James Blunt’s You’re Beautiful = 2006 sad-boy anthem

Rewind to 12 – 18 Feb 2006

💔 James Blunt makes everyone emotional
“You’re Beautiful” becomes unavoidable worldwide, fuelling bus-window daydreams and breakup playlists everywhere. Turns out it’s actually about awkward obsession, not romance, but that doesn’t stop it becoming the ultimate sad-boy anthem.

🇮🇩 Bali Nine sentences shock Australia
Courts in Bali hand down sentences to the Bali Nine, with Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran receiving the death penalty and the rest facing life behind bars. Australia debates capital punishment, AFP involvement and whether young Aussies truly understand overseas drug laws, while Bali holidays suddenly come with very serious warnings.

🎤 Breaking Free breaks Disney kids’ hearts
High School Musical anthem ‘Breaking Free’ dominates airwaves, school concerts and bedroom singalongs… then fans discover Zac Efron didn’t sing most of Troy’s parts. Cue tween betrayal, magazine outrage and Disney quietly fixing things for the sequel.

🕵️ Beyoncé solves crimes in pink
The Pink Panther reboot hits cinemas with Steve Martin’s chaotic Clouseau and Beyoncé’s pop-star glamour stealing attention. Critics roll their eyes but audiences show up, and “Check On It” ends up bigger than the movie anyway.

📱 Stephen King says your phone will kill you
King’s new novel Cell imagines a world-ending signal sent through mobile phones, turning users into violent zombies. Some fans love it, others roast it mercilessly, but everyone agrees: mid-2000s tech anxiety was very real.

Hang with us on socials to chat more noughties nostalgia - Facebook (@tminus20) or Instagram (tminus20podcast). You can also contact us there if you want to be a part of the show.

Transcript

Transcript is generated automatically. 

The year is 2006. We head to the hills and learn reality is scripted. Your Sony Cyber Shot uploads 462 blurry regrets. A Facebook poke makes everything complicated. And Twitter's like, cool story, you've got 140 characters. Go. T-minus 20. Rewind 20 years with Joe and Mel. 

Week 12, February, 2006. 

T-minus 20. I'm being sexy back. 

I want to forgive you. 

T-minus 20. I hate this long decent relationship. 

And I want to forget you. 

You have no style or succession. This is a beauty. This is very nice. Yeah, boys. Ladies and gentlemen, this is T-minus 20, where we lovingly revisit the mid-2000s. Each week we rewind to headlines, hits and hot takes. We are your hosts, Joe and Mel. I'm Joe, Mel's over there. 

That's me. Yes. Hi. Think of T-minus 20 as your pop culture time capsule. Except that we open it every week, we scream a little bit, and then we explain why it matters. From chart-topping bangers to front-page scandals, we revisit the week in history that shaped your MSN bio and pretty much a whole personality. 

There's a lot in the time capsule, a lot of heavy going in the time capsule this week. The 2 ringleaders of the Bali Nine are to face a firing squad after the Denpasar District Court today sentenced Andrew Chan and Muran Sukumaran to death. Where were you? Where were you when that happened? 

Big news in Australia? 

What was your opinion of it when that happened? Have you changed it? 

And we watched it live. We watched the sentencing live. 

It was a big deal. We shall discuss in detail a little later. That would have to be one of the most famous movie soundtracks of all time. The Pink Panther theme, remade for the early 2000s. Was it a hit? Was it a miss? We'll talk more about that a little later on. 

You're beautiful. You're beautiful. You're beautiful. It's true. 

Oh, shucks. 

Definitely a hit. 

Yeah. 

Not a miss. That was like probably one of the biggest hits of the mid 2000s. It was a ringtone. It was played in slow, sad montages. 

It was a hit about a miss. It. 

Was just, yeah. 

It was everywhere. 

Everywhere. And I don't know that we fully understand exactly, understood at the time, exactly what it was all about. 

That's right. We'll go to your beautiful Ground Zero a little bit later on. I think I need to interject with the little segments that we've sort of done on and off when we have these discussions at the start of the show about growing old disgracefully. Because I hit a milestone very recently, just in the last couple of weeks. It's a big milestone for me. It's one that I'm finding a little bit hard to come to terms with. It's A milestone that involves me being almost 50 years old and requiring reading glasses. 

Reading glasses. Aren't they just magnifying glasses that you buy at the servo or the chemist? Is that what reading glasses are? I don't know. 

The reason why we have a segment called Books We Didn't Read is because I can't. I just can't. I've been really struggling with reading in the last probably year or so. And not so much with books and such, but it became very apparent to me, this is such an old person thing. It became really apparent to me when I wanted to read the directions on a box of medication. And I couldn't. It was really blurry. And I'm like, oh. 

This is the night time magnesium and the morning magnesium. I don't know. 

And the ad worked because I should have gone to Specsaver. So I went and had my eyes tested. And that's really daunting if you've never done it before. 

Stressful, isn't it? It's really stressful. 

Yeah, it is. 

You're like, is that more blurry or is it not? I don't know. I'm so confused. used and stressed right now. 

Split the difference, I don't know. And they're really quick about it and they're really matter of fact. 

You know what you got to do? You got to go, can you do that again? I usually get them to do about three times because I'm always on the fence. And there's always one where they do it and it's the same. 

Well, I've never done it before. So I was like, oh, it's my first time. I've never done this before. And they're like, oh, look, this happens to everyone. You know, this sort of, this sort of, it's not degeneration, but it's just like your eyes just lose the ability to focus as much as you get older. 

I think there's a point in it sort of starts in your 40s where they. to say that everybody needs reading glasses. Unless like me, if you need far away glasses, because I'm short-sighted, you don't actually need reading glasses. But I have, I need far away glasses and close-up glasses. 

I put these glasses on with the far away. We're in big trouble. No one's getting out of this alive. But it's just, it's peculiar. It's A peculiar situation to find yourself in. And when you've when you've had perfect 2020 vision the entire time, you're like, I can't. actually can't see that. And I know other people who are friends of mine who've had problems where they're like, oh, I've just had these mad headaches and stuff. And it's like if you had your eyes tested and they're like, oh, mate, got my eyes tested, headaches are gone, I can see properly. It just kind of creeps up on you. 

I just didn't realise that you couldn't see for a year or two. 

It's only until I had to read the instructions on the medication. I'm like, oh, whatever they are, I'll just have a couple. But this time I actually decided to read the instructions to do something, and then I couldn't read them, so I went in and get checked. And then they're like, oh, well, you know, I'm like, That sucks, man. I need glasses, damn it. And they're like, oh, well, it happens to everyone. And you, know, you're nearly 50, so you've done really well. And it's like, oh, thanks. I've tried my best. 

Good try, mate. 

It did really well at what? Looking. 

It's a stressful experience because you're stressed out about is that blurry, more blurry or less blurry or about the same. And then you go through all of that and then you've got the stress of picking glasses. And at the moment, like usually when you go to get glasses, you're usually getting two because they're like, oh, you can have a free pair. You can have some sunglasses and some regular or you can have two up close glasses, whatever you decide. Then you've got to pick two frames. 

It was difficult. And I was like, I don't want to look like a nerd. I thought I got too late. There's nothing wrong with living like a nerd. I spent my time. 

Don't get your age of reason cassette and you'll be fine. 

I spent my entire life doing it without even, you know, having glasses, being an addict. 

There's nothing wrong with glasses. 

Are they? They're very smart. They're very distinguishing. I don't know. I've got one pair that makes me look like a Branch Davidian and another pair that makes me look like a Mormon. So, and I'm neither. So I don't. Let's do the hatches, matches, and dispatches clue, shall we? It's a birth, death, or marriages segment that we do at the end of the show. We play the clue now, you guess who it is, and hopefully you're victorious. You don't win anything, though. It's just like it's a novelty, really. What have we got this week? Is it a birthday? 

Birthday, yes, birthday. 

Just a birthday. Just a celebrity having a birthday. 

Not just any celebrity. 

Oh, well, someone of some notoriety that was important to Mel, clearly, who said this. Daddy's little girls. Paints the world with a magic wand, Daddy's little child. Breathes new life to the morning time for me. Are you going to take that back? 

That's terrible. 

Well, we'll find out who's responsible at the end of the show. the news. For the 13th of February, this is a big story. Big story. This is one of those where were you when this happened story. Huge story in Australia. The verdict, the sentencing of the Bali Nine happens between the 13th and the 15th of February in 2006 when an Indonesian court in Denpasar hands down the sentences to the Bali Nine, a group of nine Australians convicted of smuggling heroin, which we obviously spoke about in an earlier episode of T-minus. Last year. Yeah, sort of mid to late last year. Andrew Chan was taken from the holding cell and entered the court with an air of inevitability. He sat impassively as the judge read out his lengthy verdict. Judgment coming shortly after an hour, confirming the 22-year-old 's worst fears. With the death penalty handed down, a clearly distressed Muran Sukumaran knew he almost certainly faced the same fate. 

Chan had pleaded his innocence. Sukumaran, on the other hand, had kept his silence throughout the trial. The judges cited the 24-year-old 's lack of remorse as they delivered another damning verdict. It's the first time the Denpasar District Court has handed down the ultimate penalty for drug offences, death by firing squad. 

That's brutal. It's really brutal. Six of the members also received life imprisonment, so those two guys obviously getting the death penalty, the other six receiving life imprisonment. One later had their sentence reduced on appeal, but was later reinstated and overturned again in a year-long legal saga. The sentencing was just everywhere on the news in Australia. 

Particularly here in Australia, yeah. And I think even though we all thought it was a possibility, I think most of us were like, nah, they won't do that. 

Yeah. 

Surely not. And then when they did, we thought, oh, Australian government will intervene? Surely. 

Some of us, some of us will like play stupid games, win stupid prizes. I think there was a big split in opinion. I struggled to care about them at the time, I must say. And I've changed my stance a lot on that because I just think it's just such a waste. Like it's just such a horrible waste of human life, regardless of whether they traffic drugs or not. And you know, regardless of whether those drugs were affecting other lives. to. It's just all of it. The whole package is just a massive waste. But what they did was bad. They tried to smuggle 8 kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia. Several members caught with the drugs strapped to their bodies at the airport. Others arrested at a hotel coordinating the operation. And it was framed as a major organized drug smuggling ring targeting Australia. So we freak out in Australia about this because of, I think, our morality when it comes to the death penalty, which is, again, why you were saying, like, some people were like, well, surely the government will intervene, you know, surely. 

Yeah, I did not think that they would go through with it. And even after that, I thought, oh, you know, there'll be an appeal, they'll get off, it'll be fine. And it actually wasn't. 

And I remember too, remember they were tipped off. 

They were tipped off. That was what I was going to say. 

By the Australian Federal Police. 

Yeah. And so there was a lot of argument around, well... You caused it Australia. You should have protected the group or warned them or intervened in some way. And there were a lot of political debates. There were lawsuits. And it was just such a big news story for years and years to come. 

Yeah, and we were very conservative. We had a conservative Prime Minister at the time. John Howard basically just warned Australians not to take terrible risks overseas. He didn't really get involved in a lot of it. The foreign minister was obviously involved, but I mean, these appeals dragged on for years and years and years. 

With Chan and Sukumaran ultimately executed in 2015. 

Yeah, and again, that brought it all back to the surface again. Some of them died in prison and some were released years later. Five members of Sibali 9 came back in 2024, just a couple of years ago. 

A couple of years ago, yeah. 

After nearly 20 years in Indonesian prisons. Yuck. terrible. It was just, it was everywhere. And I just, I remember lots of, again, like we spoke last week about that outrage culture. And I don't think, we weren't peak outrage culture here, but I think people were still having a lot of discussion about it. And I think it was healthy discussion and debate, but at the same time, like it's just such a waste. 

It was one of Australia's longest running true crime and political controversies. And we obviously had Chapel Corby a couple of years earlier as well. 

That was the other thing, right? And it was always like, it was always that shock of like, well, didn't I learn anything from that? Yeah, Change of pace. Yes. Change of pace as we open up the boom box. I mean, the boomers would have been, you know, talking about everything that was happening on the news in the early 2000s in regards to that stuff. That would have been a hot topic for conversation. 

It's all over boomer news. 

Yes, absolutely. But this is your opportunity to air your. 

This is boomer news. 

Boomer-esque complaints, actually, as we open up the boom box, because we've all got a gripe. I mean, for me, my boomer complaint this week is that, you know, I have to have two pairs of glasses. I can't just get one, they sell you two. 

Yes. 

Like, why is that? Why do I need two sets of glasses? I go in, I go in, I can't see anything. Two sets of glasses just means two sets of things that I'm going to lose. 

It's a backup pair for when you lose one. I think it's good. It's a good deal. 

Yes. Well, that's an example of what a boomer complaint might be when we open up the boom box, but it's a safe space and you're allowed to do it here and you're not going to be lampooned. or lambasted for that matter. 

Okay, good. 

You're going to be celebrated and praised. You can come and find us on the socials, search for T-minus 20 podcast and send in your boom. You can do an audio one, you can just write one in, you can be anonymous if you like. It doesn't matter. 

Anonymous boom. 

It doesn't matter. We will take said boom, we will action it in the podcast as Mel is about to demonstrate right now. 

Okay, so this boom comes from IMIV05. 

Hi, IMIV05. 

Hi, Joe. 

Thanks for your boom. 

You're welcome. When it's a free trial for a product, let it actually be a free trial. Don't force me to enter my credit card info so you hope I forget and take my money. 

What up? That's so true. 

Yes. 

That does make my booty boom, boom. Because why? do you need it if it's a free trial? Why do you need this information? 

So they can trick you and take your money. 

But they can't because it's just a free trial. Oh, because then it's like, and then we'll bill your credit card after seven days. 

Yes. 

Yeah, that is, that's really sneaky. 

The trick is you set a reminder in your calendar to go in. But then I can never find where you unsubscribe from things. It's somewhere, it's It's not in the app. It's in some weird Apple subscription setting somewhere in your phone and I can never find it. I've been subscribed to some magazine that I haven't read for about 7 years. 

Right. 

I keep getting regular updates and I think I don't know how to unsubscribe. I might as well read it. And then I'm like, I don't have time to read that. 

Well, you say put it in your calendar and set a reminder, but then you get so many push notifications across the course of the day that you dismiss them, you're going to miss it anyway. It's just exhausting. 

I have found, though, there is a loophole. There is a loophole because of time zones. 

Really. 

And I... 

What do you mean? Oh, of course, don't you? 

Because you get charged. 

Yes. 

And you just go, oh, I thought you meant... US time zone, not Australian time zone. And I've actually gotten out of one that charged me like $200 for an annual membership. 

You have to act quickly. Once you see the transaction, you've got to. 

Jump straight away and you go, oh my God, I thought it was US time zone and I'd set my calendar alert for US time. You didn't say which time zone. And. 

Then, you know, a savvy business would be like, well, how the did you know to call us just now? you can go for that free trial of the Billboard charts if you like, now that it's all behind a paywall. 

I still can't believe that. 

Oh, it's terrible. 

I'm still annoyed about that. 

Absolute disgrace. Absolute disgrace. See, I'm fired up from the Boombox if it's just not going away. 

Workaround that's required. 

Set the tone for this segment by doing the Boombox first. 

Well, the Australian chart's not behind a paywall, and it says it's run it this week. It's a man on the floor, if he ain't let me know, let me see if you can run it, run it. Is he man on the floor if he ain't let me know? I'm assuming the day floor dance floor. 

See if you can run it. 

Maybe. 

What does that mean? 

I don't know. Let's not. 

Go there, give Chris Brown any more oxygen than O.K.? 

Sure, over in the U.K., we're shaking our ******* for B.I.G. 

You're not like nasty girl. I need you to debit. 

I need you to strip. I need you to shake your little *** and hips. I need you to grind like you're working for tips. Also not behind a paywall. 

Oh, thank goodness. 

Free *******. 

Oh, really? Geez, you don't hear that saying very often. Are you sure? 

Seven-day free trial. 

Oh, right. Oh, damn it. I gave him my credit card information. Definitely better see your reminder for that. 

I think I use the joint account too. Oh, dear. Great, great. Wait for that statement. over to the US. You're beautiful. You're beautiful. You're beautiful. It's true. If we're trying, yeah, we're breaking free. Oh, we're breaking free. Running. And I can't be without you, baby. And I'll be waiting up until you get 'Cause I can't sleep without you, baby. What you looking at? Come on. Let me see your cream. Let me see my what? Yeah, you're clear. Yeah, yeah, you're clear. The ground that you restore and tell him, make me agree. Won't you come over and check up on it? I'ma let you work up on it. Ladies, let him check up on it. Watch it while he check up on it. Hip it, pop it, talk it, stop it, check on me the night. Ooh, boy, you're looking like it like what you see, won't you come over and check up on it. It sounded like you did that thing that Apple Music's started doing, and I don't like it. 

Well, it's out of the crossfade. 

Yes, where it mixes in the song, the next song. I didn't like that. 

What a mistake, I was hoping you would draw attention. 

What are you, DJ Nino Brown? 

What are you doing? You checking up on it, aren't you? Checking up on it. 

I don't like that song, check on it. 

Is that about like baking, you know? if you cook a sponge or a pavlova or something that's kind of delicate. 

And you can't open the door and. 

Check on it if you slam the door or open the door and make any sudden movements or breathe in the wrong direction, it'll collapse in yourself. So you've got to check up on it. 

No, it's not about that. It was for the Pink Panther movie, but then it wasn't in the movie, but it came out at the same time as the movie, and then it was on Destiny's Child's Greatest. It's even though it wasn't Destiny's Child, it was just beyonc�. Well, beyonc� and Slim Thog. 

Yeah. 

But none of the other Destiny's Children. 

No, they were all there in the Destiny's Orphanage, you know. 

Yes, eating scraps. 

Yeah, exactly. Please, beyonc�, can I have some more? 

Check up on it. Check up on it, check up on it, check up on it, check up on it tonight. Grills. 

Yeah. Really. 

Number 2. 

Right. 

Mary J, be that in #3. Two new entries this week. 

Yeah. 

We'll start with new entry #4, Breaking Free. If we're trying, yeah, we're breaking free. Oh, we're breaking high. From High School Musical. That didn't take long. That movie only came out a few weeks ago. 

They charted, yeah. 

That's the big finale. 

Well, that would be a surprise as well, wouldn't it? They wouldn't have thought that High School Musical was going to chart. 

No, but it falls out of the top five after this week, because I was going to save this for next week. So I wanted to talk about James Blunt, but I can't. 

You have to do both. 

So I've got to talk about both. So we'll just cover this one pretty quickly. But the interesting one about this is in the charts, it says Breaking Free by Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens. We know, we now know. 

He didn't sing. He didn't sing. 

So that's the Billboard charts are lying. 

Well, I think. 

It's not Zach. 

It's. Did he re-record? 

No, that's not him. That's a lie. It was a guy called, I don't know, he's somewhere in the notes. 

Drew Seeley. 

Drew Seeley, that's right. 

We spoke about him previously as well. 

Done. Yes, so that is a complete lie. And then the fans found out and they were betrayed. And then they taught him how to sing for the number two? 

Well, yes. 

So that was a. 

Otherwise they would have done a big #2 on it. 

Yes. 

If he hadn't have learned how to sing properly. 

Disney thought his voice wasn't strong enough for musical release. 

Well, I tend to agree. I think David's, sorry, Drew Seeley. Drew Seeley. That's like that. 

Should mean Vanessa Hudgens and Drew Seeley breaking free and at #4. 

Yes, which is not about creating a picture of a mattress, Drew Seeley. That was bad. We'll just keep going. 

Okay, well let's have a chat about the other new entry, #5. 

Right. 

James Blunt, you're beautiful. You're beautiful. You're beautiful. You're beautiful. It's true. I saw your face in a crowded place. 

Now I've said before that this should be like on a commercial for pet adoption or something. that real heartstring sort of stuff. But I feel like. 

Well, you have like the dog, the ugly dogs. 

Well, at the beginning of the show, you said that the lyrics aren't what you think they are. 

No. 

Or something to that effect. 

Yes, correct. 

Right. 

You want to get to that bit? I had other facts to discuss first. 

We'll discuss your facts first, but I'm interested. 

Okay, good. 

That's the part I'm interested in, so... 

We're going to have to stick around. 

I'll do my best. 

Till I get to that bit because I've got other things that I need to say first. 

Okay. 

From his debut album, Back to Bedland, which we spoke about last year because it was released in 2005. 

I was getting mad deja vu. 

Yes, we did. We mentioned this song, but it wasn't in the charts. I think this song needs more discussion because it was such an iconic song. 

Yes, it was huge. It was very big. It was on commercials. It was on those highlight reels. It was just everywhere. 

It hit number one in... in the Billboard Hot 100 in March. 

Wedding videos. 

Stayed in the top 10 for weeks, which is massive for a British singer-songwriter for it to do so well in the Billboard charts. Obviously #1 in the UK and was one of the biggest singles of the decade in the UK. Went to #1 here in Australia, also Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and other countries. 

Yeah. So what you're saying is, It was a big deal. 

It was everywhere. It helped the album become the best-selling album in the UK in 2005. 

It was the album Back to Bedlam. Yes. 

And it was really known as the Sad Boy Anthem of the mid-2000s. Yeah, that you absolutely. 

Could not get away from. 

Bit emo, staring out the bus window dramatically. You felt this song in your bones. 

And there's a film clip was him in the cold in his... 

It was cold, yes. 

He wasn't wearing much. 

That's right. I feel like there was frosty breaths in. 

The snow and I thought he was like shirtless or something. 

And people paid money for the ringtone. It was pretty polyphonic. 

You got a polyphonic version of your beautiful. 

Yeah, I remember lots of people having it and people would do it for their partner. I'd say send it. 

To someone saying, You're beautiful. 

No, like when your partner was ringing, the ringtone for your partner was, You're beautiful. 

Oh yeah, like people use the Imperial March from Star Wars for their mother-in-law. People. People. 

You are people. 

Yes. 

The song even had a swear in it. 

What? 

But he had to then change it for the radio edit, but there was a line in it, and this is where we're getting to the dark twist of what the song was actually about. In the song, he actually says, she could see from my face that I was f***ing high. 

Oh, on drugs or some substance of some description? 

And the radio edit was... She could see from my face that I was flying high. So they changed it. People still didn't really know, but he revealed, well, no, lots of people thought it was a love song. 

So what is it? 

It's actually about seeing an ex-girlfriend with her new boyfriend whilst being high on drugs. 

Yes, okay. A. 

Moment of painful, delusional longing. He himself said it's about a creepy, unhealthy obsession that most people misinterpreted as romantic. 

So it's like, I'm cooked and got a creepy stalker. Look at what I've left behind. 

I'm a high, I'm a high stalker. 

I want to see it as a moment of introspection, maybe. I mean, he's not doing anything outwardly creepy, is he? He's just tripping balls going, oh God, she's good looking and I, you know, I missed. 

The funny thing about it though was you get to late 2000s and because the song had been everywhere, there was parodies. Then everyone turned on it. We all got sick of it. We all hated it. And it was just this overplayed sad ballad. He then leaned into it as well and became this Twitter comedy king. 

Oh, that's right. 

Amazing. 

Yeah, James Blunt kind of was definitely the king of Twitter. 

And we all hated the song. It then becomes a bit of a meme and then returns to this nostalgic classic today. It's gone full circle and we all love it again. 

Well, for me, it doesn't feel like 20 years old, but a lot of music is like that with me. I'm like, all of this stuff still feels like new music because I listen to really old stuff. But... 

It was a bit of a turning point as well for male vulnerability in pop music. 

Yeah. 

Open doors for Snow Patrol, The Fray, Lose the Palding, that sad, sad acoustic boy kind of stuff. 

Don't forget the world. 

Yeah. 

That sort of stuff. Yeah. Which is, I mean, it's not Limp Bizkit, is it? Or, you know, system of a down or anything like that. 

Or shaking your ******* for BLG. 

Or that even. Yes, it's actually a nice contrast, a nice change of pace, if we're being honest. 

I do have some of his. Amazing tweets from back when it was Twitter. Back when it was safe to go on that particular platform. Before it was purchased. 

Yeah, before the sale. Sure. 

He wrote about being a one hit wonder. I wrote a song about a man stalking a woman in the subway while high on drugs and people thought it was romantic. What a world. 

I feel like given the way the world is these days, that's like peak romantic. 

That's safe. 

It's really safe. 

If you're ever feeling down, just remember that I made millions from a song about stalking. 

Oh, ****. 

On overplaying his own song, he tweets, I wish I'd never written You're Beautiful. I've heard it too much. 

I like the one he says about mental health and his fans where he goes, my music has helped people through dark times, which is ironic because my music has also caused dark times. And clap backs to his fans as well. Like, so somebody tweeted to him and said, you're beautiful is annoying. And he was just like, you're annoying. 

I remember that one. 

Yeah. And I think he's, the piece de resistance for James Blunt, peak Twitter, would have been on his career longevity where he says, I peaked in 2006 and I'm fine with that. Right, let's go to the box office. There was a big remake at the box office. 

Do you remember that joke when you were in primary school? What? did Pink Panther say when he stepped on an ant? 

I think that was a great joke. 

When I was a kid. I loved that. 

Solid. 

I had a toy Pink Panther. 

Did you? 

And I left it in Aubrey Wodonga. And it was Devo. And then someone found it and mailed it home to me. 

It was, I think a lot of people had that toy. And then we all thought as kids that the Pink Panther was like some really cool cartoon. And it was a detective comedy movie. 

I had no idea what it was actually about. No, but I loved that toy. 

The comedic genius of Peter Sellers. But as a kid, all of that went straight over my head and I'm like, when am I going to see the Pink Panther? 

Dead ants and the pink toy. 

No, just even Snagglepuss, maybe just a cameo. Fix it, Steve Wright, something. I don't know. This film was a reboot of the Pink Panther movies, the Inspector Clouseau comedies. And Inspector Clouseau was played so well by the great Peter Sellers. I'm like, how can we do this? Like, we can't, you can't improve on perfection. Like, especially with comedy roles, like when you get somebody who's portraying a character that they're really well known for, but they did, they reimagined it and they cast Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau. And look, he's pretty good. He's a high caliber, well-respected comedian that's been in tons of great movies as well. Big star. But then they also cast beyonc� in it. 

Yes. 

He's also a big star, but not really really funny or an actor? 

No, well, she'd been in Austin Powers. 

Yeah. 

And I think we all thought, oh, wow. Look at that. 

No. 

I think it was a bit of a novelty. 

I think people were like. 

I think we were surprised. She wasn't as bad as we thought she'd be. 

But then it also had Kevin Kline, who's a pretty good actor. Yeah. And Sean Reno, who a great actor as well. So look, he wasn't, it was like, I think they tried to kind of highbrow Austin Powers a little bit by using that classic Clouseau type stuff. And so, a priceless diamond called the Pink Panther gets stolen. We know the story. It's not a pink cat that we're going to see in cartoon form, which must do our disarray as a child, ruin my childhood without, anyway. So Clouseau is that bumbling accident. He's like Inspector Gadget, you know, accident-prone bumbling, whatever. Austin Powers, style, energy, old school, slapstick, detective, fast, probably better than Austin Powers, but I'd say the originals are even better again, so that's what I would go for. It didn't do too badly. It's got about 80 million in the US box office in the first week, worldwide 158 million, and it was well received internationally, believe it or not. Although the critics They hated it. 

Of course they did. 

They hated it. Very low scores on Rotten Tomatoes. And the audiences were like, it was fine. Which, but that's, you know. And again, I think Steve Martin's attempt at Clouseau is an honourable, it's a nice try. I'm sorry, I just don't, I mean, obviously a bit of a paycheck behind it, but Steve Martin as Steve Martin is better than Steve Martin trying to be Peter Sellers. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. But I mean, he did all that slapstick as well. So he was certainly cast for it. If they were going to do it, like I couldn't have think, could not think of anyone better for the role. But my thing was just like, don't do it. But they've got $80 million in their opening weekends that said that they should have done it. So there you go. I don't know. I just don't think it would play very well. this in this day and age, because you've got the fake accent, the parody, the comedy accent, the French accent, slapstick that leans into those real cultural stereotypes. 

Yeah. 

Which I love. I just, I know I shouldn't, but I do love that stuff. I mean, all comedy is based on type to a degree. It's just how far you want to go with it. And it was really just about building beyonc�, I think, in a lot of ways. So I don't know. It'd be a TikTok series these days. 

Yeah, but it would break the internet because beyonc�. Anything she does just breaks the internet. 

And then they just share it and remix it in a moment and dance to it and people would forget what it was all about within a week anyway. In Australia, we were still watching Johnny Cash, which I think is a redeeming factor as well. But I'm sure we'll be watching the Pink Panther soon because still, we're still, it's 2006 and Things still aren't kind of coming out at the same time. It's getting close, but it's not we're not quite there yet, so things are landing in America well before they hit our shores, which. 

Is unless you had someone who could get them off the old lime wire. 

Yeah, well, burn it onto a CD for you. We were zigging while the commercial world was zagging. my Lord, it's a book we didn't read, although now I've got my glasses. 

Oh, maybe you should. Stephen King. 

Well, I'm a fan of Stephen King. I've read a few of his books. 

Yeah, you might like this one. Cell. 

Didn't read this one. 

Cell as in the phone, not where you go to jail. 

Cell or is it in the as in the part of your body composition? 

No, it's in the used to call me on the cell phone. 

C-E-L-L. Cell. Okay. Let's, what is it? It's Stephen King, so it's Apocalypse. 

Is it like 80s? Ladies Apocalypse in Miami. 

Sure, why not? Death comes to us all in the form of a video cassette with the video board game Nightmare. Yes, my gatekeeper. Sorry, I'll get into the, I'll get into the. Remember the video board game Nightmare? No. Yes, my gatekeeper, where you play a board game. 

Gatekeeper, isn't that from Ghostbusters, the Keymaster? What? 

I don't know, maybe it was a Cryptkeeper. I don't know, the video board game Nightmare. 

I have never heard of that. 

You should Google it. I bet you if I show you an ad for it, you'll remember it. That'll be our homework. Okay, let's do this. 

Sell Stephen King. 

Yes, I'll sell it to you. Graphic artist Clay Riddell was in the heart of Boston on that brilliant autumn afternoon when hell was unleashed before his eyes. Without warning, carnage and chaos reigned. Ordinary people fell victim to the basest, most animalistic destruction. And the apocalypse began with the ring of a cell phone. Oh, there we go. The apocalypse began with the ring. of a cell phone. The video board game nightmare. Sorry. I can't believe it. Anyway. 

Sally One Star. 

Yeah. 

Honestly, I bought this book just because of its very attractive cover. It's very pleasing and bewitching. 

Oh, yes, a bewitching cover. That'd get me every time. But she only gave it one star because of the cover. I feel like it was a bewitching cover, maybe two. But... Sully, it's your review, not mine. Timothy Dalton, not the Timothy Dalton with the bum chin that played James Bond. Not that Timothy Dalton. 

No, but this Timothy Dalton, I believe, is an author. 

Oh, is he? 

Didn't have a bum chin, but he's an author. 

See, I think that's poor form, being an author, going on Goodreads, dropping reviews on. 

But also saying that they're an author in their name as well. I feel like it's a bit showboating. 

Yes, and then maybe that's his pen name and he's decided to name himself after a James Bond actor. I don't know. 

Maybe. 

One star. I guess from now on, I'll just stick to reading books from King's drug days, since apparently that's where all of his creative genius came from in the past. I actually agree with that review. Oh. Yeah, I do. I'd be friends with Timothy Jackson. One of my favorite Stephen King books is The Standard. I'm pretty sure it was just fueled by cocaine and alcohol. And it's great. It's really good. It's again fueled by cocaine and alcohol and probably could have been about 400 pages shorter. So yeah, but anyway, that's just my opinion of Stephen King. And I should get on to Goodreads and just express myself there rather than just share it with you. Who else do we have? 

Well, you could log into my burner account if you like. 

Oh, okay, your Goodreads burner account. 

They're trying to sign me up for some reading challenge now. They've got my email. 

Can you friend people? 

Yes, I'm following Lois. Oh! Yes, they want me to do a reading challenge. I'm not doing that. But anyway, Mark Howell, one star. 

Oh, Howell. Yes. 

This book is the very epitome of the new king. Uninspired, lazy, compared to his earlier works. This is the new mass-produced cookie cutter pottery versus a Ming vase, for example. Open bracket, the Ming piece being his older work, in case there's any confusion. 

Oh, the cocaine and booze fueled stuff is the Ming vase. Vase. 

Oh, Vase. 

I pronounced it. Vase. Does he? Sorry, Mark Hall. Is he like a Mark Hall the third or whatever? Do you reckon there's a number behind that? 

Yeah, probably. 

Let's go to Kerry. Kerry gave it one star. Damn. And right, I gave this one star. A cell phone that kills? Really, Stephen? Really? We're on a first name basis, it's cool. As a fan of Stephen King, insert comments about a disturbed being. You know, the down with the sickness, I think there's a reference there, yeah. Very bogan. I always admire the rash of creativity of his work. The rash, no rash creativity, not rash of creativity. You get some ointment for that. I'm pretty sure he shares the same nightmare issues that I do, you think? mainly of scorpions and cockroaches as big as cats and living in a vast wasteland of a desert and being surrounded by pop collar yuppies and of your mum. Maybe this is like the James Blunt subway guy. He just writes them down and makes millions. I sense I'm doing something wrong here. Either way, I already know my cell phone is going to kill me. Whether it's when I'm on it, whilst driving, like the ******* everyone should call me while doing so and dropping my coffee on my crotch only to swerve in front of a semi. Or if someone figured out Matrix style how to kill me with a phone call. Ironic, I'd die such a way as I hate talking on the phone. But I will have carpal tunnel from texting like a fiend. Long story short, it's too late for that, mate. This book is good enough for me to poop on. Oh, that's, I guess that's why I got one star. 

Patrick O'Brien, one star. Wow, this must be what diarrhea reads like. 

I'm confused. 

I think Kerry may have pooped on the book and then Patrick read it. 

Oh, is he reviewing Kerry's review? Or is he saying this is what diarrhea reads like? 

I think he accidentally got Kerry pooped on it. 

I'm like, what does diarrhea read like? is that something? 

Probably really fast. 

You know how fortune tellers can read your tea leaves? 

You're reading into, all right, I was just envisaging it was like really fast and loud and uncomfortable. 

See that splatter over there is your lifeline. And that means you're going to live for a fair while. But then this sort of, this goopy stuff over here, that means you're not going to have much money. 

Probably go and get that checked. 

I wish I hadn't paid that bloody clairvoyant to read my diary. Oh, you meant diary. Sorry. No. Luck. Luck? No, there's no such thing. Look, I can't even speak now after that. It's taken us 3 episodes of the new year and we're talking about poop. Well, we're not, if we're being asked. 

No, it was Patrick O'Brien and Kerry. 

Well, we just reported, guys. It's, you know, we can't take any responsibility for those. 

It's a very long review from Kerry. 

Well, we can take responsibility for it. There is the hatches, matches, and dispatches clue this week, which maybe we shouldn't. It's a celebrity having a birthday who sang this. Daddy's little girl paints the world with a magic wand. Daddy's little child breathes new life to the morning time for me. Jesus. Now, when I think, neighbours, I think like music from neighbours like Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Kylie Minogue, especially for you. 

Craig McLaughlin, check one too. 

I don't really think of... 

Daddy's little girl. 

I don't, but it is a neighbour star. It's a neighbour star. That's a clue. If you said Jesse Spencer... Billy Kennedy from Neighbours, but that's obviously not Billy Kennedy seeing that song. 

Heart throw up extraordinaire. He was. 

Son of Carl and Susan. 

Carl and Susan, gosh. 

How did they manage to have kids with all of Carl's infidelity? Yeah, I think he cheated on him on. 

That was later in life. Was it, of course, yes. 

No, me either. 

He was the nerdy, sweet, awkward teen and then went through the glow-up year and he was on TV hits and Dolly Magazine and Girlfriend Magazine and all the magazines. Such a heartthrob. We loved him. He was Nice Boy Next Door. Then he was in a movie in 2003 called Uptown Girls where he performs the song Molly Smiles. That's what that was. Molly smiles with the dog. Molly smiles and she radiates a glow around her halo. When she plays, Molly smiles on a summer day. Molly smiles. 

That sounds done, Zac Efron. The whole package. The whole package. Jesse Spencer gets in there. Not only is he a good looking boy, not only is he a heartthrob, but he can actually sing his parts. 

He gives it a go. 

He does. It's a good try. 

Yeah, it's a good try. It's participation. 

Look, it didn't certainly... 

Look, it didn't harm his grip, because the next year he was in house and he was one of the main characters. That's right. Doctor Robert Chase. 

And that was a big contract. He's one of the OGs until 2012. Yes. So that was 2004 to 2012. 

Yes. 

He did well. 

And I think he had to be pretend to be married to me. 

Yeah, he did do well. He did do well. 

And then he was on another Chicago Fire. 

Yes, and something. And some other Chicago Universe show. 

Yeah, from 2012 to 2024. 

He was a fire captain. I mean, this is range. You know, he's gone from like, Daddy's little girl to a fire captain, which I think is like. 

And a doctor. He was a doctor as well. 

Yes, unfortunately, he can't really keep it in his pants on set. He dated. one of his co-stars, Jennifer Morrison, although they got engaged in 2006, they split in 2007. That's the TV cast romance. When we were working that hard together, you know? 

Well, you know, things happen. 

You don't have much of a social life. You're out shooting episodes of Chicago Fire or whatever it is. 

Practicing your lines after hours, whatever it leads to. 

Exactly, you know, and then and then it. fizzes out almost as quickly as it arrived. He did get married in 2020 to a research scientist, which is good. I think it's good to kind of not marry another actor. 

Yes. 

You know, because you never line your schedules up. So if you do research scientist, nice, stable relationship there, you can sit there and be like, Daddy's little girl. That's really ***** and weird in that context. But pretty low drama, good adulting on Jesse Spencer's behalf there, I think. 

Yeah, and he's just, he's taking it easy now. He's kind of just doing guest TV roles and limited projects and also doing some indie stuff as well. 

Yeah, wow. 

He's doing a voiceover for something recently. He's also apparently a classically trained musician and he plays the violin. I'd like to do some Jesse Spencer on the violin. 

Well, yes, he must be classically trained. He's definitely not a classically trained singer. Singer, no. Maybe a classic. trained violinist, possibly a pianist. Who knows? 

Happy birthday, Jesse Spencer. 

Indeed, son of Dr. Carl and Susan. Susan and Carl. Carl and Susan. Oh, that's when good neighbours become divorced, isn't it, with those two? And then they become neighbours because they're no longer living under the same roof. It's a complicated story. Go back and watch the reruns. That's the end of the show. We're done. 

Yes. 

We're done for this week. We've got things next week. What are they? 

Oh, we've got a company accused of harvesting body parts. 

Oh, that sounds like fun. Yeah, we'll have a good time with that. 

There is a big milestone for iTunes. 

Yes. 

Bin Laden pops his head up on a released audio tape. 

Oh, good. Is it like... 

Daddy's little girl. Exactly, that. 

If you said a sum of bin Laden... No, Come and find us on the socials, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, search for T-minus 20 podcast. Come and hang out with us. We've put stuff up there all week, including little video grabs, video grabs of us doing this. And then people are like, oh, I love your video grabs. And it's like, you should listen to the full show. And they're like, I don't have time for that. It's a shame, isn't it? Oh, well, we'll see you next week. Thanks for taking the time to rewind. Join us next time for another week that was 20 years ago. In the meantime, come and reminisce on the socials. Search for T-Minus 20 Podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.