Oh, Rhoda!

Before the iconic Ms. Morgenstern, there was another Rhoda...a 9-year-old psychopath that struck terror in her enemies, torment in the hearts of her loved ones, and unintended laughter from the audience watching her exploits. Yes, it's the camp classic, "The Bad Seed" from Warner Bros in 1956, starring the iconic Patty McCormack and the insufferably dramatic Nancy Kelly.

A nine-year-old with perfect penmanship and a talent for murder shouldn’t be funny—yet "The Bad Seed" somehow is. We dive into how a Broadway sensation became a Hollywood lightning rod, why Mervyn LeRoy shot it like a stage play, and how the Production Code twisted a bleak ending into a thunderbolt of “justice.” Along the way, we unpack the nature versus nurture debate that rattled 1950s audiences, the strange power of offscreen violence, and the way theatrical performances from Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, and the incomparable Eileen Heckart create a tone that’s equal parts chilling and camp.

So, postpone your social obligations and join us as we celebrate the perverse joys of “The Bad Seed”!

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Links to Tony's website, and Brad's website at www.goinghollywoodpodcast.com

Follow us on Instagram @goinghollywoodpod

To watch "The True Story of the Barrymores," go to https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CZTHYN6D/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

To watch Tony's WIRED video "Tech Support: Old Hollywood" go to https://youtu.be/6hxXfxhQSz0?si=TO4Xv6q87XhBnqDT

Reach us at goinghollywoodpodcast@gmail.com

Listen to our Going Hollywood Playlist

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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.

Text us & We'll Respond on an Episode

Links to Tony's website, and Brad's website at www.goinghollywoodpodcast.com

Follow us on Instagram @goinghollywoodpod

To watch "The True Story of the Barrymores," go to https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CZTHYN6D/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

To watch Tony's WIRED video "Tech Support: Old Hollywood" go to https://youtu.be/6hxXfxhQSz0?si=TO4Xv6q87XhBnqDT

Reach us at goinghollywoodpodcast@gmail.com

Listen to our Going Hollywood Playlist

Podcast logo by Umeworks

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 the complex web of family relationships, to the meticulous put downs, to an expose of the most notorious residents of St. Olaf.

The supposed rivalry between Bea Arthur and Betty White has become something of a Hollywood legend, but was it real? We examine what happened behind the scenes, drawing on firsthand accounts and shedding light on how these two different personalities created magic despite their contrasting approaches to acting.

Our episode spotlights two standout installments from the later seasons of the show, along with the perfect series finale, "One Flew Out of the Cuckoo's Nest," analyzing how Dorothy's departure managed to be both hilarious and heartbreaking – ending not with a whimper but with three emotional goodbyes.

What made Golden Girls truly special wasn't just the laughter but its willingness to tackle issues other shows wouldn't touch – from aging and sexuality to HIV/AIDS and chosen family. Join us as we reflect on how four women in their golden years revolutionized television and created a legacy that continues to inspire new generations.

Did you have a favorite Golden Girls episode or moment? We'd love to hear about it! Share your memories with us on social media or leave a review telling us which golden girl you identified with most.

Text us & We'll Respond on an Episode

Links to Tony's website, and Brad's website at www.goinghollywoodpodcast.com

Follow us on Instagram @goinghollywoodpod

To watch "The True Story of the Barrymores," go to https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CZTHYN6D/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

To watch Tony's WIRED video "Tech Support: Old Hollywood" go to https://youtu.be/6hxXfxhQSz0?si=TO4Xv6q87XhBnqDT

Reach us at goinghollywoodpodcast@gmail.com

Listen to our Going Hollywood Playlist

Podcast logo by Umeworks

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 40th birthday-- so we're gonna celebrate! From the show's groundbreaking pilot to its most memorable episodes, we are going to unpack the secret ingredients that made "The Golden Girls" a ratings powerhouse and an enduring cultural touchstone.

In Part One of our special two-part episode, we'll discuss fascinating behind-the-scenes stories, including how Betty White and Rue McClanahan swapped roles, how Estelle Getty overcame severe stage fright to create the iconic Sophia, why Bea Arthur initially hesitated to join the cast, and what ever happened to poor Coco. (If you know, you know). Tony shares his personal experience appearing on the show (as a mere tot!) and even the time he snuck onto the set and wound up as a V.I.P.

So, grab a slice of cheesecake (or a sparehuven krispie) and join us as we celebrate one of the most enduring sitcoms in television history, "The Golden Girls".

Text us & We'll Respond on an Episode

Links to Tony's website, and Brad's website at www.goinghollywoodpodcast.com

Follow us on Instagram @goinghollywoodpod

To watch "The True Story of the Barrymores," go to https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CZTHYN6D/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

To watch Tony's WIRED video "Tech Support: Old Hollywood" go to https://youtu.be/6hxXfxhQSz0?si=TO4Xv6q87XhBnqDT

Reach us at goinghollywoodpodcast@gmail.com

Listen to our Going Hollywood Playlist

Podcast logo by Umeworks

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.

"They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" (1969) takes us inside this brutal spectacle where human suffering becomes entertainment. Jane Fonda delivers a career-defining performance as Gloria, a failed actress whose bitter exterior masks profound vulnerability. Michael Sarrazin plays her reluctant partner Robert, while Gig Young (in his Oscar-winning role) portrays Rocky, the manipulative master of ceremonies who squeezes every drop of drama from his contestants' misery with cries of "Yowza, yowza, yowza!"

Text us & We'll Respond on an Episode

Links to Tony's website, and Brad's website at www.goinghollywoodpodcast.com

Follow us on Instagram @goinghollywoodpod

To watch "The True Story of the Barrymores," go to https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CZTHYN6D/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

To watch Tony's WIRED video "Tech Support: Old Hollywood" go to https://youtu.be/6hxXfxhQSz0?si=TO4Xv6q87XhBnqDT

Reach us at goinghollywoodpodcast@gmail.com

Listen to our Going Hollywood Playlist

Podcast logo by Umeworks

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 Midler and Lily Tomlin is basically a re-telling Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors", set in the high-octane New York of the 1980s where corporate greed is no match for a little homespun charm and arm-twisting. The premise is comedy gold: twins separated at birth, with one pair raised in sophisticated Manhattan and the other in rural Jupiter Hollow. When the city twins' corporation threatens to close the factory that sustains the country twins' hometown, chaos ensues at the Plaza Hotel.

Will you have a good time? Is a frog’s ass water tight?

Text us & We'll Respond on an Episode

Links to Tony's website, and Brad's website at www.goinghollywoodpodcast.com

Follow us on Instagram @goinghollywoodpod

To watch "The True Story of the Barrymores," go to https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CZTHYN6D/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

To watch Tony's WIRED video "Tech Support: Old Hollywood" go to https://youtu.be/6hxXfxhQSz0?si=TO4Xv6q87XhBnqDT

Reach us at goinghollywoodpodcast@gmail.com

Listen to our Going Hollywood Playlist

Podcast logo by Umeworks

"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 than there are in the heavens" was MGM's famous tagline from the 1930s, and this Best Picture Oscar winner more than proves the point. Released during the darkest year of the Great Depression, this MGM masterpiece starred Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, and Wallace Beery, and created the template for what we now recognize as the "all-star cast" film – a bold and innovative concept at the time that continues to influence filmmaking nearly a century later.

So, join us as we check into an era where decadence, debauchery, and deadly ambition can all be served up with an order of room service... all happening at a magical place called Hollywood and "Grand Hotel".

Text us & We'll Respond on an Episode

Links to Tony's website, and Brad's website at www.goinghollywoodpodcast.com

Follow us on Instagram @goinghollywoodpod

To watch "The True Story of the Barrymores," go to https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CZTHYN6D/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

To watch Tony's WIRED video "Tech Support: Old Hollywood" go to https://youtu.be/6hxXfxhQSz0?si=TO4Xv6q87XhBnqDT

Reach us at goinghollywoodpodcast@gmail.com

Listen to our Going Hollywood Playlist

Podcast logo by Umeworks

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 controversial subjects with unexpected humor. It's possibly Brad's favorite series, but what does Tony think?

Text us & We'll Respond on an Episode

Links to Tony's website, and Brad's website at www.goinghollywoodpodcast.com

Follow us on Instagram @goinghollywoodpod

To watch "The True Story of the Barrymores," go to https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CZTHYN6D/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

To watch Tony's WIRED video "Tech Support: Old Hollywood" go to https://youtu.be/6hxXfxhQSz0?si=TO4Xv6q87XhBnqDT

Reach us at goinghollywoodpodcast@gmail.com

Listen to our Going Hollywood Playlist

Podcast logo by Umeworks