Going Hollywood - Movies and Television from the Golden Age to Today

We dive into Jesus Christ Superstar as a human story told through rock, politics, and performance, balancing reverence with critique. From a bus in the desert to tanks on the dunes, we trace how Norman Jewison’s choices turn myth into modern memory.

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Picture it: Hollywood 2025. 

Forty years after four unlikely roommates gathered around a kitchen table in Miami, “The Golden Girls”remains one of television's most beloved and groundbreaking sitcoms. In part two of our special 40th birthday celebration, we explore what made the show so revolutionary and why its legacy continues to resonate with audiences today. We’ll deep dive into the  “Golden Girls” universe, from untangling ...

Picture it: Hollywood 1985

A TV show premieres about about 4 women, well over "thirty-something", sharing their hopes, their dreams, their stories, and lots of cheesecake, in the youth-obsessed TV culture of the 1980s. Does the show survive? 

Get a clue, slut-puppy! It not only survived, it shot to the top of the ratings and dominated them for over 6 years. Yes, it's "The Golden Girls", and it's their 40...

Yowza! Yowza! Yowza!  

In the darkest year of the Great Depression, a group of desperate strangers gather at a seaside dance hall for a grueling marathon contest. The prize: $1,500 – enough money to transform their broken lives. The cost: pushing their bodies and minds beyond all human limits. Director Sidney Pollack crafts a mesmerizing allegory about capitalism and exploitation that still resonates decades later. 

"T...

Well, hello, Jupiter Hollow! 

There's something fishy going on up in the big city, and we don't know about you, but we're as mad as a wet wasp!! So, grab your Tuesday panties, your culottes, and your snake bracelets and join us, as we set out to kick some snooty New York ass up at the legendary Plaza Hotel in the name of "Big Business" (1988).

This delightful little farce starring the incomparable Bette Midle...

"Grand Hotel...people come, people go. Nothing ever happens."

With all due respect Lewis Stone, the actor who utters these immortal lines in this MGM classic, we couldn't disagree more!  “Grand Hotel” (1932), stands as one of the most significant achievements in early Hollywood cinema, not only for its revolutionary approach to casting but also for its sophisticated storytelling and visual innovation. 

"More stars...

The fictional St. Eligius Hospital (nicknamed "St. Elsewhere" for being a dumping ground where other hospitals sent unwanted patients) became the setting for television's first truly realistic medical drama. The doctors were flawed and worked in less-than-ideal conditions. Multi-layered narratives interweave throughout episodes, with character arcs spanning entire seasons. St. Elsewhere balanced serious themes and co...

"Dying is easy, comedy is hard."  

So were the alleged dying words of great English actor Edmund Kean in 1833. He couldn't have known that he was giving a perfect review of our film for today, Stanley Kramer's legendary comedic epic of money-grubbing greed, "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" (1963).

 A dying criminal's roadside confession about "$350Gs" buried under a "Big W" tr...

We’re having a heat wave this week on "Going Hollywood" as we tackle one of the most iconic--and controversial--films in Hollywood history, starring one of it's greatest stars. Marilyn Monroe in Billy Wilder’s “The Seven Year Itch" (1955)

The film represents a pivotal moment in Hollywood history – a technicolor confection where Marilyn's screen persona fully crystallized into the irresistible combi...

Boy, do we have some ‘splainin to do! 

In this very special episode we dive into the revolutionary legacy of a television pioneer whose contributions have been overshadowed for decades- Desi Arnaz. While Lucille Ball rightfully earned her place in entertainment history, her husband and business partner fundamentally transformed how television works—from filming techniques to syndication models that still influence the industry today...

Macguffins, albinos and dwarves, oh my!

There is that and so much more in our film for today, 1978's "Foul Play". This perfect summer escape film stars Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase and a whole slew of wonderful and eccentric characters (including a pre-"Arthur" Dudley Moore) all under the guidance of filmmaker extraordinaire, Colin Higgins. 

 Higgins, the creative genius behind "9 to 5," "Harold an...

Why return to Minneapolis in the summertime? Because some television landmarks deserve multiple visits. After our first "Mary Tyler Moore" episode last season became one of our most popular, we knew we had to revisit the WJM newsroom and dive deeper into what makes this revolutionary sitcom the gold standard against which all others are measured.

The magic of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" lies in its perf...

Movie Stars, ahoy!  And “The Love Boat” it ain’t— it’s the granddaddy of all disaster films: Irwin Allen’s 1972 classic, “The Poseidon Adventure”. 

A wave crashes, a ship flips, and suddenly a boat-load of Oscar-winners find themselves in a fight to survive when the world turns upside down. This groundbreaking 1972 disaster film didn't just entertain audiences—it created the template that would define an entire genre for decade...

Now boarding TGA Flight #2 non-stop to Rome! We've got elderly stow-aways (and Oscar-winners), surly mechanics, a French New-wave muse,  and oh yes, a former movie star with a briefcase full of dynamite. 

Would you like an aisle or a window seat? 

Please fasten your seat belts as we take flight on "Airport" (Universal, 1970), the iconic film that launched the disaster film genre  dominating  1970s cinema, surprising cr...

In "Midnight Express" (Columbia, 1978) Brad Davis delivers a gut-wrenching performance as a young man whose brief moment of stupidity in a foreign country derails his entire life and inexorably alters his future. Based on the true story of American tourist Billy Hayes’ harrowing fight to survive and escape from a Turkish prison in the 1970s, the film garnered 6 Oscar nominations and two wins (including one for first-time ...

Three producers. Four formats. One television season. “The Judy Garland Show” stands as a fascinating television tragedy that should have been a triumph. 

In the second part of our special tribute to Judy Garland, we discuss the sad but inevitable decline of what was to be the climax of the legendary singer’s career. Network executives shuffled through producers, writers, and formats with bewildering frequency while Judy s...

In the fall of 1963, television audiences witnessed something extraordinary –  the legendary Judy Garland starring in her very own weekly variety show on CBS. What should have been a triumphant venture and crowning achievement to an already legendary career became instead one of entertainment's most fascinating tragedies... and it was all captured forever on videotape.

With a roster of guest stars ranging from old pal...

Listen, mister man! We don’t want to get all “oogly” about it, but Kathy Bates went from a relatively unknown, but respected, stage actress to an Academy Award winner when she portrayed one of cinema's most unforgettable villains in 1990's "Misery." Meanwhile, James Caan, who had disappeared from Hollywood's A-list during the 1980s, found himself back in the spotlight playing the bedridden writer forced to ...

In our final “Mother's May” episode, we explore what may be the most psychologically disturbing maternal figure in film history - Angela Lansbury as Eleanor Shaw Iselin in “The Manchurian Candidate”, a brilliantly prescient political thriller that resonates as strongly today as it did in 1962 release.

The Manchurian Candidate (UA, 1962)

Starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Lansbury.

Screenplay by George...