Fun facts and sidetracks

Mismatched Stars and Michelin Stars

Linda Constable

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 57:03

If you have a fun fact you’d like us to share, send us an email to: funfactsandsidetracks@gmail.com or leave us a comment online at our social pages on Facebook or Instagram Thanks for listening and never be afraid to get sidetracked.


The boring disclaimer: We do try to double-check all of the facts we talk about. If something isn’t quite correct, we humbly apologise. Credit to our many sources including, A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs, Tim from Kicking Harold, Mental Floss, Wikipedia and so many more.

Speaker

Okay, Al. Here we are. Hey Mart. Welcome back again. Yep. Welcome back and welcome everyone to Fun Facts and Sidetracks. Yeah, if you are into say, sixties music or, uh, great movies like, The Great Escape. The Three Stooges. Both great. They're short movies, but they were good movies. Anything. Click Clacks? Drags and Pushbikes? Yep. Yeah. What do you reckon Al? Lost in Space to Real Space. Yeah. The Jetsons to The Munsters. Yes. Then uh, that's a long way of saying you're probably in the right place. Yeah, you [00:01:00] would be in the right place. 'cause that's what we're into. Indeed. So what should we do today, Al? Alright, we've got some interesting stuff to talk about and first up, talking about music, so let's get into that. Hey, yeah, good idea. Okay. Now, as we always like to say, Mart, you know, we rely on the internet. We rely on watching a lot of documentaries and reading a lot of stuff for our facts. If something's not completely correct, then we do apologize, but we're relying upon everything that we can find and we do double check things as much as we can. Yeah. Okay, so with that, by way of introduction, let's get into chatting about music. What you got for us? Remember when Millie Vanilli were a thing? Yeah. And were they a thing? Well, for five minutes? Well, they were, they were Grammy [00:02:00] nominated. Right. And it was a huge deal when it was found that they actually weren't singing. Oh dear, on their, record breaking short-lived career. Wow. That was, that was a huge deal. And everyone was outraged that these guys Yeah. But I don't know if, well, I know you are aware of a thing called the Wrecking Crew. Definitely, The Wrecking Crew. Yeah. Is a group of amazing session musicians that existed…. out of this world. Yeah, from the early sixties to the early seventies in the States, these guys were based in LA and pretty well any hit record that needed to be recorded in a hurry and yeah. Perfectly. The Wrecking Crew was the entourage of people that producers called on. Right. You know what they sort of remind me of? Mm-hmm. After I saw all about them. Mm-hmm. The band that's on the Muppets, you know. [00:03:00] That band, you know, that sort of sixties looking band with the long hair and, you know. Yeah, yeah. Well it's what a very nice comparison. Sorry, that just came out of nowhere. No, no, that's a good comparison. I think, not music wise Sorry about that folks. Some of you might have seen a documentary on Netflix about the Wrecking Crew. I did. Uh, yeah, and it's fantastic. Basically, this was, it wasn't just a band, it was a whole collection of session musos that Yeah. People could call on. So you had everything from guitarists to bass players and drummers to trumpeters to keyboard players to. You name it, there was a collection of the very best in the world. The very best. Yeah, they were class and these guys were available pretty well at a moment's notice to go and play on hits. And very [00:04:00] often, you think about the sixties and into the early seventies, a lot of the bands were kind of manufactured. You. Yeah. You had the Monkees with the most famous, and you had people like the Partridge Family Yeah. In the seventies. And they all had these, really successful hits. And the, impression that the producers wanted to give was that these guys were playing on their records. Well, I thought they were. Especially the Monkees. Well, in truth, the Monkees were really good musicians. Yeah. But they were never allowed. To play, their instruments because they needed to have hits and they needed them to happen quickly. Yeah. So there was no time for people to mess around. Yeah. Uh, learning. So I think it was interesting, the Monkees, it was to me they were sort of like American. See something that works. The Beatles. Yeah. And then create the Monkees even down to the name, the Monkees. Yeah, totally. Four guys. And make sure the lead singer has got an English accent. [00:05:00] Yeah. And, and even down to spelling it, differently. Yes. Yeah. And the footage of them running really quickly and doing funny things like The Beatles. Yeah, absolutely. It was the American Beatles. Yeah. And they were worth a lot of money. The producers just wanted lots of hits. And they wanted stuff that would make the girls scream. Yeah. And they didn't really care about them being musicians. No. They weren't cast as musicians really. No. They were cast to be either cute guys or, people who were funny. Didn't they get in a bit of trouble as they wanted to play some of the songs or they wanted to use their songs? Some of their songs? Hugely, hugely. And there's a whole. Episode we could do about the Monkees. Yeah. Fun fact. Gosh, we're getting off track early, aren't we? Yeah. Sorry. No fun fact about the Archies. Yeah. The Archies is a direct result. Yeah. Of the Monkees wanting to play their own music. And they had huge rows with the guy who owned them, essentially. Yeah. And like massive rows because by then they were wanting to go on tour and play because they could play their [00:06:00] instruments. And this guy just had had enough of it and he went, you know what, I'm gonna create a cartoon band. I'm gonna record hits. Oh, wow. And I won't have to put up with all these arguments from these guys. Wow. So the Archies is just a cartoon band that this guy Don Kirschner Yeah. Could control 100%. Wow. That could be happening now too. Couldn't it? Probably is. Especially like virtual reality and whatever. Anyway. Well, you know, it's, it's kind of, it's not dissimilar to what Gorillaz did, I guess. Yeah. They just went, you know what, we could, we can be people who've been playing in bands for years, but if it's all about the look and it's all about good music. We'll create a cool cartoon looking band who, you know, you can, and then they can live normal lives as well. Yeah. Totally. So, you know, wow. Damon Alban after, after Blur and you know, there's a kind of a rotating suite of people who were Gorillaz. Yeah. So it's cool. Anyway, we go off that you've got Yeah, well that's what it is. It's [00:07:00] sidetracked. It's, what was the fun fact? I dunno, I've lost it. But. How they got their name was that when these guys came around that term, that Wrecking Crew was being used disparagingly. Mm-hmm. Because up until then you had this sort of old guard of session musos. Yeah. And they were really looking down on these guys who were all about just turning up to sessions in jeans and t-shirts and, you know, being much more rock and roll than the, established musos and they were gonna wreck the music industry. Wow. Yeah. Really Kind of cool. So they were. In the early sixties, they were the defacto house band for Phil Spector. Yes. Very successful. Yeah, so Phil Spector had the whole wall of sound production style and you had, you know, the Ronettes and all those people. They were the band who were playing in all that, but they were also the band. Behind you name it, [00:08:00] pretty well anything in the sixties apart from established bands like The Beatles and The Stones and the Who and that. Oh, it was amazing to hear that they were involved with the Beach Boys. Yeah, well, the Beach Boys, apparently a lot of the initial albums, they played their own stuff. Yeah, yeah. But after that, these guys were playing all the, all the material. Brian Wilson was directing it all, but he wanted absolute perfection in the music and that's what these guys delivered. Wow. Wow. Yeah. So the sound of all that is really from them, isn't it? Yeah. So look. Well, so let's have a chat. I mean, there's people that might be recognisable names now. People like Leon Russell. Oh, Mad Dogs and Englishmen. Yeah. . Yeah. Glen Campbell, who was in the Beach Boys for a time as well. Yeah. But he obviously went on to have his own huge solo career. I didn't know he was in the Beach Boys. Yeah. Temporarily. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, he was a great bass player. He was a great [00:09:00] musician. Full stop. Yeah. But there's a guy called Tommy Tedesco, who is like one of the great guitarists, okay. Guy called Hal Blaine. Really famous drummer. So anyway, these guys have been, inducted into the musicians Hall of Fame. Yeah, back in 2007, but you know, at the time there wasn't really multi-tracking equipment and all that sort of thing, so these guys were often playing, live - one take, one take. Wow. And they had to be super professional about it, so, but they had to be on call the whole time, because back then producers needed a part filled with, you know, very little time. Yeah. So they were just on call. They made so much money. It's ridiculous. I could imagine. There's a lady called Carol Kay, who's a bass player. She actually said at the time she was making more money than the president. Wow. So did they get any recognition for this on the albums? Yeah. Well, that's the [00:10:00] really kind of sad thing I reckon, because they played on all of this stuff and often they showed the bands how to go out and play their own music. So they, they created the feel of the music. Yeah. And they, to be honest, they played it more technically than the bands were able to do. But it was never listed on an album cover or anything. Oh, this is, you know, Tommy Tedesco or what have you. Yeah. It was always just, oh, here's, you know, whoever it is, and they dumb it down for them a little bit. Yeah. Wow. Pretty amazing. And you can sound good dumbed down. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. But it's only when you realise all the stuff that these guys played on. You go far out. This was like, this was the sound of a whole decade in LA at least. Yeah. Yeah. So let's have a, let's have a look at some of the songs that they played on. You know, so this goes back to stuff like only you, , only you, are you gonna sing every time I mention a song? No. If you, [00:11:00] no, I'm not…. Only You by The Platters. The Platters. Oh, here we go. You Send Me - Sam Cook. Darling, you send me, Strangers in the Night. I apologise now. No, no, we're not doing Strangers in the Night. All the Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra stuff and then into all, what was that? The Beach Boys stuff. Don't Worry, Baby. And God Only Knows, and you know. Through to people like Elvis - Can't Help Falling in Love. A Little Less Conversation. Wow. Simon and Garfunkel, John Denver. So all those hits Glen Campbell made. Yeah. Even though he was a great musician, well, he would've had those guys playing on them. Galveston, that sort of stuff. Gosh, who else? Obviously all the Monkees stuff, but they'd be on the Mamas and the Papas and all that sort of thing. They were, they were on all the Mamas and the Papas stuff. Wow. So, you know, Dedicated to the One I love. [00:12:00] And Monday. Monday and that sort of thing. I wonder if they're on Jose's album. Light my fire Light my fire, Light my fire…. quite possibly. Mr. Tambourine Man, that's a Dylan song, wasn't it? Yeah, it was, yeah. But only one of them played on it because again, the Wrecking Crew were there, but also instrumentals and stuff. So, Herb Alpert and things like the Hawaii Five 0 theme and. Batman and, you know, Bonanza and the Mash thing. Gilligan's Island? probably like, you name it, these guys were the musos, you know? Wow. Would they have done the Pink Panther? They did. Funnily enough. Wow. So, you know, and, and again, just shows you their range. That would've been the, the string section of the Wrecking Crew that those guys turned up. So, yeah, without them, I reckon music coming out of LA in the sixties would seemed very differently. It was such a great thing, wasn't it? Mm. And like we can't do without music. Like music is, is really something. And there was some great [00:13:00] music that came out of America. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. But the interesting thing is that by the mid-seventies technology kind of overtook them because all of a sudden you had, you know, 16 and 24 track, recording machines. And you know, you didn't need to record everything in one take. Yeah. So then you know, it synthesizers and you had drum machines and all that stuff that kind of meant that they didn't need. So what happened? That was the end of their run. Yeah. There's a documentary I reckon if anyone's interested, have a look at it. Because it's, some of them ended up even teaching music. Yeah. They made a lot of money, but some of them fell on hard times. They kind of went from owning the mansion in the hills Yeah. And the giant yacht, to going through divorces and things and then, and cocaine and.…. probably. Yeah. And living in a basement somewhere. So, wow. Really [00:14:00] bad, but amazing story. The thing is, there's the next wave of session guys that came through after them, and we'll talk about these guys another time. But there's guys like, Danny ‘Kortch’ Kortchmar Yeah. And Leland Sklar and all these guys. They all were famous. So if you had them on an album, um, Waddy Wachtel who's the guitarist for Stevie Nicks and a whole bunch of people, if they're playing on the album, it's like up in lights that you've got these guys. So like the complete opposite. So they were getting the recognition. They'd get all the recognition. Yeah. Wow. But you had bands like, I remember reading them on the album. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And but you know, all of a sudden you had bands like the Eagles were supporting Linda Ronstadt ,and Carol King and James Taylor. They had their own bands and yeah, people were recording and, producing their own stuff, so they really didn't need session musos. Great musicians. Jackson Brown. Yeah, [00:15:00] exactly. Exactly. Like, yeah. That's another wall of sound, isn't it? It's, yeah, yeah, yeah. They're very talented. Yeah, so pretty interesting. If you get a chance to, check out the documentary on.Netflix. I highly recommend it. And honestly, we've only mentioned a few of the songs, but when you see it like all the, you know, Sonny and Cher and all those people, it's, well, anything to do with music. Yeah. The Captain and Tenille and like all these people who were huge in the seventies, it was always the Wrecking Crew that were the sound behind them. Wow. Hmm. The Wrecking Crew. There you go. Okay. Mart, if I was to say to you, Michelin Stars, what do you think of? I think of. Michelin man, that's what comes to mind. Mm-hmm. Michelin man. Uh, tyres. Yeah. Hold on a second. Now, Michelin was a guide or [00:16:00] something, wasn't it? When you're driving, yeah. Okay. Very good. Um, but the Michelin stars are now considered to be the sort of pinnacle of restaurant quality. Oh, okay. Yeah, but they have much more humble beginnings than that. So in the late 18 hundreds two French brothers, Edward and Andre Michelin founded the Michelin Tyre Company. Mm-hmm. And back then there were less than 3,000 cars in the country. 3,000 cars. You can't even, you wouldn't even see them. Probably not. But they were super smart because they said we need to get people driving more so we can sell more tyres. and the way they intended to do that was by producing this guide, which was actually dedicated to giving people maps. Around France. Giving them instructions on how to repair and change tyres. Wow. And it showed them a bunch of different [00:17:00] locations for restaurants and hotels and mechanics and petrol stations and that sort of thing. So it was like the handy guide for motorists, right? Yeah. It's terrific. Yeah. And pretty quickly the guide became really popular and they started producing it through Europe and Northern Africa as well within a decade. It stopped production in 1914 when the war broke out. First world war. Yeah. But, pretty quickly after that, things took off because it all started one day when Andre Michelin turned up at a tyre shop and he saw that a whole bunch of these guides were being used to prop up a workbench. “Uh, what are you doing here with my guides?” And he said that the penny dropped, that if something's free, then people don't value it necessarily. So they said, right, we're gonna charge for this guide. And so from 1920, they launched a new guide and it sold for seven Francs. And that had all sorts of [00:18:00] info on hotels in Paris and, you know, restaurants and info on all sorts of specific categories, which was pretty good. The other thing they did was they recruited a team of mystery diners to go to these restaurants and to dine there anonymously, and then review. The restaurants “one more paper thin wafer please”. Yes. So, so all of a sudden you can see how it was starting to veer towards fine dining, right? That's incredible. Yeah. So they started awarding stars in 1926. Um, fun fact though, when World War II broke out, they stopped producing the guide and then the US government said. We want to get permission to reprint the 1939 guide because it had all sorts of detailed maps of France that the Allied forces could carry with them when they stormed the beaches of Normandy [00:19:00] …..and great restaurants. Oh yeah, that's right. What a combination. That's, that's, that's so clever. Yeah. So they used it for the D-Day invasion, which is, isn't that incredible? Yeah. Very cool. And then the guide started up again in 1945. By 1955, they came up with a rating system that acknowledged restaurants serving high quality food at moderate prices. It was called the Bib Gourmand. So there you go. That's my best French, that's my grade Eight French. I'm not going any further. Oh, I heard you do better than that. No Pepe Le Pew impersonations. Uh. Pepe Le Pew. The French. The French, what? Was he a skunk, wasn't he? Yeah. Oh man. He was a funny man. My little sha…. Oh, here's a sidetrack. Okay. Pepe Le Pew. Yeah, Pepe. For listeners who maybe aren't familiar with Pepe Le Pew ,it's a bit of a shame. Yeah. Warner [00:20:00] Brothers cartoon about a Looney Tunes. Yes. Looney Tunes a very amorous skunk. Skunk, yeah. Who was French. And who in every cartoon, it's basically the same premise. It's, yeah. He falls in love with a cat who has walked… a black, a black cat who's walked under like a white paintbrush or something. Yeah. There's someone that's painting the lines on the road. Yes. consequently, he thinks that, you know, the female cat is a female skunk and he wants to take her away. Yeah. What was her name? Uh, well, the character was Penelope. Pussycat apparently, ah, come here by minutePenelope. But the interesting thing about Pepe Le Pew is that, he's a pretty funny character. He's very funny character, but it's kind of out of step now with society. So the, the idea of a male kind [00:21:00] of hassling a woman and following her around and being overly amorous really doesn't fly. No. Maybe for good reason, so, you know, there was gonna be a film apparently in 2010 that was voiced by Mike Myers. He was gonna be the voice of Pepe Le Pew he was gonna be the voice of Pepe Le Pew? Yeah. But, that was kind of dropped. And I think, you know, in the world we live in the moment, there's, it's sort of a shame. I understand. Yeah. But it's sort of a shame. Pepe was a Yeah. Pretty cool. Little skunk. Yeah, exactly. Anyway, there's a sidetrack about Pepe. Yeah. Yeah, so the Michelin star has just gone from strength to strength. It's now, rating over 40,000 restaurants across 24 territories, across three continents. And they've sold 30 million Michelin guides worldwide. 13 million, which is pretty cool. It is pretty cool. It took off in the US [00:22:00] only in 2005. They started in New York and now they, you know, they review restaurants in Chicago and New York and LA and Las Vegas and San Francisco. Wow. Yeah. That's, that's really great Al Yeah, it's a great little bunch of facts there. Yeah. You can't get a Michelin star in Australia, but you get a chef hat because…. Of course you would. Which is kind of based on the Australian Good Food Guide, but a couple of Aussie brothers came up with it. That's right. Bruce. It's a chef hat with corks on it. Bruce and Danno. And it's the best pies. Yeah. The rating, the quality of the Chicko Roll. On, and the dim sim. Oh, hey, don't be knocking the dimmy. What a sad exclusion it is that dimmy have never been mentioned in the Michelin Guide and the Parmie. Yeah, exactly. And the Sunday roast. I wonder if the, [00:23:00] the chef hat could be based on like, best surf club. Oh. Or best RSL could be, eh, yeah. Yeah. That's, that would be great. Yeah. I won the, at the Mooloolaba Surf Club. Mm-hmm. I won the, $50 voucher. Yeah. It was gonna be, uh, a thousand dollars. They gave away five $50 vouchers and I thought, oh. 'cause I bought the tickets in the life saving raffle, which I always do 'cause they're a great service. And, um, yeah. I thought, oh, well I'm not being that called out. We’ve never won anything. Mm. And they said, now the grand prize of the thousand dollars. Mm-hmm. And I was very like, oh yeah, it's not gonna be us. And our numbers came up and I went up there to get my prize and they're all going, ‘Hey Champ, how you going?’ And they're cheering. They're calling me Legend and Champ and oh, it was great. But I had [00:24:00] to get a key, like there was 10 keys. Mm-hmm. She gave me the key that opened up the lock with a thousand dollars in it, right? Mm-hmm. And then she said, so that opens the lock. I said, yes. So she grabs the key, puts it in a bag, and then she puts nine other keys in. She says, right. If you get the key, you get the thousand dollars. So I put my hand in the bag and everyone's in the back row going ‘go mate, champ’. And I picked the wrong key, of course. Oh yeah. So what did you get? I did get $50. And was it a voucher or… It was a voucher to spend it at Moolooloaba ….at the chef hat. Yes. Award-winning. Yeah. bistro, I've gotta say it was quite good food. There you go. Hey. Yeah. Mm-hmm. We were chatting the other day about TV shows and, you know, actors and that that didn't get on. Mm-hmm. I thought that was pretty [00:25:00] interesting there is some pretty interesting stuff when it comes to casts. Mm-hmm. I reckon. Oh yeah. Um, and it's, and it's interesting because sometimes. People just don't get along because they're all different people and that's, that's life, I suppose. Yeah. Because when you see people on television, it's not what they are really, is it? Yeah, that's right. Yeah. You know? Yeah. The Chevy Chase’s are usually different people. Yeah, that's right. The, they can be different people and sometimes when there is tension on set, it's because the main characters might have had a relationship before and now they don't anymore, which is awkward to say the least. Um, and sometimes the producers actually want people to not get along. Ah, they want that tension. 'cause they want that tension and they want the characters to not really like each other. Oh my goodness. Which makes it tricky for the actors because they're [00:26:00] kind of stuck with this stuff, man, I wonder if they get extra money, like danger money. Well, you know, and sometimes there's big egos involved. Huge. Crazy. I know. Mm-hmm. In the entertainment industry. But there's big egos or sometimes. You know, people are going through things. There's plenty of cases where people are drug addicted or what have you. Yeah. And just make life tough for everyone around them. Mm-hmm. So there's plenty of cases where people just don't get along. So we thought we'd sort of chat about a few of those. Mm-hmm. First one is the MythBusters guys. Yeah, apparently. So Adam and Jamie, apparently those guys really dislike each other. They don't come across as they do. No, they don't. Just like they don't at all. A couple of blokes. Yeah, and I mean, we're, using the internet as our source and Adam and Jamie, if you're listening and you do get on well, terrific. Because we really like you, but that's what we're hearing and I guess. It's testament to those guys that they do look [00:27:00] like they're good friends when they're on, on set. Yeah. Yeah. You know what another two is? Mm-hmm. Alan and Marty. Oh, that guy. I've been using my AI stand in for the last five episodes. I can't be in the same room as that guy, and I've been snorting cocaine over here just to get me through. Oh dear. Oh yeah, there's someone else out. Oh, no. Let's, I wanna concentrate on this one for a minute. Let's just get this straight. Let's just get this bloody thing recorded. And out of here yeah. Um, desperate Housewives. Yeah. There's some pretty famous stories going around about people like Terry Hatcher. I don't think we really want to, I don't think we need to major on any of that, apart from, to say it's a cast thing. Yeah. And it's a casting thing. Two of the main cast characters from Game of Thrones. Lena Hedy, who [00:28:00] plays cersai and Jerome Flynn, who's uh, Sir Bron. So apparently they had been together and had a really bad breakup, and it was such a bad breakup that they had contracts written saying they don't want to work with each other, and so you never really saw them in the same Wow. In the same set or in the same scene, it would be so awkward. Yes. Apparently it was fairly frosty when they were just, waiting for a scene or something, they would just not even acknowledge each other. So, yeah, dear. But like I said, there's also occasions where actors don't really get along and that's exactly what the producers want. Yeah. Really good example of that is in Seinfeld. George and the lady who plays his wife, Susan, Heidi Swedberg. Oh. Yeah, so hold on. George's wife when he got married to that woman, yeah, I could imagine that. To be honest, he died from [00:29:00] licking the stance. Yeah, I could imagine those two not getting on. Yeah, well, apparently he's kind of talked it down. Jason Alexander's talked it down and said, look, it's fine. It's just that she didn't kind of bounce off the cast the way that other guest stars did. But evidently she was only in the show as a very bit part, and then they decided to make her George's wife and Jason Alexander was saying, oh no, don't make that happen. And Larry David said, no, that's exactly why we're gonna make it happen. Yeah, so that was pretty interesting. Wow. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Another good one is, is the movie Super Bad? So. Uh, Jonah Hill and, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. So the guy that played McLovin, Christopher, his character was kind of designed to be really grating. Yeah. And apparently. Jonah Hill just couldn't stand him. Mm-hmm. But he said, [00:30:00] yep, he did exactly what he was meant to do. He was just irritating. Yeah. Um, and this guy, he never really intended to get the part anyway, so when he went to read for the part, he got them all to sign his script 'cause he was still in high school. Yeah, he was a kid in high school, so he never intended to get it. And Judd Apatow, who was one of the producers, he just said his performance was caustic. So he definitely wanted him to be wow. To be McLovin so here you go. Jonah Hill said, I don't like that guy. I don't want him doing it. And Judd Apatow said, that's exactly why we're hiring him. He couldn't be more perfect if it bothers you. So, yeah, there you go. Wow. Other people who kind of grated on each other. I mean, there was a lot of chemistry on Moonlighting back in the day between Bruce Willis and that was a great series too. Sybil Shepherd. Yeah. Wow. I've forgotten about that one. Yeah, it goes back. But yeah, they, they didn't really. Get along, um, Fresh Prince of Belaire. [00:31:00] So there was a lady who played, Aunt Viv, I think she was on for like three seasons, but her and Will Smith really didn't get along. So ultimately the lady that played that character was replaced. Yeah. Yeah. Who do you blame? Uh, not going there. I'm not going there. Yeah. I do not know. Yeah. Um, what I've seen of, yeah. Hey, here's a good one. Yep. Star Trek. Yeah. Okay. You're on a massive Trekky, aren't you? Yeah. Yeah. I don't mind Star Trek. No, I'm not a massive one. I do like it. So, Captain James Kirk. Yeah. William Shatner and, George Takei. The guy that played Mr. Sulu. Yeah. Evidently they really didn't get along. Wow. And, I think they've talked about the dislike over the years, and maybe they've kind of made up in later years, but for a long time they really did not like each other. What it was. I don't know, [00:32:00] just, probably everyone's different, you know, and they just didn't click. Mm-hmm. But fun fact about Star Trek, it was actually produced by, Desilu, which was, Lucille Ball. Yeah. Lucille Ball's production company. Yeah. You are kidding me. No. Geez. She produced a whole bunch of pretty famous shows after I Love Lucy finished its run. So I suppose she would've been cashed up. Yeah. Well it was her and her husband at the time. Mm. Um, Desi Arnez, but then, uh, they got divorced and she kind of took over the company, but they produced things like The Andy Griffith show, The Untouchables, Dick Van Dyke. Wow. To produce a pilot for Star Trek was gonna be an expensive exercise or enterprise? Do you wanna say enterprise? I was gonna say enterprise. Uh, it was gonna be an expensive enterprise and, the networks didn't really wanna spend that money. They produced a pilot and it was a big flop. And she said, no, we're definitely going to [00:33:00] produce a second pilot, which was called When No Man Has Gone Before, and they changed a whole bunch. They only kept Leonard Nimoy. Uh, Mr. Spock from the first pilot rejigged it and there you go. Wow. Sort of, it was down to her that wow, everyone could, otherwise we wouldn't have had it live long and prosper ….and like it's still going now, isn't it? Oh yeah. In the 25 different movie versions and Yeah. TV series, spinoffs and all that. Yeah. . You know Captain Kirk? Mm-hmm. He actually went up into space. Oh really? Did you see that? Yeah. He went up, who was it that launched rockets and sent celebrities up there. Oh yes, there's two of them have gone up, I think. Old mate. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And um, he's gone up there into space and come back and here he's had the footage of him floating around in the capsule. I dunno how long they're up there for floating in a tin can. Yeah. Wow. He's up there and he's come down and he's very emotional, [00:34:00] which you probably would be, you know, like. Seeing the earth from up there. Yeah. And uh, yeah. And he come back and saying that he's amazed that he actually went into space. Wow. Being the character he was. Yeah. Yeah. He was beamed up and he was beamed down. Nothing like being at the helm of the enterprise. Oh, no. Yeah. Yeah. I wonder if he drove. Warp Factor Five. ‘She'll not take it Captain’. He's just a little fat guy floating around in a capsule. How good? Oh yeah. He's an unusual man, isn't he? He is. Hey, here's a few more. Yeah. Um, Married with Children. Oh, peg. So Al Bundy and, the lady that played Marcy, you know the neighbour? Oh yeah. Yeah. They didn't get along at all. Yeah. So I think she's just recently passed away, unfortunately. Possibly, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, she was a good, she was good in that. Yeah. I mean, she was, again, she was kind of dislikable. Yes, she was. And, and obviously [00:35:00] so was Al Bundy, so, you know, they were pretty good, uh, you know, oil and water thing that he was always sitting there with his hands and his pants just to fight the ends of his fingers. Yeah. Sort of sitting back and that's what I remember. Yeah, he's a classic. He's in everything. He was in Wayne's World wasn’t he? He was the guy. Yeah. He was the serious guy. Yeah. Uh, so good. Hey, Saturday Night Live has spawned a whole bunch of. Great comedians. Oh yeah. One who was fairly short-lived was John Belushi, and apparently him and Lorne Michaels is the kind of creator. Yep. You know, the father of Saturday Night Live, they did not get on at all. I mean, Belushi was into substance abuse and all sorts of things, but Yeah. Um, yeah, he was a big challenge for the cast and also for Lorne Michaels so you sort of wonder with those guys that. Would they have been who they were if they didn't have that substance abuse? Yeah. [00:36:00] Yeah. It's part of his character, that's for sure. You know that you brought him out of themself. It made him like no barriers. You know, you wonder, there's a, um, there's a neat podcast called Fly on the Wall, thanks to my mate Dave for putting me onto this, but it's with David Spade and Dana Carvey. Yeah. And they talk a lot about the old days of Saturday Night Live. Mm-hmm. And, um. And Lorne Michaels especially, and yeah, it's, it's worth a listen if you like. It'd be huge egos. Very funny, wouldn't there? Oh, yeah. And, and like massive drug use and massive issues, so Yeah. Um, and some seasons of Saturday Night Live are certainly way better than others. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. But, um, yes, when, when Belushi was there, and I mean. You know, around the time of, of a whole bunch of legends. Chevy Chase. Yeah. Dan Aykroyd and all those guys, so yeah. Yeah. The big fella, what was his name? Um, who was in Trains, Planes and Automobiles with, um, Steve Martin. [00:37:00] John Candy. John Candy. Well done. One of the people, and you mentioned this guy before Chevy Chase. Yeah. Uh, apparently on the set of Community, which you know, was pretty long running. Um, apparently he was one of the people that really got under most people's skin. Really? Yeah. And he ended up leaving the show and has very little to do with it since. Wow. But yeah, Chevy Chase, I mean there's, there's a special that's just, it's on the Channel Nine app, Channel Nine Now. Yeah, I saw that. I never saw it, but I want to see it called I'm Chevy Chase and you are not. Oh, and it goes right into, you know, him, his sort of massive rise and fall. Wow. Because he was a massive cocaine addict and, um, you know, kind of reportedly hard to get along with and stuff, but yeah. Also a comic genius, so, yeah. Very hard. It is. Yeah. Clark Griswald, um, and, and another, I love, he evidently had, quite a lot of [00:38:00] run-ins with Bill Murray. Oh, and he's probably not alone there. Yeah. You hear Bill Murray's, uh, name come up a lot. Yeah. So I think there was probably an almost brawl on the set of Saturday Night Live. Wow. Between those guys. So there's not a lot of love lost there and there's certainly not a lot of love lost between Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfus. Okay. Um, they work together on a show called What about Bob? A film. Yeah. Where Murray is a mental patient and Richard Dreyfus portrayed his psychiatrist Oh. And his, his whole thing. Bill Murray's thing, was to get under his skin because that's what the character did in the movie. Okay. But Richard Dreyfus is quoted as calling him a despicable pig and a drunken Irish bully in interviews. So Wow. I think he may be overstepped the, method acting there. Yeah, yeah. But I could imagine him being [00:39:00] that 'cause that is sort of his character. Well, yeah, and that's what he said. He enjoyed the challenge of irritating Dreyfus during the filming. But he sort of denied any intent to provoke him later off camera, but he did. While we're on the subject of Bill Murray. What was his film? Caddyshack was a yeah, Caddyshack. Well, they, they had a blow up on, a Caddyshack, um, Chevy Chase and Bill Murray. Yeah. And then on the set of Charlie's Angels, apparently Lucy Liu and Bill Murray had a…. he was in Charlie's Angels. Yeah, he was. Oh yeah, he was, I think, of course he was, , I was thinking of the original Charlie's Angels. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Bit of an issue there. Similarly with, Harold Ramis, who he worked with on Groundhog Day, but also on, you know, loads of other stuff on Caddyshack and Ghostbusters. Yeah. Uh, yeah, they, they had their moment as well. Most of [00:40:00] his characters are guys just like drinking, not really enthusiastic about life or anything. Yeah. Just where they can get their next drink and, and yeah, their responsibility. That's it. And I think with Groundhog Day, apparently it was supposed to be more serious than it ended up. Oh, so the more comedic it got, the more upset he got. Um, but apparently they're made up not long before, Harold Ramis died in 2014, but yeah, there's kind of some pretty famous stories about about that as well. Wow. Yeah. Bill Murray is a beauty though, isn't he? Yeah, he is, This Life Aquatic. Oh, This Life Aquatic. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good movie. I really like that. Had that, that, that, uh, David Bowie Music all the way through it. This guy on a playing flamenco guitar. Yeah, it was good. It was just, they're really different movies. Yeah. They very, very different. You always talk to me about Broken Flowers. Yeah. That's a good movie. You gotta see it. It's a [00:41:00] really good movie. Bill Murray. And it like, it's very Bill Murray, the guy next door, he's miserable. His wife walks out on him. Mm-hmm. 'cause he's miserable and he's not enthusiastic and Yep. And he decides to go and visit all the women that he left. Okay. And wants to, you know, make it up with them. And he travels all everywhere. Yep. Meeting these women. It's just an interesting movie. Yeah. Right. Yeah. But it's Bill Murray. It's Bill Murray being Bill Murray. How good. Well, he, he's a bit like Clint Eastwood, isn't he? Not really, but Yeah. You know? Yeah. You know what you're getting. Yeah. We talked about Richard Dreyfus before Yeah. On the set of Jaws. Richard Dreyfus and Robert Shaw. Yeah. Really didn't get along well, Robert Shaw. He, he was actually a World War 2. Yeah. Return service guy that, yeah, he was the old school. Hard [00:42:00] drinking, hard living. Yeah. Like he was, he was from that whole, you know, the Richard Burton era. Yeah, yeah. Peter O'Toole and all those guys. Like they were just. They were serious drinkers and serious players, and he thought Richard Dreyfus was like a pretentious young pup, you know? And yeah, he'd sort of challenge him to jump off the mast of the ship to prove his manhood and all this stuff. Oh, wow. So, so, because the characters didn't get on. On set that really came through in the movie as well. Yeah. Like you can just see it. They're like, they're from different worlds. Yeah. So it is, it's great. They come from different worlds. You gonna keep going with that? No. No. Okay. Moving on. Look, the X Files, apparently Mulder and Scully, Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny for while didn't, for a while. They didn't, I think they've kind of become friends again. I mean, I don't wanna talk too much about Sex in the city, but So Jessica Parker and Kim Catrell….who [00:43:00] cares? I know, but famously, you know, Kim Catrell appeared in that last movie, but she didn't wanna be in the same room. Ah. And she wasn't even, um. Uh, you know, in the same shot or anything with Sarah Jessica Parker. So there you go. Wow. Probably one of the big ones in recent times is Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Okay. It ends with us. Mm-hmm. Have you seen any of this stuff? I haven't seen any of it. Oh man. Yeah. Uh, so they're in the film together called, It Ends With Us, Baldoni is the director. Yeah. She's made all sorts of allegations about him sexually harassing her and inappropriate behavior and…. Oh wow. And it's just become this thing that's played out in the media. Yeah. Ryan Reynolds is kind of sending text and emails to studio executives and celebrity friends. And like, there's no good news in it. It's just the whole thing's awful. It's very toxic. It's toxic and it's dragging everybody in, everybody else into it. He sent an email to [00:44:00] the author, Colleen Hoover saying. Her sickness with a stomach bug was the result of your body ridding itself of any residual Baldoni. God. Wow. So there's, there's PR teams are the only people making money out of this and coming out with their reputations intact, that's for sure. But fair to say, they're not on each other's Christmas card list. No, apparently Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey didn't really get on when they were filming Dirty Dancing. Hmm. He, thought she was messing up scenes and didn't want to do any stunts, and he was all into doing all the stunts himself, you know? Yeah. But he, you know, when they're dancing on that log over, that creek apparently fell and hurt his knee really badly. So who knows? Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron in, Mad Max Fury Road. Yeah. Fair to say. They won't film together again. They asked for a mediator to finish the film together. Wow. Vince Vaughn and [00:45:00] Reese Witherspoon in Four Christmases. They actually had to cut a sex scene out of the film because there's no way that either of them would get through it. Wow. 'cause he was kind of fly by the seat of your pants and she was kind of more method and disciplined and Wow, you know, again, just the two people together, maybe, who knows who's right or wrong. She was a big country and he was a bit rock and roll. Exactly. He, she was born on the morning side of the mountain. He came from the, he was born on the twilight side of the hill. Oh man. Again, who cares? Charmed - Shannon Dougherty and Alyssa Milano. Yep. Not great friends. Tim Allen. Ah, here you go. In the Santa Claus' movies. Tim Allen. Yeah. Yeah. And Casey Wilson. Yeah, evidently she described it as truly the worst, single worst experience I've ever had. And then we get to the Charlie Sheen section. Oh, who didn't he upset? Like, Selma Blair in anger [00:46:00] management? I think that was a case of he was probably going through a fair bit of stuff personally and yeah. Maybe wasn't as professional as he would now….. I think most people, I think most people are okay. But when you involve other stuff, yeah. You know what I mean? Like, yeah. I don't know if you've seen that documentary where he talks about all the stuff he was going through. Yeah. When he was addicted? I never saw it. Well …. you kind of like him. Yeah. But then you, he's a great actor. Yeah. But then you see all the stuff that he did and hear all the stuff that he did, and you go, wow, you so lucky to be alive for a start. Yeah. To be like that. And then. Admit that you like that. Yeah. And think people are gonna like you and then do it again! It doesn't work for me, I'm afraid. As early as 1987 on the set of Wall Street. Yeah. With Sean Young. I mean, she's got some horrible [00:47:00] stories to share about how little she enjoyed working together with him. Sean Young said Charlie Sheen was awful to me during the making of the film.And doing cocaine on set at the time probably didn't help. No, no. Anyway, what a waste. A couple of others. Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton. Yeah. In Twister. Yep. Apparently they hated each other. There's a Twister ride at Universal Studios in Orlando. Oh, really? And they actually filmed their portion separately because they refused to work together ever again. Oh yeah. Wow. Oh, look, this goes back a little way. Burt Reynolds and Sally Field. Oh, that would've been the, uh, Smokey and the Bandit. Yeah. Yeah. And they were, I mean, they were partners, right? Yeah. But I think when Smokey and the Bandit part two came around, they weren't necessarily together. And, people actually write whole posts about how if you watch [00:48:00] this on screen, you can see they're completely different to the first movie. There's no chemistry. They don't want to be there. Yeah. They barely talk to each other. They're not even looking each other in the eye. Wow. Yeah. Uh, yeah. Uma Thurman and Darryl Hannah. So, talking about Kill Bill. Yep. Volume two. Yeah. Again. Uh, not on each other's Christmas card list apparently. How'd they get through it? Well, yeah, they, they went to the Cannes 2004 release, uh, but they had to be put in separate hotels. To be kept apart by hotel employees. 'cause they didn't want to cause a scene with their arguments, so. Wow. Yeah. Were they an item two? Not that I know of. So yeah, that's, there's a few. There's a lot there. But you could talk ages about these people. Oh, you could. And you know, there's plenty of others, but that's a little fly over, that target. It's pretty interesting. Yeah, and, and I think it's a credit to [00:49:00] people when you. Do see shows or movies where they really have a great chemistry, but you know that the minute they walk off set, they're going, ‘I don't want to talk to you’. Yeah. Yeah. Like going back with Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson, did they get on? Apparently not. No. No. And Yul Brynner. So all the cast in the Magnificent Seven. Oh God, that makes me sad. I know Yul Brynner. I know. And I love Steve McQueen. Yes, Steve. I love Charles Bronson. He was probably the first. Tough guy. Yeah. Do you think? Yeah. Yeah. He was the first tough guy that paved the way, and he was a tough guy. Yeah. He, he'd been to, he was in the Second World War. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. And he was a, he was also before that he was in a coal mine in his, like his family. Oh, wow. Yeah. He did it tough. Yeah. He joined the Army to get food. Yeah. Yeah. Just wow. Yeah. To get regular [00:50:00] meals. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, it's a, yeah, I saw a brief thing on him and it was really interesting and I really admired the guy. Yeah. I just thought he was the original tough guy that had the stern face and, you know, always came, you know, uh, packing a punch. He always gave, I've got a book. I don't like it down here. Some of our listeners might know of The Goodies. Oh, yum. Yum. Yeah. Well, I've got a Goodies Annual, and in it there's a whole page and it's just got, Charles Bronson's face, and it's just step repeated. It's got about like 24 times. It's exactly the same photo. Mm. Every time, like exactly the same and above it, it says. the Charles Bronson range of acting expressions and like underneath it might say, you know, About to kill. Yeah. Or it might say In lighter mood or, Pow, you know, but it doesn't matter what it is, [00:51:00] it's exactly the same. So did Clint get that idea from him? Well, I think because Clint's got that look as well. Yeah. Well, I mean, you could argue that, all those Bronson…what there's about four of them, wasn't there? Yeah. You know, all those movies, they were kind of around the same time as Dirty Harry. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah. But he was in the Great Escape with Steve McQueen. Yeah. And I would've been interesting to know if he got on with him. And you claim he doesn't. Well according to the, internet - evidently no. But that's a shame, I guess we'll never know. But Steve McQueen was such a cool guy. He was great. Does he make you laugh that. All the English guys get shot. Steve McQueen gets to throw his shirt off and wear a white t-shirt and do a wheelie and yeah, the try and jump over the jump with the fence and on an old bloody Triumph or something, you know, and gets to ride a motorbike in a field.[00:52:00] The American guy comes out cool. Oh, the rest of 'em get shot. Yeah. They're all just cannon fodder for him to be the hero. Yeah. Yeah. So good. Anyway, there's a, there's a fly over that target. Yeah. It's awesome Al. Okay, Al, I want one last fun fact. One last fun fact. One. Yeah. Alright. We are both massive fans of Clint Eastwood. We certainly are, we're both massive fans of Dirty Harry. Yeah. Greatest movie ever made. I found the other day a pretty terrific Easter egg within Dirty Harry. Ah, and that is when the cafeteria scene happens. Hold on a second. What's an Easter egg? Yeah, an Easter egg. Okay. So this is a hidden surprise. Yeah. That's inserted into the film. Yeah. And this was inserted by Clint [00:53:00] Eastwood himself as a very cool Easter egg. So what happened was, you might remember the scene where he was walking across the crowded intersection. Oh, of course. Chewing. Chewing a hot dog. Still leading his, his, yeah. Yeah. He's walking over to where the bank robbers have sort of been blown away. He's taken out three. Yeah. Already. Indeed. In the background of that scene is a cinema. Yeah. And on the main hoarding of that cinema is promotion for the film title. And the title of the film is Play Misty for Me. Oh, wow. Yeah. Okay. Which was a Clint Eastwood film that came out in 1971. Yeah. Tshat he directed. Wow. And so you've got an Eastwood film being shown in the cinema and it's been shown within a Clint Eastwood film. So, so I've gotta look at that. Oh yeah. So, so it's around when, what he's down to the last guy that's been shot. He's laying there with the shotgun when he is walking over towards him. Yeah. Yeah. [00:54:00] He's already unloaded a heap of Yeah. Okay. And 44 magnums into, into various bad guys. Yeah. Yeah. But, yeah, so that's. That's pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. ‘I gots to know’. ‘I gots to know’. Yeah. And that they shot that, as you'd imagine. They didn't shoot that out on the street. They shot it in a back lot. Yeah. And I think it was Warner Brothers. Yeah. Because they had to set up this big crash. Yeah. So it was easy to do it there and control it rather than shut down the streets and stuff. But yeah, there's a cinema facade in the background and it's got Play Misty for Me. I'm like, how far movies come now? Oh yeah. How good. You know? Yeah. Geez. It's such a good movie. They don't make him like that anymore. Yeah. Anyway, there you go. Alright. Another fun fact on that film, hold on a second. Now he comes back to him, doesn't he walks away, he picks up the shotgun. Yep. He walks away and the guy says, ‘I gots to know’. Yeah. He walks back to him, raises the gun to him [00:55:00] and clicks it. Yeah. And then walks away laughing. I know what you're thinking, punk. Did I fire five shots or six? In all the excitement I kind of forgot myself. Oh dear. It's great. Another, another fun fact on that film. Yeah. There's another famous scene in that film where Scorpio mm-hmm. The lunatic has, hijacked the school bus. Yeah. He's driving the school bus down the highway. Yeah, yeah. And. He thinks all's going well, and then he sees Eastwood just standing on top of a bridge. Yeah. Just watching him. Yeah. And gets all flustered about it. Anyway, when the bus goes under the bridge, Eastwood jumps onto the roof. Yeah, he did that. He actually did that. Did he really? Yeah. It wasn't a… Oh, far out. It wasn't a stunty that did it. He did it and they had a camera operator. There so you could see him land on the, on top of the bus. [00:56:00] Wow. Yeah. What a guy. He's a dude. Yeah. Great movie. Yeah. Anyway, go and watch it for the 500th time if you haven't watched it already. It is. There you go. Great movie. Alright. Is that it? That's probably it. Wow. That was terrific Al. Thanks for listening. I know I say that every time, but it really was. It's some good facts. It's good fun. There's uh, side tracks. Plenty of fun stuff out there. Yeah, yeah. We'll find a photo of that Play Misty for Me scene and we'll put it in the show notes guys, 'cause it's kind of a cool thing. Classic to see. Alright, we will catch you next time and as always we certainly will see you on social media or send us a email to:funfactsandsidetracks@gmail.com. Yeah. Alright, see you mate. See ya. Hooroo. (Link to the Dirty Harry/Play Misty for Me cinema sign: https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/9cmfu9/in_dirty_harry_1971_clint_eastwood_passes_by_a/

Speaker

Speaker