Podcasts by The Plot Thickens

The Plot Thickens

For our fourth season, we're bringing you the story of Pam Grier as only she can tell it. Her overnight stardom, her iconic roles, her fights against the system. It’s a story of bravery, both onscreen and off. It’s a story about race in Hollywood and race in America. And it’s a story about how real life is a lot messier than the movies. Pam Grier joins host Ben Mankiewicz for the new season of The Plot Thickens, starting October 25.

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Podcast on the topic Filmgeschichte

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The Plot Thickens
From American Masters: Creative Spark: John Waters on the Fine Art of Bad Taste from 2023-05-01T07:00

We’re sharing a bonus episode from our friends at American Masters: Creative Spark, the PBS podcast that goes in-depth with an iconic artist about the creation of a single work. This episode is ...

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The Plot Thickens
Bonus Episode: Donald Bogle and Racquel Gates from 2023-02-07T08:00

Film scholars Racquel Gates and Donald Bogle detail the rise and fall of Blaxploitation, and how Pam Grier transcended the genre and stayed iconic for decades afterwards.

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The Plot Thickens
Bonus Episode: Bob Minor&Jadie David from 2023-01-24T08:00

Legendary stunt performers Jadie David and Bob Minor go in-depth about their most dangerous stunts, working with Pam Grier, and breaking through as Black stuntpeople in the early 70s.

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The Plot Thickens
Bonus Episode: Jacqueline Stewart from 2023-01-10T08:00

Ben Mankiewicz speaks to TCM host and Director and President of The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Jacqueline Stewart about Pam Grier's star image, the legacy of Blaxploitation, and meeting P...

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The Plot Thickens
Bonus Episode: Quentin Tarantino from 2022-12-13T08:00

More from Ben Mankiewicz’s interview with Quentin Tarantino, who speaks about making Jackie Brown, enjoying Blaxploitation, and first seeing Pam when he was an impressionable 10 year-ol...

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The Plot Thickens
Ms. Jackie Brown from 2022-12-06T08:00

After receiving a devastating diagnosis, Pam leaves Hollywood and heads home to Colorado. But she’s lured back into the spotlight when the hottest director in Hollywood gives her the role of a l...

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The Plot Thickens
I’m Gonna Die For Paul Newman from 2022-11-29T08:00

Pam finds love on a movie set when she’s cast opposite superstar comedian Richard Pryor. She sets out to change Richard’s self-destructive ways, and succeeds – for a little while. She then immer...

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The Plot Thickens
Looking Good from 2022-11-22T08:00

As the Blaxploitation craze comes to an end, Pam fights for better roles and hobnobs with the biggest names in showbiz. She meets the love of her life, a hot young comedian named Freddie Prinze ...

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The Plot Thickens
Bonus: Pam Grier in Italy from 2022-11-18T08:00

Pam is almost killed when a horse goes wild on the set of a gladiator movie. But instead of losing her life, she meets a new friend, who just happens to be one of the most famous filmmakers in t...

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The Plot Thickens
The Queen of Blaxploitation from 2022-11-15T08:00

Pam’s career hits new heights as Black-themed movies take the country by storm.  She stars in four low-budget films in the span of one year, including two bonafide hits: Coffy and F...

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The Plot Thickens
An Actor Prepares from 2022-11-08T08:00

Pam heads to the Philippines to star in a pair of “women in prison” movies, where she endures volatile weather, skimpy costumes, and cobra encounters. She studies acting and learns everything sh...

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The Plot Thickens
I'm Not From Here from 2022-11-01T07:00

Newly arrived in Los Angeles, Pam learns underground filmmaking at UCLA and sings backup for some of the biggest musical acts of the 60s. She also has her first serious romance, with a towering ...

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The Plot Thickens
The Black West from 2022-10-25T07:00

Growing up in Colorado, young Pam Grier endures racism and trauma, but finds solace in horses and the beautiful countryside.  As a teen, she visits Los Angeles for the first time, and gets caugh...

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Season 4 Trailer: Here Comes Pam from 2022-10-04T16:00

This is the story of Pam Grier as only she can tell it. Her sudden stardom, her iconic roles, her fights against the system. It’s a story of bravery, both onscreen and off. It’s a story about ra...

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The Plot Thickens
From Revisionist History: Star Struck from 2022-07-26T10:00

We’re sharing a bonus episode from our friends at Revisionist History, Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast about things misunderstood and overlooked. This season, Malcolm’s obsessed with experiments – na...

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The Plot Thickens
Bonus Episode: J.K. Simmons from 2022-02-01T08:00

Ben Mankiewicz speaks with the Oscar-winning actor about playing William Frawley in Being the Ricardos, and how Frawley's tumultuous relationship with Vivian Vance informed the characte...

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The Plot Thickens
Bonus Episode: Carol Burnett, Kate Flannery and Kate Micucci from 2022-01-25T08:00

Ben Mankiewicz speaks to three celebrity fans about how they were influenced by Lucille Ball, Lucy’s incredible talent for physical comedy, and why I Love Lucy is still beloved to...

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The Plot Thickens
Bonus Episode: Aaron Sorkin from 2022-01-11T08:00

Ben Mankiewicz speaks to Aaron Sorkin, the writer-director of Being the Ricardos, about what drew him to Lucy’s story, Lucy and Desi’s intense relationship, and the danger t...

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The Plot Thickens
Bonus Episode: Lucie Arnaz from 2021-12-21T08:00

More from Ben Mankiewicz's fascinating interview with Lucie Arnaz, who speaks about working with her mom, growing up on the RKO studio lot, and what made I Love Lucy special.

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The Plot Thickens
Twilight from 2021-12-14T08:00

Lucy sinks into a depression after the failure of her newest show and becomes a reclusive, fiercely competitive backgammon player. Yet she's still revered, and following a memorable final appear...

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Boss Lady from 2021-12-07T08:00

Escaping Hollywood after her split, Lucy heads east for a chance to star on Broadway. There she meets a new man, a Borscht Belt comedian with a bad toupee and even worse business sense. The new ...

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The Plot Thickens
The End of Desilu from 2021-11-30T08:00

Lucy and Desi's studio expands as they buy the RKO lot and produce new shows under the Desilu banner. The strain of running an empire takes its toll, and Desi falls further into gambling, drinki...

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Red Scare from 2021-11-23T08:00

At the height of Lucy’s popularity, the government kicks off a political investigation that threatens to ruin her career. Why had Lucy registered as a communist 20 years earlier? On the ve...

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The Plot Thickens
I Love Lucy from 2021-11-16T08:00

With a TV deal from CBS, Desi assembles a ragtag team of collaborators to make a new kind of program, one that would rewrite the rules of television. And they do it while hiding Lucy’s new...

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The Plot Thickens
Desilu from 2021-11-09T08:00

From the start, Lucy and Desi fight as fiercely as they love. After a spur-of-the-moment elopement, the newlyweds buy a small ranch north of Hollywood and call it “Desilu.” They suff...

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Desi from 2021-11-02T07:00

Forced from his native Cuba by violent revolution, 17-year-old Desi Arnaz is a stranger in a strange land. Armed with an appetite for girls and gambling, Desi sparks a dance craze in the nightcl...

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Hollywood from 2021-10-26T07:00

For her first movie role, Lucy wears a flesh-toned bodysuit and waist-length blonde wig while chained to a rock. But her clowning on set gets her noticed, and she begins to land larger and large...

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New York City from 2021-10-19T07:00

Lucy heads back to Broadway where she meets her first girlboss: fashion baroness Hattie Carnegie, who hires Lucy to model coats and dresses for New York high society. But a mysterious ailment se...

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Jamestown from 2021-10-12T07:00

In a small town in New York, young Lucille Ball becomes enamored with showbiz after watching vaudeville acts and silent movies at the amusement park near her home. As a teenager, she falls for a...

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The Plot Thickens
Season 3 Trailer: Lucy from 2021-09-07T15:50

From her early years as a model to her triumphant takeover of television, this is the story of Lucille Ball, as never heard before. Join host Ben Mankiewicz as he delves into the private world of A...

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Season 3 Trailer: Lucy from 2021-09-07T15:50

From her early years as a model to her triumphant takeover of television, this is the story of Lucille Ball, as never heard before. Join host Ben Mankiewicz as he delves into the private world o...

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The Plot Thickens
The Devil’s Candy Bonus Episode from 2021-08-24T07:00

Author Julie Salamon joins TCM Host Alicia Malone for a revealing interview about what you didn’t hear during our second season of The Plot Thickens.

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You’ve Got to be a Genius to Make a Movie This Bad from 2021-08-10T07:00

The Bonfire of the Vanities tanks with both critics and the moviegoing public.  Brian De Palma leads the autopsy, trying to understand how all these smart people made all the wrong...

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The Best Movie We Ever Made from 2021-08-03T07:00

With production now in Los Angeles, Brian De Palma feels the pressure from prying studio executives – and from Bruce Willis, who starts directing other actors on how to be funnier.  D...

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Hollywood Heat from 2021-07-27T07:00

As production moves to Los Angeles, the specter of sexism clouds the movie. Rumors swirl among the crew about Melanie Griffith’s plastic surgery, Kim Cattrall's weight loss, and an affair ...

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Wire Without a Net from 2021-07-20T07:00

The cast shows its true colors: some are easygoing and relatable, but not Bruce Willis.  The New York shoot spirals over budget as the courtroom scene can only be shot at night, and the fil...

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The War Zone from 2021-07-13T07:00

Shooting hasn't even started and the movie is already under attack.  Detailed leaks and star outbursts are reported daily by a hungry press.  Bit parts, courtroom locations, snippets o...

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Reaching for the Stars – and Paying the Price from 2021-07-06T07:00

As Tom Hanks researches his role, nobody recognizes how wrong he is for the part. There's more immediate pushback against the casting of Bruce Willis, since his part was written as British. &nbs...

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The Plot Thickens
Lighting the Fire from 2021-06-29T07:00

One decision could make or break The Bonfire of the Vanities: who will play the female lead?  It comes down to two actresses – established, expensive Melanie Griffith or an u...

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The Plot Thickens
Introducing The Devil's Candy from 2021-06-09T17:00

A blockbuster book, an all-star cast... what could possibly go wrong?  For our second season, we're telling the inside story of The Bonfire of the Vanities, a movie that was suppos...

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The Plot Thickens
The Plot Thickens Returns This Summer from 2021-05-05T22:20

We've got two new seasons coming your way in 2021, and the first is dropping soon.  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...

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The Plot Thickens
The Plot Thickens Virtual Event from 2020-11-02T13:25

TCM host Alicia Malone hosts a conversation with Peter Bogdanovich and Ben Mankiewicz, who share memorable stories and answer questions from listeners about Season 1 of The Plot Thickens.

...

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Henry Fonda, John Wayne and James Stewart from 2020-07-14T07:00

Highlights from Peter Bogdanovich’s interviews with three of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars, who talk about the unique challenges of working with director and legendary curmudgeon J...

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Alfred Hitchcock from 2020-06-30T07:00

Peter Bogdanovich sits down with one of his filmmaking heroes, Alfred Hitchcock, for a wide-ranging conversation about Psycho, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Rear Wi...

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The Plot Thickens
Howard Hawks from 2020-06-16T07:00

For our first bonus episode, Peter Bogdanovich interviews director Howard Hawks in the Palm Springs desert in April 1972.  Hawks tells Peter how he got started in showbiz and provides insig...

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I’m Still Peter Bogdanovich from 2020-06-02T07:00

Grief-stricken for years, Peter finally goes back behind the camera and ends up shooting one of his most popular films.  But he sues the studio before the movie is released, further endange...

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Dorothy from 2020-05-26T07:00

Alone for the first time, Peter finds love in an unexpected place: the Playboy Mansion.  His passionate romance with Playmate Dorothy Stratten ignites his creativity, culminating in his bes...

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Bogdanovich, The Misunderstood from 2020-05-19T07:00

Feeling betrayed, Orson Welles humiliates Peter on national television.  So Peter heads overseas to shoot a daring new movie, filming in secret to evade government censors.  While his ...

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The Plot Thickens
Babe Ruth Just Bunted from 2020-05-12T07:00

Following The Last Picture Show, Peter directs two more major hits, What’s Up, Doc? and Paper Moon.  But then his wife leaves him, and his next three movies...

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Cybill from 2020-05-05T07:00

Peter challenges himself to film an “unfilmmable” book and creates one of the seminal movies of the 1970s: The Last Picture Show.  His actors win Academy Awards and the...

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The Plot Thickens
Target: Hollywood from 2020-04-28T16:00

Peter meets Polly Platt, his closest creative collaborator – and soon, his young wife.  The newlyweds drive across the country to break into the movie business, starting with a low-bu...

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Bugs from 2020-04-28T04:00

A young film buff named Peter Bogdanovich grows up in New York, learning to obsess over the movies the way his father obsesses over art.  With his sights set on acting, Peter lies his way i...

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The Plot Thickens
Bonus Trailer: I'm Still Peter Bogdanovich from 2020-04-14T15:00

Learn more about the first season of The Plot Thickens, the new podcast from Turner Classic Movies.  The first two episodes premiere on April 28.

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Introducing The Plot Thickens from 2020-03-26T15:23

Peter Bogdanovich was a young cinephile who quickly rose to become one of Hollywood's top directors. But he soon found himself a victim of jealousy, hubris, public scorn – and a devastatin...

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