Episodes

  • Paul Scheer

    Paul Scheer
    Feb 4 2025
    One of the godfathers of movie podcasts, Paul Scheer launched How Did This Get Made? fifteen years ago. His love of movies started as a kid on Long Island working at a Blockbuster Video. Through his talent for improv comedy, he ended up writing, directing and performing in some of the funniest shows ever put on TV. Paul details his rollercoaster career, his extremely awkward celebrity encounters, and how movies were often an escape from his difficult childhood. In the Super 8, Paul tells Ben how he once lined up at 6:00 AM... just to watch a trailer. Films Mentioned : Ordinary People The Milagro Beanfield War Dollars Heaven Can Wait Shampoo The Elephant Man The Avengers Iron Man 3 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Meet Joe Black The Cable Guy* Galaxy Quest Twilight Psycho 4: A New Beginning Ghost Phantasm Flowers in the Attic Young Frankenstein Blazing Saddles Happy Gilmore Back to the Future Groundhog Day Planes, Trains and Automobiles Grosse Pointe Blank Midnight Run Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. *Available on Max as of 2/04 (Availability of titles subject to change) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr
  • Pamela Adlon

    Pamela Adlon
    Jan 28 2025
    Pamela Adlon landed her first movie role when she was sixteen, and then twenty years later, she won an Emmy... for playing a teenage boy. Her thirteen seasons as Bobby Hill on King of the Hill made her a world-famous voice actor, but she's equally renowned for creating and starring in Better Things. Pam is also a director – her first feature, Babes, came out last year – and she sits down with Ben Mankiewicz to discuss her deep love of movies, which includes everything from musicals to the films of John Cassavetes. Films Mentioned: Grease 2 Babes Biosphere Creep The Animatrix Anora Deadwood* Porky's Love Streams Fame Bugsy Malone The Wiz One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest The Shining To Kill a Mockingbird The Guns of Navarone Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein Mamma Mia!* My Old Ass Schindler's List The Notebook Terms of Endearment Coming Home The Birdcage* Merrie Melodies - Rabbit Hood *Available on Max as of 1/28 (Availability of titles subject to change) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    59 mins
  • Charles Barkley

    Charles Barkley
    Jan 21 2025
    NBA legend Charles Barkley became addicted to movies as a rookie, when he'd sneak into theaters to escape the limelight for a couple of hours. By the time he changed careers from baller to broadcaster, he was a bonafide film buff, with strong opinions on all kinds of movies. In this hilarious episode, Sir Charles talks to Ben Mankiewicz about the similarities between a film crew and a basketball team, the secret to hosting Saturday Night Live, and the courtroom classic that never fails to make him laugh. Films Mentioned: Space Jam Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi A Quiet Place All the Way* The Beekeeper Jaws Arsenic and Old Lace It Happened One Night Gladiator Any Given Sunday Die Hard Live Free or Die Hard My Cousin Vinny A Bronx Tale Pulp Fiction Malcolm X The Karate Kid Stripes Taps Taxi Driver Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope Guess Who's Coming to Dinner The Ten Commandments Ben-Hur In the Heat of the Night Brian's Song Field of Dreams The Sixth Sense Dirty Harry Rawhide *Available on Max as of 01/21 (Availability of titles subject to change) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Paul Feig

    Paul Feig
    Jan 14 2025
    From Bridesmaids to Spy to The Heat, Paul Feig has become Hollywood's go-to guy for raunchy, big-budget comedies about women. But his directing career only took off after his acting career crashed and burned. This week, Paul tells Ben Mankiewicz how getting fired from a beloved sitcom forced him out of his comfort zone and into a new role behind the camera. And during the Super 8, Paul reveals how his mother's taste in movies led to his love of double-breasted suits. Films Mentioned: Bridesmaids The Heat Spy A Simple Favor Animal House Life Sold Separately Honey, I Shrunk the Kids The Blues Brothers Thelma & Louise Animal Crackers What's Up, Doc? Jackpot! Ghostbusters The Purge It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Raiders of the Lost Ark An American Werewolf in London Polite Society Napoleon Dynamite Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope His Girl Friday Cabaret It's a Wonderful Life Poltergeist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    59 mins
  • Henry Winkler

    Henry Winkler
    Jan 7 2025
    Host Ben Mankiewicz begins the new year by talking to the nicest man in Hollywood, actor Henry Winkler. Winkler admits it was almost impossible to find work after his 10-year run as the Fonz on Happy Days. He reminisces about his friendships with Sylvester Stallone and Ron Howard and shares his struggles with dyslexia. And we get the inspiring story of how he got the second role of a lifetime on HBO’s Barry. Winkler is an enthusiastic movie watcher, so his Super 8 is full of gems. Films Mentioned: The Waterboy Little Nicky Barry* The Lords of Flatbush Rocky Heroes The One and Only Night Shift Scream* Rebel Without a Cause* City of God The Alamo Nobody Casablanca* Love Actually Notting Hill Four Weddings and a Funeral* Les Compères The Out-of-Towners *Available on Max as of 1/7 (Availability of titles subject to change) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Jane Lynch

    Jane Lynch
    Dec 17 2024
    Emmy-winner Jane Lynch is known for bringing her razor-sharp comic edge to movies like Best in Show and TV shows like Glee. But her biggest break came in a famous commercial for… Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes! She talks to host Ben Mankiewicz about breaking down a scene with Harrison Ford, the difference between masculine and feminine improv, and the film that made her sob all the way home from the theater. Films Mentioned: Best in Show The 40-Year Old Virgin Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby Ninotchka Camille Anna Christie The Wizard of Oz* Gone with the Wind* Sophie's Choice The Devil Wears Prada* Hang 'Em High Three Days of the Condor Husbands and Wives Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid The Sting The Fugitive A Mighty Wind For Your Consideration Mascots Legally Blonde American Pie The White Lotus* Waiting for Guffman This Is Spinal Tap Private Benjamin Funny Girl The Bridge on the River Kwai The Big Sleep White Christmas Terms of Endearment *Available on Max as of 12/17 (Availability of titles subject to change) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    56 mins
  • Jason Reitman

    Jason Reitman
    Dec 10 2024
    This week, writer/director Jason Reitman (Saturday Night, Juno, Up in the Air) joins host Ben Mankiewicz to talk about growing up on a movie set, his brief stint writing for Saturday Night Live, and the joys of directing George Clooney. Reitman also reveals what his father, the late director Ivan Reitman, taught him about storytelling and making movies. During the Super 8, Jason surprises Ben with the movie props in his enviable collection. Films Mentioned: Meatballs Stripes Ghostbusters Dave Thank You For Smoking Juno Inglourious Basterds Animal House Up in the Air* Saturday Night The Front Runner Ghostbusters: Afterlife The Fabelmans Westworld Jurassic Park* Twins E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Back to the Future Jaws The Godfather Election Dr. Strangelove Harold and Maude Shampoo Carnal Knowledge The Graduate Taxi Driver The Conversation Run Lola Run The Blair Witch Project Sexy Beast American Psycho Wet Hot American Summer Pulp Fiction Dazed and Confused Slacker* Bad News Bears Boyhood A Scanner Darkly Before Sunrise Before Sunset Field of Dreams Stand by Me Breaking Away Little Miss Sunshine 24 Hour Party People Casablanca* Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Magnolia Boogie Nights Pee-wee's Big Adventure Singin' in the Rain* *Available on Max as of 12/10 (Availability of titles subject to change) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Carol Burnett

    Carol Burnett
    Dec 3 2024
    Carol Burnett’s life has always spun around the movies. She tells Ben Mankiewicz about her childhood spent in Hollywood movie theaters, the famous actor who helped her break into showbiz, and the movie parodies in her groundbreaking television variety show. In fact, at 91, Carol Burnett remembers more about movies than Ben! We cap it all off with a delightful Super 8 complete with seasonal gems. Plus, Carol and Ben discuss their Wordle stats…listen to find out who’s winning. Films Mentioned: The Carol Burnett Show New Faces The Pajama Game Babes in Arms All About Eve Gone with the Wind* The Fighting Guardsman Inferno (1953) Strangers on a Train On Moonlight Bay* Citizen Kane The Dolly Sisters The Godfather It's a Wonderful Life Capricorn One Ragtime Cowboy Joe Singin' in the Rain* From Here to Eternity Terms of Endearment Some Like It Hot Duel *Available on Max as of 12/3 (Availability of titles subject to change) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr