Dear Watchers: an omniversal comic book podcast

Hey, kitty girls. Welcome to Dear Watchers, an Omniversal comic book podcast where we do a deep dive into the multiverse.

We are traveling with you through the stories and the worlds that make up an omniverse of, uh, fictional reality we all love. And and your watchers on this journey are me uh, wait, uh, Mel. I get to be mel. It's Mel.

And on the triangle, it's me, Rob. And we have a third member of our band, the Josie, to our Pussycats returning guest and friend of the show, ethan from make mine Amalgam. Hi, Ethan.

Yes.

Hi, Josie.

Today.

I'm Alan. Make mine amalgam maybury.

There you go.

Make mine.

Amalgam is what the M stands for.

That works. Well, yeah. I'm curious. There's so many things I have so many questions, like about Alan M and his last name and when he gets named, all that stuff. And, yeah, it's going to be a fun trip today.

Before we get on our tour bus today, what's new in our little section of the multiverse?

I'm sure there's things, but I'll just offer a reminder so we can get into it, that we want you to help us grow. Right now, before we get to 100 episodes, we want record numbers of listeners, so if you haven't yet, please review wherever you're listening, rate us on Apple Music Share Post. Tell two friends to listen. So help us, because this is close to 100 triple digits.

And if you are joining us for the first time, we have three parts of our journey today. Origins of the story, what inspired this other reality? Exploring multiversity. We dive deeper into our alternate universe and pondering possibilities. We examine the impact and what's followed or coming in the future. And of course, you can always support us on our coffee and visit Dearwatchers.com and find out more information. But with that Dear Watchers, welcome to episode 95, and let's check out what's happening in the Omniverse with today's travels to our alternate universe.

If I was more ambitious, I would have changed those out for, like, some real rock tunes. But we'll keep with our standard music, yes?

And today we have a musical trip ahead of us as we journey to answer the question, what if Josie and the Pussycats tried to stop the takeover of the world that comes through brainwashing 90s teens, turning them into capitalist zombies? Quite the question there.

Well, it is the alternate universe that we are exploring most today. So this Earth has no designation.

Of course, it may be our Earth 2001.

Okay, we'll call it Earth 2001.

TRL 2001.

All right, you got it. Earth TRL 2001 comes to us from a 2001 movie that will be the focus of our trip later today. But, Ethan, you prompted this whole episode, but why this story for our trip today, Ethan? And we're going to get into a lot of detail, but tell us why.

Well, long story short, it's pretty much my favorite movie in general. Um, and if you follow my Twitter, you know that. Um, but why I chose this movie specifically is also, um, my favorite genre that the Pussycats have done, like of music. And pop punk is one of my favorite music genres anyway. So putting that together with Josie and the Pussycats just feels almost as right to me, if not more than, uh, casting Jim Carrey as Riddler like it was catered for me.

Yes. And so much of that music, too, is back now, too. Yes, the movie was made in 2001, but it has that 90s feel that early 2000s very all of this aesthetic has so come back. And Blink 182. Just Headlined Coachella. So it's back, baby. Pop punk.

We're so current with the times on Dear Rogers.

Well, let's start of course, we're talking about Josie and the Pussycats today, but they come from the house of Archie. So let's start with Archie comics. And Guido, you're going to tell us a quick background since this is actually our first trip through their world. The first of many, because they are a house of multiversity. Too.

They are. And we've talked for a long time about doing some Archie stuff. And what better way to start than with Ethan. So the brand of Archie comics started as MLJ magazines in 1939. MLJ is named for the three founders maurice Coyne, Lewis Siblecrat, and John Goldwater. The first comic was Blue Ribbon Comics, which was an anthology with Sci-Fi and crime humor. And later in 39, they debuted The Shield, their first superhero, who was a rather patriotic superhero coming before Captain America. And John Goldwater was then inspired by the Andy Hardy movies the all American Teenager torn between two Girls, starring everyone's favorite Judy Garland. And John debuted, archie Andrews, Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones in Pep Comics number 22 in 1941. And that was also drawn by the artist that we're going to learn more about today, who was instrumental in developing all these looks. So the new characters were, of course, so popular that they changed their name to Archie Comics in 1946 and years later. One little trivia point. The artist Dan Goldberg also was the color colorist, who chose the color scheme for The Fantastic Four for Spider Man and had the house style of Archie for 40 years. So marvel connections there. And of course, everyone probably knows Archie Comics. The brand is an institution. Digest form was probably a lot of people's entry into comic books. I feel like it was one of my first was like getting it at the drugstore and there's TV shows. There was a band, not the band we're talking about today, but, uh, banned the arches. There have been movies and there is just merchandise all over the place and sometimes comics. So lots on Archie. And yeah, we'll keep learning more. But Rob, you I think, have something to share about Archie that isn't even, like, on the Archie Wikipedia. Although you should go edit the Wikipedia and add this.

I don't know, it might be still predicted by some NDA or something somewhere. But yeah, I actually have a personal history because and this is, uh, Ethan, you don't know this, but I actually worked decently pretty closely with Archie comics for a couple of years. So I used to work for a couple of producers, and they were actually able to get the stage rights to do the Archie comics musical. So we were developing an Archie Comics Broadway show based on the comics. And I was one of the people kind of in charge of looking, doing research, figuring out because it's 80 years of storytelling at that point. And we're trying to figure out, do we set it in the do we set it today? Is there magic involved? Because there's so much magic involved with Archie. Uh, of course, you've got to have the band. You've got to have the Betty and Veronica Archie thing. But there's so many other characters. Who do we put in? I believe we had the right to use Sabrina and Josine the Pussycats in limited quantities, but it couldn't focus on them. They probably had, like, their own other rights. So I was doing this research. I actually reached out to friend of the podcast, Frank Praterisse, who the former DC, um, uh, editor, who's a huge Archie fan, talked to him. One of the really cool things I got to do was I actually called I think I just, like, cold called him or reached out to him from, um, the Internet. But I reached out to Ron Dante, who was the voice of the Archie's. He's the lead singer on the Archie's music. Really fascinating person. Also worked in Broadway and lots of music stuff. So I got to talk to him about his involvement with Archie. So we were developing this story, and we were actually working with the playwright and writer Roberto Aguire Sakasas on another project, actually. And then my bosses, the producers, told Roberto that we had the rights to do Archie. And Roberto was like, oh, my gosh, I'm the biggest Archie fan in the world. I think he had already written a play that was inspired by Archie. We had brought Roberto in to write the book for the musical. And obviously the musical obviously wound up not happening there. But Roberto got in very closely with the Archie family, with the Archie team.

So Rob is responsible for Riverdale. Long m story short, Rob is responsible for Riverdale.

Yeah, Riverdale had not happened yet. And then Riverdale was happening afterwards. He joined the team as their chief creative officer. They wound up eventually getting Adam McKay and Will Ferrell signed on to write the book to the musical. However, that has, of course, not happened. And Adam and Will also, I don't think, really speak anymore. So I don't know what the status of it is if we'll ever see an Archie Comics musical. But yes, I had played some weird small role in connecting all of these people many years back.

Well, yeah.

Uh, I guess I have you to thank for my favorite show that's currently on TV.

You're welcome.

And the only part of that story, having known you, Rob, uh, at the time that this was playing out, I was like, OOH, Roberto. He wrote nightcrawler. How cool. That was all I cared about.

Yeah, I had seen one of his off Broadway plays, which was like a Science Five play, so I knew his work. And of course, now he is Mr. Archie. Uh, speaking of Mr. Archie, or Mr. Josie, we should say. You're going to give us a quick history of the creation and creators of Josie and the Pussycats.

Yes. So Josie and the Pussycats, originally titled She's Josie, and then just Josie before rebranding entirely as Josie and the Pussycats, was created by Dan de Carlo. De Carlo is best known for creating what is essentially known as the house style of Archie Comics. Little known fact is that Josie herself was actually named after de Carlo's wife, Josette. Josette, also named Josie, was a French model. And because Dan didn't know any French and Josie didn't know English, they communicated through cartoons Dan drew for her. Josette had inspired Josie and the Pussycats when she and Dan went on a cruise. And Josette sported a cat suit on the trip that catsuit became the iconic outfits josie and the Pussycats wear today.

Wow.

Yeah. That's fun. So it started through love. I thought you were going to say they only communicated through, like, cat calls. That's where I thought that was going. Your cartoon is even cuter.

Yeah. And Dan de Carlo. While he didn't draw the original Archie, that was Bob Montana. I think most people do consider Dan de Carlo really the person who created what we now know as the iconic imagery of Archie. And the gang really sculpting that look and doing it for so many years. And then that was picked up by Stan Goldberg, who did it for 40 years. So I think everyone at Archie stays around for years and years. I think it really does have that family feel. And, um, unlike DC and Marvel, it's not owned by a big.

No. We even just looked into that a few weeks ago, you and I, because I was sure that some capital venture firm must have bought them at some point. But no, they still retain ownership, which is very cool, because prior to, I'd say, the MCU Boom of Marvel and DC, archie characters were more recognizable than even Marvel and DC. Around the world. I think you'd have more people, uh, who knew the Archie brand than Marvel and DC. This is pre 20 years ago, but they really are massive. I thought for sure someone must have bought them at some point. But they're still family owned, which is very yeah.

John Goldwater, whose very idea was to create Archie the character, his son, John Goldwater, is the CEO, uh, and publisher of Archie Comics to this day, executive producer of Riverdale and the movie that we're going to discuss. So really stayed in the family all these years.

Yeah.

And let's talk a little bit about our background. So I mentioned, of course, a little bit of my odd background with these characters. But Gita, we'll save you, Ethan, for last, because I know you're the super fan. But, Gita, uh, what's your background with Archie comics and Josie and the Pussycats?

Well, I think I probably was one of those kids who an Archie Digest was one of my earliest comics. I remember the Disney Digests more than the Archie, but I think they were there. I was never into it, so I probably read them as a kid. Then I moved on to superhero comics and never looked back. And I really never, ever have been into Archie comics. I don't even know that much about Archie comics, more than what most people know. I did read the, of course, afterlife with Archie and the horror related spin offs. And I look forward to covering those one day because those are really cool. I tried to read the launch of the imprint that we'll talk about in our third segment today, but I just couldn't get into it because I have no relationship to these characters. I saw, uh, the movie that we watched today when I came out. I was in college, and I loved it. And we'll talk more about that. Uh, Rob, you and I watched the beginning of Riverdale, but we never stuck with it past the first few episodes of that season. So I don't know a lot, actually, of Archie or Josie in the Pussycats, other than the 2001 movie. That's probably my only exposure to Josie. And other than the pop culture knowledge of Archie that everyone has. I don't have a deep well, m, I didn't either.

I actually never read the Digest growing up. I never read the comics. I never really read it until I was reading it for work. And the one thing that struck me, too, is and this comes into, I think, the creation of Josie is they always are taking from the time that they're in. I was reading then an Archie in the it's all about they get a pet rock, which was like a big trend in the 70s. So they all follow these things. And then you get the introduction of Kevin Keller later, when LGBTQ people are coming into the mainstream media more. So they're always kind of reflecting, I think, what the popular time is. And I think they're doing that a little bit more than Marvel and DC are, because we're having these all American teenage characters there. And, uh, then Josie and the Pussycats. I remember when the movie came out, I was, of the three of us, really the one that it was probably geared to the most, because I was in early high school.

But you never saw it.

But I never saw that until this episode.

Yeah. So maybe you're the mel of the group, actually.

Our Josie, ethan, you're the superfan, your favorite movie. What's your background with Archie comics and Josie and the Pussycats?

Well, my background with Archie is kind of similar to Guido in that it was the Digest that got, um, me into it. I remember, man, I think it was in like fourth grade, I got just an Archie Digest in my stocking, and basically I was introduced to it through that. And it was one of my first non superhero comics. And then again, like, Guido, uh, I don't want to say grew out of it, but kind of dropped it for a while until I then went back and found all these weird crossovers like Archie and Punisher, archie and Punisher. And then Riverdale happened. And then it struck a chord again where I thought, oh, I remember liking these. Let's see how crazy this show is going to be. Because I thought, oh, they're going to do a dark, edgy version of Archie. Let's watch this train wreck. And I went in with kind of low expectations, but then I ended up, like I said, now, ah, I'm on the 7th and final season and tuning in every week, loving this wild, crazy, insane ride.

Yes, uh, it is a weird one.

My connection with Josie and the Pussycats, I think I knew that they were Archie characters, but I also knew them from the cartoon. And so because of Riverdale rekindling my love of Archie, I basically tried to consume as much Archie media as I could. While it took its first hiatus, I was like, I'm hooked again. I need more. And so within that, I found the movie more specifically on my insane love of that later when we get to that. But, uh, my absolute, um, passion obsession.

I'd say, sure, yeah, passion.

Uh, basically I found that along with the cartoon and other Archie things during the, uh, hiatus. And yeah, I've been a fan ever since.

Yeah, it's one of those cool stories. I mean, we hear a lot of those stories, or I think Rob and I have both shared our own, where you had the seeds of something, but it was really something much later in life and much more recent that then reignites the whole experience for you. And then you go deeper and you go into it as an adult and with more access to everything about it, and you can really start to absorb it and enter the world in a different way. And I love those stories of fandom. Uh, they're so fun, so very cool.

Well, let's turn up the amps, go to the garage and launch.

Turn it to eleven.

Origins of the story right now on.

This very show, you're going to get.

The answer to all your questions. Our amazing story begins a few years ago. And first up is Josie and the Pussycats, number 45 from Archie Comics. This was from December 1969. There's three stories in there. Decisions, decisions, off to a good start. That spilled is just a Josie story and Pussy footing.

So the book end stories. The Full Pussycat stories are written by Dick Malgren penciled by Dan de Carlo inked by Rudy Lapick no colorist credited. Lettered by Bill Yoshida edited by Richard Goldwater And the Josie story just has Frank Doyle as the writer in the center. And we read this because Ethan constructed all of our readings today. But this is, of course, as he mentioned, this is the debut issue of Josie and the Pussycats, though, numbered 45, because it's just renumbered from the Josie series. So before we get in, I'm curious, Ethan, can you tell us how many of these characters were new in this issue? Obviously, Josie wasn't, but are the other Pussycats debuting in this issue, or is this the debut of the band? I didn't do any research so that I could just learn from you. So I read it.

It's the debut of two. It's the debut of the band because first it was all just Josie, and then she's Josie, and it's the debut of Valerie.

Okay.

It's Valerie's first appearance. Everyone else, uh, the Cabot Twins have been in there since, I think, like, issue one or three, allen actually showed up, like, maybe 41 or something. Um, but, yeah, this is Valerie, um, depending on the printing that you're reading, valerie, uh, Smith, her first appearance.

Um, what do you mean by that depending on the printing?

Because in my edition, my updated edition, which is the same story, but they kind of updated some lingo and updated the name. Her name is Valerie Brown.

Oh, yeah, that's the one I read because I read from the trade paperback, it was the only place to really.

Find trade paperback, um, is where they rename, uh, her Brown. Now, throughout the paperback, there are some editorial errors where they leave Smith in there, but not in that particular issue. But, yeah, her name was originally Smith. Josie's name was originally Jones. And sometimes I've seen it as James, but it wasn't until actually, the movie that they, according to the Archie Encyclopedia from last year, uh, that her name was changed to McCoy.

Oh, wow.

Fascinating. Gosh. Yeah. It's such an interesting history because of the way there are so many different iterations. And even in one thing in this issue, too, is that, like, Alexandra? I was surprised. Alexandra has hex powers like she's a witch. Which totally took me by surprise. And I was like, Wait, is this like, uh, it's like I'm reading a Sabrina comic. But I saw I did read about that because I was fascinated and, like, that just goes away. They abandoned that. And of course, that doesn't show up in anything else. We consumed nothing else. It's fascinating that these choices, I guess, were just so arbitrary because they're telling these little mini standalone stories. They weren't really interested in anything serialized at this point. And they weren't doing the world building that we're used to today. So they could just change it anytime.

Yeah. Even when we were trying to come up with, uh, the story for a musical, it's so hard because unlike Marvel and I guess to a lesser extent, DC, everything's just constantly resetting. So you have all of this. You don't have any continuity to really pull from. And I think that's where even stuff like these name changes probably came from, they felt free to just, okay, we're just going to change this now.

So was Josie musical prior to this issue? Did we know that Josie was interested, or was that also new in this issue?

Uh, no, she was basically their attempt at doing, hey, let's make an Archie book, but it's a girl.

Ah.

Uh, and I saw some connection to, like, a Millie the model type thing, too, which Marvel was doing.

And funnily enough, and we'll see her later, too, um, but not in the movie. A character named Pepper Smith. She, uh, was actually Josie and Melody's friend in the earlier issues. Uh, but then they kind of just put, uh, her on the back burner, uh, after they introduced Valerie. Uh, she was never a Pussycat. She's just been, ah, Josie's friend. She does actually show up in the Katie Keane TV show, the Spin off. The, uh, spin off that I have kind of complicated feelings about with, uh, Riverdale.

Yeah.

It's kind of convoluted. It's like, hey, let's make the Spin off about this character who's never really been on Riverdale, but the only character who's really spinning out of that is Josie.

Yeah, very weird.

Yes. And we'll get into that show you.

Mentioned, Millie the Model, who predates Josie and the Pussy gets guess who created the look of Millie the Model. But it was Dan de Carlo who also created the look of Josie. And then Dan was succeeded by Stan Goldberg, who also succeeded him at Archie Comics. So they really kept it all, like, very small industry.

It was very small industry. So go ahead, Rob.

I was just going to put it to both of you. I really feel like this could be called Alexander Cabot featuring Josie and the Pussycats, because to me, I would want.

To read that she is the star of these issues.

She probably has double the amount of dialogue that any of the Pussycats have. And it's really centering, it feels like, on her and that Josie is just kind of there. I don't know, Ethan, if you feel like that, if that changes over time. But she definitely feels like she is the central character here because we want to laugh at her. And she's the one with the well.

And she's the villain, too.

She's the villain. Yeah.

It definitely does change, especially in the movie. Um, but her being kind of the main character, that's exactly how I feel about the cartoon. It's all about her and Melody, really, because Melody is the comic.

Oh, yes, melody.

Then you have Alexandra, uh, who her whole thing is. Oh, I am jealous of Josie. I should be with Alan. I should be the leader of the band. And we see that in pretty much everything with her.

Mhm.

Yeah. And even, I mean, the first line of the first issue, the first appearance is her saying, we either call ourselves Alexandra's Cool Time Cats or I don't play with the group. So yeah, we're really kicking off with that as the core conceit. And the other thing go ahead.

Oh, I was going to say, I guess she's really like the Reggie Mantle stand in, too. Uh, the frenemy kind of character. Although because she seems a lot more fun than Reggie is.

Yeah, well, she's got a streak in her hair.

That girl's got a spike on her head.

I also was really surprised. I shouldn't be because I did read a lot of Kevin Keller and it actually felt very similar to Kevin Keller. I didn't mention that earlier. I did read Kevin Keller stuff when it was coming out, just because it was so groundbreaking that this was happening. But the introduction of Valerie, I love that. It just is there that she's a, uh, black band member bandmate. There's no mention. Obviously they're doing this a little late into the civil rights movement, but still at a moment, it's 1969. It's a pretty revolutionary year in history. And I just love that no part of the plot is about that, at least in this issue. And I'm assuming that probably persists. I'm assuming it's never a part of the plot.

Yeah, I've never remembered anything being about that. They kind of do that a little bit in Riverdale, um, especially to kind of help backpedal some behind the scenes ickiness. But yeah, never in the comics. They've really done that with, uh, classic Josie. Anyway.

Yeah, it's pretty cool. So, I mean, this was fun. It's typical archie fair. I love how quick a read it is because if you're not, uh, getting super into it, it goes by quickly. And that's not to say, like I hated it or anything. It's just to say I kind of like the bite sized nature of Archie stories because it never feels like it's dragging, even in the moments where I'm like, I don't really care about this subplot or whatever. So it was fun to explore this.

And now let's explore some more. So, my feline friends, it's time for exploring meow diversity.

Oh, no, that doesn't.

I am your.

Guide through these vast new realities. Follow me and ponder the question. What if?

And our what if question de jour is what if?

Okay, that one worked.

What if Josie and the Pussycats tried to stop the takeover of the world happening by brainwashing 90s teens into capitalist zombies? And this is from the 2001 film from Universal Pictures and MGM, released to movie theaters on April 11, 2001, and.

It is directed by Harry Elfon and Deborah Kaplan, who are also the co writers. It stars rachel lee cook pause for ethan to sworn harold reed rosario dawson alan cumming gabriel mann paulo costanzo missy pyle and, uh, parker posey and, uh so the film was a financial failure, though it has since been reappreciated, I think, quite a bit. The soundtrack, though, did debut at number 16 on the Billboard, and it ended up charting gold. There was a planned adjoining cartoon reboot, and we will deal with all the cartoons of this world in another episode, but since the movie failed, they never pursued that. And I do have to add in that in 2021, DuJour and Rachel Lee Cook's Josie appeared in Robot Chicken Special, which we will also cover one day in a future episode, because there is a lot of Josie in space for some reason, but not in this movie in 2001. So, uh, I guess should we start with you, Rob, since it was new to you, your overall take on this film?

Uh, overall, I thought it was really fun. I laughed a lot, actually, Ethan, the line that you referenced earlier, that girl skunk on her head was probably my biggest belly laugh in the movie. And I was really surprised that a lot of it was satirical. I didn't know that it was a lot of this making fun of the industry. And I don't remember obviously, my memory is hazy on it, but I don't remember it being pitched that way to audiences. When it came out in 2001, I think it was very much shown as, oh, this is the kind of thing that you would see on TRL. And at that point, I was probably watching more movies than any other time in my life. And it was a big movie snob. So to see, oh, it's this movie, and it's about this girl band, and it's got all these celebrities in it and stuff like that, I would have totally been turned off from seeing this. And I think a lot of that was probably how Universal and MGM decided to market the film. They did not show it as being a satire, as being an in joke kind of kind of movie.

Let's give a quick summary. Go ahead. You can talk about the marketing, and then I'm going to try to give a quick summary for people who haven't.

Seen it recently, the marketing is awful. Bias aside, the movie is great. Um, some might even say it's the best movie ever. Join the army. However, I watched the trailer after I had seen it. Probably the first 15 times I'd seen it. Um, and I thought, oh, my God, I'm so glad I watched this blind. Unless I'm at the theater and I have to watch trailer, I just love to watch a blind. Especially if it's just like, on the basis of, oh, this actor I like is in it. This actress is in it. I like usually, uh, rachel. Um, but I'll watch something for an actor as opposed to buy a trailer. And then I'm very surprised by how good or bad or middle ground a movie is. And I feel like I'm able to make my own decision instead of, hey, here's the trailer we're feeding you. But yeah, that trailer does not sell the movie.

Well, see, I think I was, I guess, being a little older and being more into pop culture as a young person than I think you were, Rob. Um, this was like, aimed right at me. Even without knowing the satire, it was aimed right at me. Having loved Rosario Dawson from Kids. Having Loved, Tara Reid from American Pie having loved Rachel Lee Cook from She's All that having loved even, you know, Parker Posey. Alan Cumming. Everyone in this movie comes from somewhere. Seth Green, uh, and the whole cast that comes out of Can't Hardly Wait because it's the same writers and directors. So this being I was 20 years old when it came out, and it was just really aimed right at me. I remember when we were rewatching it last night. I probably haven't seen it in close to 20 years. And I knew the lyrics to the songs. I used to listen to the soundtrack all the time. So to summarize, though, for those who haven't seen it ever or recently, what we're all describing this satirical nature is because the movie starts with this boy band with Seth Green. And they're like, um, making fun of Backstreet Boys. And they end up getting, we think getting killed by Alan Cumming because of some secret plot, which turns out to be Parker Posey, putting subliminal messages into songs to create a mass teen corporate culture where they're going to suddenly buy everything orange or they're going to suddenly want to eat a Big Mac. Now, the movie interestingly. We could talk about this has a ton of product placement. Because of that. They're using real brands. So they talk about Coca Cola all the time. Everything is decked out in Target stuff, which I didn't even know that I knew what Target was at this point. There's Starbucks all over the place. They talk about McDonald's. Tara Reid takes a shower in some McDonald's shower with, uh, McDonald's sponges. And they reference Abercrombie and Fitch. They talk about real bands. They have a funny, in joke that they created behind the music. And they have like, that they broke up the Spice Girls because the Spice Girls no longer wanted to sell products secretly in their music. I was a big Spice Girls fan. So, anyway, interesting, really surreal, absurd plot. And then there's the friendship dynamic between the three of them, of course, and whether or not Josie's the star and the jealousy that comes out of that. And I won't spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it and want to, but that's pretty much the gist of what we're talking about and why we keep calling it satirical and meta.

Uh, mhm because there's a point where Alexandra actually someone says, like, why are you here? That's my favorite moment, I think.

I'm only in this because I'm in the comics. I love that moment. That is a great moment. I mean, of course, Missy Pile as Alexandra is really funny and I wish he had a little more to do, but that moment is great.

And Alan as a wink, he looks at right at the camera and kind of winks in a moment. So there's a few moments where they're breaking the fourth wall and doing this kind of meta thing that is so popular now, but I don't think was really super popular in 2001 to have those kind of moments.

But I'd argue against that because, uh, what I said to you when we watched it. And Ethan, I'm curious if you've ever seen this. One of my favorite movies is Spice World because I love the Spice Girls. And this is a direct sequel to Spice World.

What's really interesting is Alan Cummings in both, and he plays also the producer.

Totally. That's why this is a sequel from.

My recollection of like, the little bit I had seen of I think I've seen parts of Spice Girls. Um, also, just side tangent, we're going to have to play Outer Space Girls by Spice Girls.

By the Spice Girls. I love that B side. I love that you know that B side. My God, were you even alive when the Space Girls came out?

I don't think so. Actually, there's a Goosebumps podcast, welcome to Dead Cast. And they played that song and that's how I learned about it.

Oh, cool.

Wow.

It's really good. Uh, and then funnily enough, one of the original pitches for this movie was Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space.

Uh, they clearly scrapped that completely because there's not even a way I could see that playing out other than just the ridiculousness. I mean, the movie is ridiculous from start to finish. There's a few exceptions where they're going, I think, for a truly emotional center of the girls relationships with each other. But otherwise, the movie is just straight out ridiculous.

Yeah. I would say my one piece of don't don't cry, Ethan, my one piece of critical feedback for for this film is sometimes I do think it wants it both ways. Even kind of going back to what you mentioned before, Guitar, about the product placement, it's criticizing the product placement. And it has the product placement at the same.

Totally. No doubt.

And it's kind of trying to make fun of movies about this iconography, about the band and the internal problems with the band, but yet it's also trying to do that as well. So while Spice World is completely ridiculous and it has no room at all for actual human beings and it kind of almost going back to like a Hard Day's Night with the Beatles where it's just going to be crazy and they're running around and they're saying, quips, this one kind of wants it both ways. I almost was wondering if this was it almost did feel like and I don't know if this is true, ethan, maybe you have some insight. It did feel like maybe the studio was putting their finger on it a little bit. Like, I kind of got the feeling that the directors wanted this to be an out and out farce and spoof and satire in that way. And that they were like, no, you have to still have the emotional core and the me cute relationship and all that, which is so secondary to the actual tertiary, even.

Yeah, I think there's a little bit of that. Um, yeah, definitely. I think there's a little bit of that. I also feel that, uh, that's actually kind of a common critique that you had that they kind of wanted it both ways, that they're parodying it while doing it. But I also find that that's some of my favorite humor parodying while doing it's done right. And I feel like this movie does it right.

Yeah.

And you know, in that way it reminds me of a movie, actually, it references, which is Charlie's Angels. And I'm curious what was happening because it feels very similar. And the way I think in this case it's most similar, Rob, is Charlie's Angels was the same thing. It was trying to almost spoof, be a campy version, take in the 70s ridiculousness of Charlie's Angels and laugh at it with the audience. But it also was trying to be a real action movie at the same time. And so this and that feel very similar. And of course the references that, uh, on the screen and this, they say that they've cast a Josie in the Pussycats movie. And the three girls are going to be played by Drew Barrymore, Lucy Lou, and, um, cameron Diaz.

Cameron Diaz. And I think the whole cast is great. I think Rachel Lee Cook and Rosario Dawson don't unfortunately have the most to do in the movie, but just because they are the people who are responsible for the emotional center that we're referring to. But Tara Reid, who a lot of people, unfortunately, is made fun of for whatever reason. But she's so funny in this.

I mean, that is for sure one of those many sexist tropes about Hollywood. Like she's playing the dumb blonde. That means she's a really good actress. It doesn't mean she's a dumb blonde. And I think that's where people get confused. She's a really good actor. She does a great job in this movie and is hilarious. And I think I mean, she's playing the same thing in American Pie. I'm sure she got typecast. And so I think a lot of people disrespect her because they think that's who she is. But it means she's actually a really great comedic actor and that shows in this movie.

Yeah, no, she's great. We already mentioned missy Pyle. Paulo Costanzo. Uh, all great. And Parker posey.

Parker Posey. Parker Pose. Parker pose devours every scene. She's.

Best movie villain.

And they later played husband and wife on the Good Wife series.

And they're in the anniversary party together.

In the anniversary party and they both show up. New York kind of character.

And like indie movie people, 90s indie movie people. They're fun casting for that reason too, for sure. And what's fun. I even said to Rob when we watched it, I thought maybe they were both characters from the comics. And I looked up and they weren't. But they did such a good job constructing the reveals at the end. Now with the exception that the reveals are pretty offensive and that can't be ignored. But, uh, the characters and the fact that they are these secret characters who have secret pasts and who have alliterative nicknames, I thought for sure, oh, these must be Archie characters that they dug out. But they're not. They just made them up.

They made them up for the movie. And, uh, back to what you said about Rachel, uh, and Rosario not having much to do. I actually think that this movie improves upon some of what we saw in the comic as well as especially the cartoon where, uh, Josie is kind of sidelined. Despite being the uh, titular character, she actually does feel more like the titular character.

That's definitely true. Yeah. And we should talk about too. Uh, although she didn't do her own singing in the lead vocals, we should talk a little bit about the songs because Keto, you had mentioned that you still remember all the lyrics of them. Some of these songs are great. I mean, almost all of them. And they got a great group of people behind them. So Adam Durowitz from the County Crows and Adam Schlesinger, who unfortunately passed away during COVID from Fountains of Wayne and lots of other cool stuff. Did lots of stuff with the Monkeys, which is definitely related to Josie and the Pussycats. He did a lot of stuff. Baby face.

So this really letters BIFF naked. Let's not say just on the men. Thank you. Yes.

Jane widelin from, uh, uh, the go GOs as well. So yeah, there's all this great group of people that wrote and produced these songs which are really killer songs. And also just they just feel very we'll get to this with Riverdale too, but in this movie, these songs feel really well integrated into the film.

Yeah. And they could easily be, uh, an average Levine type hit single on the radio, total Top 40, which is obviously why the soundtrack performed so well and why I and other people were listening to it.

And yeah, on the topic of stuff like average Levine and whatnot I feel like just tangentially similar, uh, type of album, uh, that I just got a plug two, uh, thousand and five, brie Larson actually had an album.

Uh, I was thinking that last night while this was on. I was thinking, oh, this is why Ethan also likes this movie, because it has that sound of the Brie Larson album.

Well, actually, it's probably the reverse. I like the album because it's got the sound of the movie by, uh, Brie Larson. One album. But I will reference that anytime I can. It's like, hey, Brie Larson from Captain Marvel. She has an album. It's great.

I could see her having been cast in this movie.

She had a lot of fun.

As one of the Pussycats, I highly recommend anyone watch this movie. Luckily, it's pretty accessible. Um, unlike a lot of movies that have a lot of music or we're of an era of a moment that we've lost, I think sometimes you have a hard time finding ninety s and two thousand early movies, but this one's out there, so I think people should go watch it.

Speaking of Brie Larson, the other thing that this really reminds me of and if you're a fan of Scott Pilgrim, I think Scott, uh, Pilgrim movie, I think you'd also be a fan of this because it also does that great. Same thing of really integrating being a rock and roll movie, but also having that it knows it's a movie, which they both do, which is still and.

Trying to pull in the feeling of the comics, but make it a movie. I think they both do that and in very different ways, because Scott Pilgrim is using the manga influence of the comics and this is using the Archieisms that we know and all the tropes of Archie. But they're both doing a great job of giving you the feel of the comics while making something totally different.

Uh.

Real quick, uh, because we usually wrap up on the alternate Earth to talk about if it's been revisited before. Like I said, other than the robot chicken, this Earth hasn't been revisited. Now, there is lots of potential in the multiverse of Riverdale, which we're about to get into in a second, that this could come back. But do either of you want to go back to this Earth either in a comic or in a movie, or in something like, do you want more of this alternate Josie?

Well, I'm the king of revisiting this movie.

Yeah.

Uh, short and sweet. I had a thing that I called Josie Quest, uh, where it was my quest to watch this movie every day for a year.

Um, and how successful were you? Uh, you did it you were 365 66.

Because it was a leap year. I was afraid I had lost count. I was like, you know what? Better safe than sorry. I'll just watch it one more time. Um, and, yeah, long, uh, story short, there was another podcast that I was listening to. There's a guy on Twitter, uh, who used to work for Comics Alliance, uh, at the Chris Haley on Twitter, and he was talking about how he watched Mortal, uh, Kombat Annihilation every day for a year. And that must have seeped into my subconscious, because I had had a dream that I had watched, uh, the Archie direct a TV movie to Riverdale and Back again. And I think I made the right.

Call with, yes, I definitely think you made the good call there.

But, yeah, he's definitely one of the inspirations why I did that. But, yeah, that's actually how I developed such a fascination with just this movie. Could be Stockholm syndrome, I don't know. But I definitely developed my passion, uh, crush, uh, et cetera, on Rachel Cook. But also, just, like, I sought out stuff with other people in this movie, or even if I didn't, I would watch a movie and I'd be like, I'd find somebody who was in it. It would be something as simple as Parker posies and you got mail. I didn't know that going in. But also, like, Tom Butler, who plays Agent Kelly, is on a couple of episodes of The Flash, and I'm like, oh, my God.

Uh, yeah, that's the nice thing about having such a great working cast, is you get to see them.

It's so funny, too, watching a movie where part of the plot is that listening to their music makes you just want to listen to it over and over again. And that is exactly what you have done.

Parker. So we know you would consume a sequel or recall. I think it lends itself really well to it because of the meta nature of it. I actually think that it would be really fun, whether it were a Riverdale episode or a Sabrina episode or a new movie or a miniseries. I think that they could totally do it with the right script. I think it would be satirical about social media culture now and what that means. And you could easily bring back the cast if they were all willing. Well, I think it would be really fun.

Something I'm thinking, too, is, uh, something else that had the same tone and that this was reminding me of is the TV show Girls Five Eva, which is about this girl group from the Comes Back, and it's about them now being that much older. And I think you could also have this. And we're also girls Five Eva is.

Like a sequel to this. Yeah.

Ah. And we're dealing with this 90s nostalgia and we're seeing some of these acts like Blake 182 just coming back, and they're always talking about the Spice Girls, trying to get all of them to come back. So I think there's a Britney Spears Broadway musical that's about to start. So it would make sense that, oh, okay, we're bringing back Josie and the Pussycats now at their current age. And also talking about, like, okay, now there's Gen Z fans that grew up listening to their music. I think there's something there that you could really explore in a movie.

Well, and who of us remembers together?

Oh, yeah, totally. Yes, I do.

So, together number two, G-E-T-H-E-R was an MTV parody band that they made a movie and TV series following this parody band. They're basically du jour Chris Farley, and they actually recorded an album and all that stuff. So it's Girls Five Ever together, and this all occupy the same space and could easily connect and come back together.

Literally together.

Exactly.

But yeah, I love that idea. I also would love to see an animated series that way. They definitely could, um, mhm return. Have everybody return. Um, and, uh, also you could have them meet the Scooby Doo Gang again, because they did meet in the cartoons.

Yeah, it is a natural affinity.

Well, the subliminal messages I'm getting is it's time to move on to our final segment, which is pondering Possibilities. Will the future you describe be averted.

Diverted averted.

And gito? What are we talking about for our pondering possibilities?

Well, Ethan picked these, though we went back and forth on trying to parallel this down, because, uh, Ethan would have had us doing every Josie issue on one episode if we could. We could spend a year watching Josie every day if Ethan was able to choose, uh, because he loves it so much, which is amazing. So instead, we landed with the modern reinterpretations of Josie. So we're going to look at, I think, the most recent, one of the most recent, other than the outer space reboots of Josie. And I'll explain more in that in a moment. And then we will look at the Riverdale episode that reunites Josie and the Pussycats.

So first up is Josie and the Pussycats, number one from Archie Comics. This is from November 2016, and it's titled simply Josie and the Pussycats.

So this is written by Marguerite Bennett and Cameron Diordio. Penciled and inked by Audrey Ma, colored by Andre Csmanowicz. And it is lettered by Jack Morelli. This is part of the new Riverdale world of RT comics. This is a relaunched, modern take with more serialized stories kicked off by Mark Wade and Fiona Staples in Archie in 2015. And so this is about a year into the imprint, this Josie. It lasts nine issues. The imprint wrapped up fully in 2020. And we just read the first issue of this reboot. So, Ethan, what's your take on this reboot as the mega fan.

I think it's a crime against all deities that it only lasted nine issues. No matter who you believe in, it is a crime against that higher power.

Yeah. So you love it?

Uh, yeah. The art is beautiful. It is hilarious. The comics in general, um, the writers have been credited with being super fans of the movie. There are some references in that issue alone that we cover but then some other issues they have some references to both the movie or just stuff that's related to the movie. Like Melody showing off her uh, martial uh, arts abilities, um, and her love of puppies.

There's little stuff like that that is in the movie.

And also in the issue, uh, the band almost getting broken up.

Mhm.

Yeah. And even I was commenting to Rob like Val's jealousy getting stoked against Josie. I don't know if that exists in some of the early comics, but if not it clearly comes from the movie because it's exactly what happens in the movie.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it comes from the movie because uh, in the comics before, pretty much any of the new Riverdale, uh, reboot are just kind of simple one and done and so they don't really carry over a lot of that. The most, I don't know, weight that they've really put on any of these characters beforehand that I can remember is when for a while they had Archie and Valerie dating.

Uh, interesting.

Yeah.

What do you think of this take?

I think it's a lot of fun. I completely agree. I think the male character especially a lot of the personality seems to be taken from the terror Reed interpretation of the character with that kind of goofy fun, not dumb but flighty would maybe be the word version of it. And totally with Val as well having the being kind of the emotional core which Rosario Dawson then is in the film. And I think the one thing that the writers do really well is I think they actually correct the thing that we were mentioning earlier about the character of Josie. I think they actually give Josie a lot more personality than we saw in the early comics or even that they uh, allow in the film. She has this quality that she keeps says something and then she kind of recedes and says it to herself and it's almost an interesting play on her. Not then wanting to be the front woman of the band.

Well that's what I'm even Phillips surprised by and um, I'm not surprised. I mean we've covered Marguerite Bennett because she did Bombshells and so she's a great comic writer and storyteller. But I was surprised by the fact that Josie actually is self involved and self absorbed and arrogant for a bit and then realizes like oh wait, no wait, I want to be with you guys. So it's a nice depth. It's what gives her more characterization is that she is human and made a mistake and then gets to fix it. Yeah, it's a fun take.

And they're basically also the same age as the characters in the film as well.

So they're not in their 20s.

They're in their early 20s. They're starting their careers. So we get that very similar feel there, which I think helps get it out of just the high school drama. And we can see them as adult characters. And of course, Alexandra, there's still so many great lines, great put downs. Just the very opening scene in this first issue is just there's so many great lines. That is definitely the best kid that is a great character.

No, go ahead.

Similar to the movie, what I really enjoy is when you make them adults, I think that adds to separating them from the main Riverdale cast, which I like when they interact, but I really love when they're their own characters and standalone.

Even better.

M. Mhm.

Yeah, I agreed. All right, well, let's add in the next modern where they do interact.

This is Riverdale, the CWTV series. This is specifically season five, episode 15, entitled Chapter 91 the Return of the Pussycats. This aired on September 8, 2021. It's.

Written by Ariana Jackson and Evan Kyle. Directed by Robin Givens. We watched this episode because while Josie and the Pussycats were in previous episodes, this is their return and actually a backdoor pilot for what could have been a the Pussycats spin off, which is never green lit. And because Ethan told us to watch it.

And, uh, I'm going to sing what you just said back.

Oh my gosh. I did not even do that on purpose. But that is amazing. That worked out really well. So, Ethan, why this episode for this conversation?

Because it's the only episode where they actually showcase the Pussycats as opposed to having them as supporting characters. And then very slowly, and then not so slowly shoving them to the side and not having them at all, which adds insult to injury because they've already diversified the cast a lot. M. And so that just kind of adds an ick factor, like a real life ick factor of sidelining. Um, um, because when you watch this episode, especially, their voices are some of the best talent in that show. There are musical episodes in every season. Um, but yeah, the Haley Law, Asha Bromfield, and, um, Ashley Murray, who plays Josie, they have some of the best voices, uh, in the whole cast, where they could really start their own band and it would be legitimately great.

Yeah. So in this, we get a lot of them singing. I think it's almost all covers, right? Other than the Josie and the Pussycats theme. I know they refer to the father having written music, but was there an original song in the episode?

Um, I don't think so. I think there yeah, it's all covers covers. Um, again, but we get like eight.

Song breaks in the episode. That's quite a music filled episode.

Uh, I'm going to say at least a third of the episode, maybe verging on half of the episode is just songs really don't to what I was saying before, how well they integrated them. Songs in the Josie the Pussycats film, where, oh, this works perfectly in this montage sequence and kind of furthers the plot here. It's just like, we're going to stop and do a song that has nothing to do with anything. Probably because Dua Lipa had some kind of deal, and we're going to put her song into this because we need.

To promote it performed really well.

Performed very well, but it really has nothing to do with anything. You either like the songs and skip the other scenes, or you don't like the songs and are only watching the other stuff, it seems.

So a real quick summary for anyone who hasn't watched it, and we watched it as a standalone. It works as a standalone since it was a backdoor pilot. Josie returns and reunites with the Pussycats. They do it as a fundraiser. Bunch of other subplots happen that are pretty contained, though. This episode really does shift focus to Josie and the Pussy Cats, and then they leave to do a tour after that and also investigate her father's possible voodoo related murder. So that is setting up a series that we never saw and never revisited.

And it's a very, uh, unusual episode for a few reasons. One, because the main Riverdale cast is really to the side. I think Jughead maybe has one line, if that basically in the whole episode. And then there's a lot of other people. There's a lot of stuff we're really dropped into the middle. So, Alan M. Um, is a character in here, and we're all treated as if we know him before. But Ethan, from my research, it didn't seem like he had ever actually been on the series before.

No, this is his first, and I believe only appearance, uh, in, uh, Riverdale. And he's dating Valerie now. And Melody actually, I didn't get a chance to mention this when we were covering the comic, but we can do it now. Um, she's dating a character named Nancy, who in the comics is another character's girlfriend. She's chuck ah. Clayton's girlfriend, huh? Um, so I don't know exactly what the sexuality of Melody Valentine in Riverdale is intended, but she was intended to be bisexual in the 2016 comic. And if you look, you can see she's on some Tinder bumble like app, and she's matching with both guys and girls.

Oh, fun. That's a fun notice that you had.

Yeah.

Alexandra cabot debuts here, too. Again, it's set up that she has a history with Veronica, but that's, as far as we could see, wasn't Josie.

She has a line where she was like, oh. So it happens that I'm back in Riverville the same day as. Josie. But then it's like, oh, I guess.

They don't really have a relationship.

They do because, uh, Alexandra and Alexander, as well as Pepper, who we see as the barista pepper is the barista. And also friend, um, of Josie pre Valerie days. Um, those are all characters in the Katie Keane.

Oh, they came over Katie Keane.

So after Katie Keane had ended, they started bringing some characters into Riverdale. Um, gee, it would have gotten a second season if I don't know if the show was called She's Josie, um, what do I know?

Yeah. So it was fun to see this alternate take on Josie. This show is not for me as much as I want it to be. It has a lot of ingredients that I feel like I would like, but every time I watch it, I don't enjoy it. And that's just because it's not for me. And that's fine.

I remember really liking, uh, when we watched some of the first season. But here what I would want more in, which I think the movie does, is they never really it's a very serious show. Or from this episode, at least, they don't actually ever like there's none of those winks and nudges that we get from the film. Everyone always talks like this, like everything really seriously and kind of like in a little bit of hush tone. Yeah, you get that CW feel, and it's like, oh, Guito and I were saying, it's a soap opera. Of course, it's got that soap opera element where you're jumping all between the different stories. But when you watch, I think, a soap opera today, at least, they do seem that they're aware of the ridiculousness of it. And here, it's either like they're not aware of it, although or they are, but they don't want the audience to know. It definitely seems like there's a, uh, disconnect there for me, even in the early ones.

Alexandra doesn't get to be sassy in this. The performance is like trying to give you a little bit of that sassy edge. I like that. They even have the skunk, uh, coloring in her hair. But she never gets to say something funny and mean. Like I don't know why. One line like that could have been a moment of humor. So, yeah, there's a few bits like that where it just never fires, uh, for me on all cylinders.

We should also mention there's one really weird I wanted to mention one trivia.

The movie inspired moment.

But then one thing about the movie.

No, I want to mention the movie inspired moment.

Go ahead, you say that one because let's dissect is it actually a joke, or uh, not?

I don't know. Ethan, you have to tell us. Why is there the most obnoxious, most obvious, strangest product placement with Old Navy in the middle of this episode? Like, they carry the shopping bag with Old Navy, put it on the table, pull out the outfit, and she's like, I got my Old Navy baby jumper. And it's just you're like, Whoa. Has The CW started doing product placement like this? And I don't know if it's the movie, if it's making a joke about the movie, which would make it really.

Funny to me, but if they are, they are not letting on whatsoever.

I am going to make that my head cannon. That it was at least accidental, an accidental reference. But The CW does do that, and it's very weird, especially with Riverdale, because sometimes they will do what Archie comics does and they'll be like, oh, I got this package from Glamazon, which they do on freaking Archie all the time. But also, um, there's also a scene in some other episode, archie whips out a chime card, and I'm watching it the next day after it airs, they're showing ads for chime. I'm pretty sure at the time that this came out, there was like some.

Sort of old there was probably Old Navy ads throughout, uh, the episode.

Very funny that they are doing the exact thing they're doing the Josie and the Pussycats movie parodying. The one other weird little thread I wanted to mention, which maybe this all connects all these multiverses, is in this episode. Josie sings. It's all coming back to me now. Popularized by Celine Dion. So that song is written by Jim Stemon. Then in the Josie and the Pussycat.

Super famous for those long, long story.

Long, big story songs. And then in the Josie and the Pussycats movie, we get a little bit of paradise by the dashboard light, the actual recording from by Meatloaf, also written by Jim Stemon. And then I'm thinking, even in Spice World, who's one of the stars but Meatloaf himself? So there's my gosh. Meatloaf, jim Simon little multiverse, the multiverse of music parodies. And of course, Jim Simon was right. All his songs are big over the top, and a lot of them were about teenage lust and things like that. So it fits in with what these movies are talking about. But yeah, funny little funny.

M. Someone needs to ask Ariana Jackson and Evan Kyle if that was on purpose or if they chose that song as a reference to the movie.

Well, we don't have any panels that have Youatu the Watcher, but if we did, it would be Meatloaf dress.

Yes, there are some depictions, um, of OATU that are very Meatloaf esque. Actually.

One thing I would have loved in this and, uh, rights we know are so complicated, but I was thinking, okay, and I even think I said this to Rob while we were watching it partway through the episode. I thought, if they bring out one of the Josie and the Pussycats movie songs, I am all here for this episode. Like, I love it. So I sort of wish that they had licensed one of those songs and reinterpreted it, because that would have been just a great nod to the film.

Exactly. And I feel like it's the only thing that's missing because everything else, like that last bit with oh, your father was, um, engaged in voodoo. And that's so classic Josie cartoon comics. For a while, the comics tried to go kind of as horror as Archie at the time would go. Um, so it was kind of campy and horror there. Um, and then again, the music is more soulful, um, as opposed to pop punk. Uh, so that's why the movie was kind of the alternate universe. Because the Riverdale versions are the most true, music wise to the original. Uh, their music, uh, mhm is more I don't know what's the name the name will come to me. The name of the band will come to me. It's another trio. Um, what is the name? It's another M supreme. Thank you. I don't know.

I saw it. And in the trade paperback we read Janice Chang writes an introduction to the issue after the debut issue and talks about the influence of the Supremes on Josie and the Pussycats.

And in Katie Keane. Uh, Josie even does a cover of Cantery Love.

Okay.

Uh, fun. So yeah, there are some direct references to that genre and the groundbreaking nature of that band. Yeah, that's very cool. So a fun exploration of Josie that I know we're going to return to when we find her in a galaxy far, far away.

Yeah, you could almost say we're going to get the band back together. One last tour.

So ah, dear watchers. Thank you for listening and, uh, special. Thank you. Ethan, aka Josie on this episode. Josie, can you please direct listeners on where to find you? Why to find you?

Well, you can find me on Makemind Amalgam on Twitter, uh, where I will talk about Josie. I'll talk about, uh, just pretty much anything and everything.

Rachel Lee Cook.

Oh, absolutely. Rachel e cook. Which, for shame, I still have not seen her new movie, uh, on Netflix. She's got a new movie, taurus, uh, Guide to Love, I think it's called. And Missy Pyle is also in it.

Uh oh, that's fun.

Oh my gosh.

Yeah. Um, you heard it here first. I still haven't seen it.

Do you watch every Rachel Lee Cook movie and just imagine it's Josie?

No, I just try to see her range and whatnot because I was going.

To say go ahead.

I'm so happy that she's doing more fun movies now, because there was a time where a lot of her stuff was so bleak and kind of hard to watch.

Because she is that like the Hallmark era.

No, Hallmark. The Hallmark era stuff is cute and fun, but I want her to do more stuff. Like she's all that and Josie and the Pussycats. And even this one movie with, uh, Johnny Galecki called, uh, Bookies. Um, and this one movie she did with, ah, Alicia Silverstone and also Paulo Costanzo and Woody Harrelson called Scorched. Those are kind of more goofier movies. But then she's got, like, some really dark, weird stuff, like a Jawed Favreau movie called The Big Empty. Um, which I don't know. I can't even describe that movie.

Just saw her last year in Spirit Halloween movie, which is not a dark movie.

Not a great movie either.

Not a great one. But, yeah, fun to put in the background than a Halloween. Yeah.

She is always quirky and charming, even in Josie. And She's All that is one of my favorite 90s romcom films. But I just was hoping that you'd be able to watch this new Netflix movie as if it's Josie and Alexandra on screen. I hope they share a lot of scenes.

I can probably imagine that. And then she was also really good and he's All that for, like, the two scenes that she was, um, in.

Uh, and now she's prepping to be stumped. So she's got to manifest it into the universe. She's going to be busy for years.

I don't care if Mila Kunis plays the thing. I do not care. Just let Rachel Lee Cook play Sue Storm.

Well, uh, from your mouth to Kevin Feige's ears. And so, please, everyone, go follow Ethan. And thank you for listening.

I have been Gito and I have been Rob.

And our reading list watchinglist listening list is in the show notes. You can follow us on all social media at dear watchers and leave a.

Review wherever you listen to podcast. We'll be back soon with another trip through the multiverse.

In the meantime, in the words of OATU actually, we should quote Josie. Ethan. What's a Josie quote?

I'm Trent Pimp.

There you go.