No Longer a Gray Area, John Slattery to Play Frank

EPISODE 27: No Longer a Gray Area, John Slattery to Play Frank

Jon Hamm let the cat out of the bag as far as what Fletch character John Slattery is going to play. Listen to Laker Jim, Jake, and Bob pay tribute to the "Frank" character made famous by legendary actor Richard Libertini and what John Slattery can bring to the role of Fletch's old newspaper editor.

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FletchCast is Your Ultimate source for everything Fletch: the books, the movies, & the latest news about our favorite journalistic reporter, Irwin M. Fletcher... making sure Fletch Lives forever!

Host: James "Laker Jim" Kanowitz (@webguy911)
Co-Host: Jake Parrish (@jakelparrish)
Co-Host: Bob West


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P.S. Have a nice day. 

Fletch  & Fletch Lives are Copyright 1985, 1989 Universal Studios and distributed by MCA/Universal Pictures.  The Fletch Soundtrack is Copyright MCA Records. 
All images and sounds are the intellectual property of Universal Studios. They are used only with the intent of public appreciation of a great film and possible 
publicity for its place among the great comedies of our time. We imply no rights to the characters created by both Gregory McDonald and Universal. 

FletchCast is Your Ultimate source for everything Fletch: the books, the movies, & the latest news about our favorite journalistic reporter, Irwin M. Fletcher.

... making sure Fletch Lives forever!

Host: James "Laker Jim" Kanowitz (@webguy911)
Co-Host: Jake Parrish (@jakelparrish)
Co-Host: Robert "Big Bob" West


Follow Us on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imfletchcast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imfletchcast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/imfletchcast


P.S. Have a nice day. 

Fletch  & Fletch Lives are Copyright 1985, 1989 Universal Studios and distributed by MCA/Universal Pictures.  The Fletch Soundtrack is Copyright MCA Records. Confess, Fletch is Copyright of Miramax with Paramount distribution. All images and sounds are the intellectual property of Universal Studios. They are used only with the intent of public appreciation of a great film and possible publicity for its place among the great comedies of our time. We imply no rights to the characters or intellectual property created by Gregory McDonald, Universal or Miramax and is used for educational purposes only. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:15

Your ultimate start for everything flat. Thank you. And it's beautiful orders. But stop enough to make sure flat live. Forever. Forever. They don't shower much. This is Flexcast.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 0:46

Thank you, Sammy. And welcome everybody to a Flexcast. I open up my window and yell as loud as I can. Summonsing the likes of none other than Jake and Big Bob Boys, thanks for joining me tonight on such short notice. I'm ready.

Jake Parrish 1:12

I think we should just keep going on hiatuses because every time we go on a hiatus, all this news breaks and the information that we've been wanting to know for so long actually happens. So let's just go in a permanent hiatus.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 1:26

Now, for some reason, the cast of this movie has always been shrouded in secrecy. And since it seemed like the character names were almost intentionally left off IMDB, we were left to imagine that it was due to uh spoilers within the movie to keep some of the names a secret. Two in particular names Anna Osciola and John Slattery, because we were dying to find out who his real-life girlfriend and his madman co-star would be playing in this movie. And as we started to break down the cast, we realized that a lot of the characters were spoken for. You know, so if you remember about ten episodes ago, we broke the news that his girlfriend would be playing Larry in the new movie.

SPEAKER_05 2:10

Hey, hey, watch it. You're on thin ice, Larry.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 2:12

And Larry is not in the book. So that is a clear nod to the original movie. What we were left with was who John Slattery would be playing, and then we had a lot of speculation on that. But we finally have an answer.

SPEAKER_06 2:25

And a damn fine answer if I do say so, my damn selves.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 2:28

John Hamm was recently on the Rich Eisen podcast, and he let the information slip. So let's take a listen and find out who John Slattery will be playing in Confess Fletch.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

I got to bring John Slattery into it, into the world. Get out of here. We shot in Rome and in Boston. And hopefully we're going to do another one. It will take place somewhere in the American Southwest, we think. Um, and continue the story. There's 10 books. Yeah. So if I could finish up, you know, the next decade of my life making those, I'd be a happy guy.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 3:04

All right. So there we have it. As we predicted, Frank is back. Uncle Frank. Here's where things get a little hairy. Frank is another character that is not in the book, correct, Jake? Correct. I mean, not in Confess Fletch, correct. So right there, and that was something Greg Matola had promised us that there would be some surprises that he was not yet ready to reveal. And I think they're starting to reveal themselves finally.

"Big Bob" West 3:32

You know what this does actually? For everybody that says, you know, I'm not interested if it's not going to be a Chevy Chase version of Fletch, John Hamm has gone on record so many times. Every interview about Fletch, he says, you know, he's not going to be playing Chevy Chase's Fletch. So to offset the fact that it's not going to be the Chevy Chase costume wearing uh alias version of Fletch, at least we're getting so many, you know, little characters from that from that Chevy Chase world of Fletch that aren't expected to be in this. We are getting you know that part of it kind of covered. So for the original Fletch fans, that should satiate your your need for you know that world of Fletch to kind of join this world of Fletch. Am I wrong? Right.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 4:09

It will certainly bridge the gap between the John Hammond and Chevy Chase version. And I forget who it was. It might have been um might have been Gregory McDonald's son who made us realize like you can't just use characters from another company. Universal owns characters, right, right, right. So if they don't appear in the book, you can't use them. You have the rights to the characters in the book, that's what you've purchased. And you just can't take Larry, who was played by Gina Davis, right, into your own movie because it's intellectual property of another company.

"Big Bob" West 4:39

Right, yeah, right. This is actually a big deal with Disney and Universal down here because Universal originally had all these rides that were Marvel characters, you know, Spider-Man and the X-Men and all these. And then when Disney wound up buying Fox and attaining the rights to Marvel, that's why we have all this modern MCU Marvel Universe now. You know, the rides became a conversation down here in Universal. Hey, we have all the Hulk Coaster and we have all these Marvel-based rides, and they had to come to special considerations to keep the rides and keep the characters. But again, they're competition Disney and Universal. So it was a really interesting thing that they get to keep the the characters in their parks, but they don't get to do the movies anymore. So yeah, it's similar.

Jake Parrish 5:20

So Frank was in four of the books. Okay. So Frank is a pretty decent character. He was in the first, he was in Fletch One, Fletch Two, Fletch and the Widow Bradley, and in Fletch. Right. So the first four books, as far as Fletch's timeline is concerned. And again, so the thinking is that Fletch will be working with Frank and probably taking over the Jack character in the book. Okay. That's what I'm thinking. But yeah, it's interesting because when we hear Ham talk a lot about, you know, hey, we're doing our own version. But like you said, LJ, there are definitely going to be a lot more callbacks, I think, to the original movie than we thought. The Larry character, the fact that we've seen Ham wearing a Lakers hat. Right. Um, so there will be things like that. And then I'm curious, he let it slip that he was working on the second one, and it's going to take place somewhere in the southwest. I was going to ask you, Jake, what that was going to be. Well, and you know, I was talking to Jason McDonald about this too. So we were just kind of speculating. So I would imagine that that's probably going to be Fletch's fortune. Okay. In the book, it actually takes place somewhere in Virginia, but you can easily change the locale.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 6:30

Right. And it's good that they're interested in and do care about shooting in the location that the book took place in.

Jake Parrish 6:35

Yeah. With Boston and and they shot in Italy. You're right.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 6:39

Yeah. One thing we just realized right before we started recording, today is actually Richard Libertini's birthday. The man who created the Frank character in the movies. He's deceased, but would have been Bob, what'd you say? It was 89 89. 89, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:53

I'm really gonna miss you, Frank. Well, maybe that's an overstatement.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 6:57

Wow. So how ironic that this Frank news breaks on his actual birthday. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

"Big Bob" West 7:03

Let me ask you, boys, what would be if he if if Richard Libertini, if the uh our beloved Frank was still alive, what would you be buying him for his birthday? Deodorant. Deodorant. I mean, I mean, come on. Yeah, I think that's obvious.

SPEAKER_06 7:15

Come on, Frank say yes. I'll buy him some new deodorant.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 7:18

I mean, and and and when you think about Frank's character in the first movie, Jake, would you say it was truer to the book, or or did Richard Libertini kind of make it his own?

Jake Parrish 7:27

Don't point speak. I I think it's a little bit of both. Yeah. Um, Frank, I I think they kind of made him look a little bit like the book. I mean, they always said that he had really watery eyes and glasses and stuff like that. And you can see that he kind of had that look in the movie. So yeah, I think obviously some liberties were taken, but I think by and large it's it's Frank.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 7:47

And John Slider, who who doesn't normally wear a beard or any facial, has a beard, you know, for this role. So it would be really nice to think he grew this to kind of a little weight Richard Libertini's look. Right.

SPEAKER_03 8:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You are right, Frank, but you're very peaked. You want to throw up? Come on in.

SPEAKER_06 8:04

I want an answer.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 8:06

Now, two of the scenes or settings, I should say, that have been revealed to us, one where John Hamm and Slattery are in a Boston newspaper type setting. Yes. The other one is they're sitting at a bar. Now I can't picture Chevy Chase's Fletch and Libertini's Frank having a drink together. Yeah, yeah.

Jake Parrish 8:27

Unbelievable. Well, I mean, it the Jack Saunders character in Confess Fletch actually um in the book, Fletch meets him at a bar. Oh, the the Jack character. So that could easily be the Frank character being, you know, meeting them. It's like a bar restaurant that they meet when the Jack character discovers that Fletch is in town, you know, they meet up and kind of talk about old times because the Jack character, Jack Saunders and Fletch, used to work together in Chicago, and then the Jack character moved to Boston, and then you know, Fletch is in Boston, and so they kind of reconnect. But maybe that's maybe because Confess Fletch is a sequel to Fletch. Maybe the Frank character has left Los Angeles and is now working in Boston, and maybe that's how they reconnect.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 9:12

You know, maybe Fletch is just in a situation where he needs some help, he needs some advice. And who can he always count on? Larry. He gives Larry a call, asks her to help him research something, and she says, you know what? Frank's in town. Frank's working in Boston. Why don't you hit him up? Why don't you give him a call? Maybe Frank can help.

"Big Bob" West 9:30

Yeah, maybe he maybe he steps in uh Bly Biochem uh corrosive materials and needs a shoe analyzing.

Jake Parrish 9:39

All right, so so the Fletch character's in it, Larry's in it, Frank's in it. So, I mean, those are your three kind of big characters.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 9:48

The other one is Monroe that we know of. And that's another thing which we've mentioned in the past, is now they're they've removed the Flynn character. So it really will be, you know, they're playing it true to the book, but it will have its own elements of surprise, much like the first Fletch movie. Anybody that read the book prior to watching the movie or even read the book after, they don't see the ending coming because the ending is different. So who knows? Maybe you confess Fletch pulls a you know a page out of the original Fletch.

Jake Parrish 10:20

Right, because in the original book, Fletch takes the money and runs, and then in Carioca Fletch, he ends up in Rio, and then after Rio, he moves to Italy with the money. I mean, that's why he's well off in Italy, is because he's still living off Stanwick's money. Um which one does he which one is Fletch?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 10:41

That's Carioca Fletch. John Ham mentions that a lot. Yeah, I noticed that he's mentioned that a few times. Yeah, he mentions the adventures of Fletch, and he says, you know, he one of them he's off in Rio. I can picture them wanting to do the Rio book just because he mentions it all the time.

Jake Parrish 10:58

I will be honest, that book is it's different. Yeah, it's different because there is a murder, but you know who else shows up in that book is uh is Joan, Joan Stanwyck. Oh, you know, shows up. Yeah, she's in that book too. So yeah, yeah. Really? So it is more of a it really is, even though McDonald kind of wrote them out of order. That is a true sequel. If you were kind of interested in the book, I mean, in the first Fletch book, that is a direct sequel. I mean, it takes place like just a few months after the first one.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 11:33

See, I thought I thought Confess was the sequel.

Jake Parrish 11:35

Well, okay, so he wrote Confess Fletch right after Fletch. But if you remember, he goes back and kind of messes with the timeline because remember, future books were actually prequels. So he kind of fills in the gaps. It'll be interesting to see if if he ends up if they end up shooting that one, right? But like the movie we were talking about that might be next Fletch's Fortune is actually the really a true sequel to Confess Fletch. So it would just kind of be the natural way to go.

"Big Bob" West 12:04

Jake, how excited were you when John Hamm said that there's 10 books and he wants to make 10 movies when John Ham said that?

Jake Parrish 12:11

I mean, that would be great. I mean, and I love how he always says, you know, I'd love to spend the next decade making flesh. Yeah, that's because get you excited, right? Yeah, I mean, gosh, that could take me almost into retirement. That would be great. And then I can just go back and watch them in my golden years. But we'll see. But you know, LJ and I were talking. Could they really go back and do Fletch One, Fletch Two? Because those were really young, yeah, in those. So you could definitely do. I mean, you could work Fletch 2 as a sequel. Uh you could write it because that's when Fletch is uh is in search of his father and he goes to Africa. So you could you could always work that right, right? Exactly.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 12:53

Yeah, Fletch One is really the only book that needs a young Fletch or a younger Fletch than he looks right now, right? Because that's really the story of his first assignment. Well, Fletch winning Fletch One. Fletch winning his first assignment at the paper. But you know what? De-aging, who knows? Maybe a young John Hamm can be uh deep faked for a Fletch One film.

Jake Parrish 13:16

Yeah, yeah. And you could do Fletch and the Widow Bradley too, I guess. Uh you could work it, even though really he's he's still working at the paper in LA in Fletch and the Widow Bradley. Um but we'll see. I'm excited though, and it just and it's really nice that they keep saying, we want to do the books, we want to do the books, we want to do the books.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 13:35

So right, and another thing too, John Hamm also says in this interview with Rich Eisen that um they're already sort of working on the next movie. That Matola has already sort of plotted out the next movie, which Greg actually told us at one point that he was in negotiations. Now, this was months ago, now before the movie had sold or anything like that. He had told us he was in negotiations for the next movie. Yeah. Uh so that's promising that it's already sort of in the works.

Jake Parrish 14:05

As I said in the last podcast, it really is a great time to be a Fletch fan. And I just have a really, really good feeling that the next one will be Fletch's fortune because I'm telling you, that that book is would be a great, great movie. It's super funny. There's a lot of good characters in it. It's a good mystery, uh, it's a good murder mystery. I just think that one would play really, really well. Just like Confess Fletch, too. Confess Fletch is a great book, and it I think it'll make a great movie.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 14:33

Listen to the most recent uh Rich Eisen podcast if you have a chance. Um, he mentions Fletch at the very end. Pretty much you can fast forward every John Hamm interview to the last three minutes to catch the fletch. It's that's the last question they always ask him. Hey, hey, what about Fletch?

SPEAKER_01 14:52

Wanting to say it the whole time, but you know what I love that that Ham says in this one? He says, confess Fletch in the next chapter in the saga of Erwin M. Fletcher, you choose. He's such a big fan that I really really really think we're in great hands with.

"Big Bob" West 15:10

He seems very passionate, you know, like talking about wanting to have this carrying him in to his retirement, or you know, he's in his late 40s, early 50s now, John Ham. So yeah, it would it would probably carry him. And he and he didn't unless for a guy in his late 40s, or early 50s, he he still passed for a guy in his early 40s, you know. So he'll he'll age appropriately with the character as we go. Um, let me ask you guys this. Uh, John Slattery now, we know he's gonna be uh Frank. What kind of a Frank do you think we're gonna get? Do you think we're gonna get similar to what we've seen before, or do you think we're gonna get uh a totally different spin? That's a good question. Do you picture him being the I mean listen? Richard Libertini did an amazing job with that character. There's no basis for comparison, of course, because he's the only one to ever play him. But he did play him in two movies, and he played him perfectly in both movies. The neurotic, um, not on your side boss who just expects results and doesn't care how you get there. Do you think we're gonna get a similar kind of portrayal or do you think it'll be different based on the books?

Jake Parrish 16:11

I would say it's gonna be different. I would say, and looking at the pictures, I would say it's more of a friendship, okay, uh, more of a respectful, you know, admiration for each other.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 16:22

Okay. I wonder if they are going to change Frank's name. Because Frank's name in the in the movie was Frank Walker, in the book it was Frank Jaffe, correct? So I wonder if it comes up at all the opportunity to mention the last name and which last name they choose. That's a great question. You know, possibly maybe in a John Hamm uh Chevy-esque uh voiceover from scene to scene. Maybe he could mention my own my old editor, Frank Walker, my old editor Frank Jaffe. You know, I wonder what version of Frank's last name they're gonna use.

"Big Bob" West 16:56

Yeah, or maybe a new version, you know, maybe a third. What do you guess?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 16:59

If you had a guess, what do we what do you think? I bet you they do Jaffe. I bet you I'll I bet you they do Jaffe too. I'll bet you they do Jaffe. I bet you they change it to the book. Yeah, maybe that's their way around the intellectual property of Frank Walker.

Jake Parrish 17:10

That's there you go. Well, that's exactly what I was thinking. Is like, oh, this is Frank, this is this is a character in the book. This is Frank Jaffe. So sorry, right, right, right, because they own all the books, although Frank's not in that book, he's in you know more than one book. So I guarantee it's gonna be right, yeah. Now that you put it that way. If they're holding out though, if they somehow have the Larry character, they're showing the Laker hat. I'm now I just wonder if we're gonna have the theme or not. I know that would really tie it all the time. Yeah, I'm just on the fence. I'm 50-50. I don't know if we'll use it or not. Because that might almost be too much of a callback to the original movies. People would lose their mind. It's like probably when, like, because I'm sure that they're gonna use like some of the old um music for this new top gun movie, like danger zone. I mean, when you think of top gun, you think of that danger zone.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 18:04

So I think they gotta do it. Even if it doesn't happen, I'm sure they tried. You know, I mean, there was a probably at least an attempt, an ask, an offer, something.

Jake Parrish 18:15

What else is is interesting is that when that other interview that we had showed in the or we we played in the last episode about um going streaming, and you know, there was that interview that he was talking about, and we were thinking 2022, and then they said 20. What was the interview with when he said 2023? It was that interview. Oh, I I have it here.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 18:35

Ham seemed a little scattered on the on that in that whole interview with the information.

Jake Parrish 18:40

Then on the Rich Eisen show, he did say probably the year Scott Fien or Fiend, F-I-E-N, on Twitter reached out to us and said, This was on Never Not Funny. That was the podcast, Never Not Funny. I don't know if we can play that clip or not. But um, he said, Yeah, Ham said 2023, and Paramount will be determining the distributor. So I I think you're right. I think he might be a little in the dark. He doesn't listen to our podcast enough because or he's behind. We've already established that it's going to be a streaming service. But again, he said 2023, which was a little bit of a bummer for us. But in the Rich Eisen interview, he seemed a little bit more unsure about when.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 19:25

And I think a lot of a lot of the fans uh reacted to that and thought, oh god, it's gonna be Paramount Plus that the streaming service that it gets on. But we did a little digging and we didn't realize that Paramount actually owns Miramax. So by saying they're sort of like in charge, that just makes sense. Yeah, it just makes sense that if since they laid out the money, they have some sort of a say in who's gonna distribute the film, guys.

"Big Bob" West 19:53

I have an idea. Uh something that might be fun for us as a as a as a group. Um, what if we take bets on the months? We each of us grabs a month, one of us grabs November, December, January, whatever. Maybe we grab two months, you know, not back to back. And what if we do a little bet between the three of us where like the two losers have gotta dress up as uh Peggy Lee's Orba or something?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 20:19

I'll take care of that. I'll take it for sure. So I think the most realistic time period would be September to December if it's gonna land.

Jake Parrish 20:29

Yeah, yeah, I think sometime at between Labor Day and Christmas.

"Big Bob" West 20:32

I I have a feeling I will be dressing like Peggy Lee's Orba in a very I think you want to do that anyway.

Jake Parrish 20:37

I don't think the bet has anything to do with it. I know, I know it wasn't my idea for the contest, suspiciously.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 20:45

That's when I dropped the Frank leg waxing field, Frank.

SPEAKER_06 20:49

$58 for leg waxing. That's bullshit. Yeah, but Frank, feel how smooth they are.

"Big Bob" West 20:55

You know, before we do wrap up this breaking news uh episode uh about Frank and John Slattery, I do want to talk about the original Frank Walker. It is his birthday. Let me ask you both, what is your favorite Frank moment in in both movies? Uh you know, you could draw uh one moment from either movie. What is your favorite moment?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 21:16

The two moments that instantly came to my mind was the uh the charcoal scene.

SPEAKER_03 21:24

There's a source behind him. Well, there we're in a kind of a gray area.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 21:28

All right, all gray. Charcoal. Can I help you with that?

SPEAKER_00 21:33

Thanks, Tommy.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 21:35

That's my that's my Frank moment in Fletch, the original Fletch. In Fletch Lives, it's sort of unrelated to a Frank moment, but I do love when Fletch takes the caution table off his desk and breaks into the front.

"Big Bob" West 21:48

What about you, Jake, if you were to pick one moment from the movies?

Jake Parrish 21:52

Well, I have to go with the original with U LJ. I just think the coffee pot shaking is great. But for Fletch Lives, And it's kind of indirect too, is when Frank walks by and Fletch gooses him and then points to the other guy.

unknown 22:08

Oh.

SPEAKER_07 22:11

Oh, that's a great one. Yeah. And then he points to the other guy.

"Big Bob" West 22:19

For me, there's one moment that always stands out in my head. And it's not, maybe it's not my favorite, but it's a moment that I always think about. I love when he's sitting with the ancient copyboy on the phone with Fletch.

SPEAKER_05 22:31

You go to Utah, you stay in Utah. I'm turning the story over to a professional reporter. Frank, the story is Utah. Trust me. You go to Utah? Fine, fine, fine. If your story is not on my desk by 11:30, you're out of a job.

"Big Bob" West 22:46

He points to the ancient copyboy, and the ancient copyboy smiles at him all excited with a big toothy grin. I just I love how Frank is just fed up in that scene and just ready to replace Fletch with this absolute loser. That moment really resonates. Ah, you just you hate him, but you know. I also love the way he says horseshit.

Jake Parrish 23:14

Yeah, he really hits the H. Horse shit, paranoia.

SPEAKER_05 23:19

And I don't want any of these unsubstantiated charges about dope-dealing cops or any of your horseshit, paranoid fantasies about homicidal police chiefs.

Jake Parrish 23:27

You know, a funny scene is Fletch and Fletch, what's this? Fletch, if you're okay, just say Louisiana is the Pelican State or something.

SPEAKER_06 23:35

Behaving very strangely, you must be in trouble. Somebody must be holding a gun to his head. Fletch, if you need rescuing, just say, I believe Louisiana is the Pelican State.

Jake Parrish 23:46

Yeah, absolutely. All right, Frank.

"Big Bob" West 23:48

I believe Louisiana is the Pelican State. And let me ask you this too. Another question that's popped in my head, too. If you were gonna buy Frank's new deodorant, what do you think you'd go with? I I I I I personally would go with something very strong. Because I think there's a little bit of a problem there. So I'd go with like a very strong spelling right guard, you know, like something that really it's a I wouldn't go with a spray, I'd go with a roll on it because he needs to really.

Jake Parrish 24:13

See, I'm I'm the I'm in the other camp. I think it's aerosol all the way. You think aerosol is strong? Oh yeah, I think Frank's one of those aerosol holdouts.

"Big Bob" West 24:20

I probably need to get some new deodorant, and I've been using roll on my speech. Probably less out of whoop when he like sprays it under the arm, too.

Jake Parrish 24:27

Yeah. He's much more promiscuous in the books, too. You know, he's sleeping with Clara Snow. I mean, like he's he's kind of got it going on there in the books.

"Big Bob" West 24:38

You know, that was my next question. In the movie, you know. My next question was do you think Frank is a family man or do you think he's like a bachelor? So you just answered it. So he's a he's he's a bit of a swinger, Frank, huh?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 24:48

Yeah, yeah, he is. He is. Did you guys realize that Richard Libertini was married to the mom from Christmas Story? And also, and also Harry Yeah, and Harry and the Halloween. Oh, Harry and the Hands.

"Big Bob" West 25:00

Yeah, yeah. Wow. And they have a son together, too. That's great. When you think of him, like can you think of him other than Fletch or Fletch Lives?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 25:07

I think he was he in the Popeye movie with Robin Williams.

Jake Parrish 25:10

Yes, yes, he was. He was in the Popeye movie. That's the only thing I can picture.

"Big Bob" West 25:15

How about that? Yeah, it really, I mean, his his claim to fame is definitely Fletch and Fletch Lives. I mean, probably not, yeah, but as far as we're concerned. But um, but yeah, I mean that's that's listed as one of his five biggest movies.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 25:28

It's funny that we're talking about this because I actually know of an interview that he did where he mentions what he's most recognized for. Let me see if I can dig that up real quick.

SPEAKER_04 25:37

If you run into people of a certain generation, I would say like your generation, and uh they say, I know you know you're in the movies, you're an actor, you know, uh, and then uh tell me what you've done. So then you every actor has the same story, you know. You you give him a whole list, and uh until you hit Fletch, and then they go, Oh, yeah, that that's it.

"Big Bob" West 26:00

Well, he'll always be Uncle Frank to us, and uh he's missed today. We could celebrate him a little special with knowing that his legacy is gonna be carried on with yes, James Fletch.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 26:10

Yeah, that's great. And IMDB has still not updated. He I think there's one other actress that doesn't have a uh a role assigned to her. Uh, but he still Yeah, uh Erica, Erica McDermott doesn't have Frank attached to him. So we'll see now how quickly, now that we've put out this episode, that it happens because when we put out the Larry episode, it happened almost a day or two later. Yeah, like almost instantly. Yeah. Now, Jake, in in the other books, is Frank always Fletch's editor.

Jake Parrish 26:43

Yeah, yeah. He's always he's always there. Yeah. So he was in he was in Fletch one. He actually came to Fletch's wedding in the beginning of Fletch 2, okay, the book. Yeah, he actually shows up at his wedding um when he's marrying Barbara.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 27:00

Fletch's mom is single. I can see Frank hitting on Fletch's mom at the wedding.

Jake Parrish 27:05

Yeah, Fletch's mom. Yeah. Yeah, that's the case. You know, she's a mystery writer too. And she writes mysteries. Fletch's mom. Yeah. Yeah. You know, you would know this if you'd pick up a book once in a while. Yeah, James, get it together.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 27:24

We got him, Jake. Yep. All right, that about wraps up this episode of Fletchcast. Rest assured, if any other news breaks, we'll be on here to deliver you guys the latest news in the world of Fletch. Don't forget to call the Fletchcast Hotline. We'd love to hear from you and put you on a future Fletchcast. Leave your comments, questions, opinions, theories. We'd love to hear it all. For Jake and Bob, I'm Laker Jim. See you next time. See you guys. See ya.

SPEAKER_06 27:52

See you guys. Good. Brilliant as usual, Fletch. Right on to the next edition.