Fanacek

There are still so many 80s actors I want to talk about!  In this episode, I ask the question, "Why the quick jump television"?  So far, I've focused on actors who had TV success and either crushed it in movies as well, crashed and burned in movies, or maybe just dabbled in feature films before heading back to television where they belonged.  Now, I'm gonna focus on actors who I think should have stayed the course just a little bit...

If you love the 80s, you're probably enjoying this season of Fanacek.  If you don't , well suck it up and let me educate you.  This week I'm discussing 80s actors who could have made a run at big screen stardom, but they knew damn well that television is where they belonged. What they lacked in feature film potential, they made up for in self awareness.  Follow me down this road as I wax poetic about such folks as John Stamos, Erin...

There's an old saying in Hollywood: "Never Quit the Hit".  Well, the TV actors we're gonna discuss today did not take heed of this wisdom.  Rather, they threw caution to the wind and chased movie stardom, only to land flat on their asses. We start with the Cautionary Tale Queen herself, Shelley Long, and then weave our way through the careers of Justine Bateman, Kirk Cameron, Lisa Bonet, Roseanne Barr, and Mark Harmon.  It's a lot ...

As a kid, I would love when my favorite shows would advertise an upcoming "very special" episode.  It often meant there was gonna be drug use, domestic violence, or the threat of pedophilia.  Sadly, this "very special" episode of Fanacek has none of those things, but it does have Eric Todd and Brad Crain from one of my favorite podcasts, This Week In Charles Bronson.  I was a guest on their show earlier this year to discuss the 197...

"Never quit the hit".  That's what they say.  Hollywood history is filled with the cautionary tales of actors who, despite television success, were seduced by the glitz and glamour of big screen stardom.  Let's not forget, there used to be a very solid line drawn between movie stars and TV stars.  On this episode, we are going to look at actors we knew in the 80s who worked on screens both big and small, but ultimately chose to sta...

Remember when there was a definitive line between movie actors and television actors?  Movie actors were at the top of the food chain while TV actors were bottom feeders.  Prestige TV and streaming services have changed that forever, but in the 80s it was a still very real divide.  The next several episodes will look at actors in the 80s who did both.  Some did it well, some crashed and burned, and others just knew it was best to s...

I spend more time on the IMDb app than any human being should.  I love pausing whatever I'm watching to look it up on IMDb and study the cast, trivia, filming locations, etc.  I call these my little rabbit holes and this episode of the podcast is a journey through forgotten TV shows and movies that started when I thought I recognized actor Mark Blankfield from a Saved By The Bell episode.  This somehow leads us to a discussion of T...

More 80s!  More Movies!  More failed TV shows!  This week we're looking at some almost classic Sci-Fi films that became short lived TV shows like Starman and Alien Nation.  We also discuss The Outsiders and do a head to head comparison between the iconic cast of The Outsiders movie and that of Fast Times at Ridgemont High.  We'll also go down the rabbit hole that I call Baby Boom and my feelings toward Diane Keaton.  We conclude by...

I know I know.  I covered some of this stuff in Season 2.  Well, I'm not done covering it, so sit back, kick off your Roos and pop open a Diet Rite while I dissect and poke fun at some classic 80s movies that became not-so-classic 80s TV shows.  We'll explore the cast of Ferris Bueller and how they couldn't fill the shoes of the O.G. cast.  I'll try and explain the rationale behind Ron Howard's Gung Ho being made into a sitcom whil...

I love Quentin Tarantino.  Hell, I devoted an entire season of the show to my favorite movie of all time, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.  So imagine my surprise in 2023 when I came across a podcast called The Church of Tarantino.  It made me want to be an altar boy again!  The Church of Tarantino dives deep into QT's films by focusing on scenes, characters, QT's inspirations, and everything else in the Tarantino Universe.  This sea...

Thom Shubilla is an author and his new book kicks ass!  James Bond and the Sixties Spy Craze takes us on an in depth journey of film and television's obsession with spies in the 1960s.  We start with James Bond in 1962's Dr. No and weave our way through the rest of the 60s Bond movies.  But you can't stop there because 'ol 007 inspired countless wannabes in spoof films, international films, and some of our favorite 60s TV shows.  W...

There was so much weird stuff going on in some of our favorite 80s TV shows and this episode is gonna shine a little light on some of my favorite questionable choices exposing a few of my favorite things that make you go hmmm...

We'll start with The A-Team's willy nilly approach to remaining incognito, and ALF having complete freedom to roam the house.  We'll also get frisky while discussing Al Bundy's libido and the big Boner on G...

It's arrived!  The finale of my three part series, Keeping House.  This episode will take a close look at two iconic 80s sitcoms that, surprisingly, did not feature housekeepers.  First up is The Golden Girls.  I'm not sure how these four ladies kept their house so clean and they're wardrobes so pristine without some hired help.  What I am sure of, though, is that these ladies liked men and the men of Miami liked them as well.  I e...

Woo Hoo!  More 80s!  More sitcoms!  More housekeepers!  This week I'm focusing on two shows about strange men moving in and cleaning house!  The first is the Tony Danza classic, Who's The Boss?  A rich, single mom allows a strange New Yorker to move in and sleep only a few feet away from she and her son.  Interesting.  We'll also take a look at Charles In Charge, which is Like Who's The Boss if Tony Danza were a scumbag with no sex...

Keeping with Season 5's 80s theme, I'm now gonna start taking a look at 80s sitcoms that heavily featured housekeepers.  We'll examine the role they played in the families and identify if they were needed, if they took too many liberties, whether or nor they were surrogate parents, and even if they were any good at actually cleaning the house.  Part 1 will start with Diff'rent Strokes, Gimme A Break, and Mr. Belvedere.  Grab your s...

This is it, listeners.  I have completed the most comprehensive search for a new Boof since...well, since ever.  I started with 400+ actors, narrowed it down to about 100, corralled them into categories, and studied each one until I identified the perfect Boof.  It was hard work.  There were times I thought I would quit.  But I persevered.  And now I've reached the finish line.  This is the final episode of my search.  We take a lo...

I know what you're thinking.  "Is he really continuing down this road?  Is he nuts?  How do I unsubscribe?"  I don't blame all of you doubters out there, but I am determined to get this thing done.  Who would have been the perfect Boof??  In this episode we will discuss candidates that are scary and possibly bat shit crazy.  We'll opine over some candidates who are "friendly".  We'll wax poetic about some women who would be absolut...

What's the point of having 24 hours in the day if you can't spend the bulk of them researching actresses who would have elevated the role of Boof in Teen Wolf?  Right?  Who's with me?  Anyone??

This episode explores more women who would have brought some flare prestige to the role.  There's the #teenwolfsowhite category devoted to diversity and inclusion.  How about the "No Wolf, ahh, no part" category aimed at identifying actors w...

Yes, I'm back with more Teen Wolf.  Get used to it.  I am convinced that if Boof had been portrayed by anyone other than Susan Ursitti, Teen Wolf's legacy would be held in higher regarded and it would be cemented as one of the great 80s teen flicks.  Taking a scientific approach, I have identified hundreds of potential actresses who could have been cast.  Dr. Fanacek then filtered out women not born between 1955 and 1965.  He also ...