If you’re a movie fan, I highly suggest you check out the podcast, How Did This Get Made? In fact, if you enjoy movies that are so bad but are highly entertaining because they’re so bad, then How Did This Get Made? is a dream come true for you. The show started in 2010, and is hosted by Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas, and features the friends breaking down some of the worst movies of all time. They supposedly first got the idea for the show when Scheer and Raphael saw the disastrous 2010 Wall Street sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.
Every episode focuses on a different bad movie that the hosts have watched, and in an hour or so, they try to go over the plot and discuss the movie in depth while cracking jokes along the way. At the end of the episode, Scheer reads five star reviews of the films that he finds on Amazon (which I guarantee will never fail to have you in stitches), and the hosts go around and say whether they would recommend the film or not. Each episode also typically features a guest star, usually a comedian friend of the hosts, with some of the most famous guest stars including Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron. A full episode is released every two weeks, and in between, Scheer hosts a “mini episode,” where fans can call in and give thoughts about the previous episode, and he additionally announces what next week’s movie will be so fans can watch it ahead of time.
How Did This Get Made? is genuinely hilarious. I can testify, having been a fan for years, that the episodes are still funny and great even if you don’t watch the movie they’re talking about ahead of time. The show’s appeal comes in part due to the amazing comedic chemistry between the hosts; Scheer and Raphael are married and Mantzoukas is a longtime friend. I could honestly sit and listen to them talk about anything for hours, so, as an avid movie fan, the show is an absolute favorite pastime for me. They choose movies from a variety of time periods, genres, and levels of bad. They’ve done infamous bad movies such as The Room, Anaconda, and Staying Alive (the horrific Sylvester Stallone-helmed Saturday Night Fever sequel), but they’ve also done two Twilight movies and a handful of the Fast & Furious movies. They’ve got range. The way that they break things down is so compelling and entertaining to me that sometimes I’ve gone and watched the movie in question after the episode just to see what they’re talking about, even though I had previously decided I didn’t want to see the movie. I cannot stress enough how great this podcast is. I love to have it on when I’m doing random chores around the house, or I’ll focus on it during a long car ride. It’s truly an instant pick-me-up. Scheer, Raphael, and Mantzoukas also occasionally bring the show on tour, so I’m hoping (post-pandemic of course) to finally attend a live show. The show is on the Earwolf network, so you can listen to episodes from within the last six months on Earwolf’s website, and episodes older than that are available with a subscription to Stitcher Premium. However, random episodes from all ten years of the show are available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and a lot can also be found on YouTube. Here are some of my personal favorite episodes of How Did This Get Made? that I always recommend to new listeners: “Sleepaway Camp,” “Anaconda,” “Color of Night,” “Death Spa,” “Adore,” “A Night in Heaven,” and “Jaws 4: The Revenge.”
