It’s a Spinoff: The One by One Cast talks Don’t Open Till Christmas! rssverify

Happy Holidays to one and all! Amanda recently recorded a “pilot” episode of sorts with Vinegar Syndrome extras producer extraordinaire Ewan Cant, and it’s all about slashers. It’s called the One by One cast, and for this intro episode, Amanda and Ewan discuss the recent VS release Don’t Open Till Christmas, which they also provided a commentary track for. We’re hoping to make this spinoff a regular thing (as regular as The Made for TV Mayhem Show is anyway!! But, most importantly we hope you enjoy it, and have a wonderful Christmas holiday as well!

Episode 61 is Here! We Love Curtis Harrington!

The Made for TV Mayhem Show is B.A.C.K. And just in time for Halloween! On this episode we’re talking about two Curtis Harrington classics: The Cat Creature (1973) and Killer Bees (1974). Dan and Nate also throw out some of their favorite scary movie horror moments in tribute of Shudder’s new series, 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time (which I can be seen on!). Yay. We hope you enjoy this one. We’ve missed you!

Episode 60 is here! We love Jeannot Szwarc

We’re back! Join Dan, Nate and Amanda for a discussion about Jeannot Szwarc’s two stellar ABC Movie of the Weeks: Night of Terror (1972) and You’ll Never See Me Again (1973). And we’ll promise not to stay away so long this time. Thanks so much for your patience, and most of all thank you so much for listening! (and extra thanks to Dan for editing this episode!)

Trap-Cast episode 6!

I really, really wanted to get this next Trap-Cast online, since I’m covering the last two episodes that aired in 1979. Seemed fitting. So, for this show, I’m discussing The Surrogate and Who’s Little Hero Are You? Enjoy (please!)!

Episode 59: Celebrating Charles Bronson’s Small Screen Career

The Made for TV Mayhem Show has returned to celebrate what would have been Charles Bronson’s 100th birthday! To help us ring in this – the holiest of holy days – we invited James Newton of Newton Talks to discuss three of Bronson’s lesser talked about small screen appearances: the pilot for Man with a Camera (1958), One Step Beyond‘s eerie entry The Last Round (1961) and the 1993 cop thriller TV movie Donato and Daughter! We had a lot of fun, although there were technical woes aplenty, so please be patient with any sound issues or choppy edits. We had to record in “chapters” because of several dropouts. But we gave all of our love to Bronson, and we hope you enjoy it!

Episode 58: BFFs! A Shawnee Smith and Tammy Lauren Twofer

We’re back! Well, we were back a while ago, but it took a long time to edit this because 2021 has shown no mercy. A big shout out to Dan for his help on getting this one edited! On this episode, you’ll find Dan and Amanda palling around with Shawnee Smith and Tammy Lauren for this SS / TL twofer, Crime of Innocence (1985) and I Saw What You Did (1988). We’re also hoping to get back on schedule and have some shows planned for the very near future. Thank you for your patience, and we hope you enjoy!

A Very Special Episode: This House Possessed and an Interview with Parker Stevenson!

We’re back with a very special episode! February 6th, 2021 marks the 40th anniversary of This House Possessed, which aired on this day in 1981. It’s looking good at 40, and to celebrate, I sat down with Parker Stevenson to discuss the great little horror telefilm that keeps on going. After the interview join Dan, Nate and myself for a discussion of the film. And thank you, Parker Stevenson for being so kind and giving us a little background on This House Possessed. Hope everyone enjoys, and as always, thank you for listening!

Trap-Cast is BACK!

Trapper John and his merry band of trouble-making do-gooders is back! Here is episode of five of the Trap-Cast. I discuss the season one episodes Taxi in the Rain and Licensed to Kill. Thank you for listening and I do hope you enjoy!

Episode 57: It’s a Glim Glim Christmas!

It hasn’t even been a month, and we are back! We couldn’t let the holiday season pass by without inviting our great friend Joanna Wilson of Christmas TV History back for our annual yuletide episode! We spend a little time stuck behind a forcefield with a lovable (but deadly) alien named Glim Gilm, who was a part of the Monsters TV series. And we play the holiday movie game, which is always fun. So grab your eggnog and celebrate the season in style.

And a big thank you to everyone who stuck it out with us this  year. I know it hasn’t always been consistent, but, like everyone else in the year 2020, we’re doing our best. We appreciate all of you, and hope you have a wonderful end to a not-so-wonderful year! See you next year. It’s gonna look a lot like the 1970s-1990s for us!

Episode 56: Horror Western Telefilms

We are back with a brand new episode, and it turned out to be one of those marathon recordings… Just like the olden days, which is a bit kismet since we’re going back to the Old West as we take a look at two surreal and fascinating Horror/Western hybrid TV movies, Black Noon (1971) and Into the Badlands (1991)! We are joined by a very special guest, James Newton, who helps Dan and Amanda dissect Frontier living. (Spoiler: Life was difficult!)

James, a podcaster, filmmaker and writer, is someone worth checking out. Please follow his social media on Twitter at @JamesEdNewton, visit his website and make sure you give his excellent podcast Newton Talks a listen. You can also watch some of James’ amazing films on his YouTube page (might I suggest you start with Grace?). And, you can check out the trailer for Black Lizard Tales, which is currently playing fests, and see his latest short Man/Rabid as well!

We had so much fun talking with him about these haunting little films, and we hope you enjoy listening. Thank you again! We’ll be back very soon with a holiday episode. Joanna Wilson of Christmas TV History is back and ready to play our annual holiday game. We’re also discussing the strange and melancholic Christmas themed Monsters episode Glim Glim. See you soon!

Watch Grace below:

Next Up: Western/Horror Hybrids!

We’re sort of getting these episodes out on a regular basis now! How exciting! This month we’re joined by James Newton from the podcast Newton Talks, and we’ll be discussing two fascinating western/horror hybrids, Black Noon (1971) and Into the Badlands (1991). We’re recording November 21, so if you have any thoughts, please let us know before then, by emailing us at TVMayhemPodcast@gmail.com.

Episode 55: Have a Supernatural TV Movie Marathon with Midnight Offerings and The Sins of Dorian Gray

Happy Halloween! We’re here to help you ring in the spookiest time of year with two supernatural telefilms: Midnight Offerings (1981) and The Sins of Dorian Gray (1983). We’re joined by one of our favorite people on the planet, Justin Kerswell of both the website The Hysteria Lives and the companion podcast The Hysteria Continues! We do hope you have a safe and happy (and scary) Halloween!

Episode 54! We’re going back to school with the CBS Schoolbreak!

Welcome back! We are a little late getting our head gear and Swatches in place, but we’re here to help you go back to school with two CBS Schoolbreak Specials: Portrait of a Teenage Shoplifter (1981) and The Drug Knot (1986). Lots of illegal shenanigans to behold. We do hope you enjoy!

Hair like me!

Coming Up! A Small Screen Supernatural Halloween!

We’re still working on our CBS Schoolbreak Special episode, which we hope to have you by next week! But we have also decided on what scary telefilms we’ll give some love to this Halloween, and we’ve invited a guest to help us out!

On tap: Midnight Offerings (1981) and The Sins of Dorian Gray (1983)! We’ll be joined by Justin Kerswell of Hysteria Lives and the companion podcast The Hysteria Continues! And I can’t wait! We’re recording October 24th, so if you’d like to drop us a line, please feel free to contact us through our many different channels.

A Very Special Episode: Shades of Love and Ken Atchitiy!

Ken Atchity, the producer of Shades of Love

Welcome to a very special episode of Shades of Love. Amanda interviews Ken Atchity about his wonderful direct to video romance series Shades of Love. Then Amanda and Dan discuss two entries from the series, Echoes in Crimson and The Rose Cafe (both 1987). Ken was a wonderful guest and provides a lot of info about this great series where you will only want to speak of love. We do hope you enjoy!

Episode 53 is here! We love you Aaron Spelling!

Welcome back to episode 53, where all of our love is given to the amazing Aaron Spelling! Dan and Amanda are joined by Jon Larkin of Screaming Queenz to discuss The Old Man Who Cried Wolf (1970) and the Charlie’s Angels pilot telefilm (1976). We had a blast, and we hope you do too! Thank you for listening!

And if you’d like a little more of Amanda and Jon, you can listen to them talk about John Carpenter’s telefilm Someone’s Watching Me! (1987) on Screaming Queenz!

We’ll be recording again on September 16th. Info coming soon!

Trap-Cast Episode 4 is here!

 

I am back with episode 4 of The Trap-Cast! For this show I am talking about the Trapper John M.D. episodes What Are Friends For and One More for My Baby. I hope to be back soon with more Trap-Cast goodness, but for now, please enjoy. And thanks so much for toughing this out while I try to fit this spinoff into a regular thing!

Up Next: We Love You Aaron Spelling!

We’re returning later this month to give a lot of love to one of the greatest figures to work in the TV movie. Aaron Spelling is probably best known for his episodic creations (Mod Squad, Dynasty, Beverly Hills, 90210, etc.), but he also made well over 100 telefilms in his lifetime. We’ll be attempting to express the spectrum of his incredible work by covering two diverse titles: The Old Man Who Cried Wolf (1970) and the Charlie’s Angels pilot (1977).

We’re joined by Jon Larkin, who has a great horror podcast called Screaming Queenz, and is also a lover of all things soapy and Spelling-ish (he’s also a soap writer himself, so we’re excited to get his perspective). If you’d like to leave feedback about either film or if there’s anything else you’d like to say about Aaron, please contact us! No recording date is set, but we’ll be congregating sometime after the middle of the month. We’re so excited to be back with a proper episode!

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s Love Letter to Television: A Special MFTVM episode!

Welcome to a very special minisode dedicated to Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. We talk about how QT’s amazing film truly comes from the heart and pays a lot of respect to a golden era of television, as he presents TV as its own form of cinema. We hope you enjoy this one! Thanks for listening!

We’ll be back in a few weeks with our regularly scheduled program. But expect a new Trap-Cast in the next week or so to keep you going! Thanks again!

Episode 52: We Love Shannen Doherty

Welcome back! This is a very special episode for us because we got to talk about Shannen Doherty’s wonderful and underrated TV movie career. On tap: Satan’s School for Girls (2000) and Another Day (2001). We are joined by our great friend Erik Threfall of The Hysteria Continues, who just happens to be a huge fan of Beverly Hills, 90210. It was kismet! However, please be patient with some of the edits. I had to cut and paste a few things here and there! And Dan’s internet was playing tricks. But we do love Shannen so much and we hope you seek out some of her teleflms, if you haven’t already.

Up Next: We Love Shannen Doherty!

We’re gearing up to record our next episode, and as we announced, we’re dedicating this episode to our beautiful and talented Queen, Shannen Doherty. We’ll be discussing two later entry telefilms: Satan’s School for Girls (2000) and Another Day (2001), and Shannen’s overall contribution to the small screen movie. Very excited for this one.

We’re recording May 2nd, and we’d love feedback on these TVMS, or to know what your fave Shannen movies are, or, in general, any thoughts you have on her work as an actress! You can check out our contact page to see how best to reach us, and we look forward to hearing from you! Just send your feedback by May 1st!

We will also have a guest! Erik Threfall of The Hysteria Continues is a huge Beverly Hills, 90210 fan and we’re so excited to have him on board!

The Name the TV Movie Game Returns!

We’re back with a special minisode for everyone with a little extra time on their hands. We resurrected the Name that TV Movie Game, and added a new segment! Hope you enjoy!

Episode 51 is here! Goliath Awaits!

We’re back with a new episode, and we had a great time recording it. We hope you enjoy hanging out with Dan and Amanda and their good friend Gore Blimey of the Trilogy Terror Podcast as we discuss the early 80s mini-series Goliath Awaits!

We will be back very soon to celebrate Shannen Doherty’s amazing TV movie career. As you may know, with the world in this kind of flux, it’s been hard to concentrate on picking titles, getting everyone together, etc. So, please be patient. I do hope we can use this time to bring you more shows and hopefully a little respite from the uncertainties of our current day to day. Thank you all for every ounce of support. We’ll be back soon!

 

Up Next! We Love Shannen Doherty!

We just recorded our latest episode (Goliath Awaits), but I wanted to get on the ball with our next episode, which is a love letter to the incredible Shannen Doherty. Shannen has had an incredible but underrated TV movie career and we’re going to choose two titles to cover. We have a guest coming in to. Everything is still to be determined, but we should be recording at the end of March.

The reason why I’m posting this so early is because I’d love to get everyone as involved as possible. The Made for TV Mayhem Show wants to do a full on celebration of Shannen’s career and we’d love to hear from as many people as possible. We shouldn’t wait til someone gets sick to honor someone’s life and career, but here we are, and we’d love to get all the good vibes out to Shannen. Help us by letting us know your favorite Shannen role, whether it be in a TV movie, a theatrical or a series. She’s done a lot of amazing things and I know we all love her so much! You can check out our contact page for info on how to get in touch with us! We look forward to hearing from  you!

Episode 3 of Trap-Cast is ALIVE!

Well, 2020 is looking promising! I got to episode three of the Trap-Cast! And I’m so happy to be here discussing Love is a Three Way Street and The Shattered Image. Enjoy!

 

The Made for TV Mayhem Show will be back soon with our first mini-series, Goliath Awaits. Looking forward to it and thank you for your support!

 

Up Next! We Dive into Goliath Awaits!

The Made for TV Mayhem Show is returning in March with our first mini-series! We’ll be discussing Operation Prime Time’s underrated 2 part telefilm Goliath Awaits, which boasts an interesting programming history, an intriguing story and a cavalcade of incredible actors, including Christopher Lee, Frank Gorshin and Robert Forster, among many others.

Because Goliath Awaits is brimming with guest stars from all across the globe (well, if the globe were just of the UK and the U.S., primarily), we’ve invited one of our favorite podcasters from Wales, Gore Blimey, to join in the discussion. If you’re not familiar with GB, check out his great Trilogy of Terror podcast. Go now!

We’re recording  February 29th, so anything given to us by the 28th will be read or played. Look at our contact page to see how to get in touch! Looking forward to this! Hopefully the episode will be available by mid-March, and there should be a Trap Cast online before then! Let’s hope 2020 is full of TV podcasting!

Episode 50: It’s a Mayhem Christmas Special

Happy Holidays to one and all! We are back with our annual Christmas special. And no Made for TV Mayhem holiday extravaganza would be complete without our lovely annual co-host, Joanna Wilson of Christmas TV History. This year we’re talking about the wonderful Dupont Show with June Allyson episode titled A Silent Panic, which features Harpo Marx in a rare dramatic turn. We also play the Christmas Game, where Joanna gives us a title of a holiday special and we guess who’s in it and what it’s about (and we’re pretty much always wrong, but in a good way!). We had a lot of fun, and we really hope you do too.

 

Have a great holiday everyone! We’re taking January off, but we’ll see you in February so Happy New Year too!

*And a big shout out to Dan for editing this one! Much appreciated!

Episode 49: Small Screen Car Porn!

We poked around under the hood before we got down and dirty with Death Car on the Freeway and Gladiator! So, welcome to our Small Screen Car Porn episode. Try as we might, it wasn’t as naughty as we thought it was going to be, but Dan and I had a lot of fun discussing these TV movies. We hope you enjoy!

 

Also, make sure to check out Sam Pancake Presents the Monday Afternoon Movie, because not only am I curating this season of his amazing TV movie podcast, but he also covered Death Car this week! Were we a glorious car accident, or even better! Check it out!

Up Next: Small Screen Car Porn

We’re planning to crash and and burn in all the right ways with two interesting car-centric telefilms: Death Car on the Freeway (1979) and Gladiator (1986). Recording date is TBA, but likely it will be December 1st. Our guest will be Erik Threlfall of The Hysteria Continues! We’re excited.

Gladiator is currently streaming on Amazon. Give it a go!

Warner Archives Blu Ray Giveaway Contest!

UPDATE: Contest will remain open until mid-January 2020!

The Made for TV Mayhem Show is so excited that Warner Archives has supplied us with a Blu-Rray double pack of Bad Ronald and Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark to give away to one lucky listener!

Like our Snowbeast contest, this involves listener participation. You can check out the short podcast episode we put together, which explains what you need to do, or simply follow along with these instructions:

Pick your favorite made for TV movie house (ex. the house in This House Possessed, or the Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark House), and build a new, make believe TV movie of your own around it! So, all you need an “old dark house” setting that already exists in a telefilm and then make a whole new TVM out of it! Be creative, give us actor/director/producer names if so desired and a good plot to go around the house you chose.

Everyone who sends us a synopsis gets their name put into the contest, which ends on November 30th. We’ll get together in early December and draw a winner! Good luck!

Email all entries to TVMayhemPodcast@gmail.com

Episode 48: Celebrate Halloween with Moxey!

We mean John Llewellyn Moxey! Pretty sure I just used that joke last week, but be kind… It’s been an insane month. But we’re here (thanks to Dan who edited this episode) and we’ve been joined by the wonderful Bill Ackerman of Supporting Characters podcast to give some well-deserved love to Mr. Moxey. We discuss a bunch of his films, but the main topic of conversation is A Taste of Evil (1971) and A Strange and Deadly Occurrence (1974). Bill brought no tricks but a ton of treats, so we hope you enjoy our special Halloween episode dedicated to the great John Llewellyn. We already miss him so.

We’ll be back towards the end of November, and it’s getting mechanical with an episode dedicated to car porn! We’ll be discussing Death Car on the Freeway (1979) and Gladiator (1986). If you’d like to watch Gladiator, it’s currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Please contact us with any thoughts on vehicular telefilms or anything else you’d like to discuss! See you soon!

Episode 47: We’re Going Back to School with Mike McBeardo McPadden!

Make sure you’ve got your Pee Chee folders and your No. 2 pencils, cuz the Made for TV Mayhem Show is going back to school again! This time we’re talking about the other three Rs: Rock and Roll and Rad! We’re talking about Ron Howard’s sweet coming of age telefilm Cotton Candy (1978) and the TVPG teen sex dramedy Senior Trip (1981). Our guest on this outing is the wonderful Mike McBeardo McPadden, author of the equally wonderful Teen Movie Hell: A Crucible of Coming-of-Age Comedies from Animal House to Zapped! We had a great time recording and we hope you enjoy listening!

iTunes | Stitcher

 

Up Next: Celebrate Halloween with Moxey!

John Llewellyn Moxey, that is!

We’re celebrating the master of the made for TV genre movie with a special Halloween episode dedicated to JLM, who sadly passed away earlier this year. What an amazing talent he was, and if you are not familiar with his work, we’re hoping to get you started with two classics, A Taste of Evil (1971) and The Strange and Deadly Occurrence (1974).

We will definitely be talking about “The Moxey Moment” as well as some similarities between these two films. If you’re interested in where that might go, check out an old blog post I did, comparing the two films.

We don’t quite have a recording date set yet, but it will probably be next week, so please contact us and let us know your fave Moxey flick, or anything else you’d like to say about one of the greats! We’ll see you soon!

*Still editing our back to school episode. Apologies. My schedule has been pretty messy. Thank you for your patience (and a big shout out to Dan for helping me with the more monotonous tasks!)

The Made for TV Mayhem Show Goes Next Level with a Commentary for Amazons

I guess the title of this article says it all! We are all terribly excited that we’re going to be providing the commentary track for Kino Lorber‘s upcoming release of the 1984 tele-thriller Amazons (due December 3rd).

I’ll just post Kino’s plot synopsis here:

THEIR TARGET: THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES…
THEIR GOAL: WORLD DOMINATION!

When her patient—a prominent U.S. Congressman—dies in a bizarre accident just after surgery, Dr. Sharon Fields (Madeleine Stowe, China Moon) is framed on a charge of malpractice. With the help of Lt. Tony Monaco (Jack Scalia, The Rift), the tough-edged but charming detective assigned to look into the “accident,” the beautiful young surgeon makes a chilling discovery of a secret legion of Amazons, descendants from the legendary nation of women warriors who have vowed eternal war on the enemy race of Man. Now, the President-elect, who has carried into power the first woman Vice President, is slated to be the next “Stallion Kill.” Tense, fantastic, sinister, Amazons is a riveting and fast-paced action-thriller directed by Paul Michael Glaser (Band of the Hand, The Running Man). Tamara Dobson (Cleopatra Jones), Stella Stevens (The Silencers), Jennifer Warren (Night Moves) and Leslie Bevis (Alien Nation) co-star as the leaders of the Amazons. Wonderful score by the great Basil Poledouris (RoboCop) and co-starring William Schallert (In the Heat of the Night), Nicholas Pryor (Risky Business) and Peter Scolari (TV’s Newhart).

EXTRAS:

• Audio Commentary by the MADE FOR TV MAYHEM Podcast Hosts Amanda Reyes, Daniel Budnik and Nathan Johnson
• Trailers

Yeah, they kind of say it all above. This is a super stylish, intriguing and politically charged film that we are all honored to be associated with. Also, gratuitous Peter Scolari! Can it get any better?

Episode 46: We Love You Valerie Harper!

We’re back (finally). So sorry for the delay. Especially with this episode, which is our love letter to some of Valerie Harper’s best known genre TV movies. We recorded it just a couple of days before we lost one of the most vibrant women in the world. I wanted to get this out sooner, so we could mourn together. But, thanks to some recording issues and a crazy schedule, it was not to be. Valerie will always be loved and never forgotten, so now is as good a time as any, I suppose. If we’d recorded this after her passing, it might sound a little different, but for now, we hope you enjoy our discussions of Night Terror and People Across the Lake. We miss you and we love you, Valerie. Godspeed.

And if you need more Valerie Harper TV horror movie goodness, I recorded an episode with the Hysteria Continues on Don’t Go To Sleep. You can listen here.

In happier news, we’re recording our next episode in just a few days! And we’re going back to school! We’ll be discussing Cotton Candy (1978) and Senior Trip! (1981). And we’ve got a special guest! Mike “McBeardo” McPadden, king of the retro teen movie genre, and author of the beyond-excellent Teen Movie Hell: A Crucible of Coming-of-Age Comedies from Animal House to Zapped! will be in the house! We’re recording this Wednesday,  September 25th, so feel free to contact us with any thoughts on those TVMs before then! And thanks ever so much for your patience and for tuning in. We really appreciate you!

Next Episode: We’re Going Back to School!

 

Even though I’m still plugging away at our Valerie Harper episode, I booked a guest for NEXT week. Yeah, I’m just that way. We’re going back to school with the great Mike McBeardo McPadden, and discussing two of his favorite telefilms: Cotton Candy (1978) and Senior Trip (1981)! We’ll also be talking about his INCREDIBLE new book, Teen Movie Hell: A Crucible of Coming-of-Age Comedies from Animal House to Zapped!

Send feedback by Tuesday, September 24th via any one of our means of contact. We’ll see you soon!

Trap-Cast Episode 2 is (finally) here!

Well, I somehow got a second episode together! Thank you for your patience! On Trap Cast #2 I talk about the episodes Flashback and Deadly Exposure, and I manage to keep the love train for Dr. Riverside rolling! It’s in my heart to do so. There were a couple of hiccups, and I’m still having trouble not talking fast. Like I said in the episode, we’re all a work in progress! So, thank you for your interest and a double thanks you for listening!

 

Up Next: We’re in Love with Valerie Harper

Who am I kidding? We all love Miss Harper! And now it’s time to share in the love when we discuss two of her best known horror TVMs, Night Terror (1978) and People Across the Lake (1987).

I know, I know! What about Don’t Go To Sleep? I covered that with the Hysteria Continues back in 2017, so I wanted to hit on two other charmers that are both pretty good and probably a little underrated. The good news is People Across the Lake is streaming on Amazon Prime, so please go watch it and send us feedback about either (or both) TVMs, or anything Valerie related. We’d love to hear from you!

We are taking a mini-hiatus though, so you’ll have at least until the middle of June to watch along. Between now and then I’m planning to upload Trap-Cast #2! Fingers crossed.

Also, since we won’t be around for a bit, I just wanted to say a few words about the Rondo Awards. Our beloved little podcast didn’t get a mention unfortunately, but I want to thank anyone and everyone who threw a vote our way, or just stopped by out of curiosity to see what we do. Since we’re not recording for a bit (aside from my Trapper John mini-sode), I’ll be promoting some of our horror episodes on social media in case you wanted to discover or revisit some of our older content. You guys are the best! Much love to all! Thanks for listening and hope to hear from you soon!

Here’s our social media links (should you be so inclined):
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

 

 

 

Episode 45 is here! Cruise into Hell With Us!

We’re taking on the small screen high seas in this episode of The Made for TV Mayhem Show, and we’re talking about two amazing TV movie thrillers. So, slather on your best sunscreen, grab a Mai Tai and check out our discussions over Death Cruise (1974) and Cruise into Terror (1978). Enjoy, and thank you so much for listening!

iTunes | Stitcher

Also, you can read more about the making of Death Cruise on director Ralph Senensky’s website! Really great stuff!

We’re taking about six weeks off, but then we’ll return to give Valerie Harper a lot of love when we talk about her cult TV movie thriller Night Terror (1977) and the insane late entry small screen slasher The People Across the Lake (1988). People is currently streaming on Amazon Video! So watch along and let us know what you think!

See you in June!

 

Episode 44: We Watched the Detectives!

We went undercover, guys. It was awesome. We took a look at two great detective pilot TVMs: The House on Greenapple Road (1970), which would lead to the short lived series Dan August, and we also watched the second Harry-O pilot, Smile Jenny, You’re Dead (1944). We felt Marion Ord’s pain and we fell in love with Zalman King! We hope you enjoy!

And one last mention of the Rondos (I swear!). We’re up for Best Multi-Media Site, and Amanda has also been nominated for best Live Event (“Big Scares on the Small Screen” lecture for the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, which was hosted by the Brooklyn Horror Film Fest), and Best Commentary (Last House on the Left). You can see all the nominations here, and you can send your ballot to taraco@aol.com. Lots of great people on that list, so we won’t be mad if you want to vote for someone else. Just vote!

Up Next! We’re Taking a Cruise Straight to Hell!

OK, we’re going to try to get a head start on our next episode. Since summer is coming and spring break just passed, we thought it would be fun to unwind on the high seas with two classic Love-Boat-Goes-To-Hell telefilms, Death Cruise (1974) and Cruise into Terror (1978). Should be good times… if we survive!

You can let us know what you think of these two films by contacting us through one of our many social media channels! We’ll be recording around the middle to end of  April. We will update you when we know ourselves!

Our Watching the Detectives episode should be online soon! We had a great time recording it, and we hope you will enjoy it!

Up Next! We’re Watching the Detectives!

We’re going undercover next week when we discuss two famous pilot detective movies, The House on Greenapple Road (1970), which led to the Dan August series, and the second pilot for Harry-O, Smile Jenny, You’re Dead (1974). Sorry again for the late notice. My schedule has remained a little on the insane side since the beginning of 2019, but I can’t wait to talk about these two excellent telefilms. Again, you can send feedback by contacting us through one of our many social media channels!

By the by, I haven’t added it to the contact info page yet, but Made for TV Mayhem (both the show and the blog) are on Instagram now too @madefortvmayhem. Follow along for updates, and other fun TVM stuff!

And, one final (blog post) word about The Rondos. We’re up for Best Multi-Media Site, and we’re so excited we just can’t hide it! You can check out the list of nominees here, and email your votes to taraco@aol.com! Voting ends April 20th. Lots of great podcasts on that list. So honored to be a part of it!

(I’ve also been nominated for Best Commentary: Last House on the Left, and Best Event for my Miskatonic lecture, Big Scares on the Small Screen, which was held at the Brooklyn Horror Film Fest last year… so if you want to vote for those too… I mean, I won’t stop you!)

Episode 1 of the Trap Cast is here!

After threatening to do a podcast-spinoff dedicated to Trapper John M.D., Amanda finally sat down and did it! In the debut episode, Amanda discusses Trapper‘s pilot, its connection to Medical Center and the beginning of TJ‘s dance with reverse psychology. There are some hiccups, but lots of soundbites and gratuitous use of the series’ incredible score to make it a little more tolerable! Amanda will be updating this spinoff show monthly. Hope you enjoy!

iTunes
Stitcher

The 2019 Rondo Awards and Our Show!

The Made for TV Mayhem Show was nominated for a Rondo!!! We weren’t sure if we might be picking up a few listeners through that nomination, so we thought we’d get together and each suggest an episode we felt gave people a good idea of what we do. They are episodes that show us  at our best… or at our least confused. Something like that. So, of course recording this was a bear. There are sound issues galore (thanks Skype for the bad reception and time lags), and choppy editing came about as I was trying to put it into something that was more coherent. Please be kind. We did this on the fly and on a day that was proving to be difficult.

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If you are new, welcome! If you are just listening cuz you like us… thank you so very much. We appreciate every download. Hope you enjoy!

You can look at the Rondo Awards ballot here, and you’ll find our little podcast in the Best Multi-Media Site section.  You can email your selections to taraco@aol.com.

Amanda was nominated in three categories. The other two are:

Best Commentary: Last House on the Left (with Bill Ackerman)
Top Event: ‘Big Scares on the Small Screen: A Brief History of the Made-for-TV Horror Film,’ at The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, NYC

Put your votes where you must! And thank you so much for checking us out or sticking with us!

Episode 43: Love Letters for a Late Valentine’s

Yes, we’re just a tad late, but we’re only speaking of love yet again this February. We made it a twofer though. We’re talking romantic comedies, and our double features two of our favorite small screen faces who are no longer here.  Dan and Amanda discuss Every Man Needs One (1972), starring Ken Berry and More than Friends (1978), starring Penny Marshall.

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Unfortunately, Nate couldn’t make it this month, but never you fear, I’m sure he’ll be back next month when we talk detective pilots! We’re watching the pilot TV for the Dan August series, The House on Greenapple Road (1970) and Harry-O’s second pilot telefilm, Smile Jenny, You’re Dead (1974).

Episode 42! Michael Parks is The. Best.

We’re kicking off 2019 with a retrospective on Michael Parks’ interesting small screen career. We look at Escape from Bogen County (1977) and The China Lake Murders (1990)… and there’s a bit of talk about Parks’ thick, luxurious hair. Hey, it’s how we do. Anyway, here you go! We hope you enjoy!

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We’ll be back towards the end of February, and although we’re missing Valentine’s Day proper, we’re still gonna keep love in the air with two romantic comedies featuring actors we love but lost recently. The films on tap: More Than Friends (1978), starring Penny Marshall, and Every Man Needs One (1971) with Ken Berry.

Up Next: We Love Michael Parks!

We thought it would be fun to kick off 2019 with a love letter to one of the greatest and most underrated character actors ever! The crew will be gathering sometime in January to discuss Escape from Bogen County (1977) and The China Lake Murders (1990). And yes, we’ll get to Then Came Bronson in another podcast, but for now it’s all about these rarer, less talked about TVMs and the wonderful work Parks left behind! Please let us know your thoughts on these films and/or Mr. Parks by contacting us through one of our many social media channels. We really want to hear from you!

And Happy New Year!

Episode 41! Rich Little’s A Christmas Carol

 

Happy Holidays! Here’s our episode dedicated to Rich Little, Ebeneezer Scrooge, Wacky Wall Walkers and Truman Capote?! Yup, it’s all here and we hope you enjoy our discussion on Rich Little’s A Christmas Carol (as well as our talk on the weirder Christmas TV offerings)! Nate went all bah humbug on us and had to drop out at the last minute (boo!), but we’re joined by our very good friend and holiday expert Joanna Wilson (yay!), and she helps me unwrap the LSD headtrip that Rich Little brought into our living rooms oh so long ago!

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Hope you have wonderful holiday, and we’ll see you next year!

Up Next: It’s Gonna be a Crazy Christmas!

It’s that time of year again, where the Christmas trees are all aglow, stockings are hung with care… and Rich Little does an impression of Truman Capote as Tiny Tim?!?

Wait a second…

No, it really happened, and we’re going to talk about it on the next episode. In case you haven’t guessed, we’re watching and discussing Rich Little’s Christmas Carol (1979), which is a candy cane full of LSD. Should be fun! We’ll also be joined by our favorite holiday expert, Joanna Wilson!

We’re not exactly sure on the recording date, but it will be either December 17th or 18th, if you’d like to participate! We’d love to hear from you, so contact us and let us know what you think of Mr. Little’s audacious retelling of the classic story.

 

Episode 40! Small Screen Vixens

OMG! It’s finally here! It’s the Small Screen Vixens episode we recorded eons ago but which had to put on the backburner because life… how she gets in the way. If you don’t remember, this is the episode where we cover Summer Girl (1983) and The Face of Evil (1996). Enjoy!

Btw, Dan was kind enough to do the edits on this one. And he did a wonderful job. Thank you so much Dan!!!

We’ll be back shortly with our annual Christmas episode. Details coming…