The Great Gatsby (Part 2 - The Movies): Everything You Didn't Know
Get ready for Gatsby 2: Gatz Harder! In the second installment of their deep dive into The Great Gatsby, the TMI guys follow the novel’s improbable rise from critical failure to cultural cornerstone. When it was first published in 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece was dismissed as a “literary lemon meringue” and sold fewer than 25,000 copies in his lifetime. He died thinking he'd been forgotten, but within a decade, the book was rediscovered — by soldiers, scholars, and eventually Hollywood. Jordan and Heigl unpack its long, often cursed journey to the screen, including the disastrous silent version that Fitzgerald and Zelda walked out of, and a 1949 remake plagued by moral censors and a suicidal director. But nothing beats the real-life drama of the 1974 adaptation, which was nearly derailed by a real-life love triangle: producer Robert Evans commissioned the film for his wife, Love Story star Ali MacGraw — only for her to leave him for co-star Steve McQueen before filming began. She was replaced by Mia Farrow, while a distracted Robert Redford spent much of the shoot glued to Watergate coverage. Jordan and Alex also look at Baz Luhrmann’s glittery 2013 remake, complete with 100,000 liters of fake rain, Jay-Z’s much-maligned soundtrack, and Tobey Maguire being weird. It’s a tale of art, obsession, reinvention — and a few of Heigl's rants. Support your friendly neighborhood TMI Guys here! https://ko-fi.com/toomuchinformationpodcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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2:31:59
The Great Gatsby (Part 1 - The Book): Everything You Didn't Know
Put on your pink suit and gas up the yellow car — in this episode, we’re partying like it’s 1925 as your beloved bootleggers of banality uncover the secret history behind The Great Gatsby, which turns 100 this year. In the first installment of their two-part Jazz Age jamboree, Jordan and Heigl trace the tangled roots of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American fever dream: the heartbreaks, hangovers, high society snubs, and haunted summer nights that inspired Gatsby’s green-light longing. You’ll discover the excruciating real-life heartbreak that yielded Daisy, meet the mysterious New York bootlegger who planted the seeds for Gatsby, and learn all about the unsolved double-homicide that sparked the violent ending. You’ll also hear how Scott’s messy personal life blurred into his most famous novel. From the prep school poetry to the Princeton parties, to literary rivalries and even his rumored affair with Hemingway, they'll explore how a poor Midwestern boy wrote the book that defined a generation — and maybe doomed himself in the process. It’s a story of love, lies, reinvention, and ruin. Although you can’t repeat the past, these guys can podcast about it. Support your friendly neighborhood TMI Guys here! https://ko-fi.com/toomuchinformationpodcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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2:27:49
FROM THE VAULT: The Goonies (40th Anniversary Edition)
Jordan and Heigl dive into this beloved ‘80s adventure classic — and you don’t have to do the Truffle Shuffle to listen! They’ll tell you all about Spielberg’s secret role as unofficial co-director, the authentic blood and skulls used for props, and the real-life shipwreck that inspired the legend of One-Eyed Willy — plus Sloth’s nightmarish makeup prosthetics that nearly electrocuted him. They’ll also explain the crazy connections between The Goonies, Gremlins and Back to the Future, the onset feud between Corey Feldman and Martha Plimpton, the prank war between the Fratelli brothers, the time Michael Jackson visited the set (it got weird), and the lost subplot involving escaped gorillas. You’ll also learn how a bout of chickenpox almost cheated us out of Jeff Cohen’s hilarious performance as Chunk, how the production crew built — and destroyed — a full-sized pirate ship, and how Alice Cooper crashed the epic cast party. (Taped in 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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1:22:27
"Piece of My Heart" by Janis Joplin (and Big Brother & the Holding Company): Everything You Didn't Know
Jordan and Alex avoided showering for days to dive into one of the enduring artifacts of San Francisco’s heady heyday: Big Brother and the Holding Company’s 'Cheap Thrills,' or as everyone knows it, “Janis Joplin’s first album.” The pair swap places for once as Jordan passionately reels off hate for Big Brother, whom Alex allows are “fine.” Along the way they’ll digress into The Evil That Men Do (particularly Albert Grossman and Clive Davis), Alex’s favorite Lou Reed vocal ever, why Cannonball Adderley was the best foil Miles Davis ever had, and Paul McCartney's weird musical moment with Steve "The Joker" Miller during the final days of the Beatles. And of course, they’ll be waxing poetic about sweet Janis, one of the Sixties’ saddest (and most joyful) figureheads. Too Much Information: Let’s Full-Tilt Boogie away Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues oh my god why did we start talking like that. Support your friendly neighborhood TMI Guys here! https://ko-fi.com/toomuchinformationpodcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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2:17:27
TMI: Oops, All Digressions! A Pop Culture Anecdote Grab Bag
You didn’t ask for it, but it’s here. Jordan and Alex were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should, so it’s the first-ever TMI: Oops, All Digressions! With the attention span of an addled TikToker and the niche interests of a minorly urbane shut-in, your friendly hosts started this episode with but a few brief notes and then just let their precious little minds wander willy-nilly. For starters: did you know there was a horror subgenre called ‘Hagsploitation?’ Along the way they’ll get into the preposterous notion that Frank Sinatra was originally tapped to play Dirty Harry, along with Liz Taylor's marital issues, haunted recording sessions for David Bowie and Meat Loaf, Marlon Brando's hatred of Muppets, the rumors of Grace Kelly's premature death, and how Tippi Hendren moved on from her oppressive contract with Alfred Hitchcock by living with lions and starring in the most dangerous movie ever made. Too Much Information: They’re not locked in here with you, you’re locked in here with them.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
'Too Much Information' is a new iHeartRadio podcast that gives you the secret history, behind-the-scenes details and little-known fascinating facts about your favorite movies, music, TV shows and more. The series is brought to you by two trivia titans with too much free time. Jordan Runtagh and Alex Heigl are big-time pop culture nerds and longtime listicle writers who've worked at Rolling Stone, People, Entertainment Weekly, VH1, and Page Six. Now they're let off the leash and ready to dive deep into a different beloved entertainment classic three times a week. Get ready for everything you never knew about 'Rugrats,' 'Hook,' "Dancing Queen," Sonic the Hedgehog, 'Jeopardy,' 'Top Gun,' 'Jagged Little Pill'...The list goes on, and so will these guys. But in a good way. Promise.
Ireland