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WHAT WENT WRONG

WHAT WENT WRONG

By: Sad Boom Media
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About this listen

What Went Wrong covers Hollywood’s most notoriously disastrous movie productions, digging into the behind-the-scenes insanity of everything from massive flops to record-breaking blockbusters. In each episode, hosts Lizzie Bassett and Chris Winterbauer dive into a new film to explore the mind-blowing (and sometimes numbing) reasons why making a movie is nearly impossible (especially a good one). Produced by David Boman.


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Episodes
  • Taxi Driver

    Taxi Driver
    Apr 20 2026

    This year marks the 50th anniversary of 'Taxi Driver', which is somehow even more relevant now than it was in 1976. But the truth is 'Taxi Driver' almost didn't make it to the screen.


    This week, Chris and Lizzie break down how Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader fought to make a dark, deeply uncommercial script on a shoestring budget, that made the studio nervous from the start. Discover why the Board of Education nearly blocked Jodie Foster's controversial casting, and how Robert De Niro stepped in as her de facto acting coach on set. Plus find out how Scorsese wound up as a last minute replacement for one of his own actors, and why the production almost drove him to go full Travis Bickle on the studio execs... until Steven Spielberg talked him down.

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    1 hr and 20 mins
  • Jodie Foster & John Hinckley Jr. (with RedHanded)

    Jodie Foster & John Hinckley Jr. (with RedHanded)
    Apr 17 2026

    'Taxi Driver' isn't just one of the greatest movies ever made... it's also deeply entangled with one of the most shocking true crimes in American history.


    In this Out of Frame episode, Chris and Lizzie welcome special guests Suruthi Bala and Hannah Maguire from RedHanded to examine the disturbing case of John Hinkley Jr, whose obsession with Jodie Foster spiraled into an attempt to assassinate Ronald Reagan. Discover how the case reshaped Foster's life and career, and dive into the lasting impacts of the trial on the American criminal justice system. Find out how 'Taxi Driver', arguably an examination of toxic masculinity, became an extremely dangerous call to arms in the wrong hands.

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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)

    Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
    Apr 13 2026
    Let's dive into a world of pure imagination... and some pretty unsafe set pieces! This week, Chris and Lizzie are joined by Aaron Tracy, creator and host of The Secret World of Roald Dahl, and they head into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory to figure out how such an odd movie came to be. From cereal financing to secret rewrites and Gene Wilder's unexpectedly edgy performance, this production's only topped by the Zelig-esque life of the man who spawned the book it's based on.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    1 hr and 40 mins
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