The Big Picture · Review · Discussion · Hall of Fame
June 17, 2020/ 85 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda review Pete Davidson's VOD dramedy, then spend the back half walking Judd Apatow's entire career to seat a 10-slot Hall of Fame.
28 films across 4 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
‘The King of Staten Island’Apatow's Pete Davidson movie, straight to VOD
Sean liked it more than the last few Apatow movies; Amanda watched it like a 10-episode TV dramedy squeezed into two hours. Shot by Robert Elswit (several Paul Thomas Anderson films, Michael Clayton), which both of them hear in how differently it's lit from Apatow's earlier work. Runs 2:17 and doesn't quite need it, but the Bill Burr performance surprised them both.
Reference pointsthe movies that came up while placing it
Amanda's comp for the Hal Ashby-style movie Apatow keeps reaching for but hasn't quite made yet.
Pete Davidson's scene-stealing bit part, cited as the template for how he tends to get used outside his own projects.
The Judd Apatow Hall of Famemovies only (the TV picks that made the show's actual list are noted below)
Left out early for being 'a different school' of comedy, then reinstated at the very end over The King of Staten Island: Sean's pick over the new movie.
Apatow's directing debut, built around Steve Carell after Anchorman. Unanimous yes.
Made $220 million and launched the whole guys-riffing-in-a-room era. In, despite Amanda's reservations about how thin the Katherine Heigl character is.
Apatow only produced, but by both accounts he's the reason it got made. Called the most beloved movie on the list.
Added as the Ferrell-McKay slot after passing on Anchorman earlier in the count, a placeholder pick that stuck.
Sean's pick for Apatow's best movie, despite the Eric Bana material in the back half. Amanda agrees the first 90 minutes are the strongest thing on the list.
Apatow pushed for the bridal-shop gross-out scene himself. In for what the movie did for comedies built around women, even with reservations about needing that scene to sell it.
Produced, not directed. Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon's script. Amanda's most personal pick on the list.
The rest of the vaultconsidered and cut from the final ten
Ben Stiller movie about a fat camp that Apatow cites as a formative failure. Passed.
Damon Wayans heist comedy, called maybe the worst movie Apatow has ever worked on. Passed.
Sean argued to induct it early, then walked it back before the final count. Out.
Passed alongside Anchorman, as more of the same entry.
Apatow wrote or conceived the story. Liked, not inducted.
A Ringer favorite, still left out.
Big cult following that neither host feels strongly about anymore.
Second-tier Sandler, per Amanda. Not in contention.
One of the more maligned movies on Apatow's résumé. No debate.
Named and dismissed in the same breath: only Bridesmaids survives from this stretch of the catalog.
Same fate as Get Him to the Greek.
Same.
Sean's least favorite Apatow movie, too close to his own life for either host's comfort.
Ruled out as a package deal with the first Anchorman, before Sean reversed himself on the original.
The inflection point where, per Sean, 'the magic ran out on his strategy': Amy Schumer both playing and subverting the Goldie Hawn rom-com lead. Both like it more than its reputation suggests. Still out.
Apatow co-directed this Doc Gooden/Darryl Strawberry documentary. Personal for Sean, a fellow Mets fan, but he keeps it out given how much of Gooden's addiction they couldn't address directly.
Amanda hasn't seen it; neither host makes a case for it.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing Dumb and DumberThe MaskAce Ventura: Pet DetectiveMunichGirls TripMichael ClaytonThe TownSay Anything...Can't Hardly Wait
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV (part of the show's actual Hall of Fame, film-only here) The Larry Sanders ShowFreaks and Geeks
TV (discussed, not inducted) The Ben Stiller ShowUndeclaredGirlsLoveCrashingThe Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling