Robbie-Ann joins the iconic Midnight Mastermind game on BBC2Radio! Host Phil Williams takes on Robbie-Ann's topic: Columbo Also...in what may be the highlight of her life, Robbie-Ann receives a transatlantic happy birthday song courtesy of Phil and BBCRadio.
The Girls (as Amy DeFazio and Robbie-Ann Feeney) do a Deep Dive into 70s sitcom classic Laverne and Shirley. The iconic shabby basement apartment, which Amy reports was also the former set of another classic sitcom. The show's frequent 'winter' settings. Landlady Mrs. Babish. Lenny Kosnowski and Andrew 'Squiggy' Squiggman - David Lander and Michael McKean...and the surprising origins of their characters. Did Shirley and Laverne date Lenny and Squiggy, or what? Robbie-Ann wonders about a Steinbec...
The Girls recall a kid's eye view of the World of Grown-Ups. Eavesdropping on your parents' adult drama. "He smelled like a brewery"... "Well he was three sheets to the wind..." Listening to your mother's gossipy phone calls. Amy's household crime sprees while her mother was tethered to the phone. Amy's Aunts judging outfits and drunks. Robbie-Ann's parents' big summer barbecue parties. Genny Cream Ale and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. Ladies with cigarettes and unfortunate perms. Tons of hairspray. O...
The Girls do a deep dive off Gilligan's Island, with special guest and Gilligan Expert, Robbie-Ann's childhood bestie Karen. Karen talks about her all-things Tiki obsession, which evolved into a Gilligan's Island obsession. Robbie-Ann asks, and Karen answers, the tough questions: how did they get years out of that radio battery? Why didn't they build a boat? Where did they get all those wardrobe changes from just a three-hour tour (a threeee hour tour...)? Amy talks about her after-school joy wa...
David Yontef, host and creator of the iconic, dish-y "Behind the Velvet Rope" podcast, returns to chat with The Girls about 80s icons, and how David was the last person to interview the late Tawny Kitaen. David shares his impression of the 80s video vixen and actress, and how Tawny dished about Harvey Weinstein and O.J. Simpson! Next, David talks about interviewing The Real Housewives of Orange County's "ZZ Top Girl" 80s video vixen Jeana Keough: yawns? Ru Paul's Drag Race fan Amy asks about Dav...
The Girls discuss a few of their favorite things from Christmases of yore... which Wrapping Type was your house? Random Slapdash, Artform Wrapping, or Gift Wrapped at The Store? The Giant Barbie Head. String tinsel. Robbie-Ann's magical mid-70s favorite cozy Christmas, when the power went out: a fire in the fireplace, her family intact. The Traditions: Amy reveals her family's Christmas Eves spent at her grandmother's house in Los Angeles. 60s ornaments, and all the vintage decorations. Groovy w...
The Girls remember Halloween of Yore...Robbie-Ann's first costume memory, as a toddler: wearing a onesie kitty outfit in her Oma's neighborhood Halloween parade. Amy recalls her first-grade plastic "Cinderella" mask, paired with patent leather shoes and blue socks, and her shocking costume contest loss. Homemade vs. Store-bought costumes. God Bless the non artsy-craftsy moms. Robbie-Ann's faux 'princess' costume, created with her mother's old nightgown and last year's costume cape. The rubber ba...
The Girls dive into the 80s teen movies from John Hughes. Which characters did you relate to? Sixteen Candles resonates with Amy: Samantha's eye-rolling and disgust. The grandparents - both sets. Hughes' nod to the Twilight Zone when two grandparents appeared on screen. Robbie-Ann relates to Ally Sheedy's "The Basket Case" Breakfast Club character. How well he wrote female characters - Amy reveals Hughes grew up with three sisters. Molly Ringwald as muse. Hughes' sort of absurd sense of humor: t...
The Girls delve into what made Happy Days one of the most beloved and iconic sitcoms of the Twentieth Century. Which came first, American Graffiti or Happy Days? Or Love, American Style? The first season, a single-camera dramedy and older brother Chuck. Fonzi's windbreaker. The multi-camera sitcom that Happy Days became. Fonzi's hoodlum evolution and Henry Winkler's contributions to the character. Incredible sidebar: a deeeeeep dive into the theme songs, "Rock Around the Clock," and "Happy Days,...
The Girls reminisce about their school-aged summer vacations. Amy describes her last day of third grade, and the glorious feeling of being done with all things "school" for two months. Robbie-Ann still feels relief that she has no homework to do. Robbie-Ann describes her last day of 5th grade; the height of Shaun Cassidy and Queen's "We Will Rock You." Her 55-pound school back pack. The snack cupboard: Fritos, potato chips, and...chipped beef? Summer uniforms: a Honey Nut Cheerios t-shirt, "Dove...
The Girls break down all the board games of GenX Youth... Monopoly. Life. The infamous Mouse Trap - did yours ever work? Robbie-Ann and Amy fall on different sides of the functioning Mouse Trap controversy. Amy narrates the entire Mouse Trap process. In detail. 3D board games vs. flat dice-rolling games. Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders: simple games for young kids. Strategy games: Risk, Stratego, Battle Ship. Robbie-Ann's Scooby Doo Where Are You! game, and forcing her father to sit and play f...
The Girls recall the smells of their childhoods that trigger nostalgic memories. Amy remembers campfires of her youth. Robbie-Ann describes the poolside smell-combinations that vivdly evoke childhood moments. Perfumes, hot asphalt, house-smells, toy smells, and all the memories they bring up.
The Girls explore the dangerous toys of GenX childhood. Robbie-Ann starts with Super Elastic Bubble Plastic, made of strange chemicals that you blew threw a straw to make noxious plastic bubbles. Amy recalls searing her skin on the hot metal slide on the playground. Blunt force trauma toys: getting hit in the head with your twirling baton. The notorious spinning merry-go-round, and flying off of it. Robbie-Ann and Amy both talk about getting knocked out falling off the monkey bars. Robbie-Ann's ...
Don't try this at home! The Girls reveal what they learned not to do from watching 70s and 80s TV shows. From relationships to diets, most of it was totally wrong.
The Girls explore the great debate: McDonald's vs Burger King. Amy's ten years old, on the Interstate, back in the day...ahead is a McDonald's and a Burger King. Where will Amy stop? Was it all about the french fries? Robbie-Ann reports that McDonald's fries were formerly fried in beef tallow but since 1990 fried in vegetable oil, but wait what the heck is beef tallow. Robbie-Ann does a deep dive into beef tallow, literally, and can't unlearn what she found out. Sidebar: admit you tried eating d...
The Girls recall the back-to-school shopping, new school supplies, the pressure of a new school, the outfits, the misfits. Amy's annual shopping trip for new school clothes that may or may not have matched. The role of Sears in Robbie-Ann's wardrobe choices. The influence of the teen models in Seventeen and Glamour. The cheapo stores. Body images and trying to create a brand new perfect self with new makeup and the wrong clothes. Amy tells her younger self to blend her makeup. Amy's Bad Sandy sc...
The Girls talk about the kid-crimes they committed, and the various punishments that resulted. Special background guest: Robbie-Ann's mother. Amy reports her most heinous kid-crimes, that led to severe parental punishment. Amy weaponizes a cookie tin, and explains how a sneaky tunafish sandwich sent her to the gallows. Sidebar: A breakdown of Amy's aversion to sauces, condiments, including mayonnaise. The tuna in question: what kind of tuna was it? Bread: toasted or not? Photo evidence?! Wasting...
From Chuck E. Cheese to making your own sundaes at the Red Barn restaurant, the Girls recall the best and worst of birthdays' past.
The Girls remember their childhood fears of the 70s and 80s...Robbie-Ann talks about the origins of her basement phobia, the monster in the 1980s horror classic The Boogens. Amy dissects what exactly makes a monster. Robbie-Ann analyzes the monster in The Boogens, and why the movie is such an 80s horror classic. Amy's fear of the portal to hell: the red light under the escalator at the mall, and her childhood PTSD triggered by the theme from Get Smart. Amy's terrifying real-life attempted child-...
The Girls tackle the complicated music genre known as Yacht Rock, and they are totally serious about it because it's very important. Amy cites a textbook definition of Yacht Rock from smoothradio.com, but Robbie-Ann immediately has a problem with it, and then announces her self-appointment as the World's Authority on Yacht or Nyacht, and all her rulings are final. The West Coast Yacht/Nyacht Judge, Robbie-Ann's childhood bestie Karen. The Girls explore a few examples, trying to narrow down how t...
David Yontef, host of Behind the Velvet Rope podcast, joins us again for a fun gossip sesh...we talk Cyndi Lauper and how she disappointed David...?! What it's like inside Prince's Paisley Park mansion. Belinda Carlisle and Debbie Harry: subdued goddesses in person. David dissects his interview strategy, demonstrating with the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City's dueling housewife podcast episodes. Just how calculating are these ladies when it comes to going behind that velvet rope? The time some...
In a slight departure, on a sometimes serious note, the Girls get all deep and discuss 70s and 80s music, tv shows and movies that rocked their worlds and changed their DNA. Amy discusses Sesame Street's cultural broadening effects, and the sonic earthquake that was Blondie's "Heart of Glass." The Brady Bunch and its effect as a family model on an entire generation. Robbie-Ann defends The Brady Bunch as a great tv show, and how the infamous "Aunt Jenny" episode spun out the trajectory of her lif...
Robbie-Ann's grandmother's orange plaid wallpaper. Amy's family home, stuck in the 70s. The "Grandma Couch." Afghans and matching Tupperware. Amy's brown Tupperware pitcher, filled with blobby orange juice. 70s dishes. The dark brown stoneware dishes with the light trim border. The 70s color pallete. From 60s eclectic to 70s furniture sets. Amy's cultural theory about mid-century to 70s design. A breakdown of fake wood paneling. Robbie-Ann's problem with faux brick. Robbie-Ann's Gramma's home: a...
Coke or Pepsi? Amy and Robbie-Ann discuss the commercials that started the Cola Wars. Dr. Pepper. Robbie-Ann's 7th grade chorus recital song that was a celebration of commercials...and the hole in her wool skirt. Life cereal: Hey Mikey! Calgon, take me away! The sexist propaganda of long-ago advertising. Sandy Duncan's Wheat Thins commercials. Grape Nuts. Remember when cigarettes were advertised on TV? The. TOYS. The Kool Aid Guy busting through walls. Robbie-Ann's mother attempting to curb Robb...
The LOOOOOOVE BOOOOOOAAAAT.... Robbie-Ann's Saturday night ritual: cereal or Munchos and The Love Boat. Amy's Love Boat rerun summertime syndication saturation. The cast: some seriously accomplished, talented people. Isaac, your ship's bartender. Ted Lange: playwright and distinguished theater actor! Robbie-Ann recounts meeting Ted Lange, (hot) Parker Stevenson and Larry Wilcox of CHiPs, and calling Ted Lange "Isaac." But Ted totally rolled with it, and Parker and Larry were total dolls too. Fre...
Amy's and Robbie-Ann's first MTV experiences, which led to hours lost in front of the television. Amy talks about the book "I Want My MTV," an oral history of MTV. Amy's designer discovery, and being influenced by the Video Vixens. The thrill of being able to "see" the music. Robbie-Ann discovering what her musical heroes actually looked like. The images and weird effects. The cliches: wind, smoke, mirrors breaking, tigers. Dreamy Duran Duran in Sri Lanka. Simon LeBon's "eyes and teeth." Did Dur...
Cough drops: basically, candy. Robbie-Ann's chronic sinus colds. Amy's Chloraseptic. The fabled Burger King ham 'n cheese sub sandwich as a reward for little Robbie-Ann behaving at the doctor's office. What was in Sucrets? Aspergum? Was it really aspirin? The game shows and soap operas. Homework - missing assignments and missing out on classroom drama. PBS. The Electric Company. Robbie-Ann's problem with the educational "Big Blue Marble" kids tv show. Soups: Lipton soup vs. Campbell's. Robbie-An...
The Girls talk Childhood Easter. The baskets of Amy's youth. Paas Egg Coloring Kits. Robbie-Ann's murky colored Easter eggs. Easter at the tavern owned by Robbie-Ann's grandparents. Hobos, and why they babysat Robbie-Ann and her cousins. Butter Lambs - what is this Buffalo Easter dinner staple? The outfits. Amy's jealousy over her sister's basket vs. her own. Overhearing grown-up gossip in the kitchen. Robbie-Ann's infamous third-grade "Easter Vacation" incident. Waxy chocolate. Good chocolate. ...
The Girls talk Saturday Morning Cartoons back in the day. Bugs Bunny and Friends. The Pink Panther. The toys you thought you would die without and the Saturday morning advertising that made you want them. Amy's Medieval Care Bears - was it real? Robbie-Ann's love for the Hudson Brothers. The Krofft Supershow. Tom and Jerry: Tom speaks! The Pink Panther, and the mystery of who voiced the Aardvark is solved! The Barbie bathtub. The Barbie head. The cereal...oh the cereal. Amy's awful "healthy" cer...
Robbie-Ann admits loving The Mall, and describes her brief career at a candy and nut kiosk; learn how a gummy bear changed her career trajectory forever. Amy talks trauma from older, menacing girls early on in her Mall Life, which led to Mall Ambivalence. The record stores. The substandard Roy Rogers franchise in Robbie-Ann's childhood mall. Mall movies: Robbie-Ann's love for Klinton Spilsbury and "The Legend of the Lone Ranger." Friendly's Ice Cream restaurants. Amy's San Fernando Valley Malls....
