"Grease 2" (1982) with Chris McMichen & Bethany Wells

Tim Williams: Before Maxwell Caulfield was heating up the TV screen on Dynasty and Michelle Pfeiffer was all leathered up as Catwoman and Batman Returns, they were playing a clean cut British Exchange student trying to win the heart of a leather clad biker chick. It's the kind of role reversal in high school sequel logic that was only plausible in the nineteen eighties, and we loved every second of it. So put on your bowling shoes, rev up your motorcycle, and meet us at Rydell High as Chris McMitchin, Bethany Wells and I discuss what Grease two from nineteen eighty two on this episode of the eighties flick flashback podcast. Welcome to the show, everybody. I am your host, Tim Williams. As always, I'm thrilled to have two top tier co-hosts joining me tonight. First, a guy who may have traded in his T bird jacket for a sport coat, but he still knows how to be a cool rider. Please welcome back to the show, Mr. Chris McMitchin. How you doing, Chris?

Chris: Good Tim, glad to be here, representing the T birds. That's always good.

Tim Williams: and returning as well, she knows how to rule the halls better than the pink ladies, the amazing Bethany Wells. How you doing, Bethany?

Bethany: I am just great. I I've had cool riders stuck in my head all day. What could be better?

Tim Williams: That's not that's not a bad thing, I don't think.

Bethany: I told Ruby that I'm pretty sure Cool Rider is the best song of both movies. Like, arguably one of the best songs of both movies.

Tim Williams: All right, hot takes starting early. Okay, be ready for the fan mail or the hate mail. We'll see what happens. So well, I

Bethany: Bring it.

Tim Williams: I couldn't think of a better pair to break it all down. So let's dive into Grease 2. I haven't really done this before, but I thought this was good to do like a little synopsis. But if you don't know about Grease 2, because it is maybe not one of the most familiar 80s movies, except for those of us that watched it over and over again on HBO. It's a 1982 American musical romantic comedy film and a standalone sequel to the 1978 film Grease, adapted from the 1971 musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. It was originally titled More Grease, and the film was produced by Alan Carr and Robert Stigwood and directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch. The plot returns to Rydell High School two years after the original film's graduation, with a largely new cast led by Maxwell and Michelle Pfeiffer and in her first starring role. So let's jump right in. I'll start with Chris. Chris, when did you see Grease two for the very first time?

Chris: I saw this one as a HBO kind of special, like you said, I'm sure I I know I didn't see it in the theaters. It was you know, at the time it came out I was still a a kid and my

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: you know I th I think we saw grease, the original Grease, in the theaters. But I think that when the second one came around, it just wasn't I don't know if it wasn't hyped up as much or my

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: parents having us all seen the first one were a little bit hesitant to take me to the second one, which is very possible.

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha

Chris: This one, you know, it it aired on the side of a little dirtier than the first one too, in some ways, you know.

Tim Williams: Yeah, yeah.

Chris: And so I think that I I know that I saw it not in a theater. But several times, like you said, after that.

Tim Williams: What about you, Bethany?

Bethany: So I definitely did not see it in theaters. it it

Tim Williams: No, you were not even born yet.

Bethany: I was not born.

Chris: Yeah.

Bethany: And so I'm trying to think. I was obsessed with the first movie. It came on TBS

Tim Williams: Okay. Yeah.

Bethany: and I remember just the like I was a like s weird seven year old in my bedroom reenacting Summer

Tim Williams: Ha ha.

Bethany: Lovin'. And then I found out there was Grease too. And so I had to see that and Just somewhere along the way. I think it may have come on like a free HBO weekend. And I was just like, Greece too. What could be better?

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. They're gonna do it again.

Bethany: Let's do it again.

Tim Williams: yeah, I was trying to think earlier today. I don't know which one I saw first. If I saw Grease first or I saw Grease 2 first, because it was definitely one that was on HBO a lot. I don't remember if I saw Grease, the first Grease on HBO, but Grease 2 played a ton. And my sister, my older sister, was 100% obsessed. Like we ha we tell stories about how I was obsessed with Star Wars because it would play all the time. My sister has a story about me coming her coming downstairs in the basement or like the we our family room was downstairs. It was like a split level house. But anyway, and the TV was down there and she would come home from school and I'd be sitting in front of the TV reciting the dialogue of Star Wars with the TV. And she was like, You've seen this way too many times. But I have memories of her watching Greece Two and her singing along to Cool Rider. So and my dad being so upset because he did not want her to be in love with a motorcyclist because he had a friend, I think a friend of his in high school that died in a motorcycle accident. So logic as a dab, of course my sister being the pre teen that she was at the time was like, I don't care what you say, I want a cool rider. Like she was all into it. So But I do remember I remember seeing Grease, but I remember I hadn't having a cousin, Anthony, who had the soundtrack. And so he would like to play the soundtrack a lot. And so I knew the music, I think, before I saw the movie. But Grease too, I definitely knew. So but how long has it been since you re watched it before rewatching it today for the podcast? We'll go with you this time, Bethany.

Bethany: I I think I watched it in the last year or so.

Tim Williams: Okay.

Bethany: somebody brought it up and I was just like, Yeah, I haven't watched that in so long. And I remember it not being

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha.

Bethany: great, but I do remember enjoying it. Let me watch it again and watching it again and just being like, Wow, this is

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: this is something else.

Tim Williams: What about you, Chris?

Chris: it's been a long while. I mean, it's been, you know, it's I guess you could say it's fallen out of popular opinion. So it's

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: you know, it's a little harder to find even out there now. but it it has been a long time. Probably I would say maybe maybe twenty years since I've seen it. I mean, it's been a long time. But I I still remembered it pretty well as I was going

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: through it, you know. I mean, it sticks with you certainly, but yeah, it's it's it's

Tim Williams: yeah.

Chris: been a good minute.

Tim Williams: Yeah, it's kind of the same for me. I bought a two pack of like the original Grease and Grease Two as like a combo, probably like a year ago. But I ha I went I went back and watched Grease One, but I didn't watch Grease Two because then we were gonna go with the podcast. But I would say like before then, maybe ten or fifteen years ago, by chance, found it on YouTube or saw it on one of the streamers or like it but you know, just but kind of like you, Chris, like from the beginning, there were certain lines that I knew just popped out of my mouth like didn't even like muscle memory. Like I didn't know that I remembered that line, but like I'd hear one line like I knew the next line that was coming. So this is definitely for sure. Yeah. Yeah. yeah.

Chris: And songs are that way too. You hear the songs and you're you're like, yeah, I can sing along with this one, even though it's been twenty years.

Bethany: Yeah.

Tim Williams: Right. Right. And now that I think about it, I think I did watch it like about 10 years ago because I remembered when the I guess the sex education song came on. I was like, I remember when this came on. Like that I don't remember that as much as a kid. Like that went way over my head. So like it's not one of the songs that I necessarily remembered as much as the other ones. And that's the funny thing about watching it now, is like the songs that I liked were the ones that like I somewhat related to, but like the ones that are like like like Chris said, a little bit more sexual or mature in nature than maybe the first movie was, those I don't remember as well. Guess because 'cause a kid I like, I don't know what they're talking about, so I'm not as into it. So but but yeah.

Bethany: That's pretty crazy because the first movie is also pretty sexual and mature. It's just it just it's

Tim Williams: It is yeah it is.

Bethany: a little more nuanced.

Tim Williams: Right, right.

Bethany: This movie kind of beats you over the hammer with it.

Chris: They

Tim Williams: Yeah, this one's a little more heavy handed. Yeah.

Chris: they lean into it in this one, trust me. Yeah, they do.

Tim Williams: A lot more a lot more innuendo than I think I remembered. But you're right,

Chris: Yes. Yeah.

Tim Williams: because I remember like when I think the ri the original Grease Sisters probably like back this might have been during in twenty twenty when like they were showing a lot of older movies on T V because not everything was shut down. But I remember Greece was gonna come on like ABC or like one of like the big networks was like, Ooh, Hannah, you should watch this because you know, she was getting to like musicals and stuff and we got like Maybe 30 minutes in. Ms. Matara was like, are we sure she should be watching this? And I'm like,

Bethany: Ha ha ha.

Tim Williams: you know what? I think I know what's coming, and you're probably right. So, yeah. So this I don't think she's ever seen the full, the full version, but yeah. All right. Well, it's time for us to put our 80s flick behind the scenes knowledge to the ultimate test. It's time to play Risky Quizness. I've got five statements about the story origin and pre-production of Greece 2, and you have to let me know if you think they are true or false. Listeners, feel free to play along as Chris and Bethany try to come out on top. So you guys can definitely work as a team to work together to see if you can determine if these are true or false statements. Are you ready to play?

Bethany: Let's do it.

Tim Williams: Alright. Number one, true or false, the film's director, Patricia Birch, was the original choreographer for the first Grease film and the original Broadway musical. True or false. No Googling.

Bethany: I feel like I remembered something like that. It feels true to me. What do you think, Chris?

Chris: This movie was a good ways away from the Broadway show. So I mean it's it's entirely possible. I don't know. I don't know. That'd

Tim Williams: Yeah.

Chris: be my answer. I don't know.

Tim Williams: Well, you gotta come to a consensus.

Bethany: I'm gonna say true.

Tim Williams: Yeah. So you gonna

Chris: Okay, let's say through then. Sure.

Tim Williams: Okay. Trust your partner, Chris. Yes, it is true. She transitioned from choreography on the original Grease to make her a feature film directorial debut with Grease 2. It's also the only movie she ever directed. But anyway. All right.

Bethany: Weird.

Tim Williams: Yeah. Number two, true or false. Michelle Pfeiffer was the studio's very first choice for the role of Stephanie, and she accepted the part immediately without needing an audition. True or false?

Bethany: Very good test taker, and

Tim Williams: Yeah.

Bethany: my true or false bells are ringing, which makes me think that that is false. What do you think, Chris?

Chris: Yeah, I don't think that at the very minimum I think is this her first role that she would have had to have some kind of audition going on. So I'm gonna say false as well.

Tim Williams: All right, you guys are two for two. That's right. While she ultimately won the role, Pfeiffer had to go through an extensive audition and screen test process, singing and dancing for the producers before landing her breakout part. Cher initially signed up to play in the movie but backed out, complaining of a low salary and not having a finished script. Jennifer Beals also was thought to be in the movie but dropped out to play the lead character in Flashdance instead. So few other names names thrown in there.

Bethany: I think that worked out for her.

Tim Williams: yeah. and I think

Chris: Yeah, she probably made the right decision.

Tim Williams: yeah, and I think I read like they they really weren't like sold on her, but they said she had a quirkiness or like a certain quality they just couldn't like deny, which I think comes through because she's really to me like the shining star of the production. Like she stands out above everybody else for sure. And

Bethany: Mm.

Tim Williams: I was telling Larry we were talking we were talking about there's recording coming up a couple of nights ago. And it was funny because as many times as I saw it as a kid, then like later in the eighties when Michelle Pfeiffer became more well known, I completely forgot that that's who that was in that movie until, you know, probably in the nineties. I was like when I saw it again and I was like, I had no idea that was Michelle Pfeiffer in that role. So, before she was famous. So All right, you're doing good, two for two. So next one, number three, true or false. Maxwell Caulfield actually did all of his own motorcycle stunt driving during the climax at the Luau. True or false. Ha ha ha.

Chris: I'm I'm gonna say that's false 'cause they jumped over that whole pool. That's pretty intense. So I

Bethany: Yeah.

Chris: I'm gonna go false for for liability's sake.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: I'll stick with Chris 'cause I don't I don't know.

Tim Williams: You are correct, it is false. as a matter of fact, he did not even know how to ride a motorcycle when he was cast, and a stunt double handled the heavy-duty riding sequences. According to his stunt double Gary Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer did perform her own stunts in the famous Lone Rider Stephanie Romantic motorcycle ride. He said she sat behind me when I lifted her around to where she straddled me and And then we wheeled away, she was wonderful the whole time. Like that's a dangerous thing to do. But you know, your first move, you're like, sure, I'll do it. I you know, I'm not gonna

Bethany: Yeah.

Tim Williams: s I'm not gonna say no to anything at this point. So yeah.

Chris: He really helps though he has those goggles on and that helmet. So,

Tim Williams: yeah.

Chris: you know, you really can't tell if it's a stunt double or him all any of the time.

Bethany: Yeah. He

Tim Williams: R yeah, exactly.

Bethany: really is a different person when he's on a motorcycle.

Chris: Yes.

Tim Williams: Yeah.

Chris: Without a doubt.

Tim Williams: Yeah. Yeah. kind of going back to the, you know, we talked about in the in our teen wolf episode. No, you didn't neither you guys well know you guys weren't on that one, but Michael J. Fox's like basketball stunt double for in the wolf outfit. I'm like, he's two feet taller than Michael J. Fox.

Bethany: Ha ha ha.

Tim Williams: And so the thing was like when he turns into werewolf, does he actually become taller or is he the same size? But anyway, go back to that episode. You want to hear that fun little conversation. All right.

Bethany: Hehehehe

Tim Williams: All right, so far you're in the win column. You three for three. Let's go with number four. True or false. The iconic song Cool Rider was originally written for Olivia Newton John to perform in the first grease after being cut and repurposed for the sequel. True or false.

Chris: That's tough.

Bethany: say no just because that song's not in the musical, but it could have been something I wrote and added to the musical. They didn't really add a whole lot.

Chris: No, they they added a just a couple of things. you know, her ballad song wasn't in the original. And

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: but I mean in the first one.

Tim Williams: Right.

Bethany: Yeah.

Chris: My first my first thought was no two, so I I I say we stick with it.

Tim Williams: They're on a streak that is false. The song was written specifically for Grease Two by composers Brian Potter and Tom Snow to serve as Stephanie's defining anthem, which it surely was. No,

Bethany: It also doesn't fit Sandy. Like Sandy

Tim Williams: not at all. I was like, this is the easiest question on here. They'll get this one right away. Okay.

Bethany: We're just looking for the trick question, Tim.

Tim Williams: Yeah, yeah. That's

Chris: Yeah.

Tim Williams: why I love this game so much. You guys think way too hard about stuff. All

Chris: Yeah.

Tim Williams: right. Last one. Let's see if you get a clean sweep. True or false. The infamous reproduction classroom song sequence was inspired by actual sex education instructional films shown in American high schools during the late nineteen fifties and sixties. True or false.

Bethany: That feels true.

Chris: Yeah, I think so.

Tim Williams: It's a clean sweep, everybody. What a team. What a team.

Chris: Yeah.

Tim Williams: Yes, the filmmakers modeled the bizarre, highly stylized biological breakdown on the overly literal, crooky educational films of that era with a heavy dose of Hollywood camp, which they sure did. So all right. Well, let us know how you did if you played along at home. Send us a send us a comment on the social medias or leave us a comment right here on YouTube if that's where you're watching the show. So All right, that was fun. I don't rarely get somebody that gets all five right, but that was good, especially when, you know, that's this is not a movie that most people know a whole lot of behind the scenes about. So good job, good job. All right.

Bethany: Like I said, I'm a very good test taker.

Tim Williams: Yeah. All right, well let's jump into the cast. there are a lot of people in the cast. I'm gonna hit like the main people that we will, you know, recognize. I'll skip over some people that really didn't have much after this movie. But of course the lead roles we talked about already, Maxwell Caulfield as Michael Carrington. After Grease Two, he appeared in Electric Dreams in eighty four, The Boys Next Door in eighty five, Sundown, The Vampire in Retreat in eighty nine. Good Figure that one out. Gettysburg ninety-three, Empire Records in ninety-five, The Man Who Knew Too Little in ninety-seven, but he's best remembered internationally for a starring role as a Miles Colby during the nineteen eighties on the American TV series Dynasty and its spin-off, The Colbys, which I remember when this came on TV, like he was very popular on the dynasty show. we all knew who he was and going back and seeing him in this was like it's kind of funny. So reportedly he won the male role, the lead male role over Sean Cassidy, Greg Evigan, Andy Gibb, and Rick Springfield.

Bethany: Good for him.

Tim Williams: Which yeah,

Chris: Well.

Tim Williams: which Andy Gibb is the only British one of the three, so he would probably pull it off. I don't know if I want to hear Rick Springfield or Greg Evigan with a British accent. Probably would have been pretty terrible.

Bethany: Be honest, I don't think they cared what his actual like background

Tim Williams: Right.

Bethany: was. Like, I think they would have made him whoever. Because Sandy was supposed to be Australian.

Tim Williams: And I was gonna bring that up. Like they're cousins,

Chris: Yeah.

Tim Williams: but one's Australian and one's British, which I guess

Bethany: British.

Tim Williams: Britain and Australia have some kind of connection, but they're not that close. Yeah.

Bethany: Sure, but why? Like what

Chris: And

Bethany: was the point?

Chris: and that connection was long, long ago in history.

Tim Williams: Right, right, right. So yeah.

Chris: Long before those two.

Tim Williams: But it's, you know, notorious of course in the seventies and eighties. Any kind of accent could be anything. I mean, you go back to Highlander, Sean Connery, who's definitely n you know, supposed to be from Spain and he's got this heavy Irish

Bethany: That's it.

Tim Williams: accent, Scottish accent, so yeah. All right. but according to Maxwell, he said Grease Two damaged his career severely. He's been quoted as saying, Before Grease Two came out, I was being hailed as the next Richard Gere or John Travolta. However, when Grease Two flopped, nobody would touch me. It felt like a bucket of cold water had been thrown in my face. It took me ten years to get over Grease Two. I'm like, but you had a hit TV show, so did it really hurt you? But you know. But you were also in Sundown the Vampire and Retreat in eighty nine, so I'll give it

Bethany: No, Michelle Pfeiffer did fine. She moved on from Greece too just fine.

Tim Williams: Yeah, yeah. Just fine, just fine. All right. Speaking of Michelle Pfeiffer, she's next on the list, so she stars as Stephanie. This was her first leading role. her breakthrough though came with her portrayal of Elvira Hancock in Scarface the year later in eighty-three. Other mainstream success followed with The Witches of Eastwick in eighty-seven, tequila sunrise in eighty-eight, and Married to the Mob in nineteen eighty-eight. In the early nineties, she was one of the world's highest paid actresses. Playing Catwoman and Batman Returns in ninety two. She continued to star in prominent films throughout the decade, including Frankie and Johnny in ninety one with Al Pacino, The Age of Innocence in ninety three, and Wolf with Jack Nicholson in ninety four. So of course Dangerous Minds in ninety five, she came back in the two thousands for What Lies Beneath, White Oleander, Hairspray, and Stardust in two thousand seven. But yeah, so let's talk about our two leads. Chemistry, yes or no.

Bethany: I think she had some great chemistry with the stunt double.

Tim Williams: Yeah.

Bethany: even when they start to kind of become friends, like it doesn't

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: seem like she's like she's interested. Like she does

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: a really good job of portraying like, hey, I I finally kind of see the appeal of you. Hey, maybe I would want

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: to get to know you. He just kind of doesn't change ever.

Tim Williams: No.

Chris: Yeah, I think the closest was in the diner scene, you know, where where they're they're doing the little tutoring part and and she's finally

Tim Williams: Right, right.

Chris: she's starting to understand at least, hey, you got some value it 'cause you're really smart. And he said, Well, you're actually pretty smart too, because you know these things. You're just not putting them in these, you know, long English words that I have. So but I

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: other than that, I it's pretty forced. I guess it's a good word. It's pretty forced.

Tim Williams: Yeah, it is it is pretty forced. I would agree with that. So yeah. Yeah, I don't

Chris: Even that even that at the luau that that kiss is really forced. Didn't y'all feel that too?

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha

Chris: I mean, at the end when he finally got his jack and all that. Yes, I agree. I agree.

Bethany: There were a lot of kisses in this movie that felt forced and weird.

Tim Williams: Yeah, yeah, yeah. if I can be honest, I don't think any of the couples had any real chemistry. Like it was just you know not to not to say anything bad about like high school theater, but you know, like you just got kids that can sing and dance, just put together and hopefully, you know, some magic will happen. That's kind of what it felt like.

Bethany: Yeah.

Tim Williams: The prerequisites For casting it was like Can you sing, can you dance? Or can you be funny? Then

Bethany: You're roughly the same height, so it'll work.

Tim Williams: Yeah, there you go. Yeah. Yeah. All right, moving right along with the T-Birds. So, of course, as Johnny, we've got Adrian Zmed. Zmed's first major acting gig was the role of Johnny in the National Turing Company production of Greece. He later appeared in the Broadway musical three times, twice in the role of Danny Zuko. So he does, he's he's a Greece alum. So he didn't reach celebrity status until his TV role in TJ Hooker in the 80s with the great. William Shatner. He made guest appearances on a number of TV shows throughout the eighties and nineties. After TJ Hooker was canceled by ABC in eighty-five, he was offered the job of host of Dance Fever, which I remember in its final two seasons. But yeah. I remembered him from Dance Fever. I didn't never watch TJ Hooker as a kid. But but yeah, we watched Dance Fever right after Solid Gold came on in the like Sunday or Saturday afternoons. Way before your time, Bethany. Just

Bethany: Yeah, I'm I'm just smiling and nodding. This sounds nice. Words are nice.

Tim Williams: Yeah, yeah, that's right. YouTube, just it's it's probably on YouTube somewhere. Yeah. Did you watch those, Chris? Or was that something y'all had on at your house?

Chris: We saw some, you know, TJ Hooker. I w I was more of a fan at the time of William Shatner, of course, because of all the Star Trek stuff. But but I I think, you know, i back to this movie, I think that Adrian did a good job. I think he was the most believable,

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: I think, of all the characters, aside from maybe you know, Stephanie Zanoni. I I thought maybe

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Chris: he would have been a good second place. I hate to take that away from Mr. Lead, but I just kind of felt

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha.

Chris: that way about about his portrayal. Pretty good.

Bethany: I just feel like they didn't know what to do with his character. Like he was all over the place. Like he did a good job, but like Yeah.

Tim Williams: Yeah, yeah. All over the place, yeah.

Chris: It especially with relationships. He was he had his hand in you know, two or three relationships. just

Tim Williams: Yeah. Yeah. He was definitely like the best dancer of like the leads, you know, and like musician. Like his singing was really was really good.

Chris: He can sing, yeah.

Tim Williams: he yeah, but I think he was like the ham of the group. Like he hammed up every single scene. Like he was but you know, Broadway, he was

Bethany: That's the movie he was in.

Tim Williams: Yeah, that's the movie. Yeah, that's true. That

Chris: Yeah. Yeah.

Tim Williams: is true. So Alright, the only other T bird that we would know is Christopher McDonald as Goose. Of course, he's best known for his villainous role as professional golfer Shooter McGavin in the nineteen eighty ninety-six sports comedy Happy Gilmore, which he was prized in the twenty twenty five sequel. He's also acted in films such as Thelman Louise in ninety one, Quiz Show in ninety four, Leave It to Beaver in ninety seven, Flubber in ninety seven, Requiem for a Dream in two thousand, and The House Bunny in two thousand eight. But yeah.

Bethany: The house bunny's so good.

Tim Williams: But yeah, I like watching him in this, like before I did the research, I was like, I know he's been into the stuff, but it just those like Shooter McGavin

Bethany: Mm-hmm.

Tim Williams: and Goose, I it was hard for like th we have that the big meme right now. Same actor, by the way. Like I need a I need a that'll be my social media post, like Shooter McGavin and Goose. Same actor, by the way, just a couple of dec

Bethany: Ha ha ha.

Tim Williams: a decade or two in between, but he was good.

Bethany: Yeah. No, we were yeah. We were trying to explain him to Ruby and I was like, He's just

Tim Williams: Ha ha.

Bethany: he's just kind of a bad guy and everything. He's very smarmy And she was like, What does what does that even mean? And I was like, I I don't know, just look at him. Look

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: Yes.

Bethany: at him.

Tim Williams: Swarmy, yeah. How how old is Ruby

Bethany: Smart me. Just

Tim Williams: now?

Bethany: thirteen, just turned thirteen.

Tim Williams: That's right, that's right. Okay, yeah. That's a good word for a thirteen year old to know. That's I'd say that's probably yeah,

Chris: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: Marmy.

Tim Williams: you swarmy. Stay away from the swarmy guys. Ruby. All

Bethany: Hehehehe.

Chris: Please.

Tim Williams: right, and then for the pink ladies, we've got Lorna Luft as Paulette. the yes, you see behind Bethany there. I she didn't really do a lot of other movies, but I did not know that she is the daughter of Julie Garland and Sidney Looft, the sister of Joey Luft, and the half sister of Liza Minelli.

Bethany: She is. I

Tim Williams: yeah.

Bethany: that is that is why I was very excited. I was like, she's Judy Garland's daughter. She's

Tim Williams: Right, right.

Bethany: Laura left. I'm so excited. Yeah,

Tim Williams: Yeah.

Bethany: she's yeah, I was excited. I love Judy Garland. That's why

Tim Williams: Yes.

Bethany: I'm really excited.

Tim Williams: Somewhere over the rainbow, yes. but she could definitely sing. Like her singing sections

Chris: Yes.

Tim Williams: was like okay, I like, before I did the research just watching the movie, I was like, She had to had some kind of Broadway background as how she got in. She's very much like Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors, the movie version

Bethany: Ellen Green.

Tim Williams: was you know letting Ellen Green who played her on Broadway. Like you could tell there was like real chops there. It wasn't just an an actor they found that could carry a tune. So So yeah.

Chris: And some range. They gave her some of

Bethany: She was born with it.

Chris: the higher they get gave her some of the higher things, you know, in the

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: sequences and she was she was on top of So good.

Tim Williams: yeah. yeah. And she did really good. Like she won once again, like a character or an actress I thought I would have seen more after this. she played the role very well. She had she had many more Broadway credits than any kind of like Hollywood credits, so And then the only other one I'll mention is in this movie, she's Pamela Siegel, but she's known now as Pamela Adlon as Dolores, the youngest one. she's appeared in numerous films since making her acting debut in Greece 2. Her subsequent films include Say Anything in 89, which she was had a very small role in that movie. She was also in Bed of Roses in 96, Lucky 13 in 2005, Bumblebee in 2018, and The King of Staten Island in 2020. What most people may not know is Is she's known for voicing Bobby Hill in the animated comedy series King of the Hill. So yeah, she's she's done a lot of voice work, but she's like you if if you saw the picture of her now, you'd be like, I've seen like she's been in a bunch

Bethany: Mm-hmm.

Tim Williams: of stuff, but more like really like supporting characters or like guest spots on TV shows and stuff. But halfway through filming, she was actually in a car accident on the way to the set. Most of her scenes were already filmed, but stand ins were were used for some scenes, such as the talent show sequence. So

Bethany: Yeah.

Tim Williams: Kind of sad there, but but yeah.

Chris: Hmm.

Tim Williams: Very funny. So now I'll kind of cover those who returned from Greece won. So those who were also in the first Greece, of course, were Didi Khan as Frenchie, Eve Arden as Principal McGee, Dodie Goodman as Blanche Haddell, the principal's assistant. Then you got Sid Caesar as Coach Calhoun, Eddie Deason as Eugene Felnick. Dick Patterson, who played Mr. Rudy in the original, plays Mr. Spears, and then Dennis Stewart, who played Scorpions member Leo in the original, plays Balmoon Balmudo, which I hadn't even realize it wasn't the same guy. Like I thought it was the same.

Bethany: Yeah, I didn't either.

Tim Williams: Like I was like, he's still harassing people? Like he's gotta be forty by now.

Chris: That's

Bethany: He's like so he was forty in the first movie.

Tim Williams: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Chris: That's what that's what I thought too. Like what what's his angle?

Tim Williams: Yeah. I I will say like especially when I started watching this I was like, Okay, we know they were adults in Greece. It's like they went even more adult in like none of these look like they're in high school except for like Dolores and

Bethany: Yeah.

Tim Williams: the young the youngest kid. I'm like, they're the ones that are truly like seniors in high school. Everybody else is like, you know, collecting four one K at this point. But I mean not, you know, back then, but

Chris: And

Bethany: At least Michelle Pfeiffer was in her early twenties, which like

Tim Williams: Yeah, yeah.

Bethany: but yeah, no, most of them look like they're in their thirties.

Tim Williams: Yeah. I mean I swear a eight go ahead, go ahead go ahead, Chris.

Chris: Can we ask for a second? How how stupid is Eugene that he's still in school? And I mean, I thought that aren't nerds supposed to be inherently,

Tim Williams: Yeah.

Bethany: Young cheese.

Chris: you know, smart and wouldn't he have graduated

Tim Williams: Yeah.

Chris: with the rest of that class from the first movie?

Tim Williams: You'd think, wouldn't you? Yeah.

Chris: You think?

Bethany: He got

Tim Williams: yeah.

Bethany: too busy like being pushed down the stairs. He spent a lot of time in the hospital with concussion

Tim Williams: Yeah.

Chris: I guess maybe you had some

Bethany: recovery.

Chris: Yeah, like two years of

Tim Williams: Yeah.

Chris: hospital homebound, maybe you miss what do you have?

Bethany: Ha ha ha.

Tim Williams: There you go. There you go. Homeschooling wasn't really a thing back then. So, like if you weren't

Chris: Ha ha

Tim Williams: in school, you just weren't getting anything. So yeah,

Bethany: Yeah.

Tim Williams: when Adrian's med first came on the scene in the first opening scene, I was like, I can still see his five o'clock shadow. Like they needed a little bit more makeup because you could tell he, you

Bethany: Mm-hmm.

Tim Williams: know, was late in the day. so I do want to mention this. Didi Khan, who played Frenchie, explained why her character disappears halfway through the movie, which I didn't even kind of realize until I was reading this. She said the script was unfinished when they began filming, but the draft they were using still included Frenchie. The character was eventually written out during filming, and she was told halfway through that she was no longer needed. The filmmakers ultimately decided to include her in the final cut, though they had limited footage. Conn described the filming process as rushed, frantic, and unorganized. Which I can see.

Bethany: I I kinda yeah. It c honestly I it feels like they filmed it was almost like an afterthought. 'Cause

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: she doesn't appear in like anything without Maxwell Caulfield. Like it's just them.

Tim Williams: Right. Mhm. She's gotta be that connection point between the first movie and the second movie that she knew Sandy and he's Sandy's cousin but she would be the only person he would technically know at school. You would think there would be more scenes with her, but he has a t he has more of a relationship with Dolores, who he doesn't know, like this young

Bethany: Yeah.

Tim Williams: l young girl who obviously thinks that she's dating him for some reason, but yeah, so

Bethany: And she's Stephanie's best friend, but has never been seen in the same place as her.

Tim Williams: Yeah. Right. That's that's true, that's true. Like is she even still a pink lady? 'Cause she's not with any of the pink ladies in any of the f scenes, so forty

Bethany: Well she's forty five, she's got

Tim Williams: five

Chris: Yeah.

Tim Williams: Beauty school dropout. Yeah. No graduation day for you.

Chris: Yeah, there you go.

Bethany: Yeah. She has to go to she has to go to high school to learn chemistry so that she can become a chemist to make her own beauty supplies.

Tim Williams: 'Cause know 'cause obviously in nineteen sixty one they didn't audit classes in college. so she had to go back to high

Bethany: That's true.

Tim Williams: school to do it, so

Bethany: Absolutely.

Tim Williams: All right, rounding out the supporting cast, two new teacher characters were played by nineteen fifties and sixties movie idols, Tab Hunter and Connie Stevens, who of course are the two teachers that somewhat fall in love. It's kind of alluded to, but there's no real like storyline there. It's just like they're just chummy a lot. But I knew Connie Stevens from Back to the Beach, which is another forgotten eighties movie, but and then Gene and Liz Sagal as the sorority cheerleader twins. Of course, the 1980s they starred in the television series Double Trouble that ran from 84 to 85, but they're most remembered as the Double Mint twins in the ad campaign for Double Mint Gum. Fun fact, they have a sister, Katie Sagal, also known as Peg Bundy of Married with Children Fame. So they are all related.

Bethany: That's crazy.

Chris: That is great.

Tim Williams: yeah, yeah. So another fun fact is they were each hired at different auditions. It wasn't until they arrived on the set the director realized they had hired identical twins and the sorority girl roles were created for them. Which I'm like, you never saw the commercial on TV, did not know these two girls were twins. So that's the cast that I decided to cover. Anybody else that I didn't mention that you felt needed a mention.

Chris: I don't know his real name, but the guy that played Lewis, I've seen him in some other things. I I know I have. I just you know, it's one

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: of those spaces like a a typical person that plays a lot of extras or small roles where I can't really place

Tim Williams: Mm. Yeah. Yeah.

Chris: what exactly he was in, but I've seen him in some other things. Just just to mention that.

Tim Williams: Yeah. some of the other actors like they had a few small credits, but if it wasn't like anything that we'd like really recognize and a lot too, especially in eighties movies, you'll find out they did a lot of T V guest roles. So like they've all been on the Love Boat, they've all been on the A Team, they've all been on Murder, she wrote. Matlock. Yeah.

Bethany: Yeah. Well the the

Chris: NCIL.

Bethany: Lewis guy, he looks like like a mixture of like Bob Sagitt and Paul Feag in the nineties. I think because I

Tim Williams: Okay.

Bethany: went like down a rabbit hole. I was like, I know this guy from somewhere. And the answer was I don't.

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha ha.

Chris: Yeah.

Bethany: He just looks like Paul

Tim Williams: Yeah, that that tracks.

Bethany: Feag.

Tim Williams: Yeah, that tracks. I could see that. I could see that. I did read and I didn't put in their names, but there were there are a lot of people that were in the first Grease that returned and this one was like background dancers, but they were some of the extra pink ladies or some of the extra T birds and some of the bigger scenes in the first one, and they came back for the second one. But, you know, being the choreographer for the first week, I'm sure she she pulled people that she knew she could work with. Because she choreographed and directed the movie. that's a lot of work. So I'm like I'm Yes. Yes.

Bethany: And the dancing was on point. Like

Tim Williams: But why is there so much spinning in this movie? And why is the spinning in the bowling alley have to be sped up?

Bethany: I I was see, I am not a good bowler and I frequently when I go bowling step over the line and fall and embarrass myself

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha ha.

Bethany: every time. And so that whole scene was stressful for me because

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: I was like, how are they not all slipping and falling?

Tim Williams: and even as a kid that the last part where they're like they have the bowling balls in their hand and they're just like spinning around, I'm like, that's not a real bowling ball. Like this they're they're they're you know like I need that bowling ball when I'm playing.

Bethany: No. This is the least realistic thing in this movie.

Tim Williams: Yeah, yeah. So there's no logic, yeah. So yeah, sliding you know

Chris: And I think we've all we

Bethany: No.

Chris: I know we all of us as guys too, we've all had since we're on that bowling scene, we've all had that

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: desire to do what Goose did and run all the way down one lane and then throw our ball at the last second in another lane. I still I still have

Tim Williams: Thirty in Lane, yeah, yeah, exactly.

Chris: I I think I still think about that every time I go to a bowling alley. I'd like to try it just once. If I wouldn't get kicked out, I mean, you know, I'm sure.

Tim Williams: Yeah. I wanna s yes, yes. Yes.

Bethany: Again, you will fall. You will fall. It it is very slippery.

Tim Williams: Yeah. I've I've stepped past the line before and fallen very hard, so I know exactly what you're talking

Chris: Yeah.

Tim Williams: about. So yeah. yeah. Mm hmm.

Bethany: And it is embarrassing because everyone can see you.

Chris: Mm-hmm.

Tim Williams: man. All right. Let's talk about iconic scenes, favorite scenes. So Bethany, we'll start with you. When someone says

Bethany: Yeah.

Tim Williams: Greece too, what's the f I already know the answer to this question? What's the first scene that pops in your head? And you can sing it if you want to. Absolutely.

Bethany: I need a C. O O L I D E R. Yeah. Her on that on that ladder. Like, that is what you think of when you think of Greece

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Bethany: too, is you think of Michelle Pfeiffer on that ladder singing that song. It is so good. It's the

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Bethany: best part of the movie.

Tim Williams: Yeah. And I love how Maxwell Cauldfield like walks away at one point, like to let her sing her song and then magically shows up as she's w as she's leaving the theater to like, okay, now I I know what she wants. I just stood in the bac like there's no scenes of him looking behind

Bethany: Yeah. Yes.

Tim Williams: the curtain, like peeking around like I don't know I'm here, but I'm listening to every word she's sing so I can become this person for her.

Bethany: Well she sings it like into his face. She's

Tim Williams: Yeah.

Bethany: just like, I don't want a basic guy like you.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: I want a cool writer. And and he's just like,

Chris: Your stunt double.

Bethany: Yes.

Tim Williams: Yeah.

Bethany: It's such a good song. And it's it's a really good, like, I want song. And I love that she sticks to it for the movie. Like,

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: she doesn't like she likes him because she sees him on the motorcycle. She

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: she's not gonna settle for just a whatever kind of guy because is Johnny. Is

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: He's a motorcyclist guy, but he's not enough for her. Yeah.

Tim Williams: no, but he's a chicken. He's he chickens out of every he he wants to look tough but he has no no backbone at all. Yeah.

Bethany: Exactly. And she sticks to it. Like she doesn't change herself to like impress anybody. She's just like, no, this is what I want. And

Tim Williams: Mm, mm.

Bethany: and I really respect her for that. And it's a great

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha.

Bethany: song.

Tim Williams: We believe you. All

Bethany: Hehehehe

Tim Williams: right, Chris, what what about you iconic scene?

Chris: I like several of them. I think that the the biggest one for me is the reveal at the bowling alley and the who's that guy, you know. I I think that

Tim Williams: yeah. Mm-hmm.

Chris: it's that's very good the way they introduce him and I I I will say though, I was very upset in this movie with one specific thing that they nerfed the T birds so much. to be just I I mean gutless, spineless twigs. I mean, you know, it

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chris: r the in the first movie they were nothing like that. They were like, you know, we're gonna

Tim Williams: Right.

Chris: take this car and we're gonna drive it right down your throat, right? But it that scene

Tim Williams: Right, right, right.

Chris: right before he comes in at the bowling alley, they go out there thinking they're gonna, you know, beat up Balmudo and and he's got some other

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: guys that show show up, of course. And and I understand the numbers are not in their favor, but he says Oof, and they, you know, throw their comb and get scared and run in. And I mean like, man, the old

Tim Williams: Yeah. Yeah.

Chris: even even with the numbers disadvantaged, the old, you know, you know, Danny Zuko and his crew never would have never would have backed down. That's right. It would have never

Tim Williams: Yeah. Yeah. They would never right, right.

Bethany: Yeah. Yeah, Kanicki would never. Kanicki would never.

Chris: it would never, ever have run. But anyway, that aside, I think that that whole idea of him taking on, especially his first, you know, showing up with the motorcycle and he can really ride. We saw the montage of him trying to learn how to do it.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: And so it's a g it's

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: a nice reveal. And the song is a mysterious sounding kind of song. So

Tim Williams: Mm, mm.

Chris: it's it's good. It's good.

Tim Williams: Yeah, I think I'm I'm with with Bethany. when I think of Grease two, Cool Rider is the first thing I think about. The other one is because what I w as a kid, yeah, the music was cool, but I'll the motorcycle scenes were always my favorite. So any any of the scenes where he's on the motorcycle, but especially the jump over the pool at the end, like when that when I saw that again today, I like, this is I remember waiting for this scene to come on. so those those are my scenes. So what about well let's do f let's do favorite scenes or favorite songs outside of Cool Rider, Bethany.

Bethany: I will say I enjoy the song Girl for All Seasons. I've always thought that's

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: I love that kind of like Ziegfeld Follies style thing where it's just

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: it's just ladies in fun costumes coming down and talking about being a pretty lady. And who doesn't

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: want to be a pretty lady in a fun costume?

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha.

Bethany: And I like that one. And then I mean, some of them like they're not great songs, but they're clever-ish. And I will say, like, do it for our country. It's funny. It's really bad, but it's funny.

Tim Williams: It's bad.

Bethany: It's bad, but it's funny.

Tim Williams: Yeah. What about you, Chris?

Chris: I really like the prowling song that the T birds do. especially

Tim Williams: Yeah. Yeah, it's fine.

Chris: I think it the fact that they're when they first audition it's so atrociously bad and the harmonies are all so terrible. And and as they do it

Tim Williams: Right.

Chris: more, it gets better and better. And in the real I mean it's really good, you know. When he when he starts,

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: you know, they're outside the place where Zanoni works, that little gas station, and they and he starts

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: that tune up for real and they transition it into working on that song. It's very good. It's

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: very period appropriate, I think. It fits that that show well. And I like the

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: even though it it rides the edge of, you know, probably dirtier than you want to take your kid to, I like the reproduction

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha.

Chris: song, believe it or not. It's a

Bethany: It is a good song.

Chris: it's a good song. It it's

Tim Williams: It is, yeah, it's it's fun.

Chris: got some real and you know, it features some moments where the girls sing like the guys and the guys sing like the girl.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: I mean it, but it's in a fun way. Even

Bethany: Mm-hmm.

Chris: even the lead guy, you know, who who for a long time Shakespeare doesn't even, you know, involve himself in anything, toward the end of that song,

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: even he's singing along with it. So I think that just kind

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha.

Chris: of shows you it's it's appeal, a little

Bethany: Yeah.

Chris: bit universal appeal. So those are two for me though.

Tim Williams: Yeah. yeah, I love back to school. The opening the opening song is like fantastic. Of course, I can't hearing that song and hearing, you know, the lead singer of the four tops, I always think I takes me right to Audrey too from Little Shop of Horrors, but

Bethany: Yeah.

Tim Williams: the iconic voice he has. But the it's a fun song. I do like the bowling song, the score tonight or

Bethany: Mm.

Tim Williams: whatever is fun. It's like all the good songs are at the beginning. Like it it's like it hits a point where like the after the reproduction song, and then it's just like they just continu they kind

Bethany: It's like

Tim Williams: of like get worse as they as it goes on. Until but I I I do agree with you. The the Woman for All Seasons is it's not catchy, but it's it is a good song. And then too, like what I like about it is and give credit to the director, like showing the behind the scenes of like the guys having to

Bethany: Mm-hmm.

Tim Williams: change their costumes and like and I'm sitting there watching, I'm like, They put a lot of thought into this, like for it to be a talent show where, you know, the T birds are definitely just phoning it in with their cool song, but like the ladies really they had costumes, they had a plan, they it executed the plan. We saw no rehearsals of them rehearsing it, but Yes. Yes. Yeah. Leaves and

Bethany: They had Eugene dangling above them, dropping leaves on top of them. It's crazy.

Chris: Yeah.

Tim Williams: Snow. Yeah. even though Michelle Pfeiffer starts singing her own song that somehow still fits with the song that they were originally singing, Yeah, that's what I think what it really misses is there's n there's no great closing song because even the song at the end like we'll be together forever, which is like the same theme of the first Grease closing song, which is so much fun, and this is like this slow trying to be like romantic kind of a thing. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Bethany: They even do the same dance and it doesn't fit the tempo. Like they do the same yeah.

Chris: It's not good.

Tim Williams: Yeah. And

Chris: We go together is is one of the most iconic scenes in the whole movie. I in the first one. And it's up tempo.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Chris: It's it's a good joyous ending. And this one feels

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: like such a letdown. It's so slow. And I mean it

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: and just like Masquerade. When he sings Masquerade, it's just horrible slow.

Tim Williams: yeah.

Chris: I never want to fast forward a part of a movie, but man, that part I like.

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha.

Chris: Let me see if I can find the end of this song. Woo. You're right though. The longer it goes

Tim Williams: Right, right. Yeah, that's won't

Chris: in through the film, the worse they seem to get. I I I think.

Tim Williams: Yeah, yeah.

Bethany: It's like they don't know what kind of movie they wanted. Like they didn't understand what story they wanted to tell. And so they tried to tell five stories, but then they were like, wait,

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: we don't care about this story anymore. So we're not gonna tell it anymore.

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha.

Bethany: And then we're gonna tell this one. And it's

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: all over the place. And so the end doesn't feel satisfying because you're like, I don't know what I just watched.

Tim Williams: Yeah. Yeah. Like reading now that like it was an unfinished script and it was like they were, you know, they were kind of making writing it as they were going, it makes more sense now. It's like I feel

Bethany: Feels that way.

Tim Williams: like I thought at the beginning they knew what they were doing and then as the then like towards the middle, and I forgot this movie is like right at two hours and it feels like it on that second half. I'm like, why is why are we still having songs now? Like let's wrap this thing up. we go back to the original Greece. There's so many iconic songs in the

Bethany: Mm-hmm.

Tim Williams: original Grease. And this one you just have like two there's only like two or three. You don't it's not it doesn't have all of the great songs that that you expected to have from the first one. The good ones are good, like we really enjoy them, but as it goes on the the song quality gets diminishes as the movie goes on. So

Bethany: For sure. But I mean, Greece, you said Greece Two is kind of piecemealed together. Grease

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: one is established. Like it was already a Broadway show. It had run

Tim Williams: Yeah. Right, right.

Bethany: through every like they had a story nailed down. It's like they

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: wanted to do kind of all the little stories. Like, you know, you had Kanicki and Rizzo and their little

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: their little story. And you had Frenchie and you had all of the little stories happening. But you cared about those characters. You care

Tim Williams: Right.

Bethany: you you were interested in them. Like Rizzo's song is the best song in Greece. Like

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: it it just is.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: And but like I cared I didn't care about any of those side characters. And one

Tim Williams: No.

Bethany: of them was played by my all time favorite actress's daughter. And I couldn't care less. Like

Tim Williams: Mm hmm. Yeah. And she needed her own. Like I wish she would have had her

Bethany: She did.

Tim Williams: own real song, but she didn't. Like they didn't give they didn't give the characters that needed a song a good song. I mean, instead you got,

Bethany: Mm-hmm.

Tim Williams: you know, For Our Country whatever the the bomb shelter song was,

Bethany: Yeah, let's do it for

Tim Williams: and Masquerade, which I guess they had to give Maxwell call the the lead his own song, but like you're you're no John Travolta, let's just say that as

Chris: No

Tim Williams: far as charisma or vocal talent. so

Chris: No.

Bethany: And you're no Olivia Newton John either. Like it's

Tim Williams: No.

Chris: Nope. Nope.

Tim Williams: Which yeah, that that's kind of what I f like though during that last song when they're kind of singing to each other, like she sounds like Olivia Newton John and those like high points, like the real breathy kind of light

Bethany: Mm-hmm.

Tim Williams: sing. I like, Okay, that's really nice. And then he comes in, I'm like, dude, just why? How did you get this how did you get this role?

Chris: people that are not that great a singer, you know, you what one thing you don't do is give them a feature slow ballad. That does not do well. It d that does not

Tim Williams: Right. Yeah.

Chris: serve them well. They need something

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: more up tempo and flashy, you know, that they can

Tim Williams: Right.

Chris: kind of hide behind the rhythm of.

Tim Williams: Mm, mm hmm. Yeah, absolutely.

Chris: Poor guy. I they kinda hung him out to dry on that one, I think. But

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. All the reverb couldn't help him Yeah. So, all right, two quick things going back to like two two things that you guys mentioned. I do feel like this is like that typical 80s sequel where let let's take the things that people liked about the first one and do them again. So of course you've got the they flip flop Michelle Pfeiffer was the tough one and the guy in Max Crawford was like the nerdy one that kind of switches over. But even some of the scenes like the luau at the end was like, okay, this is supposed to be somewhat like the the carnival at the end of the first

Bethany: Mm-hmm.

Tim Williams: one. So but even then the biker gang comes in, they they tear everything up, he jumps the pool and it's over. Like what

Bethany: Yeah.

Tim Williams: what what did we resolve here that that

Bethany: Yeah. And this luau comes out of nowhere.

Tim Williams: And it gets dark all of a sudden.

Chris: Yeah, it did in the middle. Right.

Tim Williams: so yeah. All right, well let's let's let's talk about a few trivia things and we'll start to wrap this puppy up. So the original plans were for this to be the second installment of our franchise of not three, but four movies and a TV show. But when the series when the movie flopped, plans for a franchise were thrown out. Disney ended up adapting the unused script for the third movie. Which became high school musical in two thousand six.

Chris: Hmm. Wow.

Bethany: That tracks.

Tim Williams: It took a while to get there, but they had like let it let it die for a little while, then we'll bring it back. yeah, so that we talked about the connection. Though the connection was never acknowledged in the movie, Johnny was originally intended to be the cousin of Danny Zucco from the first film, but Michael was Sandy's cousin and the writers thought there were too many similarities. So yeah, everybody can't be cousins.

Bethany: Too many cousins.

Tim Williams: Yeah.

Chris: Yeah. No wouldn't it work.

Tim Williams: Yeah, and then Michael tells Eugene that he's staying with his aunt and uncle. These are most likely Sandy's parents, as it's unlikely he has other relatives in Rydell. Chances are Sandy's at college, although that would betray her change at the end of the first movie. Otherwise, she would have already introduced Michael to Frenchie. So and then let this one's quick. The original theatrical trailer features a drastically different version of Back to School Again, which was recorded prior to the involvement of the four tops. I want to hear how different those two versions are. all right, box office. Greece two was released on June eleventh, nineteen eighty two, but it was no match for the other new release of the week. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, which took the top spot at the box office. Grease two debuted fifth behind E.T. Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan, Rocky III, and Poltergeist. So it quickly faded from the box office, which is why it didn't it was considered a flop. It also had a larger budget than the first movie, which probably didn't help either.

Chris: Hm. That's probably the the best Star Trek movie there is too of all of all time. That Wrath of Khan movie, I'm just saying. Throw that out there. So

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: it was I mean, you know, it was pretty much destined to fail.

Tim Williams: Yeah, I mean they didn't think E.T. was gonna be the hit that it was. So I I guess they they thought maybe, hey, a sequel to Greece versus an alien movie. I mean, we we got a winner on our hands. Sorry, folks. All right, now it's time to take a look at how well this 80s flick holds up today. It's the rewatchability nostalgia meter. It's our way of measuring how enjoyable a movie is for repeat viewings along with the waves and nostalgia it brings. Here's how it works. It's a one to ten scale. Any number between one and ten will do, but here are a few parameters to help you decide. At the bottom of the meter is a number one, means I saw it once and that was enough. In the middle, a number five would be a good rewatch every couple of years. And at the top of the meter, the highly coveted 10, which means it's highly rewatchable and full of nostalgia. I'll start with Chris. Where does Grease Two rank for you on the rewatchability installage meter?

Chris: Well, I will say when I found this movie on its streaming service that it's currently on, Paramount Plus, where I I watched it this weekend, I couldn't help but notice it has a rotten tomatoes score of twenty two

Tim Williams: Yeah.

Chris: percent. so it it it's not very popular with people out there. certainly may have been more popular in its time, you know, when when that

Tim Williams: Right, right.

Chris: Rotten Tomatoes didn't even exist at that point, certainly. So this is, you know, more modern views of it. I probably I think that I used the word forced earlier and I think there's a lot of it that is that way. especially I the older that I get, right, the more I think

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: that some of the things were forced. I think the music and the love for Greece itself propelled me to like it more in the past. Does that make sense?

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Chris: So I think that I would probably settle on a 3.5, maybe. Let's say 3.5 for me. You know, I

Tim Williams: Okay.

Chris: I enjoyed parts of it. And like I said, some of the music I really did like. It was like, you know,

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: getting back on that bicycle and riding again, you know, you remember it from even long, long ago, and and it still kind

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Chris: of resonates. But as far as rewatchability and nostalgia, 3.5 for me.

Tim Williams: Gotcha. Okay. What about you, Bethany?

Bethany: Do you agree with Chris? It's it's not like the worst movie, like I never want to watch it again, but it is not one that I want to watch as frequently as the first grease. And

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Bethany: it's but like he said, the music is so a lot of the music, half of the music is so fun.

Tim Williams: Right.

Bethany: And it's it's it's catchy. And like I said, Cool Rider has been stuck in my head. I've also got Girl for All Seasons stuck in my head. I gotta go up and down the stairs with my arms out, wearing something fancy and sing it to myself.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Right, right.

Bethany: but so I'm gonna give it a four just because

Tim Williams: Okay.

Bethany: it has it has the roots of something really good in it.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Bethany: It's just not so.

Tim Williams: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna put it right there in the middle at a five, a little higher than you guys, only because of the nostalgia. Like because it's one that I I think about fondly as a kid watching it over and over again. I have good memories of that with my sister and you know, making fun of her, singing cool rider. so it it ranks pretty high for me in that. But rewatchability, it's not very high. I would watch scenes of it, Like I would rewatch the opening, I'd re watch the bowling scene, I'd re watch cool like there's those parts I would definitely rewatch. But the movie as a whole, I'm probably like even now thinking back on like I may watch the first half and then probably fast f like Chris fast forward through the songs I'm not a fan of just to get to the end where he jumps the pool and then be done.

Bethany: Ha ha ha.

Tim Williams: but and I will say I do like the end credits with the little yearbook type with the photos and stuff, that was fun too. So

Chris: That was good. I like that too. Yeah.

Tim Williams: yeah, yeah. I always like seeing credits that give me something to watch. Like nobody wants to watch a rolling screen of names. Nobody, you know, unless you're gonna put an additional scene at the end like we all do for the Marvel movies, but that's another story. but yeah, so I'm gonna give it a five. So a lot of fun, a lot of fun to talk about, a lot of fun to discuss. So, but for our listeners, let us know where you think Greece 2 should rank on the rewatchability and nostalgia meter for you. Send us an email. Let us know on social media or leave us a comment right here on YouTube if you're watching us there. Chris and Bethany, thank you so much for joining. I appreciate having you guys on the show. Always a pleasure to have you both. So any last words about Greece too that you want to share with our listeners?

Chris: I'll just say less I think I'm more apt and likely to use some of the songs in karaoke night than I am to watch the film

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha.

Chris: in the next couple of years.

Tim Williams: Yeah. That's fair. If you can find it in a karaoke. So

Chris: Yeah.

Tim Williams: yeah.

Bethany: Yeah, the problem is is if you do cool writer, you're gonna get in trouble when you climb on top of one of the booths.

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha.

Bethany: Cause you can't sing that song without climbing on something.

Tim Williams: Right, right. You gotta have the core the choreography's gotta go with it. Yeah. It's it's a it's a package deal.

Bethany: Is it even the song if you don't sit on a ladder while you sing it?

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha

Chris: and quick shout out to Blanche who I think is always funny. I she makes me laugh. So there you go. Yeah.

Tim Williams: Yes. Yes. I yeah, my favorite scene with her is when they're doing the the the test and she's cranking the alarm with the hard hat on. So yeah, love it. yeah, and if yeah, she's also the she's a secretary in Splash, which is also hilarious.

Bethany: yeah. Why does she not know T birds? She's she knew the T birds in the first movie, and then in the second movie she keeps calling them the T-bones. Is it because those T birds are bone heads? And she's dissing them and saying like

Tim Williams: I would I would go with that. I didn't even I didn't even put that together. I but you know, just yeah, so Yeah.

Bethany: It's just really bugging me today.

Chris: It is unusual, yeah.

Tim Williams: Yeah, it didn't make a lot of sense. But

Bethany: Yeah.

Tim Williams: all right, well that's a wrap on another trip through the greatest decade of cinema. If we sparked a memory or helped you rediscover a classic, please head over to Apple Podcast and leave us a five star review. It truly helps the show reach more fans like you. Make sure you're always in loop for our next deep dive. Hit that follow or subscribe button, and if you want to help keep the show running, consider becoming a partner at BuyMakeOffee dot com. For more eighties goodness, our digital headquarters is always open at eighties flickflashback.com and while you're there, check out our tea public store for original designs and movie inspired merch. Well thank you, Bethany. Thank you, Chris, for joining. Thanks everybody for listening. For the eighties flick flashback, I'm Tim Williams. Where does the pollen go?

Bethany: Yeah.