With special guest Luke Mosher (@TinyPlanetsPod)!

TOP SECRET! was the product of creative struggle. Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker’s creative engines were tapped after their breakout hit AIRPLANE! (1980), and its box office performance left something to be desired. But today, its impact is measured in more important ways — like its unmatched commitment to a good bit, how well it set up Val Kilmer for Hollywood, and how fucking funny that singing horse gag still is.

In this episode, we talk about our favorite jokes from TOP SECRET!, the unique relationship between the creators and the viewer, why Val Kilmer is the perfect vessel for a ridiculously incongruous character, and how fucking funny that singing horse gag STILL is.

Find Luke…

• On Twitter at @tinyplanetspod
• On Letterboxd at @soharborcoat
• On Perisphere, the Trylon blog, including “You Must Have Done Something: Orson Welles’ The Trial” and “Waiting for Something to Happen: György Fehér’s Twilight”
• On the Trylove episode about THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980)

References:

• “They Shoot Hamsters, Don’t They” by MH Rowe for Perisphere, the Trylon blog
• Give to the Trylon’s Film Forever Fund so they never have to increase ticket prices!
• Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy tickets
• Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog

#He'sOurHuckleberryTwoStarringValKilmer #DCP

Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch!

Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Skeet Surfin’” composed by Maurice Jarre and performed by Val Kilmer from TOP SECRET!

Timestamps

0:00 - Episode 347: TOP SECRET! (1984)

2:54 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary (under exclusive license from AG Enterprises, Ltd.)

4:36 - How we came to TOP SECRET! and parody movies in general

23:11 - How TOP SECRET! brings the viewer “in” on the joke

27:51 - Jokes for movie people

36:08 - A movie that’s excited to be a film

43:48 - Val Kilmer

54:16 - Our favorite jokes

1:06:24 - The Junk Drawer

1:14:24 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1984

1:18:45 - Cody’s Noteys: Kilmer Instinct (Val Kilmer quote trivia)