Fanacek

S5 E22 Fanacek's Thanksgiving Special: Planes, Trains & Automobiles

It's time to kick off the holiday season Fanacek style.  You see, here at the Fanacek house, the holidays officially start with the annual viewing of Planes, Trains & Automobiles.  There's no better way to get ready for both Thanksgiving and Christmas than by watching the genius of Steve Martin and John Candy in this 1987 classic brought to us by Mr. John Hughes.  I'm joined by a guest and we break down the movie scene by scene, discuss favorite lines, and fill in the plot holes by educating you on the deleted scenes that were in John Hughes's original 3 hour cut.  And, as usual,  I also find ways to go off on tangents and make things about me.  Six bucks and my right nut says you're gonna enjoy this episode.

S5 E21 80s Actors: Movies vs TV (Part 7)

There are some actors from the 80s (I'm not gonna name names) that should have abandoned their movie careers early on and make the switch to television.  It would have saved them years of decline and humiliation as the quality of their movies slowly sunk into the depth of the VHS bargain bins.  Again, I'm not gonna name names...Steve Guttenberg and Judge Reinhold!  To show I can also reward actors who made great career choices, I also take a look at an actor who did make an early jump to television and it proved to be brilliant.  I won't give away this name, but it rhymes with Schmill Schmeaton.  Live long and prosper...or whatever.

S5 E20 80s Actors: Movies vs TV (Part 6)

We've talked about 80s winners.  We've talked about 80s losers.  Now, it's time to talk about the "just okay" of the 80s.  Please join me as I discuss some 80s film and TV actors that were jack of all trades, bur masters of none.  Some, like Robert Hays and Kristy McNichol are no brainers, while my man, Don Johnson, is a hot take and will likely piss some of you off.  Regardless, it's time to kick back and allow me to wax poetic about more 80s actors.  

S5 E19 80s Actors: Movies vs TV (Part 5)

There are still so many 80s actors I want to talk about!  In this episode, I ask the question, "Why the quick jump television"?  So far, I've focused on actors who had TV success and either crushed it in movies as well, crashed and burned in movies, or maybe just dabbled in feature films before heading back to television where they belonged.  Now, I'm gonna focus on actors who I think should have stayed the course just a little bit longer with their big screen careers before making the transition to the boob tube.  We're gonna stroll down memory lane with folks like Bronson Pinchot, Heather Langenkamp, Paul Reiser, and the legendary Burt Reynolds.

S5 E18 80s Actors: Movies vs TV (Part 4)

If you love the 80s, you're probably enjoying this season of Fanacek.  If you don't , well suck it up and let me educate you.  This week I'm discussing 80s actors who could have made a run at big screen stardom, but they knew damn well that television is where they belonged. What they lacked in feature film potential, they made up for in self awareness.  Follow me down this road as I wax poetic about such folks as John Stamos, Erin Gray, Suzanne Somers, Loni Anderson, Richard Dean Anderson and The Hoff himself, David Hasselhoff.  Enjoy, suckas!

S5 E17 80s Actors: Movies vs TV (Part 3)

There's an old saying in Hollywood: "Never Quit the Hit".  Well, the TV actors we're gonna discuss today did not take heed of this wisdom.  Rather, they threw caution to the wind and chased movie stardom, only to land flat on their asses. We start with the Cautionary Tale Queen herself, Shelley Long, and then weave our way through the careers of Justine Bateman, Kirk Cameron, Lisa Bonet, Roseanne Barr, and Mark Harmon.  It's a lot of fun.  Well, its a lot more fun than any of the movies these folks made.  Enjoy!

Eric Todd & Brad Crain from This Week In Charles Bronson

As a kid, I would love when my favorite shows would advertise an upcoming "very special" episode.  It often meant there was gonna be drug use, domestic violence, or the threat of pedophilia.  Sadly, this "very special" episode of Fanacek has none of those things, but it does have Eric Todd and Brad Crain from one of my favorite podcasts, This Week In Charles Bronson.  I was a guest on their show earlier this year to discuss the 1972 Charles Bronson classic, The Mechanic.  Since then, I've been an avid listener of their show and you should be as well.  Their show is helping to keep the Bronson movie catalog and legend alive and the world is a better place for it.  During our chat we discuss the origins of their show, some of our favorite Bronson movies, and wax poetic on Bronson's strengths as an actor.  Enjoy!

S5 E16 80s Actors: Movies vs TV (Part 2)

"Never quit the hit".  That's what they say.  Hollywood history is filled with the cautionary tales of actors who, despite television success, were seduced by the glitz and glamour of big screen stardom.  Let's not forget, there used to be a very solid line drawn between movie stars and TV stars.  On this episode, we are going to look at actors we knew in the 80s who worked on screens both big and small, but ultimately chose to stay in their lane and pursue TV stardom.  They knew that their bread was buttered on TV and they were just fine with it!  Make a cocktail, recline back in the lazy boy, and let 'ol Fanacek tell some tales.

S5 E15 80s Actors: Movies vs TV (Part 1)

Remember when there was a definitive line between movie actors and television actors?  Movie actors were at the top of the food chain while TV actors were bottom feeders.  Prestige TV and streaming services have changed that forever, but in the 80s it was a still very real divide.  The next several episodes will look at actors in the 80s who did both.  Some did it well, some crashed and burned, and others just knew it was best to stay in their lane.  Part 1 will take a look at actors who kicked ass on both the big screen and small.  Crack a beer, recline back and enjoy.

S5 E14 A Mark Blankfield rabbit hole

I spend more time on the IMDb app than any human being should.  I love pausing whatever I'm watching to look it up on IMDb and study the cast, trivia, filming locations, etc.  I call these my little rabbit holes and this episode of the podcast is a journey through forgotten TV shows and movies that started when I thought I recognized actor Mark Blankfield from a Saved By The Bell episode.  This somehow leads us to a discussion of The Incredible Shrinking Woman, Joe Pesci's forgotten TV show Half Nelson, and some of Glen A. Larson's TV misses like Manimal, Automan, The HighwayMan, Chameleons, and NightMan.  We're also gonna touch on ABC's sketch show Fridays, abysmal made for TV movie sequels, and Tarzan's link to a religious cult.  Somehow this all ends with The Sopranos and I don't even remember how I got there.  Enjoy!