It Happened One Year

Episode 31 - Sensational, Inspirational, Celebrational, Muppetational

To commemorate this week's brand new Halloween special on Disney+, It Happened One Year is taking a look at the status of Jim Henson's Muppets circa 1994, through the lens of that year's projects Muppet Classic Theater and the comedy album Kermit Unpigged! Sarah & Joe breakdown what works and doesn't in this era, following the impact of Jim and Richard Hunt's deaths, and how MCT was indicative of the franchise's direction for years to come. Along the way, plenty of time is given to Frank Oz's recent comments about Disney, characters that got pushed aside in the '90s, the Muppet live shows of recent years in Los Angeles and London, the overwhelming importance of Dave Goelz's Gonzo, Joe's only Muppet impression, and a few choice internet parodies of the group from the 21st century. Cameos abound from man and Muppet alike, with Ozzy Osbourne, Lily Tomlin, the Swedish Chef, Miss Piggy, George Benson, Jimmy Buffett, the Wilkins Coffee characters, SNL's The Land of Gorch, John Denver, Lady Gaga, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, and many more popping up in the discussion. So now let's get things started (Why don't you get things started??) in this thirty-first muppetational episode of It Happened One Year!

Episode 30 - Three Days of Peace & Music & Mud

It's a psychedelic, mud-splattered trip back to the music festivals of yore, as It Happened One Year covers the landmark concert sequel Woodstock '94 from Saugerties, NY, in this groovy thirtieth episode! Sarah & Joe compare and contrast various elements from the original 1969 concert and the disastrous 1999 version with the somewhat overlooked middle show, from the lineups to the amount of available shade to the price of booze. Along the way, the hosts hold up their experiences at modern-day Lollapaloozas with these older multi-day extravaganzas, and draw conclusions as to how they've evolved. The multiple other Woodstock reunion concerts from 1979, 1989, and the alternate '94 show in Bethel are touched upon, with numerous cameos from Country Joe & the Fish, Savoy Brown, Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie, Red Hot Chili Peppers, DMX, Limp Bizkit, and more. Are you ready to rock? Bring your $11 beer and your Clorox wipes because we're going to the festival this week!

Episode 29 - Our Problem Free Philosophy - The Lion King

It's another dealer's choice, and it's Sarah's birthday, so you can probably guess how this one turns out! To celebrate her big day, the hosts discuss the now-classic Disney animated offering of 1994 - Savannah Hamlet, a.k.a. The Lion King! A comprehensive trip through '80s and '90s Disney flicks is taken, touching on everything from The Black Cauldron to Hercules, with significant time spent comparing the four consecutive masterpieces cranked out by the House of Mouse - The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. Many swipes are taken at the 2010's live-action remakes and their general pointlessness, while criticism also gets levied at the Academy for their many bone-headed Best Song choices from this group. Cameos from Robin Williams, Angela Lansbury, A Most Violent Year, The Rescuers Down Under, Jo Anne Worley, Beyonce, and special shout-outs to Moira Kelly abound, with very brief mentions of karaoke renditions of "Hakuna Matata" and the long-lost high school adaptation Antigone: The Musical! You will feel the love tonight, if that's your thing, in this twenty-ninth monkey's uncle of an episode of It Happened One Year!

Episode 28 -The Art of the Heist

Things get mad highbrow this week on It Happened One Year, as Sarah & Joe wander down the unfamiliar avenues of the art world and the famed, low-tech thefts of 1994! Come along as they discuss the retrieval of the long lost, largely forgotten, considered possibly mythical Raphael painting "Madonna and Child with Lamb" or "Madonna With the Hay," with no few Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and singer/actress Madonna jokes tossed in for good measure. The second half covers the wild tale of former European footballer Paal Enger (or Pål Enger), who stole Edvard Munch's "The Scream" from the National Gallery in Oslo on the opening day of the Lillehammer Olympics - which wasn't even the first Munch painting he had ever yoinked. Along the way, the hosts discuss their favorite Picassos and Hoppers, random art galleries they've visited, which TMNT was the best character in the classic SEGA Genesis game, and whether or not Georgia O'Keefe sucks, in this hoity-toity twenty-eighth episode!

Episode 27 - The Bills Make Me Wanna Shout

The comprehensive tragedy of the early '90s Buffalo Bills culminated with their fourth consecutive championship game loss in Super Bowl XXVIII against the Dallas Cowboys in January of 1994. So monumental is this event that Sarah & Joe are not podcasters enough to handle it alone, thus It Happened One Year is bringing in special commentators to share the excitement! Western New York natives abound as the unofficial mayor of Buffalo Dave Gardon discusses the history of the franchise, memories of that epic run, and optimism for the current squad, while his wife and local legend Tracey Rice Gardon talks superstitions and rituals surrounding her Bills viewing. Finally, Sarah's brother Chad discusses his hazy recollections of the era, which left him a more or less shattered football fan. Recorded on location in lovely Trumansville, NY (and thus the obvious audio differences from regular shows), IHOY finally has guests in this watershed twenty-seventh episode!

Episode 26 - Opportunities Seized!

In a transitional year across the spectrum of world events, politics, entertainment, and sports such as 1994, certain voids naturally open up and rare chances present themselves. Two groups who absolutely capitalized on these lucky opportunities are the seemingly disparate entities of the NBA's Houston Rockets and the G.O.P. of the American political structure! Sarah & Joe discuss how Michael Jordan's shocking first retirement opened the door for the rest of beleaguered basketball to try and snatch a title, and the fascinating, tragic aftermaths for 75% of the teams in that year's conference semi-finals. Then, the hosts tackle that most mysterious of voting blocs - Republicans of the past three decades - as the Contract with America, Newt Gingrich, Ronald Reagan, 9/11, George W. Bush, and Critical Race Theory are all examined and groused over thoroughly! Was Gingrich the Hakeem Olajuwon of the right in 1994? Will Barron Trump someday play in the NBA? It's an opinionated, two-pronged assault on fanbases in sports and culture, in this twenty-sixth auspicious episode!

Episode 25 - F. Lee Bailey: It’s a Blunderful Life

It Happened One Year delivers its landmark twenty-fifth episode, looping all the way back to the premiere with a deep dive into the late F. Lee Bailey's career! Sarah & Joe talk O.J. yet again (including wild speculation about who may have committed the murders, if the Juice is to be believed), and then delve into the Bailey case history for a look at the famed Sam Sheppard trial, the "Boston Strangler" Albert DeSalvo, the SLA and Patty Hearst, Carl Coppolino, Claude DeBoc, and more. Along the way are cameos from Joseph Goebbels, wrestling legend Mankind, Clarence Darrow, Gloria Allred, Nathan Lane, Khloe Kardashian, and an excessive Jimmy Stewart impression that will have you rolling your eyes in exasperation!

Episode 24 - The Unsung Greats of 1994

In a year as jam packed with classic entertainment and landmark inventions as 1994, some things were bound to fall through the cracks of history – but Sarah & Joe are here to thrust them back into the limelight in this heroic twenty-fourth episode! Come along as the hosts whirl from personal favorite films (Love Affair, The Fantastic Four) to TV shows (Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Herman’s Head) to new commercial products (the Dodge Neon, the Nutrageous candy bar) before finally arriving at the MVP of unsung greatness from this year – Reese’s Peanut Butter Puffs cereal. Along the way much discussion is given to Warren Beatty films of ‘90s, all the movie iterations of the First Family of Marvel, the relationships between Katharine and Audrey Hepburn, Bob and Mike Golic, Deborah and Steve Kerr, the seven wonders of the food engineering world, Joe’s uncanny ability to guess celebrity birth years, and a thorough breakdown of the best breakfast cereals of all-time. Plenty of topics to discuss, and wrapping up with perhaps the greatest end sequence in It Happened One Year history!

Episode 23 - Mitch Don't Kill My Vibe

Wrapping up this tour of '94 born luminaries is the tale of former Chicago Bears quarterback and local media punching bag Mitchell Trubisky! From the mysterious circumstances surrounding the Bears drafting the Tar Heel hurler in 2017 through his being named the Nickelodeon's Valuable Player in his final game with the team (a playoff loss to the Saints this past January), Sarah & Joe go deep into Chicago football fandom, raise a number of spurious arguments for a conspiracy against them personally, break down who the Bears could have had from that stacked draft class, and look forward to the future at Halas Hall. Will the team actually move out to Arlington Heights? Is Justin Fields already the best quarterback in team history? And will Mitch torpedo the great thing going with his new team, the Buffalo Bills? Get ready to suit up and run out of the tunnel in this smash-mouth twenty-third episode of It Happened One Year!

Episode 22 - Courtney Stodden: Sixteen Will Get You Twenty

The second piece of a valiant effort to highlight some 1994 babies rolls out with model/media personality Courtney Stodden, best known for marrying the considerably older Doug Hutchison back in 2011 (when he was 51 and Courtney was all of 16) and for their role in the somewhat-ongoing apology tour of Twitter figure/celebrity Chrissy Teigen. Sarah & Joe struggle to use the correct pronouns (Courtney came out as non-binary in 2021) and also float the concept of Diet Toast across the first segment, before the show again reveals an It Happened One Year: What Could Have Been in the form of the Harding Administration's Teapot Dome scandal with IHOY: 1923! It's a rollercoaster of scandalous times here in this statutory twenty-second episode!