Sam Pancake Presents the Monday Afternoon Movie

*This week's show contains topics regarding eating disorders. Please be advised.*

Our movie of the week for this episode is Kate's Secret, orignally released in 1986.

Joining Sam in studio today is Margee Magee. She has been a TV writer since 2010, working in all formats (multi-cam, single cam, animation, hybrid,… even muppets!) on all platforms (network, cable, and streaming). She has been staffed on numerous series, and has also sold, developed, and produced original projects, as well as series adapted from I.P. Prior to her TV writing career, Margee received her BFA in Musical Theater from The University of Michigan and went on to brief stints as a Radio City Rockette, an End-of-Life Doula, and proprietor of a bakery called hello cupcake! Continuing along that super linear career path, Margee became a member of The Groundlings, where she still teaches and performs.
Kate's Secret (1986) is a made-for-TV drama that tackled eating disorders long before they were widely discussed. Directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman, produced by Stephanie Austin and Robert A. Papazian, written by Susan Seeger and Denise DeGarmo, with music by J. Peter Robinson, the film stars Meredith Baxter, Ben Masters, Edward Asner, Tracy Nelson, Shari Belafonte, Georgann Johnson, Leslie Bevis, and Mackenzie Phillips.
Kate appears to have the perfect suburban life, but she's secretly struggling with bulimia. As hiding her illness becomes harder, the cracks in her carefully crafted image begin to show, forcing her family to face a problem they've never seen coming. The film focuses on the emotional toll of the disorder and Kate's difficult journey toward recovery.
Filmed in Southern California, the movie used its suburban locations to reinforce the illusion of a picture-perfect family. Meredith Baxter's performance was widely praised, and the film was considered unusually honest for network television in the 1980s, helping bring attention to eating disorders years before they became common subjects in film and TV.
Love what you hear? Want to show your support for Sam Pancake & The Monday Afternoon Movie? Make sure to follow on the official Patreon page and pledge a few bucks if you are able, and get access to a new bonus episode every month, 4 behind-the-scenes exclusive videos, as well as all past episodes and content for hours upon hours of Pancake action.

Sam's Patreon Page


Show Links:

Sam Pancake's Instagram

Sam Pancake's Linktree
Margee Magee's Instagram

Margee Magee's dog's TikTok

This episode was engineered & produced by Meika Grimm.

This week on Monday Afternoon Movie, Sam Pancake is joined by the hilarious Michael Cyril Creighton. Michael is an award-winning actor, writer, and comedian best known for playing the lovable Howard Morris on Only Murders in the Building. Raised on Long Island and based in New York, he first gained attention with his Writers Guild Award-winning web series Jack in a Box before appearing in acclaimed projects including Spotlight, High Maintenance, American Fiction, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Together, they revisit the 1992 made-for-TV thriller A Woman Scorned. They will most certainly come to the conclusion that revenge is a dish best served cold.. and on network television.

A Woman Scorned (1990) is a tense made-for-television thriller directed by Conrad Janis and written by Philip Rosenberg, with a suspenseful score by Dana Kaproff. The film stars Shannon Tweed, Andrew Stevens, Kim Morgan Greene, and Robin Strasser.
After a seemingly perfect marriage begins to unravel, a woman pushed to her emotional limits finds herself caught in a dangerous spiral of betrayal, obsession, and revenge. As secrets surface and tensions boil over, the conflict escalates into a high-stakes game of survival where the winner takes all.. and the loser just might be dead.


Love what you hear? Want to show your support for Sam Pancake & The Monday Afternoon Movie? Make sure to follow on the official Patreon page and pledge a few bucks if you are able, and get access to a new bonus episode every month, 4 behind-the-scenes exclusive videos, as well as all past episodes and content for hours upon hours of Pancake action.

Sam's Patreon Page


Show Links:

Sam Pancake's Instagram

Sam Pancake's Linktree
Michael Cyril Creighton's Instagram

This episode was engineered & produced by Meika Grimm.

Note to isteners: this episode covers topics of sexual assualt and abuse. Discretion is advised. 

Joining Sam Pancake today is Katie O'Brien, an actress, writer, producer, and showrunner. With her comedy group, The Katydids, she co-created, wrote, executive-produced, and starred in TV Land's hit comedy Teachers, which ran for three seasons and fifty episodes. She went on to write and co-executive produce Disney+'s The Santa Clauses, starring Tim Allen. Most recently, she was the creator and showrunner of Tubi's first original scripted series, The Z-Suite, starring Lauren Graham and Nico Santos.
Based on the award-winning novel by Richard Peck, Are You in the House Alone? is a 1978 made-for-television thriller directed by Walter Grauman and adapted for the screen by writer Judith Parker. The film centers on Gail Osborne, played by Kathleen Beller, a bright and artistic high school student whose ordinary suburban life spirals into terror after she begins receiving anonymous threats from a mysterious stalker. What begins as unsettling notes in her locker and disturbing phone calls soon escalates into psychological torment, leaving Gail isolated and increasingly fearful that no place — not even her own home — is truly safe. Her parents, portrayed by Blythe Danner and Tony Bill, struggle to understand the growing horror surrounding their daughter as suspicion falls on several young men in her life, including a volatile character played by a young Dennis Quaid.
Unlike many sensationalized thrillers of the era, the film approaches its subject matter from a very grounded place, focusing less on graphic violence and more on the emotional devastation caused by fear and victimization. Director Walter Grauman, known for his work in television suspense dramas, gives the movie a stark realism that makes its moments of terror feel disturbingly plausible. The haunting score by composer Charles Bernstein — who would later score A Nightmare on Elm Street — heightens the atmosphere with an uneasy orchestra that underlines Gail's growing paranoia and helplessness.

Produced for CBS during the height of late-1970s psychological thrillers, Are You in the House Alone? was filmed in several California locations, including the historic Ahmanson Mansion in Hancock Park, Los Angeles, scenes around Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, and John Burroughs Middle School in Los Angeles, which doubled as the movie's high school campus. 
Love what you hear? Want to show your support for Sam Pancake & The Monday Afternoon Movie? Make sure to follow on the official Patreon page and pledge a few bucks if you are able, and get access to a new bonus episode every month, 4 behind-the-scenes exclusive videos, as well as all past episodes and content for hours upon hours of Pancake action.

Sam's Patreon Page


Show Links:

Sam Pancake's Instagram

Sam Pancake's Linktree
Katie O'Brien's Instagram

Teachers on Paramount+

This episode was engineered & produced by Meika Grimm.

Due to the success of the MONDAY AFTERNOON MOVIE Patreon Bonus Series SAM & SARAH WATCH A BONKERS MOVIES, Sam Pancake and Sarah Burns are coming out from behind the MAM Paywall and launching a new scary funny weekly podcast in the same vein as SASWABM called "OH, THE HORROR! with Sam & Sarah" that starts on Friday June 5! They will cover a different theatrically released horror movie every week, from the classics to the stinkers, from the early days of cinema to current favorites, in their own hilarious style AND they will be performing scenes from these movies every week too! Stay tuned for more info and get ready to listen on Friday June 5, 2026! YEEEHAWWWW!!

Our April Monday Afternoon Movie is taking us on a trip to the early 1990's and it sure is loaded with some big, dangerous names.  

Joining Sam Pancake today is fellow creator and podcast host, Stuart Ross. Stuart hosts Another Gay Podcast, and runs the Gay Horror Club.
Directed by Tobe Hooper and inspired by a story by Cornell Woolrich, I'm Dangerous Tonight (1990) is a supernatural horror thriller starring Mädchen Amick, Corey Parker, Anthony Perkins, R. Lee Ermey, and Dee Wallace.
Originally produced as a made-for-television film for the USA Network, it centers on a cursed ceremonial cloak discovered inside an ancient altar, a garment said to awaken the darkest instincts in anyone who wears it.
College student Amy O'Neill, already burdened by family responsibilities and caring for her elderly grandmother, unknowingly brings the evil into her life after purchasing a trunk from an estate sale connected to the artifact. Drawn to the blood-red fabric hidden inside, she transforms the mysterious cloak into a glamorous dress for a school dance. The moment it is worn, jealousy, desire, and violence begin to spread through everyone it touches.
Love what you hear? Want to show your support for Sam Pancake & The Monday Afternoon Movie? Make sure to follow on the official Patreon page and pledge a few bucks if you are able, and get access to a new bonus episode every month, 4 behind-the-scenes exclusive videos, as well as all past episodes and content for hours upon hours of Pancake action.

Sam's Patreon Page


Show Links:

Sam Pancake's Instagram

Sam Pancake's Linktree
Stuart's Podcast Instagram

Stuart's Gay Horror Club Instagram

Stuart's Patreon Page for Another Gay Horror Podcast


This episode was engineered & produced by Meika Grimm.