the Mildly Frumpy Protagonist

In cyberspace, there is no right or wrong… there’s only fun and boring! At least, that’s what 1995’s techsploitation thriller HACKERS would have you believe in Part 2 of our "net-trospective."

You’ve got podcast! In our latest episode, we’re flashing back to the bygone days of floppy disks, away messages, and actually disconnecting from the world wide web sometimes. It’s a two-part When We Were Young Net-rospective as we reminisce on all things internet, including the cyber-conspiracy thrillers that were Hollywood’s first attempt at cashing in on the dot-com boom of the 90s. In Part 1,...

Does the phrase “Bewitched Be-Wednesdays” ring a bell? If so, you may remember that the mid-90s spawned a revival of classic sitcoms from the 50s, 60s, and 70s through Nick At Nite’s Block Party Summer programming, allowing a whole new generation of viewers to binge “oldies” like I Love Lucy, The Munsters, I Dream of Jeannie, and Welcome Back Kotter for the very first time. In Part 1 of our return...

The mid-90s spawned a revival of classic sitcoms from the 50s-70s through Nick At Nite’s Block Party Summer programming. In Part 1 we talk about comfort food TV and check in on the groundbreaking Mary Tyler Moore Show and the horror-inspired The Munsters.

In the second part of our X-Files discussion, we revisit impactful and fan-favorite episodes from the show, and the X-Files Movie: Fight The Future - and we discuss the cultural impact of The X-Files and its online fan community. Part 2/2

The Truth Is Out There... but so are lies. The WHEN WE WERE YOUNG podcast continues our Quarantine Indoor Summer Slam by revisiting Chris Carter's THE X-FILES, the long-running smash hit Fox TV drama starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. Part 1/2

If you thought this podcast was done discussing everyone’s favorite gang of pubescent crime fighting reptiles, we’ve got news for you! Go ninja, go ninja, go listen to part two of our podcast — back by bodacious demand.

The world’s most fearsome podcast team unleashes its most tubular episodes yet — a deep dive into the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES franchise. Do we still feel the Turtle Power after all these years?

Spike Lee’s seminal modern classic DO THE RIGHT THING is no less urgent in 2020 than it was upon its 1989 release, so our cohosts discuss just how difficult it is to “Fight the Power” or do the right thing when that power is armed with a license to kill.

We've already passed the future depicted in BACK TO THE FUTURE, PART II (1989) and Westerns were already dated by the release of BACK TO THE FUTURE, PART III (1990). Do these sequels hold up more than 30 years later, or sink like a hoverboard over water?

Great Scott! We're back! BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985) is still one of the most beloved films from the 1980s, but does the trilogy's premier installment stand the test of time? Join our debate, and stay tuned for Part 2 later this week!

If you've been waiting for us to tackle ABC's family-friendly Friday night programming block known as TGIF - you've got it, dude!

It’s been 20 years since David Fincher’s savagely funny and brutally violent satire of Gen X male angst debuted in theaters, so we’re breaking Rule #1 and Rule #2 and talking all about FIGHT CLUB!

They eat your eyes, they eat your toes – but all we’re asking for is your ears to listen to us revisit SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK, the book series featuring stories retold by Alvin Schwartz and nightmare-inducing illustrations by Stephen Gammell. There was nothing more exhilarating to an 80s and 90s tween than flipping through these books under the covers with a flashlight, both...

Look at these films, aren’t they neat? Any Disney fan’s movie collection’s complete if it includes THE LITTLE MERMAID (1989), BEAUTY & THE BEAST (1991), ALADDIN (1992) and THE LION KING (1994). These movies aren’t just the four most popular films from Disney’s Renaissance period (which lasted a full decade and includes 10 animated flicks); they’re also responsible for saving the animation depa...

Feeling patriotic this July? Well, if there’s one thing more American than apple pie, it’s a questionable attitude toward sex — and that’s exactly what we’re serving up in our latest episode! To commemorate the 20th anniversary of AMERICAN PIE, When We Were Young looks back at the wave of 80s teen sex comedies that inspired it, from the problematic peep-show that is Porky’s to lewd, lowbrow early...

Some movie characters become way bigger than the movies they’re in, and that definitely holds true for Chucky. The redheaded murder-loving doll is no doubt one of horror’s most recognizable villains, but how often do you hear people fondly talk about the films he stars in? (There are seven and counting!) Inspired by a fresh reboot releasing this month in theaters – the first Chuc...

Every generation gets the BATMAN it deserves, and ours is hands-down the best to ever glower down at us from the big screen — Michael Keaton’s scowling, brooding Caped Crusader, and his equally brooding (but also very neurotic) take on orphaned playboy Bruce Wayne. Early in his career, Tim Burton controversially cast everyman Keaton as the superhero who redefined the modern blockbuster as mo...

Cinematographer-turned-director Jan De Bont never met a mode of transportation he didn’t want to blow up, and it all started with SPEED (1994), the action-thriller that whittled Keanu Reeves into the wooden king of turn-your-brain-off blockbusters (see also: the Matrix and John Wick franchises). This high-concept hit has one of the most iconic movie plots of all time, with madman Dennis Hopp...

If you were older than a toddler and younger than a teenager in the 90s, chances are you were obsessed with Nickelodeon. The kids network churned out countless entertaining programs for younguns in the 1990s, particularly a slate of original animated shows they referred to as Nicktoons. DOUG, RUGRATS and REN & STIMPY premiered on the same day in August 1991 and had unprecedented levels of succ...

“I feel like I’ve been in a coma for 20 years… and I’m just now waking up.” That’s what Lester Burnham tells us in AMERICAN BEAUTY, and may also describe some people’s reaction to this Best Picture winner from 1999, which is a mite more controversial in the wake of the #MeToo movement — and allegations of sexual misconduct by its Oscar-winning lead. When W...

The year 1999 was a banner year at the cineplex, with dozens of fresh, exciting stories being told by a new crop of auteur filmmakers. Paul Thomas Anderson released his breakthrough movie Boogie Nights two years previous, but it was his epic drama MAGNOLIA (1999) that solidified his place as one of the decade’s most thrilling new directors. This three-hour ensemble stars basically every acto...

Magic mirror on the wall, which Disney animated movie is the greatest one of all? It would be easy to make an argument for any of the Mouse House’s first five full-length animated features – SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937), PINOCCHIO (1940), FANTASIA (1940), DUMBO (1941) and BAMBI (1942) – as their all-time best. The five films of Disney’s Golden Era are beloved for...

When Kurt Cobain died in April 1994, the grunge movement expired too, giving way to a broader spectrum of angry, bummed out rock that came to be defined as “alternative” (even though it may very well have been the dominant rock of the mid to late 90s). A landmark year for music in many ways, 1994 brought debuts, breakouts, and/or essential recordings from bands like Green Day, Stone Temple Pilots,...

Don’t snub our latest episode! It’s awards season, so the When We Were Young podcast is taking a hard look back at the Academy Awards from 1999, which saw a battle royale between Steven Spielberg’s knockout WWII epic SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and the Harvey Weinstein-backed costume rom-com SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE. First, the hosts reminisce about their earliest Oscar memories and relive some of the telecast...