Transcript

Last Looks: Return to Oz

From How Did This Get Made? · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 42 min · 8,087 words · 103 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Last Looks: Return to Oz", an episode of How Did This Get Made? published February 6, 2026 (42 min, about 8,087 words). It mentions 21 people, works and ideas, including Paul Sheer, Return to Oz, Date with an Angel, Wizard of Oz, Land Man.

What this episode is about

The main topic revolves around the film "Return to Oz," as listeners share their nostalgic views and critiques, leading to discussions on its cultural impact. Alongside audience interactions, the episode features insights from Jason about his experiences with "Taskmaster Live" and Broadway, and includes segments for audience corrections and upcoming events.

Key takeaways

  • George Lucas saved 'Return to Oz' by channeling his inner crazy—legend has it, he actually advised 'go crazier!'
  • Tik Tok's operator bent over backwards—literally! Just 2.5 minutes of fun before he faced the heat.
  • Paul Sheer: encouraging adulthood by reminding fans their childhood faves might be 'bad movies.' Welcome to reality!
  • Jason could be the next 'Taskmaster' host: perfect blend of charm and chaos—just what the show needs!
  • Disney fired Walter Murch but George Lucas & Co. staged an intervention. Talk about pulling strings in filmmaking!

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Return to Oz, Paul Sheer, Walter Merch, Taskmaster Live
  2. – 10:00: Return to Oz, Wizard of Oz, Tim Rose, Alfred Bomb
  3. – 15:00: Return to Oz, Wizard of Oz, MGM Studios, Amazon
  4. – 20:00: Return to Oz, Parker series
  5. – 25:00: Return to Oz, Alfred Bomb, Amazon
  6. – 30:00: Craig Robinson, Taskmaster Live, Heidi Gardner, Sarah Silverman
  7. – 35:00: Land Man, Dylan O'Brien
  8. – 40:00: Apothecary Diaries, Date with an Angel, Land Man, Freerin
  9. – 42:07: Date with an Angel, Wizard of Oz, Parker series

Notable quotes from "Last Looks: Return to Oz"

  • Hello all you pumpkin heads who call your friends mom. I am Paul Sheer and welcome to How Did This Get Made? Last looks, where you, the listener, get to voice your issues on Return to Oz, a movie that you loved. Hold on one.
    about Paul Sheer · at
  • Omissions. And by the way, there are a lot of them. If I haven't already alluded to that, yes, we will be hearing all your little thoughts about Return to Oz and how it was so…
    about Return to Oz · at
  • Walter Merch as director. George Lucas was in Japan at the time, flew to London to vouch for Walter, Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Copela also flew to support Merch, and he…
    about Walter Merch · at
  • Bumbling, almost like the scarecrow was in the original movie that you all loved. Dorothy does not come from an insane asylum in the third book, but she goes to Oz and all…
    about Wizard of Oz · at
  • I am and people don't get this. This is not only a show that Jason and I it is a show that America loves. It is the number one streaming show. I believe that it was number one.…
    about Land Man · at
  • Watching anime. Like I have now become fully anime pill. my absolute number I can already tell you my favorite show of the year is going to be Freerin season 2. Okay, which is just I don't know what any of this stuff means. Yeah,.
    about Freerin · at
  • Frerin to host of Song Exploder Rishihir recommended the Apothecary Diaries which is another two season anime that is also fantastic. I just have finished watching both seasons of that and that is unbelievable. Apothecary Diaries,.
    about Apothecary Diaries · at
  • That's right. This Valentine's Day, you can snuggle up with your boo to watch the 1987 romcom fantasy Date with an Angel starring Michael Knight, Emmanuel Bert, and Drop Dead Fred's Phoebe Kates.
    about Date with an Angel · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Paul Sheer — Person · Host / main speaker · 2 mentions · first at
    Hosts the Last Looks episode, reads corrections/omissions, moderates calls/Discord, interviews Jason, and announces next week's movie.
  • Walter Merch — Person · Referenced filmmaker (corrections/omissions) · 2 mentions · first at
    Discussed as the director who was fired and rehired during Return to Oz production; also cited as a source describing Tik-Tok suit operation. Name appears as 'Walter Merch' in transcript, likely referring to Walter Murch.
  • Tim Rose — Person · Referenced performer/puppeteer (listener call fact) · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as the operator of Tik-Tok's head in Return to Oz; also referenced for other genre credits (Admiral Ackbar, Howard the Duck).
    The head of Tik Tok. I guess there was like two different people who ran him and Tim Rose also was Admiral Abar and also was Howard the Duck. Just wanted to share that. Have a great day. Bye.
  • Craig Robinson — Person · Referenced collaborator (Broadway cast) · 3 mentions · first at
    Mentioned as a fellow performer in Jason's Broadway show; appears in discussion about costumes and audience energy.
    Sarah, I'm I'm doing it with Sarah Silverman and Craig Robinson and Heidi Gardner. They're all murderers.
  • Sarah Silverman — Person · Referenced collaborator (Broadway cast) · 2 mentions · first at
    Named by Jason/Paul as part of the Broadway show Jason is performing in; used to signal the show's comedy pedigree.
    Sarah, I'm I'm doing it with Sarah Silverman and Craig Robinson and Heidi Gardner. They're all murderers.
  • Heidi Gardner — Person · Referenced collaborator (Broadway cast) · 2 mentions · first at
    Listed as part of the Broadway ensemble with Jason; reinforces the show's comedic lineup.
    Sarah, I'm I'm doing it with Sarah Silverman and Craig Robinson and Heidi Gardner. They're all murderers.
  • Alfred Bomb — Person · Referenced author (mis-transcribed name) · 2 mentions · first at
    A caller discusses the Oz books and attributes themes to 'Alfred Bomb'; context strongly indicates L. Frank Baum, author of the Oz series, with name misheard/mistranscribed.
    In like it's it really is like a game of telephone of what the sequels were. So, this wasn't a closer reading of the Frank Elb Bomb books, and we talked about that a little bit…
  • Francis Ford Copola — Person · Referenced filmmaker (production support anecdote) · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as having flown to support Walter Murch during Return to Oz director firing/rehiring incident. Spelled 'Copola' in transcript, likely Francis Ford Coppola.
    Walter Merch as director. George Lucas was in Japan at the time, flew to London to vouch for Walter, Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Copela also flew to support Merch, and he…
  • Michael Sudan — Person · Referenced performer (practical effects operator) · 1 mention · first at
    Credited by a Discord correction as the trampolinist inside the Tik-Tok suit, with detailed description of the physical contortion required.
    On top of being incredibly fun to watch, and that I do agree with, was also a marvel of practical effects. Tik Tok was operated from inside by a trampolinist, Michael Sudan…
  • Dylan O'Brien — Person · Referenced actor (recommendation context) · 1 mention · first at
    Paul recommends a new Sam Raimi film ('Send Help') and highlights Dylan O'Brien's performance as a reason to see it.
    But if you like Sam Ramy, if you like Evil Dead, it is Sam Ramy doing comedy, horror, thriller, and Dylan O'Brien is [ __ ] great. The whole movie is great.

Books & papers

  • Return to Oz — Book · Primary recommendation · 12 mentions · first at
    Main topic of discussion in the episode, with mixed reviews from the hosts and listeners.
  • Wizard of Oz — Book · Referenced work · 5 mentions · first at
    Referenced as the original work that Return to Oz is a sequel to.
  • Parker series — Book · Referenced work · 2 mentions · first at
    Mentioned as one of the best prose to comics adaptations.
    Awesome. And they may now be out of print, but they're easy to find and well worth tracking down. They rank with Darwin Cook's Parker series as the best pros to comics…

Companies & orgs

  • MGM Studios — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned in the context of copyright issues with the Wizard of Oz.
    Possible from the 1939 Wizard of Oz, probably because of copyright and trademark law. The 1939 movie musical was produced by MGM Studios, which is now part of Amazon. Disney…
  • Amazon — Company · Business focus · 2 mentions · first at
    Mentioned in the context of MGM Studios being part of Amazon.
    Possible from the 1939 Wizard of Oz, probably because of copyright and trademark law. The 1939 movie musical was produced by MGM Studios, which is now part of Amazon. Disney…

Places & events

  • Taskmaster Live — Event · Event experience · 3 mentions · first at
    Mentioned as an event where Jason performed and took over the stage.
    Oz and how it was so great when you were a [ __ ] kid. Well, guess what? You're an adult now. Anyway, then Jason will join me to chat about performing on Broadway, doing Taskmaster Live in New York, and give us some TV Rex as well.
  • Dinosaur Improv — Event · Event experience · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as an upcoming event in Los Angeles.
    And lastly, as always, I will reveal the movie for next week's episode. Dinosaur Improv is back in Los Angeles on February 28th. Nicole Byer is sitting in with us that night.…

Media & podcasts

  • Date with an Angel — Media · Primary recommendation · 4 mentions · first at
    Announced as the next movie to be discussed in the podcast.
  • Land Man — Media · Case study · 3 mentions · first at
    Discussed as a successful show that the hosts enjoy and recommend.
  • Freerin — Media · Recommendation · 1 mention · first at
    Recommended by Jason as one of his favorite shows.
  • Apothecary Diaries — Media · Recommendation · 2 mentions · first at
    Recommended by Jason as a fantastic anime series.

Full transcript with timestamps

Taskmaster Live. Could Jason be the next host? Bolina shows up with a very special gift and we find out the historical relevance of the Queen of Oz. All this and more on a brand new How Did This Get Made? At last looks hit the theme. Answer your questions. Paul's here to answer your question. first impressions.

Hello all you pumpkin heads who call your friends mom. I am Paul Sheer and welcome to How Did This Get Made? Last looks, where you, the listener, get to voice your issues on Return to Oz, a movie that you loved. Hold on one second. Let me tell you, we have been doing this show for a very long time, and you all lost your freaking minds over us [ __ ] on this. And I will say it again, bad movie. But anyway, let's hold that thought because this is a movie that Discord user Dr. Guts 103 thinks should have had the tagline Deus egg machina.

All right, Dr. Guts, get back to surgery. Big shout out to Andy Jacobs for that opening theme song. If you have an alt movie tagline, submit it to us on our Discord at discord.gg/hdtgm. And if you have a Last Looks theme song, go to httgmm.com and click submit a song on our homepage. Remember, keep them short. 15 to 20 seconds is best. Coming up on today's episode, you will be hearing all of your corrections and omissions. And by the way, there are a lot of them. If I haven't already alluded to that, yes, we will be hearing all your little thoughts about Return to Oz and how it was so great when you were a [ __ ] kid. Well, guess what? You're an adult now. Anyway, uh then Jason will join me to chat about performing on Broadway, doing Taskmaster Live in New York, and give us some TV Rex as well.

And lastly, as always, I will reveal the movie for next week's episode. Um, Dinosaur Improv is back in Los Angeles on February 28th. Nicole Byer is sitting in with us that night. Uh, Edie Patterson will be there. It's going to be a great night. Get your tickets now. Go to largo-la.com or just go to our how did this get made website or my website, whatever you want. Uh, and make sure that you head to Jason's show in New York. Jason, tell them about it. All right. What's up, idiots? Guess what? I will be appearing right now through February 15th on Broadway. That's right. I'm in All Out the Fantastic Simon Rich Show with the band Lawrence. Uh, the other great people in it are Sarah Silverman, Heidi Gardner, Craig Robinson, and guess what?

How did this get made? Listeners get an exclusive discount code. Here we go. Just go to allout Broadway.com and use code allout pod. A l o u t p o d. That's all caps to get up to 20% off tickets. Come see the show. It's an absolute blast. Eat [ __ ] All right, that's all the plugs we got right now. So, let's get into it. Last week, we talked at length about Return to Oz. We had questions and we might have even missed a few things. Here's your chance to set us straight. Fact check us if you will. It is now time for corrections and omissions.

Correction [singing] and omissions. There's [singing] no need for permission. [singing] You got it a little wrong. So we wrote down this songction [singing] and missions. [singing] Thank you Andrew Winson for that theme song. And now I take a deep breath as we go to the Discord. Shawn McB writes, "I noticed in the credits, a special thanks to George Lucas. The reason for that is about 5 weeks into filming, Disney fired Walter Merch as director. George Lucas was in Japan at the time, flew to London to vouch for Walter, Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Copela also flew to support Merch, and he ended up being rehired within a week, but Lucas stayed there for a couple weeks to advise and make sure that Merch was set up for success. Now, there's a little bit of insider information here. Um, but I don't have where I got it from, so just believe me or then do the research for me. Um, I believe that a lot of the

crazier ideas are courtesy of our man George Lucas. Uh, so basically George Lucas came in, advised, said, "Go crazier with it." And then was like, "Not mine." Uh, it kind of makes sense. Um anyway, JZ uh writes, "Tik Tok, who on top of being incredibly fun to watch, and that I do agree with, uh was also a marvel of practical effects. Tik Tok was operated from inside by a trampolinist, Michael Sudan, who according to director Walter Merch, in order to fit into Tik Tok, would put his legs down into Tik Tok's legs and then he would bend over looking through his legs through his thighs and then he would cross his arms across his chest to operate Tick Tock's arms. Furthermore, the heat inside the suit combined with being upside down meant Michael couldn't be in there for more than two and a half minutes at a time. Uh there are some great pictures of this on our Discord. You can check it out. It is truly an impressive feat. I

actually got to see Tik Tok uh live um when I visited the Lucas archives. It was awesome. Now, let's go to the phones. And here's some more info on Tik Tok the robot from Liz in Wisconsin. Hi Paul, June and Jason. This is Liz and I just listened to your Return to Oz episode and thought I would share something brief that relates to another episode that you guys have done which is that Tim Rose was the guy who operated the head of Tik Tok. I guess there was like two different people who ran him and uh Tim Rose also was Admiral Abar and also was Howard the Duck. Just wanted to share that. Have a great day. Bye.

Well, look at that. Some true amazing I would say Lucas film history or like they're all near the same uh banana tracks would probably cover all of these. That's how I knew this much about Return to Oz. Honestly, it must have been in banana tracks. I imagine ILM was involved or something. Anyway, I don't care that much. Um here's some other things we didn't mention about the show. The lead wheeler is played by Pon Maher, which was also the insuit performer for Theodore Rex. That's the dinosaur. Remember that? Jack Pumpkin Head was voiced and co-proformed by Brian Henson.

That's Jim Henson's son, uh, who directed the Muppet Christmas Carol and also uh, is in charge of Puppet Up here in Los Angeles. If you've never seen Puppet Up, check out Puppet Up. Uh, my cousin performs in Puppet Up and she is amazing. Uh, Monkey Bone and Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Celich was a storyboard artist on this film. Well, look at this. A lot of great people involved. And that's the thing, visually there's a lot of cool stuff. It just is a mashup of horror images. Um, John from Texas, what do you got? Hey Paul. Um, didn't even finish the Wizard of Oz, the Return of Oz episode before I made this phone call because there is so much talk about how this movie is dark because that's how the books are. But I've read these books to my children and um, you know, they love them. We we read the first four books and I got to say the books are way more full of whimsy and fun and Alfred Bomb is like poking

fun at uh, capitalism and industrialization, stuff like that. Each chapter almost feels like it ends with a punchline. And while some of the creatures are maybe a little creepy, like the the Jack Pumpkin Head, you know, they're not I feel like they're not really portrayed that way in the book. They're they're more goofy and, you know, bumbling, almost like the scarecrow was in the original movie that you all loved. Um Dorothy does not come from an insane asylum in the third book, but she goes to Oz and and all these things in this movie happen. She's on a a trip to Australia with her uncle and she gets thrown overboard and sails to Oz and then yeah, her chicken starts sparking. All you know, a lot of that stuff does happen. But I think that the movie it's a much much darker tone actually than the book. I think the book is whimsical, silly, and has some, you know, maybe creeper creepy concepts, but

other than that, this movie is a is a darker turn. And if I may, I just want to say one last thing. When I was 8 years old, I saw this movie on TV and I told my family about it and none of them believed me. They said, "There is no sequel to Wizard of Oz." This is before the internet. This is back in the '90s. They had me convinced that it was my fever dream that this whole movie I they literally told me, "I think you just dreamt it up, John. I think you dreamt it up." And I was gas for years. So, uh, I really appreciate it when I saw this on my feed that you guys covered this film. Um, thanks, guys. Keep up the good work.

See, I love this. I love this. Yes, the books are supposed to be whimsical, but you know what? Sometimes we're reading off of research. We're putting stuff together. We're giving people, wait for it, the benefit of the doubt, but now you're taking that away. Uh, so we have to say that our original opinion stands. This movie is trash. Uh, Matthew from Atlanta, what do you got? Hi, I am partway through listening to the Return to Oz episode and as someone who grew up reading the Oz books, I really need to push back on this idea that the movie is a super faithful adaptation of the source material. There is a lot of visual faithfulness. It's fun to see characters who look like the original book illustrations, but in terms of tone, no. No, the books are not this dark. There is peril in the books from time to time. There is weirdness, a lot of weirdness, but it's all in service of the adventure. Oz is a place you want to

go to. And the villains are not like horror villains. Like the Wheelers in the book wind up admitting to Dorothy that they can't actually hurt anyone because they have no hands. The lady with 30 heads, who is separate character from Omni, is sort of a villain for a little while, but she's mostly just vain and lazy. And then the gnome king is a tyrant and he is a trickster, but he's also like a little potbelly guy who acts like a scaredy-cat around eggs and he certainly never tries to eat anyone. And then the plot is a mishmash of the two books plus some original ideas. Oz was never in ruins at any point in the series. I just mostly I don't hate the movie. I like the movie actually, but I don't want people to pass on the books because they didn't like the movie because really the movie is doing something very different from the books.

And I love the books. Thanks. Bye. Okay, so wait, it's visually faithful like in the sense that Okay, so that's what I'm saying. Everyone's disagreeing. I I get the idea. Basically, they took all these characters, uh, they threw them into a blender, um, and we couldn't really do what MGM did, which I totally understand. It was a It was failed from the start. Can we just agree on that? It was failed from the start. It was not what we wanted. And yes, you might have liked it because when you were a kid, you probably wanted to see a sequel to your favorite [ __ ] movie, but it wasn't truly a sequel. And guess what?

Let it go. No. If you love this movie, great. You love it. I I I respect you. But you can also understand as a rational human being why it's not good. Anyway, we're gonna take a quick break and then we'll be back with more of your return to Oz phone calls. There, there's more. Stick around.

Okay, still digging through the calls here. Uh, Spencer from Chicago. What do you got?

Hi, Paul. This is uh Spencer in Chicago, first- time caller, but I am the guy who sent you the uh geostlim water bottle just after co. Uh, with regard to Return to Oz, I think, uh, as a law professor, I think they had to, uh, make the movie to look as completely different as possible from the 1939 Wizard of Oz, probably because of copyright and trademark law. The 1939 movie musical was produced by MGM Studios, which is now part of Amazon. Disney may have had the rights to use the characters from the later books in the Oz series, but they never had the rights to use the way MGM depicted those characters in the earlier musical with Judy Garland. So Disney in the 80s probably had to uh decide to avoid copyright and trademark issues by dressing Dorothy completely differently uh different kinds of wing monkeys and presenting a whole different kind of tone and style and visuals as much as possible to avoid either having

to pay MGM or get into some kind of beef and litigation over the intellectual property. So that's my best guess. I hope that helps. Thanks so much. Yes, I alluded to this earlier that they could not actually uh use the images from the MGM film. So, this is actually really an interesting point of view. Uh Danny the Wall on Discord actually added that the Wizard of Oz copyright lawyers were infamously latigious and their likenesses of Darthy, the blue gingham dress, and the more familiar scarecrow would be too close for comfort. In fact, the original book never had ruby slippers. They were silver instead. The copyright over the ruby slippers was guarded so tightly that Disney had to pay a large fee to MGM in order to use them, which could have been up to a million dollars back then. A lot of money for them damn slippers. You didn't even need them. Honestly, didn't have that much. Um, all right, let's hear

from my two favorite people in Seattle, Aaron and Zoe. Hey, Paul and Jason, if you're here, this is Aaron. Um, my daughter Zoe, 13 years old, and I watched Return to Oz. Um, it was quite disturbing. And I do feel we would be remiss on the How Did This Get Made family if we didn't mention that this truly could be a Jacob's ladder scenario. She either got the electroshock and died or she died in that river looking for a child who wasn't there. Jason, I know this is gonna just really hit you in the wrong spot, but I think you've got to acknowledge it. Now, Zoe has some thoughts too here.

I believe whoever wrote this movie went through electroshock therapy, and I think the moose did not want to be there in the first place. He did not want to be alive, and they did him dirty.

They did him dirty. That's from a 13-year-old. Thank you so much for everything you do. We love the podcast. Have a great day,

Erin. I am going to do you a favor and not tell Jason about this. Not because uh I don't want to embarrass you, but because uh we already recorded that section of the show and I didn't know about this. And I would tell you uh that if I did tell Jason, he'd go eat a dick. But uh Zoe, I agree with you. This movie did the moose dirty. Amen. That's the shirt. Uh Dana, what do you got? Wow, still more calls.

Hi, this is Dana. I did want to address the animals talking in Oz. So, in the book series, Dorothy visits Oz more than once, and along her journey, she brings Toto, of course, the chicken Bolina, and a kitten named Eureka. The kitten and the chicken both talk when they're in Oz. And Toto doesn't, but eventually in the books, you find out that Toto can talk in Oz, but he just chooses not to. All right, thanks for the pod. Oh, and remind June, anybody that likes Return to Oz may not be a red flag. She likes Greece, too. Give it a chance. Bye.

Whoa. What a hilarious like uh it's almost like dungeon crawler Carl but reversed. Uh I love that Toto's like Yeah. Yeah. I'm not talking. I can I can but I won't. Uh now that's an attitude. Uh Mav on Discord adds that Toto was uh conning everyone. Seriously, he could talk all along and chooses not to uh so that everyone takes better care of him. It's a huge grift and Darthy doesn't figure it out until book eight. Whoa. I love that she figures it out. What a funny weird like thing to make your dog a dick. Back to the Discord. Johnny Unusual writes, "Princess Osma is more interesting in the books. She's a lead character and raised as a boy named Tip with no knowledge of her lineage. At the end of the book, she discovers that she was always a female. She may be the first example of a trans character in American children's literature." Wow.

And Johnny Unusual continues by saying, "I'm curious if there's any evidence to the contrary." Now, Mav again pops in. Mav has been our real winner here. Uh, I am an English lit professor who mostly deals with popular culture, and Osma is often pointed to as a pioneering trans character in children's lit. It's hard to say if she's the first, but Osma is definitely seen as very important in queer studies. Wow. Now, that is a Now, now I'm interested. Now I'm getting some information beyond this uh [ __ ] show of a movie. I love this. Um okay. And lastly, we have an email from Joe Walker who writes, "I really enjoyed your Return to Oz episode, but the film actually wasn't very faithful to the books." Okay, we got that. Um, Paul and Jason, as comic book fans, I think you'd both appreciate the much more faithful adaptations of the first six novels that Marvel Comics published in 2009 with artwork by the incredible cartoonist,

uh, oh, uh, Scotty Young. That's awesome. And they may now be out of print, but they're easy to find and well worth tracking down. They rank with Darwin Cook's Parker series as the best pros to comics adaptation ever published. Wow, I didn't even know the Parker series was in that way. I love that. All right. Thank you, Joe. Uh, so many great corrections and omissions this week, but there can only be one winner. And honestly, the person who killed it this week is Mav for bringing it all back together. So, Mav, you are our winner. And you know, we have been gifting our winners with songs for a while now. But we thought it was finally time to reward you with something a little bit different. That's right. Your corrections and omissions from now on uh will be brace yourself because this all the way from Kansas. We have Bolina the chicken is here to award you with your prize. That's right, a freshly laid egg.

Bolina, the mic is yours. Thanks for having me, Paul. I'm so excited to be here. And Mav, congratulations. Time for me to squeeze out your prize. Here we go. [screaming] Oh, I should have eaten more fiber. [groaning]

Oh, sweet relief. Mav, enjoy this beauty of an egg straight from my pooper. And Paul, don't worry. I'll forgive you for saying I was a downgrade from Toto. I know you were just yoking. Get it? Yoke. Well, back to Kansas for me. Bye-bye. Well, thank you, Belina, for stopping by. And Mav, don't worry. We've already have your address and our producer Scott will mail you that egg overnight before it spoils. All right, remember folks, if you want to chime in with your own thoughts about the latest episode and maybe win a real egg of your own, hit us up on the Discord or call us at 619 P A LK. All right, coming up after the last break, Jason stops by for a chat and then we will announce our next movie.

Hey everybody, you know, um I'm sure you've all noticed that every week we re-release old how to skip episodes back into our feed. These matinea episodes now come out every Tuesday. This week's matinea was the JeanClaude Vanam classic Hard Target. Next week's will be the Demi Moore and Michael Douglas thriller Disclosure. So keep on checking out all of our replays of classic episodes every Tuesday. And without any further ado, it is time to welcome Jason to Last Looks for Just a Little Chat. Just chat. Just chat. Paul and Jason on the mic and they like to cut the fat. Just chat. Just chat. I got beef with John Lewis, but that's a different rap. Just chat. Just chat.

Just chat. Thank you, Midwest Shakes. Jason, welcome. Obviously, very heated this week on the show. People love Return to Oz.

Heated, you could say, a heated rivalry uh between us, between us and the fans, apparently.

Yes. They seem uh they seem upset based on what you're telling me. You know, I have a feeling that what's happening is this, you know, selective memory that we have as children. Like we look back and we go, well, but I liked it as a kid. We were watching it coming in uh with nothing, no baggage. I find that this happens a lot. Like when I talk about Goonies, I'm like, you got to watch it. People like, yeah, it was fine. I'm like, what? Fine. I feel like people get buttth hurt when we do a movie that they decided when they were kids was good. Yes.

And don't have any ability to look at it any differently other than it's a little bit like um June and Drop Deadad Fred. It's a little bit of like there are movies that meant something to you at a time when things really were meaningful, you know? And I think for a lot of people of a certain age, this movie, whether it played a lot on TV or was something that was they had on VHS or DVD, I feel like this movie definitely meant something to people in a way that it didn't for any of us.

No. As a matter of fact, our good friend uh Ed Brewaker, the great comic book writer, television show creator,

criminal coming out on Amazon Prime, cannot wait. uh but basically wanted to chime in as well just talking about how all this crazy stuff at the beginning not part of adapting the book. You know he said that all that stuff was just kind of made up for the8s and you know he said that you know basically nothing in like it's it really is like a game of telephone of what the sequels were. So, this wasn't a closer reading of the Frank Elb Bomb books, and we talked about that a little bit already, but I love that Ed was able to jump in there and uh and you know, and just kind of set the record straight because I think a few times we're like, well, I assume this is what it was like. I assume,

you know, and maybe this is how I felt when you guys decided to do Conair, which I think is a great movie. And it's like, but it's but I can also look at Conair and be like, "This is crazy. That's crazy. This is crazy. That's crazy." You know? Um, and I think that bec I mean, and again, maybe it's just because of childhood and you don't want to see the thing you loved in childhood poked at or prodded or looked at in a different way by adults. You know what I mean? We're looking at this as an adult viewing. This was I I mean, had you ever seen it? I don't remember.

No, I I just saw any of us had ever seen it before. So, it's interesting. Stop being butth hurt is what we're saying. You know what? We look at things.

Yeah, that's it. Stop your complaining. Everybody loves every movie we do, you know? Like I feel like didn't this happened with Space Jam?

Weren't there a ton of people who were like Space Jam's incredible? Space Jam's the Why did you do Space Jam? Space Jam is number one

in Chicago. People were angry about Space Jam because they're like, "Well, this was my movie." But here's the other thing, too. Does Space Jam have cool costumes? Absolutely. And we all like, you know, Bugs Bunny. Now, here here's the thing I've learned with my kid. Um, they like crappy stuff and I don't try to sway them out of it. Like, at one point, uh, my son was like, I don't want to watch the old Space Jam. I want to watch the new Space Jam. And I can honestly say both terrible films. Uh, and and uh, but yet he felt that the sequel was so much better. There's also a child who did say to me, "Dad, I'm not watching anything earlier than 2000."

Oh my god. Which, you know, it's kind of funny because I think about this, you know, if my parents tried to show me something that was 25 years old, I'd be like, "No way am I watching that. It was a black and white." But, uh,

but I will say one of the things that I think about all the time is I watched older movies all the time because they were all that was on.

Oh, right. Okay. You know, like sometimes sometimes you had to watch an old movie because it was preVCR or pre-DVD. It was and you only had whatever the movie channel was playing, whatever channel 56 or channel 38, whatever was on, I watched it. You know, like I didn't grow up with my three sons as a TV as a contemporary TV show, but it was on every day and I had to watch it.

Oh. Uh, watching watching Happy Days was not a choice. It was just what it was at the five o'clock slot and I was going to watch that because Different Strokes was on after it and that's the show I really liked and that was it. Um, by the way, you're on Broadway. How's it going?

Oh, it's so fun. I'm having a blast. I've never done a show like this before. Eight shows a week. Crazy. Um, the band Lawrence that's part of it is incredible. Uh, really great. Um,

I love them. Uh, Sarah, I'm I'm doing it with Sarah Silverman and Craig Robinson and Heidi Gardner. They're all murderers. Everybody's so funny. It's a It's a blast.

Let me ask you this question because I think you and I talk about this a lot, but now you get to see it in a different way, which is audiences are different like and you could be doing the same show or an equal show like so and you are doing something that is not improvised. It's it's uh Simon Rich, brilliant writer. Uh but are do you feel that energy where sometimes you're like, "Oh, this crowd is just not into it."

Sure. I don't I wouldn't say they're not into it. I think the difference is some crowds are rockus,

you know, exclaiming and yeah, shouting and loving punchlines or loving songs or whatever. And some crowds are just polite and are laughing got it at laughing at the jokes but are not like going crazy there. So the difference is like I don't think there's there hasn't been one that was like oh I don't feel I don't think they liked it. There's just been either polite crowd that is enjoying it or rockus kind of mostly weekend rockus crowds that are fun.

Is there one day that you would say like I don't like the Wednesday afternoon crowd like is like is now cuz you've done it enough. Is there one where you can kind of say

Yeah. Well, we don't do the only the matineese we do are both also the weekends. So like on the weekend I do four shows in 24 hours which is not nothing. It's a lot. But those crowds are very ready to rock because I I think both because the show is geared towards I think people that would be fans of our podcast, people that would be fans of Dinosaur or Comedy Bang Bang, right? I feel like it's attracting a younger comedy forward group of fans and a lot of fans of Lawrence the band are there.

Well, yes, they have a huge following and it's following. So, it's not a lot of What I was nervous of going into it was that it would be a lot of like Broadway gray hairs. No offense.

Yes. No. From from one gray hair to a lot of others. But yeah, predominantly Broadway shows when I go see them are a lot of older people. And while those are certainly there's certainly that population here, it's a lot of young comedy savvy people. So, I think they're having a blast. You know, it seems that a after the show a lot of people have come up to talk to me about Taskmaster or about how did this get made or comedy bang bang, all the stuff that is comedy stuff that we know, you know.

Well, and now I will say again and we can talk about other things as well, but I do need to address something that people have brought up, which is you are not in your uniform in this show. Now, this is a show obviously there there are Well, I mean you you are, you know,

people are concerned. People are concerned that you you know, obviously You're playing a character, but like was that a debate? Did you have to be like, "Hey, I I you know, you look great."

It was not a It was not a debate at all. You know, like everybody has a very cohesive look. It is all like colors that match and go with the kind of set that's there. I'm wearing a beautiful Drake's brown corduroy suit. It's gorgeous. It's comfortable as hell.

Um I am wearing an Oxford shirt, except it's not white. It's blue. Totally. It's a great shirt. Uh, no. I love I love my

And a tie. And a tie. Oh, yeah. And a Yes. And a beautiful knit tie because I am looking over I'm looking over at Craig Robinson. No tie. And I was like, look, Craig, you know, Craig is, you know, just wanted to know how much Yeah.

Everybody got to choose. Everybody got to choose. Like I had options of stuff. But it was all inside of I would say these kind of uh corduroy, tweeds, wool, like a lot of like wintry atominal colors and textures.

Okay. You're not going to change up your look. That's that's the fear that many people are worried. Are they missing out? Uh, you know, that you're going to be changing your look.

These nerds, it took them so long to figure out that I wore the same thing every day and now they're upset when I when I don't continue it. No,

that you must be under duress. People assume. But is he okay? I knew you were okay because I got to see some clips of you at the Taskmaster live show in New York where you come in and just took over that stage and it was such a joy for me to be watching it on Instagram. Uh you just kind of bounding out there, middle fingers blazing.

I did my show and then my show ended and they were doing Taskmaster live three blocks away. So I quick changed, ran over there and then ran out onto their stage to be the special guest for the because they were doing live tasks, you know, that was the setup. And so I was the special guest for the last task of the show and it was a blast. It was so fun, so funny, so great to see those guys. Great to like mix it up. Um,

who did good cuz Lisa Gilroy was competing in one I saw. Yeah, it looked like a great crew. I mean, those shows looked so fun.

She brought the funniest thing. So, for their prize task, they each had to bring the worst article of clothing. Okay.

And she brought a pair of hot pants that on the butt said Greg's little [ __ ] Love this. That is

from some like from like from like an Atlantic City boardwalk type of store. I don't know where. I don't know. Maybe. I'm sure she got it in LA somewhere. But um it felt like the kind of thing you would get in a in a t-shirt shop that the cast of Jersey Shore works at.

Oh, I love it. And it was so funny. And then Alex put them on and paraded around in them. It was hilarious. Lisa Gilroy crushed that show.

I love it. I love it. Well, this is uh I hope they come out west. Uh and I'm glad

this tour was a success. So I think they are heartened by how well this did. So yeah, I think they will do more of this. There's a little rumbling online that you know what they're trying to do and I think this is a smart move is to if they are ever to launch another American version of it that people can be familiar enough with them that they could then both be they could just basically do it here and maybe it's a six, you know, I don't know how many episode run that is.

I I I think in all likelihood that you know I think they've said they would like to do it again here and I think they would like to be the hosts. I think that's the that's their intent. That's their hope.

It would be the only thing to do. Uh, you know, oh, it'd be so fun. I mean, the only other version of it would be to let me be the host, but you know,

I mean, look, I like and I told you if if that happens, I will jump in and I will be your Alex if you need it. I mean, I don't, you know, but I I think that you as the host is I would love it. I mean, I've also seen that on Reddit as well. People are like, Jason is going to be the American host. There there's a lot of conversation. There's a lot of conversation. I didn't want to bring that up unless you know, I hope that I hope that happens. But but people were nervous when you switched the outfits that that might not happen anymore. They were nervous that you know.

Oh man, how funny. Um uh so much has happened and I got to say because this episode is airing relatively close to when it came out. I want to recommend to everyone right now. Go see Sam Ramy's Send Help. It is phenomenal. It is great. Rachel McAdams. I won't say a goddamn thing about it, but if you like Sam Ramy, if you like Evil Dead, it is Sam Ramy doing comedy, horror, thriller, and Dylan O'Brien is [ __ ] great. The whole movie is great. It just like I sat in that theater going, and I don't want to build it up too much. I won't say anything about it, but in the sense of I sat in that theater going, I don't know what's going to happen next. And I, you know, you and I both have, we've watched a shitload of movies. We've written things. We've done these things. You kind of know like, okay, I know where it's going. I had no idea.

Oh, that's awesome. The idea that you can still that we can still be surprised is what is such a joy, you know, uh, in in the movies. So, that's great.

It was really fun. So, if you This is the second weekend it's out. Uh, so go check this thing out. It is fun. And I saw it with June. And you Jun is a scary a scaredy-cat and absolutely loved loved it. So you can if you're not, you know, if you're a scaredy cat, don't feel like, oh, I can't handle it. You can handle it.

Yeah. It's not like a straight horror movie. It's like No, I mean, even dead. Yeah. It's a Sam R. It's like it's fun. It's silly. It's It's And she is Yeah, she's awesome. Uh, obviously, we have a lot to break down, a lot to get to, but because I wanted to catch up with you just because you've been in New York. uh maybe just one thing that you like and then next week we'll do a full a full catch up of what we've been up to.

I'm trying to think, you know, like I'm I'm doing the show every night. I come home, I'm wiped out and so my appetite for things now we're talking post post Landman season 2 which way which was my which was the priority of my 2026 which was absolutely incredible.

I am and people don't get this. This is not only a show that Jason and I like, it is a show that America loves. It is the number one streaming show. I believe that it was number one. Stranger Things came out, was number one for a week, and then Lam Man, boom, right back on top.

That's awesome. Incredible. So, Lamb Man is And look, have I met many people who've watched it? No. So, that's even more interesting to me.

And I've met a a lot of people who are like, why are why would I watch Land Man because it's the greatest show on television,

by the way. And and I I don't like Yellowstone. Sure. I don't dislike it. I just it's not my it's not my fully my cup of tea. Land Man is 100% my cup of tea. And I think if you like the sensibility of our show, there is things that I mean look, I will say the one thing that got a lot of attention and it's not a spoiler in any way. Uh there is an episode where Billy Bob Thornton's erect penis uh does make an appearance in the cold open

of an episode because he's taking too much Sealis uh the night before. Now, here's my question, and I I'll say it without too much more context than this. Do you think he [ __ ] the omelette, or was that just a metaphor? Because I think he actually did [ __ ] the omelette, and that's why she's so mad.

I think he did. I think he did, and that's why she's so mad. Yes. Yeah. I mean, at least put his dick in the omelet. Okay. So, if that doesn't make you

That hasn't peaked YOUR holy cow. Genuinely get involved with Land Man. a a true psychotic like mega fever dream tone poem of nonsense like incredible stuff

and also having fun and like I feel like what I love about this show is everyone is bringing a little bit of themselves to it and really enjoying it. Andy Garcia. It's like everyone's like here's what we're doing and and then there's like that freedom of like well maybe my character would do it like this and you're like yeah yes absolutely.

Also has as a component of it something that is I would say part of some of our favorite things in the movies we do which is everybody's chewing the scenery in every scene. Like Billy Bob is at like Nicholas Cage level just going for it. Everybody's monologuing all the time in a way that feels like they would be at home in Face Off or in any of the movies that we love that have that kind of scenery chewing vibe.

I love it. So, I love um I'll shout out a couple of other things if you don't mind.

So, like I said, like I've come home and I am wiped out. So, all I'm doing is watching anime. Like I have now become fully anime pill. Uh, my absolute number I can already tell you my favorite show of the year is going to be Freerin season 2. Okay, which is just

I don't know what any of this stuff means. Yeah, Frein season 1 I've talked about before on the podcast was my favorite show that came out last year. It's absolutely one of the most incredible TV shows full stop of anything I've ever seen. Um, and it is a beautiful story. It's based on a manga that frankly I haven't read, but the series is unreal. Season 2 has just started airing. There's only been three episodes so far and it's absolutely fantastic. I cried so hard at the episode about u the hero of the south. Um absolutely fantastic. Um and when I was talking about how much I loved Frerin to um uh host of uh Song Exploder Rishihir uh recommended the Apothecary Diaries which is another two season anime that is also fantastic. I just have finished watching both seasons of that and that is unbelievable. uh Apothecary Diaries, just a beautiful story about feudal China and an a a girl gets kidnapped and

is forced to work inside of the palace, but she's an apothecary. you can make medicines and it basically the way that Richishy sold it to me was he's b is he's like it's basically what if house the doctor house

what it it's like a case of the week medical mystery in like feudal China with a teenage girl as house and that's

oh wow it's like a procedural that way so she's she's a detective she's always trying to figure out who's trying to poison who cuz there's so it's all palace intrigue

I love this people are trying to kill this person because they're pregnant. They're trying to kill that baby so that the order of succession will be changed so that the the the next emperor will be this kid instead of that kid. And she's always on the case and it's awesome.

Okay. Well, I got to get I got to get into anime. That's a very big those two shows I would say are unreal level uh anime. Uh you know, and that and that's also based on like I looked up lists, you know, genuinely. I'm not any kind of expert. Just I looked up lists and they were like the best anime are these.

Yeah. No, I love that. These two are always on there. That's good to know. I I love this anime recommendations. We will be talking again very soon to go through a bigger list. All right, Jason's gone and it's almost end of the show, which means it is finally time to announce our next movie. Next week, we'll be going on a date that's over 2 years in the making. That's right. This Valentine's Day, you can snuggle up with your boo to watch the 1987 romcom fantasy Date with an Angel starring Michael Knight, Emmanuel Bert, and Drop Dead Fred's Phoebe Kates.

We actually recorded this episode in Minneapolis over two years ago, but after that show, uh, Date with an Angel was removed from every single streaming service and VOD platform until now. Yes, Date with an Angel is finally available to watch again exclusively on TB. So, thank God for Tuby. Here is a breakdown of the plot. An aspiring composer discovers a broken winged beautiful angel in a swimming pool when everyone finds out he must deal with his jealous fiance, his future father-in-law, and his friends who have a business plan.

Rotten Tomatoes gives this film a 13% uh score on the tomato meter, and Roger Eert wrote in his review, "This movie ought to be shot. It wastes not only the idea of the angel, but also the human presence of Kate's, a bright and quick actress who is required to play a sering bimbo." Wow, we really used bimbo a lot uh back in the day. Anyway, let's take a listen to the trailer.

Jim's engagement to Patty, it is over between us, is out the window. His relationship with his boss are going to enlighten you, young man, is going to the dogs. [screaming] And his best friends,

are about to uncover his big secret. Justin Angel, Date with an Angel, rated PG, starts Friday, November 20th at theaters everywhere. Now, I already told you that Date with an Angel is only available to watch on Tuby. But as always, you should check out your digital media services like Hoopla, Canopy, and Libby, which are offered free by your local public library. Uh even though Date with an Angel isn't on those services, they are still great resources for uh movies, TVs, books, audio books. Maybe you want to get that Parker series by Darwin Cook or um or perhaps the Wizard of Oz series.

Whatever you want to do, go check it out for free. That is it. That's the end of the show. Listen to us on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Remember that you got to rate and review us. Rate and review us. Rate and review us. It's easy. Also, make sure you are following us. Yes, keep that follow button pressed and you have automatic downloads turned on. It helps the show cuz it's free. Helps us out a lot. Anyway, visit us on social media at httgm. And a big thank you to our producers Scott Sonni and Molly Reynolds, our engineer Casey Holford, our social media manager Zoe Apple Bomb.

And of course, we will forever be thankful to the one and only Averil Hie. And we will see you next week when we finally go on our long awaited date with an angel.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Last Looks: Return to Oz"?

Paul Scheer (Host), Jason Mantzoukas (Host), Nicole Byer (Guest), Edie Patterson (Guest), Mav (Guest), Liz (Guest), John (Guest), Matthew (Guest).

What is "Last Looks: Return to Oz" about?

The main topic revolves around the film "Return to Oz," as listeners share their nostalgic views and critiques, leading to discussions on its cultural impact. Alongside audience interactions, the episode features insights from Jason about his experiences with "Taskmaster Live" and Broadway, and includes segments for audience corrections and upcoming events.

What is mentioned in this How Did This Get Made? episode?

21 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Paul Sheer, Return to Oz, Date with an Angel, Wizard of Oz, Land Man, Walter Merch. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Last Looks: Return to Oz"?

The episode runs 42 min; the transcript is about 8,087 words in 103 timestamped sections.

More from How Did This Get Made?

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated February 6, 2026.