Episodes
Monday Dec 04, 2023
1984 Episode 11 - The Formidable George C. Scott A Christmas Carol
Monday Dec 04, 2023
Monday Dec 04, 2023
Jacob Marley was dead to begin with (he always is!) and It Happened One Year is there to pick up the slack, in what was originally conceived as the show's holiday episode, before the hosts got carried away and kept recording Christmassy things (tune in next week!). Herein, Sarah & Joe get into all things Cratchit in order to discuss the acclaimed 1984 movie version of A Christmas Carol starring George C. Scott, Frank Finlay, David Warner, and Susannah York. This opens up the larger conversation of best film Scrooges, best family versions, best musical versions, best TV versions, and much, much more. It's a Dickens-ophile's dream! Rising up in the debate are the likes of Alastair Sim, the Muppets, Reginald Owen, Albert Finney, Mr. Magoo, Basil Rathbone, Bill Murray, Patrick Stewart, Jim Carrey, Henry Winkler, and many more! Then - after all the "God Bless Us, Everyones" have been tossed around like Christmas crackers - the hosts perform that most IHOY of rituals - playing a trivia game for the listeners. Enjoy!
Friday Dec 01, 2023
Coming Soon - Jingle Hell: The Last Shopping Day Before Christmas!
Friday Dec 01, 2023
Friday Dec 01, 2023
It's Christmas Eve 1984 at the Viewmont Mall, and tensions are running high. Employees cower in fear of the shopping onslaught ahead. Customers prepare to do battle for the season's coveted gifts. And children hope to get on Santa's lap with last minute pleas to the big guy. But nothing goes as planned. It Happened One Year presents its third fully scripted, madcap episode, this time written by great friend of the show Lana Cooper and featuring a cast of dozens! Listen to the new trailer now and come back for the big show on December 20th!
Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
1984 Episode 10 - The Material Girl Arrives
Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
This Thanksgiving, it is best to remember what we truly have to be thankful for - '80s pop music and the advent of music videos. With the inaugural VMA Awards on MTV in September and the November release of her landmark second album Like a Virgin, Madonna fully took the world by storm in 1984 and staked her claim as THE star of the decade, and It Happened One Year is there! Sarah & Joe break down their earliest memories of the songs and the videos, the movies and the mania, and try to get in the 1984 mindset of what it possibly must've been like experiencing that summer/fall circa Madonna.
Monday Nov 13, 2023
1984 Episode 9 - Andy Kaufman and Matthew Perry
Monday Nov 13, 2023
Monday Nov 13, 2023
The somber topic of celebrity death leads down an avenue to discuss television comedy in this straight-from-the-headlines It Happened One Year. Andy Kaufman's 1984 death (or grand hoax) leads Sarah & Joe to discuss his career, from Saturday Night Live to Taxi to wrestling, before pivoting into the seemingly evergreen popularity of Friends and the shocking loss of Matthew Perry. How and why sitcoms can remain relevant and even grow in fame decades after they air is discussed, along with the impact of celebrity deaths, why this feels so decidedly different, and the general places Taxi and Friends hold in the eternal television landscape.
Friday Nov 03, 2023
Friday Nov 03, 2023
As has become a yearly tradition, It Happened One Year is taking a look at a single night of programming from the topic's television season, and so it begins with ABC's November 3rd shows! T.J. Hooker, The Love Boat, and the long forgotten Finder of Lost Loves comprised Saturday night entertainment on the Alphabet Network, and Sarah & Joe are there! Listen as they question strange props, guest casting, theme songs, hairdos, Gavin MacLeod's career decisions, Aaron Spelling's thematic empire, Heather Thomas' acting instincts, who the hell Connie Sellecca is, why anyone knows Charo's name, and much much more!
Monday Oct 16, 2023
Monday Oct 16, 2023
Back-to-back It Happened One Year politics?? You bet! Washington D.C. is providing the crazy content and IHOY is channeling it hard through 1984! Sarah & Joe look back at Tip O'Neill's epic run as Speaker in the '70s and '80s, and contrast some of the expectations for the role with how it is managed today. This naturally leads into the current House having no Speaker, the tumultuous mess that unfolded to bring us here, and what might possibly happen next. Along the way, we've got cameos from Nancy Pelosi, Monsieur Thenardier, Norm Petersen, AOC, Matt Gaetz, Frederick Muhlenberg, and Paul Ryan.
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
How well all the covered topics relate to one another is debatable in this lustiest of episodes from It Happened One Year! Ostensibly here to discuss the shameful handling Miss America Vanessa Williams received in 1984 over the publishing of old nude photos, Sarah & Joe pivot into the many and varied scandals enveloping politicians and celebrities thanks to their uncontained urges - with cameos along the way from everyone from Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and Bill Clinton to Rob Lowe, Hugh Grant, and the many notable men who impregnated their nannies - before landing at the real reason for this episode, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert's recent attendance at a production of Beetlejuice: The Musical. This one is decidedly not family friendly, despite all the Harry Belafonte musical fun!
Monday Oct 02, 2023
1984 Episode 5 - Splash! The Tom Hanks-John Candy Mermaid Classic!
Monday Oct 02, 2023
Monday Oct 02, 2023
So when she's on land, she just HAS legs?? This is the main conundrum tackled in It Happened One Year's most riparian of episodes - a discussion of Ron Howard's Oscar nominated mermaid comedy Splash! Sarah & Joe take up the task of deducing mermaid lore on film (if there is any) and compare that to the freewheeling creativity on display. Along the way they dive into the bizarro made-for-TV sequel, Splash Too!, the mirrored plot elements of Free Willy and that one episode of The Boys, weathering cameos from the likes of Jason James Richter, Barbenheimer, Mel Brooks, Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Amy Yasbeck, Barney Martin, and a very brief impression of Carla's son Anthony on Cheers.
Wednesday Sep 20, 2023
1984 Episode 4 - Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous
Wednesday Sep 20, 2023
Wednesday Sep 20, 2023
Unexpected twists and turns abound in what nominally is an It Happened One Year dedicated to the long-running syndicated phenomenon that was Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous, premiering in 1984! Sarah & Joe discuss their foggy memories of the show and how that compares to a modern rewatch, then sidetrack wildly into why these sort of shows are popular, modern reality television that sprung from this concept, reality TV figures who most resemble Robin Leach today, and the worst cities they've ever visited, for some reason. It makes sense in real time!
Monday Sep 11, 2023
Monday Sep 11, 2023
Not ones to shy away from a good eulogy, It Happened One Year makes a rare foray into the animal kingdom, by way of commemorating the lives of some trailblazing creatures! From American "monkeynaut" Miss Baker to Kansas zoo orangutan legend Djakarta Jim to Liberty and the many critters frequently spotted on the White House lawn, Sarah and Joe dig deep to find the bones buried in these tales of furry friends lost in 1984.