
Absence of Malice.
So I don't know that movie.
I don't either.
We could cover it.
We could cover it.
She also was in Harry and theHendersons, the 1990 Captain

(24:39):
America.
Oh,

SPEAKER_01 (24:40):
okay.

UNKNOWN (24:41):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (24:42):
She also was in Prince of Tides.
I have all– well, she did do aton of TV work.
I just featured films that shewas in.

SPEAKER_01 (24:49):
Got it.

SPEAKER_03 (24:50):
To Wong Fu, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar.
I need to just finally see thatmovie.
Never saw it.
How to Make an American Quilt,Magnolia, and Reign Over Me.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay, moving on to, yes, we havealready referred to him, Old Man
Parker, which there is a littlebit of an age difference between
him and his wife.

SPEAKER_01 (25:11):
There is.
I don't know.
We've certainly seen worse.

SPEAKER_03 (25:17):
Yes, we have.
Darren McGavin.
One thing that's interesting,though, really quickly now that
I'm thinking about it, whenRalphie has this like throwaway
line about how his mom hasn'thad a hot meal in 15 years, I'm
like, well, why would that be?
Because Ralphie is the elderson.
He's only nine.
So are you telling me that evenbefore they had kids, she was
like slaving over her husband?

(25:39):
Probably.
But that made me sad.
Anyway, or maybe he's beinghyperbolic.
Kids are hyperbolic.
Darren McGavin.
So he had an amazing career,largely in television.
He had a phenomenal TV career.

SPEAKER_01 (25:55):
Yeah, it's crazy how many things he was in.

SPEAKER_03 (25:57):
Yes.
And the things that I'm actuallylisting by name are just some of
the shows where he had likeextended runs.
He...
was on a ton of shows where hewas on one time, two times.
And so I picked the ones wherehe had kind of like an ongoing
role.

SPEAKER_01 (26:13):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (26:14):
So he was on a TV show called Crime Photographer.

SPEAKER_01 (26:18):
Okay.
I

SPEAKER_03 (26:19):
do have a couple films for him that are sprinkled
throughout.
He was in The Man with theGolden Arm.

SPEAKER_01 (26:23):
Oh, my God.
I thought you were like one wordaway from a James Bond title.
The man with the golden gun.

SPEAKER_03 (26:29):
I thought so.
Yeah.
I thought so.
He is Mike Hammer in the TV showMike Hammer.
That's

SPEAKER_01 (26:35):
pretty cool.

SPEAKER_03 (26:36):
Yeah.
He headlined a TV show.
I think more than once, too.
He was on a TV show calledRiverboat.
So this was interesting.
He was in a TV movie called TheOutsider.
And then I guess maybe it waspopular enough that they just
then turned it into a TV series.
I have heard of things likethat.
Like, that happens.
Oh, yeah.
So then he comes back for the TVseries.

(26:57):
He was also on a TV seriescalled, I'm going to say,
Kolchak, colon, The NightStalker.

SPEAKER_01 (27:04):
Not Kojak.
Kolchak.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (27:07):
Yes, correct.
Not Kojak.

SPEAKER_01 (27:09):
Kolchak.

SPEAKER_03 (27:11):
It's crazy.
Okay.
Anyway, it's like fraud alert,frog alert.
Frog alert.
Frog alert.
Frog alert.
We're on the same page.
We're on the same page.
He was in the film Airport 77.
He also, this is crazy to me, healso was in the 1990 Captain
America.
Wow.
Isn't that funny?
So he kind of reteams with her.

SPEAKER_01 (27:31):
Because Mother Parker was Mrs.
Rogers.

SPEAKER_03 (27:35):
I don't know what his role was.
Sorry.
He also was in a differentmovie.
Adam Sandler film.
He was in Billy Madison.
And yeah, just had a veryextensive,

SPEAKER_01 (27:45):
wonderful, full career.
He's uncredited, but he is inThe Natural.
Oh,

SPEAKER_03 (27:50):
okay.

SPEAKER_01 (27:50):
Yeah.
And I recognize him.
I recognize seeing him in thatmovie.

SPEAKER_03 (27:55):
So now we're moving on to...
Oh, well, there's one outlier.
But for the most part, all thekids, besides Ralphie, in the
film.
Starting with Randy Parker.
I feel bad because...
I don't know if this is a hottake or not.
Randy is so annoying to me.
He

SPEAKER_01 (28:10):
did his job very well.
I

SPEAKER_03 (28:12):
guess so.
Yeah.
Yeah.
As like a little brother.
But it wasn't even him beingannoying as little brother.
He's just constantly whining.
Yeah.
Oh, Randy's annoying.
Played by Ian Petrella.
Not an extensive filmography.
We have some TV appearances,specifically when he was still

(28:32):
really little.
So he was on Different Strokes,Who's the Boss, Highway to
Heaven, like kind of a what'swhat of 80s shows.
Yeah, that's amazing.
My Sister Sam.
And then also, this was early90s, I think, Beverly Hills
90210.
Like, I think it started in1980.
I don't think it ever...
Blood into the 80s.

SPEAKER_01 (28:50):
He's played such characters as kid, big kid,
trick-or-treater.
I

SPEAKER_03 (28:56):
love that.
And then he comes back, and thisis going to be a common refrain
for these younger actors, hecomes back for A Christmas Story
Christmas.
That's cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Moving on to, now the next twopeople I'm mentioning are
Ralphie's friends.
So the first is Flick.

UNKNOWN (29:16):
Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 (29:16):
And Flick is the one that does actually get his
tongue stuck to the pole.

SPEAKER_01 (29:22):
So that's that friend.
Like a suction cup, a suctiondevice in the pole to give the
appearance of it being stuck.

SPEAKER_03 (29:28):
That makes sense because I was like, even if
you're a great kid actor, giventhe way his body, like what he
was doing with his body, itwould have been really hard for
him to keep that position.

SPEAKER_01 (29:37):
Because you see the tongue kind of like stretching a
little bit.
Yeah, they had like a suctioncup on it.

SPEAKER_03 (29:42):
Which I'm like, they should hopefully have had
like...
People on set to make sure thatthat kid...
I don't know.
I don't know if you can do thattoday.
I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 (29:49):
I'm sure it's fine.

SPEAKER_03 (29:50):
I'm sure it's fine.
Scott Schwartz, which is funnybecause his real last name is
the name of another character'sname.
So he has continued to act.
Oh, great.
And also produce.
Okay, that's super cool.
So...
What's he been doing?
Okay, so here's the thing.
Some of his...

(30:13):
Credits shortly after AChristmas Story, he was in the
toy Raiders of the Living Dead.

SPEAKER_01 (30:18):
Sounds interesting, but okay.

SPEAKER_03 (30:21):
Then he pivots.

SPEAKER_01 (30:25):
Oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_03 (30:25):
Into Adult Fair.

SPEAKER_01 (30:27):
I'm sorry, what?

SPEAKER_03 (30:29):
So, for instance, he was in a video called Scotty's
X-Rated Adventure.
Okay.
As well as Dirty Bob's X-RatedAdventure.
Like the letter X, Solent,Adventures, 36 and 35.
I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 (30:47):
Are there 34 others?
I don't

SPEAKER_03 (30:50):
know.
I don't know.
But he was in those.
Yeah.
Not too long ago, he was in TheQuarantine Bunch.
And then he actually does alsocome back for A Story

SPEAKER_01 (31:02):
Christmas.
Amazing.

SPEAKER_03 (31:03):
So I did...
Because when I was going throughhis filmography, I was like,
what is going on?
So he pivots into adult film.
And then I think at some pointhe wanted to not be part of it
anymore.
And that's a hard thing to do.

SPEAKER_01 (31:21):
For sure.

SPEAKER_03 (31:22):
For a lot of reasons.
Yeah.

UNKNOWN (31:24):
So...

SPEAKER_03 (31:25):
I can appreciate that for Christmas Story
Christmas, he was asked toreturn for that.
I think that was probably apretty big deal.

SPEAKER_01 (31:33):
I find it interesting.
I haven't seen this before.
I haven't seen a credit forbeing on a podcast series.
Yeah.
But he is credited as being onone episode of a podcast series
called Bitching with Bitchy theClown.

SPEAKER_03 (31:48):
Right.

SPEAKER_01 (31:49):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (31:49):
Very cool.
Bitching.

SPEAKER_01 (31:51):
Yeah.

UNKNOWN (31:51):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (31:51):
Okay.
Moving on to R.D.
Robb.
So he is Schwartz.
He's the other friend.
He's the one that Ralphiefalsely accuses of being the
friend from whom he learns theword that's not fudge.
And Schwartz gets the shit beatout of him by his mother because

(32:13):
of it.
At

SPEAKER_01 (32:13):
least we can hear it happening on the phone.
Yeah.
That

SPEAKER_03 (32:16):
was fun.

UNKNOWN (32:17):
So...

SPEAKER_03 (32:17):
Some of his credits include the Brady Bunch movie,
Matilda, Eight Days a Week.
He was on the TV series for alittle bit, The Goldbergs.
Okay.
And then Samesies.
He comes back for A ChristmasStory Christmas.

SPEAKER_01 (32:29):
That Christmas Story Christmas movie was like the
best thing that happened to afew people here.

SPEAKER_03 (32:36):
Exactly.
That's

SPEAKER_01 (32:37):
cool.

SPEAKER_03 (32:38):
Okay, so moving on to Zach Ward.
So he plays the main bully,Scott Farkas.

SPEAKER_01 (32:47):
Scott Farkas?
He had green eyes.
No, they were yellow eyes.
His toady friend had greenteeth.

SPEAKER_03 (32:54):
Yes, you're correct on

SPEAKER_01 (32:55):
that.

SPEAKER_03 (32:56):
This was his first acting credit, and man, he is
not...
portrayed in a positive way atall like he's just kind of the
worst and and I don't even knowif the actual physical bullying
is the worst part of it likejust the way he laughs and the
way he looks it's all just likeand actually from what I can
tell he's grown up to be a verysuccessful actor he's done a ton

(33:19):
of stuff that's great he's uhyes it's kind of wild so and I
guess his maybe his full name isZacharias because he has a
credit in a film I don't thinkit's is it Ed?
Ed with Matthew McConaughey.
I don't know.
But he's credited as ZachariasWard.
That is distinguished.
Which is like, keep that name,man.

(33:39):
Zacharias, that's an amazingname.
Love that.
So he also– I have most– well,mostly films, but then some TV.
Wild America, Anne of GreenGables, colon, The Continuing
Story,

SPEAKER_01 (33:54):
which

SPEAKER_03 (33:54):
should have never been made.

SPEAKER_01 (33:55):
It's like the next generation.

SPEAKER_03 (33:56):
It's still Anne and Gilbert, but– It didn't need to
be told, I feel.
You are an expert.
I'm not.
But I did have a very intenselove of the early Anna Green
Gables.
Yeah.
Like PBS series.

(34:17):
Loved it.
He was, I guess, an almostfamous.
I think...
I don't know if this is who hewas.
It's possible.
Like, you can't really suss himout because he has like a beard
and long hair, like kind of the70s kind of look.

SPEAKER_01 (34:33):
Oh, OK.

SPEAKER_03 (34:33):
And so.
I don't know if this isn't theone where he's like, hey, man,
like anyway, that's there's alot of guys in that movie.
They go, hey, man, but

SPEAKER_01 (34:42):
I'm going to need a little more.

SPEAKER_03 (34:44):
Sorry.
Anyways, in that movie, the TVseries Titus, some of these are
fun.
He's in Freddy versus Jason,Resident Evil 4.
colon apocalypse, the originaltransformers.
Hmm.
This one's a whole way.
I mean, the,

SPEAKER_01 (35:00):
the original live action with Shia LaBeouf.

SPEAKER_03 (35:03):
I believe so.
Okay.
Yeah.
These, uh, films always justhave the best names.
He's in Sharknado colon heart ofsharkness.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (35:15):
That's so good.
I

SPEAKER_03 (35:16):
mean, I hope who's ever coming up with these titles
will get paid because they areso fun.
They're so fun.
And then he really leads into, Ithink, his, what would I call
it, the legacy of A ChristmasStory.
Because, yes, he does come backfor A Christmas Story Christmas.
However, he also does AChristmas in Vermont, Second

(35:38):
Chance for Christmas.
So he does some of theseHallmark-esque type things.
He also was in the TV series Zeenation which was that about
zombies

SPEAKER_01 (35:48):
i i don't know

SPEAKER_03 (35:48):
and he's just done a ton of tv work like he's just
been busy very busy

SPEAKER_01 (35:52):
i mean he's been in an episode of party of five

SPEAKER_03 (35:56):
well there you go

SPEAKER_01 (35:57):
and it's always sunny so he's like a ton of yeah
i got i got more wanting moreamerican horror story sure
that's all i got actually

SPEAKER_03 (36:05):
well all i got our last credit is I had to include
Miss Shields.

SPEAKER_01 (36:11):
I feel bad for the person who played Miss Shields.

SPEAKER_03 (36:15):
You do?

SPEAKER_01 (36:15):
Well, she was pregnant.

SPEAKER_03 (36:19):
She was.
I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_01 (36:20):
And so they had to just bulk her up overall because
they couldn't have someoneappearing to be a single
pregnant woman.
person in the movie in thattime.
They could

SPEAKER_03 (36:31):
have just called her Mrs.
Shields if they're going to havea problem with it.
I mean,

SPEAKER_01 (36:36):
good lord.
They could either call you Mrs.
Shields or we're going to loadyou up with a bunch of stuff to
make you just look stout is whatit says.

SPEAKER_03 (36:43):
They did a good job because I had no idea.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (36:45):
I

SPEAKER_03 (36:46):
had no idea.
And also like...

SPEAKER_01 (36:49):
That would have been a much more elegant fix.

SPEAKER_03 (36:51):
Yeah, just call her Mrs.
Shields.
This is very weird.
Very weird.
Played by Teddy Moore and...
You know, not an extensivefilmography, but some of her
credits, a couple films.
We have Rolling Vengeance.
She is also in My Summer Story.
She has done some voice work.
She did voice in a TV series.

(37:14):
I like the name of it.
Roly Poly Oly.
I like it.
Fun.
Yeah.
She was in the TV miniseries TheKennedys.
And then she also has leanedinto kind of the– The name she
got from this film.
So she's in Mistletoe overManhattan and Magical Christmas
Ornaments.
And she's also just donemultiple TV movies.

(37:36):
Okay.
Moving on to film synopsis.
Yeah.
In the 1940s, a young boy namedRalphie Parker attempts to
convince his parents, teacher,and Santa Claus that a Red Ryder
Range 200 shot BB gun really isthe perfect Christmas gift.
Sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.

(37:56):
You know, one thing that Ithought was interesting when you
are watching it, I thinksometimes you get these really
clear reminders that it's the1940s.
And sometimes it doesn't seemlike it's the 1940s at all.
Like, for instance, in theopening scene, especially when
they're kind of giving you justlike a little bit of a montage
of the town.

(38:17):
Specifically, there's a scenewith carolers.

SPEAKER_04 (38:20):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (38:20):
They look like they were straight out of the 1970s,
to be honest, with their attire.

SPEAKER_01 (38:25):
Yeah, yeah.
When I think back on when Ifirst became aware of this, I
don't think it's not a moviethat I remember ever seeing in
the movie theater.
It's just always been around.
I think my dad introduced me orwanted to watch it, so we saw
it.
And I never really thought abouteven that, like, in my mind, it

(38:47):
was just like old timey.

SPEAKER_03 (38:48):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (38:49):
So to the extent that, like, even the Carolers at
the beginning looked like theywere from, like, not the same
generation.
I never really thought about itmuch.

SPEAKER_03 (38:56):
They didn't look like they were from 83.
That would have been amazing.
It didn't look quite in linewith everything else.
But I think overall...
It is– you know, there's alwaysa– I mean, it's funny to say
nostalgia because, like, we'renot from the 1940s.
We don't really know the 1940s.
But when you

SPEAKER_01 (39:15):
see– Yeah, it's weird.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (39:16):
When you see films set back in eras before our
time,

SPEAKER_01 (39:20):
you

SPEAKER_03 (39:21):
just immediately kind of get a nostalgic kind of
whatever.
Yeah.
But it is also really funny– Ican understand why, although I
don't think she behaved in thebest way with the lamp, why
Mother Parker was so appalled bythe lamp.

(39:43):
Because I would think that therewas kind of a propriety of the
1940s in most areas of suburbanAmerica, especially the Midwest.

SPEAKER_01 (39:51):
To not have a sexy lug lamp in your front window.
Yes,

SPEAKER_03 (39:53):
exactly, with like fishnet stockings.

SPEAKER_01 (39:56):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (39:58):
You know, it's like, use your words, talk to him
about how you feel instead ofjust, like, sabotaging it and
breaking it.
Because, like, I did kind offeel bad for him.
He was so happy about it.

SPEAKER_01 (40:12):
Their relationship is, like, actually more
interesting the more, like, Iwas kind of following the movie
in a way that I normallywouldn't because I've seen it so
many times now and it's just onon Christmas and I've had it on
for, like...
years and years and years atChristmas, but they had like a
really interesting relationshipand it felt like there was more

(40:34):
going on between them.
Like little subtle things.
Yeah.
Just like looks when Ralphie gotin the fight.

SPEAKER_03 (40:40):
Yes.

SPEAKER_01 (40:41):
Or like, cause they, they present the dad or old man
Parker as not really beingpresent, but he's obviously way
more aware of everything goingon in the house than, than he
lets on all the time.

SPEAKER_03 (40:54):
Well, even I was surprised.
I mean, and we'll to your point,you make an excellent point.
And we'll get to like the mainexample of that, which is like
kind of the climax of the movie.
But I was actually surprisedthat he kind of ratted out
Ralphie when Ralphie sworebecause there was actually a
look he has when he tellsRalphie to get back in the car

(41:16):
where it almost looks like asmirk to me yeah and I was like
oh he thinks it's kind of funny

SPEAKER_01 (41:21):
he still might

SPEAKER_03 (41:22):
he still might but he just like threw his kid under
the bus anyway but and so Ithought that was kind of
interesting and Yeah, you'reright.
They do have– and just littlethings like where they're like,
oh, I think I hear Santa.
And then like the kids goupstairs and they're like, okay,
let's go.
Like they just have like– theyact with each other in a very
different way alone than they doalso with the kids.

SPEAKER_01 (41:44):
At the very end when they're just like watching the
snow.
Yeah,

SPEAKER_03 (41:47):
yeah.
It was really nice.
But yeah, to your point, at theend where he knows all along–
Although, were you being seriousabout what you thought was the
inception point for the dad?

SPEAKER_01 (42:02):
I don't know.
I thought that at the verybeginning, when he slips in the
ad, I guess, or something forthe Red Ryder BB gun into his
mom's magazine, I thought, yeah,it's possible that she'd open
that, see it, say something, thedad sees it.
I think it's possible.

(42:22):
Sure.
Yeah.
I think he may have planted eversince then, or he knew ever
since that moment.

SPEAKER_03 (42:28):
Possibly.
And I mean, just like littlethings like when, you know,
before he clues Ralphie intowhere the gun is hiding.
Yeah.
You know, where he knows allalong.
He's like, so did you have agood Christmas?
Did you get everything youwanted?
Like, he knows.
He knows.
Yeah.
I do like that.
And also...
He

SPEAKER_01 (42:47):
heard him and he knew what he wanted and he is
aware of what's going on in hiskid's life in a way that the
whole movie makes you think isnot happening.

SPEAKER_03 (42:56):
Yes.
And I think I want to givecredit to both parents because I
think both parents are a littlebit more clued in than sometimes
they are shown to be.
Like when Rami beats the shitout of Scud and...
The mom comes and grabs him andhe's upset and she kind of gets
it like she doesn't she doesn'tthrow him under.

(43:19):
She does

SPEAKER_01 (43:20):
not.

SPEAKER_03 (43:20):
She he could have gotten.
I mean, he's in presumably somuch trouble that Randy
literally thinks their dad isgoing to kill him.
Yeah.
And she understands in thatmoment that him getting in
trouble is not going to helpanything.
And so she doesn't.
Obscure what happened.
She does tell her husband, yep,he was in a fight.

SPEAKER_01 (43:42):
And there's this look between them.

SPEAKER_03 (43:43):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (43:44):
Right.
And it felt like that was likekind of a cool moment that I
don't think I'd really likethought about before.
Because we're not

SPEAKER_03 (43:52):
looking at the parents when you're watching
this when you're younger.

SPEAKER_01 (43:54):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it was kind of like this lookthat was like, I handled it.
Yes.
It's fine.
And

SPEAKER_03 (44:00):
he's like, OK, I trust that you handled it.

SPEAKER_01 (44:02):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (44:02):
You know, and she does have a throwaway line where
she's like, yeah, I gave him atalking to.
Mm hmm.
And that's it.
So I think both parents, like,at times they come across– like,
I got to be honest.
The scene where she'sencouraging Randy to be a piggy,
I'm like, this has gone on twominutes too long.
Like, I didn't necessarily needthis.
And, you know, the dad also haskind of his more, like,

(44:25):
heightened reality type moments.
But I do like the parentsoverall.
I think they're good parents.
It's an interesting setup, too.
I think that, like, consideringthe– Yeah.
I didn't see her fixing

SPEAKER_01 (45:01):
the furnace.

SPEAKER_03 (45:01):
True.
That's true.
But...

SPEAKER_01 (45:04):
Platypus knot.

SPEAKER_03 (45:05):
I do think that there is like a respect between
the two of them and like apartnership between them, which
I liked seeing.
Yeah.
So, I mean, overall, we'vetalked about this where I can't
really claim A Christmas Storyis like one of my favorite
Christmas movies, but it's avery...
It's a comfort film.

SPEAKER_04 (45:24):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (45:24):
And...
We mentioned this.
This is probably why a lot ofpeople feel this way about this
film because you can literallysit down at any point and you
haven't really missed anythingand you'll get something
enjoyable out of the next coupleminutes if like all you do is
sit down for two or threeminutes and then you have to get
up again.
It

SPEAKER_01 (45:39):
works good as having it as a movie that is just on in
like a repeat loop for hours andhours because you could start
the movie from the middle, watchit through the end, watch the
next– like presentationsbeginning and it feels like,
yeah, this still works.
This still like kind of fitstogether.
It's fine.

SPEAKER_03 (45:58):
Yeah.
And I mean, that's probablylook, I haven't read the book
where in God, we trust all allothers pay cash.
It sounds like it's probablymaybe a bunch of short stories,
which is why the film feels theway it does.

SPEAKER_01 (46:11):
The story of Ralphie and his gun is from the story in
God, we trust all others pay.
So, yeah, that's possible.
And the fun thing about that isthat the gun that he actually
talks about in the story thatthen is in the movie never
actually existed.
Like he misremembered certainfeatures in terms of.

(46:33):
like the compass or this thingwhich tells time, which I think
was a sundial.
Oh, yeah.
Which would be a weird thing tohave on a gun.
Yes.
So, like, when they realizedthat they actually had to get a
prop, they had to get somethingfor the movie, they reached out
to the Daisy Rifle Company andthey made a custom one for the
movie.

SPEAKER_03 (46:50):
Oh, that's cool.
Yeah.
I mean...
I'm not going to go down arabbit hole in terms of like.

SPEAKER_01 (46:58):
Too late.
We're like now we're into thisalmost.

SPEAKER_03 (47:00):
Well, meaning the fact that this kid is like
obsessed with the gun.
It's a BB gun.
And, you know, just the way thatyou would look at it through.

SPEAKER_01 (47:09):
The 40s Westerns like.
Yes.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (47:13):
It meant an entirely kind of different thing.

SPEAKER_01 (47:15):
I'm not going to feel any certain way about the
way in which guns areessentially fetishized in the
movie.
Like, yeah, you could go down.
You could go down that.
like um that rabbit hole but ithink it's like an imperfect way
of analyzing the movie andyou're like trying to apply a
2024 lens to a movie made in the80s about the 40s

SPEAKER_03 (47:36):
exactly i mean i do think it's hilarious when he
finally gets the gun and he goesoutside and he's like i did
shoot my eye out like i meanit's actually oh my god i did
shoot it's Pretty funny.
And I will say this about BBguns.
So I never had a BB gun.
I didn't ever think to want a BBgun.
But I did know someone who– so ayoung– like a boy and he had

(48:01):
brothers.
And one of them had a BB gun.
Mm-hmm.
And they were not.

SPEAKER_04 (48:22):
And

SPEAKER_03 (48:24):
I remember this guy got shot by one of his brothers
and he got shot in the forearm.
And they were so scared oftelling their parents that he
had gotten hurt.
They never said anything.
And so the kid, I swear to you,you could see the skin grew over
because the BB gun was embeddedin his arm.

(48:44):
And you could kind of move it alittle bit under the skin.
It was disgusting.
And I'm like, that seems likenasty.
Pretty

SPEAKER_01 (48:52):
lucky you didn't get, like, an infection or
something.
Yes!

SPEAKER_03 (48:56):
And I'm like, and you have metal,

SPEAKER_01 (48:57):
right?
I don't think that's, like,surgical

SPEAKER_03 (48:59):
grade.
Yeah, the BB is, like, in yourbody

SPEAKER_01 (49:02):
now.
Oh, well.
It's probably, like, grownaround.
It's like a cyst now in his arm.
They're not

SPEAKER_03 (49:07):
harmless.
Like, they can actually reallyhurt you.
So...
Be careful.
I don't know.
Do they still sell BB guns?
Is that like a thing?
I'm sure.

SPEAKER_01 (49:16):
I don't know.
They probably they're probablylike crazy BB guns now.

SPEAKER_03 (49:20):
Yeah, unfortunately.
So in any case, I mean, it's anenjoyable film and it's a bunch
of and like so much of the filmhas nothing to do with.
the main through line of Ralphiewanting this gun.

SPEAKER_01 (49:32):
No, yeah, that's fair.
It's like all these like kind ofseparate but interconnected
experiences over Christmas time.

SPEAKER_03 (49:41):
Yeah, like Flick getting his tongue stuck has
nothing to do with the gun.
Ralphie beating up Scott, unlessI guess his parents were going
to maybe use that as like awarning or like a, you know, Now
you're not going to get the gunbecause you beat this kid up.

SPEAKER_01 (49:57):
It's so wild.
I just want to, like, you'vebeen saying his name correctly
the whole time, but it is wildthat his name is Scutt.

SPEAKER_03 (50:02):
Scutt.
Yeah.
Not Scott.
Scutt.

SPEAKER_01 (50:05):
S-C-U-T.
Yes.
Farkas.
Yes.
Just in case anyone was like,why is she saying it that way?
Why is she

SPEAKER_03 (50:10):
saying it?
I'm saying it right.
For once.
For once on this podcast, I amsaying something correctly.
Scutt.
Scutt.
So, yeah, it's a fun film, andI'm glad that we did finally
cover it.
Yeah.

UNKNOWN (50:23):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (50:23):
Because it's beloved by a lot of people.
It

SPEAKER_01 (50:26):
is beloved by me.
You

SPEAKER_03 (50:28):
probably love it more than I do.
But that doesn't mean I dislikeit in

SPEAKER_01 (50:33):
any way.
I'm sure I do.
And I resent how much you hateit.
I

SPEAKER_03 (50:38):
mean, I'm very curious if like a newer
generation also really lovesthis film much in the same way
that like in the 80s and 90s–It's a Wonderful Life was on TV
all the time.
I think

SPEAKER_01 (50:52):
that's right.

SPEAKER_03 (50:52):
Different reasoning.
It's because the copyright hadexpired.
So he could play it for no fee.
And that might be the reason whyI love that movie so much
because I saw it all the time.
And now, to your point, TBS andeven, I think, Disney and TNT as
well.
Don't both of them at differenttimes just play it on a 24-hour

(51:12):
loop or something?
I

SPEAKER_01 (51:14):
mean, they always do it for Christmas.
I don't know if it's bothnetworks because one of them
might have– like the basketballon Christmas.
I don't know.
Maybe at one point in

SPEAKER_03 (51:23):
the past they did.
But in any case, so a great wayto wrap up the season.
Yeah.
And call to action.
Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 (51:35):
What?
I guess the equivalent, likewhat was the equivalent of the
Red Ryder BB gun?
What was that one?
Oh, yeah.
What was that one gift that youalways

SPEAKER_03 (51:43):
wanted?
Hmm.
Okay.
I don't know if I ever...
I had like one toy where I waslike, I have to have this thing.
But growing up, like Barbies.
Okay.
Barbies were a really big deal.

SPEAKER_01 (51:59):
You won't be shocked at mine.

SPEAKER_03 (52:02):
Like Transformers or something?

SPEAKER_01 (52:03):
No, like a Nintendo Entertainment System.
Oh,

SPEAKER_03 (52:06):
sure.
Nintendo.
Okay, that's fair.
I do remember...
I don't remember.
I mean, I got a Nintendo.
I don't know how like...

SPEAKER_01 (52:16):
Came with like Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt.
Yeah.
I don't

SPEAKER_03 (52:19):
know how much of an argument I made to my father
about getting it.
I just, this sounds incrediblyspoiled.
I just got it.
But I don't remember being like,please, please, please, you
know.
But anyway.

SPEAKER_01 (52:30):
I think I probably had like the equivalent of like
a PowerPoint presentationshowing how much, look at how
much we'll save by having a homevideo game system versus going
to the arcade.
Yeah.
It was about saving money.

SPEAKER_03 (52:45):
And also, I mean, I think that kids nowadays,
there's just so much.
And the funny thing is, is likekids nowadays can still get the
things that we wanted when wewere children ourselves because
now everything's out there.
Yeah.
Like you can– whether it'sbecause they've like rebooted a

(53:05):
toy line or eBay or whatever,you can probably find– maybe at
a cost, but you could probablyfind anything you want nowadays
for the most part.
At a cost.
At a cost.
Yes.
So– Okay, so you didn'tspecifically ask a question, but
I think I know where you'regoing with this.
No,

SPEAKER_01 (53:24):
that was my call.
My call to action was like, whatis that one thing?
Oh, I thought you were

SPEAKER_03 (53:29):
asking me.
Sorry.
I was asking you and everyone.
Sorry.
My apologies.
That's a great question, though.
So if you want to reach out, wewould love to hear from you.
You can do so through Facebook,Instagram, or Axe.
Same handle at all three, at 80sMontage Pod, and 80s is 80S.
It is.
Sneak peek.

SPEAKER_01 (53:51):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (53:53):
There is no sneak peek because this is the season
finale.

SPEAKER_01 (53:56):
Oh, okay, okay.
So we're

SPEAKER_03 (53:57):
going to leave this a little bit of

SPEAKER_01 (54:00):
a surprise.
I have no idea.
What will we start the new yearoff with?
I don't know.
Yeah,

SPEAKER_03 (54:03):
we don't know.

SPEAKER_01 (54:04):
Will we start the new year?
We will.
We will.

SPEAKER_03 (54:06):
But we haven't yet decided yet.
We haven't firmed up the list.

SPEAKER_01 (54:11):
We have talked about several different things.

SPEAKER_03 (54:13):
We have talked about several films.

SPEAKER_01 (54:15):
I think you have a list.
I think you already have.
Okay,

SPEAKER_03 (54:17):
so I didn't say I didn't have a list.
I said I didn't firm up thelist.
I always have a list.
So yes, very excited about that.
And also we don't do this often,but because it is the finale, I
just wanted to, first of all,again, as we do always do, thank
everyone out there for takingthe time to listen to our

(54:37):
podcast.
Smash that like button.
Well, you're on the right track.
Lots of options out there.
So we do really appreciate youtaking the time to listen to
ours.
And if you feel so inclined to,All those things out there, like
Apple reviews and other kinds ofreviews, it does help with kind
of algorithms and getting usseen by more people.

SPEAKER_01 (54:59):
We should start off the episode with this.
A lot of people

SPEAKER_03 (55:02):
do.

SPEAKER_01 (55:02):
Hey.

SPEAKER_03 (55:03):
I just don't want to be obnoxious about

SPEAKER_01 (55:04):
it.
Hey, everyone.
Have you made it this far?
Thank

SPEAKER_03 (55:07):
you.
Have you made it 30 seconds in?
Give us a review.
So, obviously, good reviewswould be appreciated.
Hopefully not.
But

SPEAKER_01 (55:18):
honestly, if you've listened this far and you hear
this request and you just...
I hate this show.
That's the straw.
Go for it.
Hey, let it all out.
It's fine.
I

SPEAKER_03 (55:30):
mean, I have no control over people's actions.

SPEAKER_01 (55:32):
Anyway.

SPEAKER_03 (55:33):
Thank you again.
We are wishing you all out therea very merry end to your 2024.
However you choose to celebrate,stay safe.
And we are super excited to ringin 2025 with you in two weeks
time.