Send us Fan Mail Before YouTube ads stalked us across the internet… there was a magical time when television itself became a fever dream around midnight. This week on the Free Nights and Weekends Podcast, Scott and Marc dive headfirst into the loud, sweaty, aggressively enthusiastic world of 1980s and early 1990s infomercials. The era where every problem in America apparently could be solved with a food dehydrator, a roll of tape, or a knife capable of cutting through a cinder block and a tomato...
May 22, 2026•22 min•Season 4Ep. 16
Send us Fan Mail This week on the Free Nights & Weekends Podcast, Scott welcomes the guys from Fried Okla for a full-speed ride straight into Oklahoma tornado culture. 🌪️ From growing up terrified of Gary England’s “HOOK ECHO” warnings to standing outside like complete idiots watching green skies roll in, the gang revisits the chaos, adrenaline, and accidental comedy of living in Tornado Alley. They talk Moore F5 memories, local weather legends, tornado chasers with a death wish, sirens at ...
May 15, 2026•44 min•Season 4Ep. 15
Send us Fan Mail Well, Scott calls Charlotte Rae "Martha" knowing full well that Martha Raye was Mel's mom on Alice. But on part II of the Free Nights and Weekends Podcast , Scott and co-host, Jason power through it and dive deeper into… the “very special episode.” You remember them. One week you’re watching jokes and laugh tracks… the next, someone’s getting hooked on pills, kidnapped by a bike shop owner, or learning a hard lesson about peer pressure while the studio audience sits in stunned s...
May 01, 2026•28 min•Season 4Ep. 14
Send us Fan Mail This week on the Free Nights and Weekends Podcast , Scott and co-host, Jason crack open one of the strangest traditions in television history… the “very special episode.” You remember them. One week you’re watching jokes and laugh tracks… the next, someone’s getting hooked on pills, kidnapped by a bike shop owner, or learning a hard lesson about peer pressure while the studio audience sits in stunned silence. From Diff'rent Strokes to Family Ties , sitcoms of the 1980s would occ...
May 01, 2026•22 min•Season 4Ep. 13
Send us Fan Mail From the perfectly executed fake sick day to a citywide parade takeover, Ferris didn’t just skip school… he rewrote the rules. But beneath the sunglasses and smooth-talking confidence is the real story: Cameron, a borrowed Ferrari, and a day that was never going to end quietly. We break down: The most elaborate “I’m sick” performance ever committed to film Why Cameron Frye is the main character The Ferrari heard ’round the world (and why we all knew it was doomed) Principal Roon...
Apr 24, 2026•29 min•Season 4Ep. 12
Send us Fan Mail Before streaming, before DVR… there was the VCR. In this episode of Free Nights and Weekends , Scott and Jason dive into the golden age of VHS—when families dropped $800 on a machine nobody knew how to program, video store shelves were packed with questionable titles, and “Be Kind, Rewind” wasn’t optional. From mall purchases in OKC to the chaos of early video rental shops, this episode tells the story of the moments that made movie night feel like an event. Show Sponsor Don't J...
Apr 17, 2026•45 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Send us Fan Mail Remember the movie that freaked out a generation? We thought we did too. This week, Scott and Marc revisit The Amityville Horror. While it’s not a technically “great” movie, it’s not technically scary or entertaining either. What a mess. Editor note : Too many zeros were remembered on the price of the house. It sold for $80k. Oops. Special thanks to Dan Adams at EXP Realty This guy knows his stuff and the area. Info below EXP Realty danadamsteam.com (516) 729-8288 Show Sponsor D...
Apr 10, 2026•32 min•Season 4Ep. 10
Send us Fan Mail What do you get when you mix Jodie Foster , a presidential assassination attempt, a TV show that won’t go away, and a weird attempt at pitching woo? This week on Free Nights and Weekends, we rewind to one of the strangest cultural collisions of the 1980s — the obsession that drove John Hinckley Jr. to attempt to assassinate Ronald Reagan … all in a misguided attempt to impress a movie star. We break down: The bizarre connection between Taxi Driver and real-world violence How cel...
Apr 03, 2026•38 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Send us Fan Mail Vinyl records are back… and somehow worth a billion dollars again. In this episode of Free Nights and Weekends , we drop the needle on the surprising comeback of vinyl—now officially a billion-dollar industry for the first time since 1983—and ask a bigger question: what did we actually miss? Scott and Marc rewind to the ritual of listening to albums in the 70s and 80s—studying liner notes, flipping sides, and sitting still long enough for music to mean something. Then they fast-...
Mar 27, 2026•41 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Send us Fan Mail Before influencers, before polished ad campaigns… there were local commercials. Loud. Weird. Unhinged. This week on Free Nights and Weekends , we’re diving headfirst into the glorious, low-budget chaos of hometown TV ads from the 80s and early 90s. The kind shot on VHS, edited on equipment held together by hope, and powered by one man screaming about financing options. We’re talking: Used car dealers who promised the impossible Furniture stores that somehow felt like emergency s...
Mar 20, 2026•34 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Send us Fan Mail Remember when Saturday mornings were almost sacred? In this episode, Eddie and I dive back into the golden age of cartoons, where cereal bowls were bottomless, and the lineup defined your weekend. From the shows we loved to the weird ones that sent us outside, we’re revisiting that fleeting magic—even the questionable moments. Grab a bowl of nostalgia, and join us! Show Sponsor Don't Just Let Memories Live In On FNAW Digitize them with The Digitize Center Support the show Free N...
Mar 13, 2026•29 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Send us Fan Mail Picture it: a dusty Oklahoma road, where oil wells nod approvingly and cows side-eye your blisters. Join Scott and Eddie as we flashback to a time when the entire school district—from burly seniors to tiny second-graders—embarked on a several-miles odyssey from a Moore elementary school to an OKC lake. Blisters, tears, and questionable fundraising abound—and somehow, we survived to tell this ill-advised tale. Show Sponsor Don't Just Let Memories Live In On FNAW Digitize them wit...
Mar 06, 2026•43 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Send us Fan Mail This week, Scott and Marc tackle the latest cultural panic: artificial intelligence. On this very special episode, Arnold Drummond doesn't get diddled at the bike shop but big stuff is still happening. But before you stockpile canned goods and apologize to your VCR, take a breath. We look back at the moments when groundbreaking technology made everyone nervous: • Y2K and the midnight meltdown that never came • The dot-com bubble and sock puppets with IPOs • “There should be an a...
Feb 27, 2026•35 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Send us Fan Mail Before Amazon wish lists and two-day shipping, there was a thin paper flyer, a crumpled order form, and a check your mom wrote with mild suspicion. The Scholastic Book Club wasn’t just about books. It was about waiting. About forgetting you even ordered anything. And then one day, the teacher opened a giant cardboard box and the classroom turned into Christmas morning (for some of us). More on that later. This week on Free Nights and Weekends, we welcome guest co-host, Jason Dea...
Feb 20, 2026•32 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Send us Fan Mail In the 1980s, history didn’t arrive on your phone. It arrived on a rolling television cart that wheeled into your classroom and got parked next to the chalkboard like a sacred object. On the day the Space Shuttle launch was shown live in schools across America, some kids watched in stunned silence. Others cracked jokes. Some had to catch the news at lunch because they were in some nerd math class. Today, we welcome Chad Goucher to step up to the mic and we relive that era like t...
Feb 13, 2026•33 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Send us Fan Mail We were going to be chased into quicksand by Bigfoot during an earthquake! And Spock was there learching around to narrate our demise. Marc joins us this week as we look back at these GenX myths and some closer to home. Show Sponsor Don't Just Let Memories Live In On FNAW Digitize them with The Digitize Center Support the show Free Nights and Weekends on Facebook Our Website Original music provided by a few of the gentlemen of Supernal Endgame...
Jan 30, 2026•36 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Send us Fan Mail Somewhere between the Diamond Ballroom and the North Canadian River in OKC lies Mecca for a 12 year old boy. The double space before the beginning of each sentence here lets you in that a guy who remembers ET in the theaters is typing this. But with that (a-hem) experience comes a wealth of "knowledge". Like, where to get cheap jumper cables and some sweet nunchakus. Let's go back to the mid-80's and explore The Old Paris Flea Market. Show Sponsor Don't Just Let Memories Live In...
Jan 23, 2026•40 min•Season 3Ep. 24
Send us Fan Mail This week on *Free Nights and Weekends*, we get ready for The Grammys! We welcome in longtime friend and veteran musician Rick Toops — and the two dive headfirst into one of the wildest pop-culture stories of the late ’80s: the rise, fall, and unexpected comeback of Milli Vanilli. Yep. You read that right. Fab Morvan — one half of the most infamous duo in pop history — is nominated for a Grammy. Again. And it just so happens Rick was there, in Oklahoma City, watching Milli Vanil...
Jan 16, 2026•34 min•Season 3Ep. 23
Send us Fan Mail See he was a bird and he was big, get it? That’s important. In this episode, we dig through the tucked away memories of Sesame Street, touch on the future of *America’s 4,230th favorite podcast about growing up in the 405. *estimate. Show Sponsor Don't Just Let Memories Live In On FNAW Digitize them with The Digitize Center Support the show Free Nights and Weekends on Facebook Our Website Original music provided by a few of the gentlemen of Supernal Endgame...
Jan 09, 2026•35 min•Season 3Ep. 22
Send us Fan Mail And that’s a wrap on 2025! From Sesame Street to Toys ‘R’ Us treasure hunts to the white-knuckle thrill of Driver’s Ed, VBS, and an eighth grade year that was really hard to believe are included too! We relived it all. Quick links Drivers ed Walk-a-thon Flea market My bully Paper route That one where you know, coach killed his wife VBS The Day After Sesame St Lawnchair Larry State fair Yugo Back To the Future Knight Rider reboot Black Friday Milli Vanilli Toys R Us Show Sponsor ...
Dec 31, 2025•58 min•Season 3Ep. 21
Send us Fan Mail A look back at the Christmas specials we grew up with and a heartwarming tale of an Ohio Christmas. Featuring a familiar voice and Scott schooling a Buckeye stater about the greatness of the BC Clark jingle. Merry Christmas! Show Sponsor Don't Just Let Memories Live In On FNAW Digitize them with The Digitize Center Support the show Free Nights and Weekends on Facebook Our Website Original music provided by a few of the gentlemen of Supernal Endgame...
Dec 26, 2025•33 min•Season 3Ep. 20
Send us Fan Mail A Charlie Brown Christmas has been airing for 60 years, and we all agree it’s a classic. What we don’t agree on is how a cartoon with no visible adults, a depressed eight-year-old, and a dog eating what looks suspiciously like a pile of femur bones ever became “appointment viewing.” This week on Free Nights and Weekends, Scott sits down with his brother, Phil, a Nashville, TN area therapist whose license is probably more valid than Lucy’s, to talk about why Charlie Brown can’t s...
Dec 19, 2025•25 min•Season 3Ep. 19
Send us Fan Mail This week on Free Nights and Weekends, we step back inside the cathedral of 80s childhood: Toys “R” Us. If you grew up in that era, this wasn’t just a store — it was the place where your pulse spiked, your hopes soared, and your parents quietly questioned every decision that led them into that building. Those sliding glass doors opened like the gates of Oz, releasing that unmistakable cocktail of plastic, rubber, cardboard, and unspoken financial dread. And yes, the South Oklaho...
Dec 12, 2025•28 min•Season 3Ep. 18
Send us Fan Mail This week on *Free Nights and Weekends*, Scott is joined by longtime friend and veteran musician Rick Toops — and the two dive headfirst into one of the wildest pop-culture stories of the late ’80s: the rise, fall, and unexpected comeback of Milli Vanilli. Yep. You read that right. Fab Morvan — one half of the most infamous duo in pop history — is nominated for a Grammy. Again. And it just so happens Rick was there, in Oklahoma City, watching Milli Vanilli perform at the Myriad ...
Dec 05, 2025•34 min•Season 3Ep. 17
Send us Fan Mail This week on the Free Nights and Weekends Podcast , Scott dives straight into the retail mayhem of a true Gen-X Black Friday — back when parents fought strangers for Cabbage Patch Kids, Atari games were stacked like sandbags, and leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches were the fuel that powered America’s bravest shoppers. From 1983’s infamous Cabbage Patch riots to bargain-bin Atari cartridges and the sacred post-Thanksgiving sandwich that kept families alive in mall parking lo...
Nov 28, 2025•34 min•Season 3Ep. 17
Send us Fan Mail Scott takes a solo dive into 1980s photography: Fotomat drive-up kiosks, disposable cameras, one-hour photo labs, and the unforgettable feeling of opening a yellow envelope filled with freshly developed prints. From mystery film rolls to the family photo album era, this episode explores what we lost when photos stopped taking time — and why those imperfect old snapshots still matter. Support the show Free Nights and Weekends on Facebook Our Website Original music provided by a f...
Nov 21, 2025•8 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Send us Fan Mail Michael Knight is back on the highway—whether we asked for it or not. In this week’s episode of Free Nights and Weekends , Scott and Adam dust off the Trans Am, fire up the red scanner light, and dive head-first into all things Knight Rider . We break down the original 1980s phenomenon, the cultural impact of KITT (television’s sassiest AI long before Alexa got snippy), and the bizarre but real announcement of a Knight Rider movie reboot. Show Sponsor Don't Just Let Memories Liv...
Nov 14, 2025•24 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Send us Fan Mail Did you have a ridiculous drivers ed experience in high school? I can't imagine it tops this. Hang on as some voices from the past come together to retell how we all survived the craziest drivers ed story I've ever heard of. And I was right there! Show Sponsor Don't Just Let Memories Live In On FNAW Digitize them with The Digitize Center Support the show Free Nights and Weekends on Facebook Our Website Original music provided by a few of the gentlemen of Supernal Endgame...
Nov 07, 2025•25 min•Season 3Ep. 14
Send us Fan Mail This week we welcome the guys from Fried Okla to unwrap Halloween. — when every parent swore there were razor blades in apples, LSD in Smarties. Scott revisits trick-or-treating in suburban Oklahoma — the haunted houses, the good candy, and the one neighbor who gave out full-size bars and nightmares. Then Marc storms in and adds a dash of New England for contrast, and together they uncover what really matters, braving the weather to get a bag of the good stuff. It’s nostalgia, n...
Oct 31, 2025•28 min•Season 3Ep. 13
Send us Fan Mail Fire up the flux capacitor, because Back to the Future just turned 40—and we’re feeling old. Scott and Marc hop in the time machine to revisit 1985, when Michael J. Fox ruled the screen, Pepsi Free was a thing, and where’s our hoverboards? From the guitar-shredding Enchantment Under the Sea dance to Doc Brown’s wild-eyed inventions. Ronald Reagan?! Who’s the Sec of the Treasury? Jack Benny? We also hit on why Back to the Future still hits harder than most modern blockbusters—and...
Oct 24, 2025•32 min•Season 3Ep. 10
