Wait, what's happening? An episode on an off week? And on a WEDNESDAY?!?

It's fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling! Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes! Volcanoes! The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together...MASS HYSTERIA!

Actually, Scotty and Amelia have just decided they can't get enough of talking to each other on microphone...and that means talking to y'all, of course. So on the weeks where they're not doing a main episode, they've decided to keep the conversation going. About what, they don't exactly know. Trust them; they'll figure it out. Probably.

So welcome to the first episode of The Weirdest Thing...POCKET SIZE!

Consider these episodes a little research-lite pop-culture nugget to help get you through the rest of your week. Movies, music, TV, trivia, whatever subject they'll feel like yakking about on any given Wednesday, they'll be bringing it right to your earholes.

This week, Scotty's here to tell you about his top 5 favorite romantic comedies. See? It's not all murders and monsters with that guy (all right, all right..."The Princess Bride" DOES have the Rats of Unusual Size).

Enjoy!

Scotty goes scatalogically nostalgic this week with the story of the rise and fall of one of the 1980s' most notorious pop-cultural phenomena: the Garbage Pail Kids (and, of course, their dark doppelgängers, the Cabbage Patch Kids). Do you like all things phlegmy, pukey, poopy, and designed to piss off your parents? Then this is the episode for you!

Amelia takes us back to the tragic and infamous 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese and explains how it contributed to the development of the emergency "911" telephone system--but she also talks about how the bureaucratic bullsh*ttery of this episode's title has lead to flaws which continue to plague that system to this very day. Plus, Scotty and Amelia spend a few minutes at the top of the episode talking about Aaron Sorkin's sometimes brilliant but often frustrating 2012 "West Wing"-followup "The Newsroom" (available to stream on Max). And Amelia gets Scotty excited about the upcoming Jason Reitman film "Saturday Night," about Saturday Night Live's debut episode.

The watch the "Saturday Night" trailer, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ9O_tl5Npk

This week Scotty and Amelia discuss two deeply beloved films...well, beloved by them, at least. These are movies that received a shocking amount of (at best) apathy or (at worst) hatred from fans and critics at the time of their release. But your cohosts have taken them into their homes and hearts like abandoned puppies in a snowstorm.

Scotty's pick is the 1997 film "The Rainmaker," based on the novel by John Grisham, starring a fresh-off-the-apple-truck Matt Damon, and co-written and directed by a then down-on-his-luck Francis Ford Coppola. Critics didn't hate the movie, but audiences largely didn't care. Scotty, however, has seen it at least fifteen times.

Amelia's pick is the 2004 film "The Village," written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Joaquin Phoenix--and widely seen as the movie where fans began to turn on the auteur director who had been so praised just a few years before for his smash hit "The Sixth Sense" (1999). Many people will tell you this film is a pretentious mess. Amelia is prepared to fight those people.

SPOILER WARNING: We go deep into the plots of these movies--so if you haven't seen them in awhile, fair warning.

Scotty pays tribute to one of his favorite actors -- the recently departed Donald Sutherland -- with this episode's story about the making of the 1973 horror classic "Don't Look Now," along with his review of the film and Sutherland's performance (spoiler: he's a pretty big fan). And Amelia kicks things off with an impromptu endorsement of her new favorite brand of kombucha!

SPOILER WARNING: Scotty tries to avoid major plot details for "Don't Look Now," but there are a few minor reveals along the way.

CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses the death of a child.

This week Amelia takes us through the always fascinating, sometimes bizarre, and occasionally even bloody history of a few of history's most famous dresses. From Queen Victoria's wedding dress in 1840 through the baffling internet phenomenon of "The Dress" in 2015, this episode explores how these dresses became not just fashion sensations, but generational icons destined to be remembered for decades--or even centuries--beyond their time.

We've got another short episode this week. Scotty brings you the tale of an Edwardian-era Clash of the Titans, when the burgeoning legend of escape artist and illusionist Harry Houdini was very nearly undone by an eager young gym owner--and future horror writer--named William Hope Hodgson. Plus Scotty and Amelia UNAPOLOGETICALLY discuss the recent casting announcement for season three of The Traitors.

This week Amelia takes us through the ups and downs and jaw-dropping drama (and, man, do we mean DRAMA) behind the creation of Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album "Rumours." You want breakups? Epic temper tantrums? Brutal lyrical takedowns disguised as love songs about dogs? How about literal MILES of cocaine? We've got all that for you, and more.

So how did a band going through such catastrophic turmoil create such an enduring--and undeniably awesome--classic? You've got the questions, and Amelia has the answers.

This week Scotty does a deep dive into the history of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," and describes how it went from smash stage hit to cinematic flop to perhaps the most beloved cult film of all time. He and Amelia conclude with a conversation about the more positive aspects of fan culture, and how it can provide a refuge for folks who've been otherwise excluded from the mainstream.

This week Amelia presents a bit of an amuse-bouche of an episode, with her story about the history of "the Wilhelm scream" and how it became perhaps the most recognizable sound effect in movie history. Scotty and Amelia also reminisce fondly about a few of their not-so-glamorous experiences on movie sets over the years.

To watch a compilation of clips of the Wilhelm scream, click here: https://youtu.be/Zf8aBFTVNEU?si=G0nt1Jzr6vPhtwzd

To hear the full original recording of the scream, click here: https://blog.freesound.org/?p=1515