"Ask Anything" Fletch Fan Q&A Call-In Show

EPISODE 33: All Fan Q&A Call-In Show

An entire episode dedicated to the fans.... Laker Jim, Jake, and Big Bob spotlight the listeners while taking your calls & questions all show long with the best caller winning a Confess Fletch hat straight from the set of the new movie. Who will don this incredible cap? Listen and find out!

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_16 0:00

Hey, this is Tim Matheson, and you're listening to three of Alan's Flyboy buddies Laker Jim, Jake, and Big Bob on the one and only Fletchcast. Take it away, guys. Broadcasting live, live and around the world. Around the world from Kabana One, the only podcast that's all ball bearings. Your ultimate source for everything flat.

SPEAKER_11 0:28

River.

SPEAKER_16 0:30

Take it off. Like it's weak reporters. To make sure flat live. Forever. Forever. They don't shower much. It's FletchCat.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 0:54

Thank you, Sammy. So good to hear your voice. Welcome back, Fletch fans. That was your best thank you, Sammy, ever. I'm your host, Laker Jim. Joining me are two men that took a break from raising Chitlins to be here today. Jake and Big Bob.

SPEAKER_16 1:07

They're main little animals, but their coats are worth a fortune.

Jake Parrish 1:11

Oh my god. Lovely to be here. So much going on in our world. I am anxious to hear from the masses. Alright, let's get started.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 1:19

Because we're a podcast that's for the fans, by the fans, we wanted to dedicate an episode to you guys, the ones that make this all possible.

SPEAKER_11 1:26

After all, they are people, aren't they?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 1:28

And as a thank you, especially for voting us into the final play of the podcast world, you the fans are going to dictate the topics we discussed today. We asked the fans to call in with any fletch story, question, comment you want, and to tweak the deal. We got our hands on a confessed fletch hat, yes, straight from the set of confessed flesh.

Jake Parrish 1:53

Yeah, I'm a little envious because I was actually looking at this hat and then Jim texted me and goes, oh that's how we're gonna give it away. Oh it's like But um it's worth it. It's worth it because the fans are everything.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 2:09

Yeah, yeah. Now this giveaway was posted on social media, so if you don't follow it, go to any social media platform right now and follow at I Am FletchCat. You don't miss out on the next giveaway.

SPEAKER_16 2:22

Woo! Oh boy, I lost. Yeah, sorry.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 2:25

Now I must say this confessed hat is beautiful. Beautiful strap back hat. It's tailored to, I guess, look like the hat that John Hamm wears in the movie. And instead of the Laker logo, it's a purple hat with a gold confessed flesh logo on the front. Never been worn comes from a smoke-free home.

Jake Parrish 2:45

I love how you throw that out there.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 2:47

So we're gonna pick our favorite voicemail, and they're gonna be the first to own a piece of the new movie. Just one piece. Let's not wait any longer. Let's get to the first call.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

I'm ready. Hey guys, uh, this is Chad as Houston, and uh my uh buddy just recently put me on to your podcast, so I'm behind, but I'm catching up quickly and uh really, really enjoying it. Um I wanted to share uh a couple interesting fletch-related items to you. Um I was too young to actually see the original in the movie theater, but I did see flesh lives in the theater. Of course, quickly caught up with a regular flesh and watched it dozens and dozens of times. Um interesting enough, what I did with it was uh kind of interesting. You know, keep in mind I'm a little bit older and uh this was a time when there wasn't streaming or uh movies on demand or anything like that. So what I actually did was I was living in San Antonio at the time, and uh I would go visit my friends in Austin a lot. And uh that drive was about an hour and twenty minutes or so, which is coincidentally about the uh running time of left. Uh what I did actually was hooked up my VTR uh to my serial and uh literally tape the movie onto an audio tape. And if you look at the time, uh tape for 90 minutes, so 45 minutes on one time, 45 on the other. Uh on audio tape, and I was looking for that uh on my Twitter uh almost everything that we go and everything we can do. So uh probably maybe listen to the movie more than I think, which is probably the uh best uh goal to have in life, but that's another really quick one's kind of unusual, but uh for my friends who also left life when they came into town uh for my wedding, uh they literally went to a Randall Texas uh childhood home in Ridge City, Texas and drove by. Obviously, he wasn't there, but uh um that's how much my my friends enjoyed as well. So we're all big fans and uh uh I appreciate it and just love uh hearing all the stories. So keep it up. Thanks. Bye-bye.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 4:54

Chad out of the gates, what a great first call.

Jake Parrish 4:57

So so let's let's unpack this. Let's applaud the effort that it took to do this, just the steps to do that. Unbelievable.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 5:09

Yeah, exactly. There was no YouTube, there were no instructions. The guys at Radio Shack couldn't help you. Right, yeah. To know what wire to get, what input to put where. Yes, I mean, you had to be Matthew Broderick from War Games, basically. I think it's to create this fledge audio tape.

"Big Bob" West 5:31

Yeah, you'd have to. And and let it be known too. Laker Jim is uh a novice, uh, you know, a tech guy like that too. There were many times where we would rent movies and he had a uh what was it, a dual head B CR back in the day? Yeah, the dual deck BCR. Oh, yes, I remember those. That was big money, but it was worth it. Used to be our go-to guy to record things on that we got from uh Palmer, West Coast, or Blockbuster and throw it on you know our own tape, and the next day you'd go there and I'd get my VHS copy and whatever it was. Not gonna say.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 5:59

Yeah, yeah. Usually those movies were behind a curtain.

Jake Parrish 6:04

Yeah. In the other room. I remember when I was uh when I was a kid, I remember having like the tape recorder and I would tape like TV. This was back in the 80s. Well, you did that too. Yeah, I used to I used to like record like the theme songs from like you know, A-Team and you know, stuff like that, TJ Hooker or whatever. But um to go to that length, I think really deserves some type of applause. And then the other story about him going to Randall Tex Cobb's home, I think that's great. I try to do that as well, too. Anytime I'm in a town, little horny!

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 6:40

Oh, thanks for the call, chat.

SPEAKER_15 6:42

All right, let's see who's this is William from Tucson, Arizona. I just really enjoyed your new episode. I'm so excited. You know, we're too early, but if we hear anything about a DVD or a Blu-ray, that would be really cool too, because that's probably what I would end up doing. All right. See y'all later.

Jake Parrish 7:49

Yeah, those are good questions.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 7:52

William is actually referencing a kind of a question that we had in a previous episode where we were really a little perplexed on the Showtime announcement, and we weren't sure if Showtime had enough meat on their bones, but okay, they have Twin Peaks. That's a pretty good franchise. I know it's got a big following. I'm not a Twin Peaks guy. I know Kam McLaughlin's in it. He's also in Confess Fletch, but okay, so maybe it's not the worst venue to go with Fletch.

"Big Bob" West 8:20

That's a good actually, that's a very good uh cross-reference there. But did you guys see the news that uh Warner and Discovery are talking about just blowing HBO Max up?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 8:30

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I did hear that. That's crazy.

"Big Bob" West 8:32

Somehow, if if Discovery does decide that HBO Max isn't something that they want anymore, imagine how much more important this Showtime streaming service is going to become. You know, it to a degree. You know, it it could you could see a lot of people jumping over to Showtime if HBO Max is no longer a thing.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 8:49

Yeah, that's a great point. William, thanks for the call. You and Bob are making a case for Showtime as not the worst option now that we kind of look at it from this perspective. He asked a question about the DVD. Now, I stopped buying DVDs years ago. I have probably had 500 or more DVDs in my collection. Now, I don't even own a DVD player anymore, so I'm not quite in touch with the DVD industry. Do movies that launch on streaming or on demand do they ever make it to DVDs? I'm not sure. Do you guys know?

Jake Parrish 9:21

I think that that does happen on occasion, but I don't think that's a common thing. Yeah, I mean, but I still I would love to have it. I mean, like I went out and bought the Matrix, the new Matrix on Blu-ray right after it came out because I'm like a completist, you know, and I'm like, well, I've got the first three, I've got to have the fourth one. So it would be disappointing if I didn't have Confess on Blu-ray, because then maybe there'll be extras. Maybe there will be a director's commentary, more maybe there'll be a retrospect on Gregory McDonald or something like that. Fletch and Fletch Lives, are they on Blu-ray or is it still just the uh the originals?

"Big Bob" West 9:59

They are on Blu-ray, but again, nothing, nothing again on there.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 10:03

Yeah, there's a Fletch and Fletch Lives combo DVD on Blu-ray. It might even be called Fletch Still Alive. I know I saw that recently. I'm not sure if that's like an import DVD or that's um from the US, but they do have it, the Jane Doe edition. That's the only additional Fletch that has any extras on it.

"Big Bob" West 10:21

Yeah.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 10:22

Uh no cut scenes or anything like that, but it's got the documentary and uh a couple other featurettes.

SPEAKER_03 10:29

Don't bother me, I'm watching the terminal.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 10:31

However, DVDs these days are not the only options for extra features. A lot of times when you buy a movie on demand, the perk of buying it is you get extra featurettes and behind the scenes and deleted stuff and outtakes, things like that. So hopefully confessed. I mean, these days I would imagine no boomy gets made without the behind the scenes being documented, the cast being interviewed. I hope that all happens on every movie these days. So fingers crossed, if we hear anything about a DVD, we'll certainly let you know.

"Big Bob" West 11:07

You know, that's that's a good question. That if we get an opportunity to speak to Greg Matola, we can ask him about that as well.

Jake Parrish 11:12

I'm actually messaging him right now to ask if they've done anything for Blue or if he has any idea.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 11:18

Let's jump to the next call. Thank you. Thank you, William.

Jake Parrish 11:21

Yeah, that was great.

SPEAKER_04 11:25

This is a question from the United Kingdom. London to be precise. New death new death is very like question that I would have. Are we able to read it? I would like to think would be quite any of the work like a lot. Probably not. Anyway. I'm gonna love it. Anyway. I don't know.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 12:14

Ah, the celluloid sorceress from Twitter. Good to hear your voice. Big supporter of ours. Huge Fletch fan. Brings up a good question. Will we ever see those fletch scripts that were written but never made into movies? Do they exist? Will we ever see them? Are they out there?

Jake Parrish 12:33

I think, at least to some degree, that yes, those fletch scripts exist. I know Jason McDonald had talked previously about having the Kevin Smith Fletch 1 script. I'm sure if he has that, then there's a possibility that either him or David Liszt still has access to some of those previous scripts, either the Bill Lawrence version, uh, again, the Kevin version, or the earlier Fletch and the Man Who version that was supposed to be the sequel after Fletch. So I'm sure they're out there somewhere because believe me, I would love, and I think all of us would agree, to read those scripts and just see what their take is on it, particularly since all of those versions are based on books, and we would love to see what their take is on those books. Um, if there is a sequel, I think the natural choice would probably be Fletch's Fortune. It's the sequel after Confess Fletch. So I think that would probably be the natural one. And then if there was a third one, I assume it probably would be Fletch and the Man Who. If you haven't read Fletch and the Man Who or Fletch's Fortune, and maybe you've gotten your hand on Confess Fletch because of the movie coming out, you know, I highly recommend reading them because they're easy reads, and I think they would be really good moving them over to film.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 13:50

Yeah, I mean, we'd love to have Andrew Bergman on the show and talk about the original Fletch script, but we'd have so many questions about that Fletch 2 script. And speaking of Fletch 2, I actually found promotional merchandise a shirt with a Fletch 2 logo on it. It's incredible. I've never seen it before. Don't know where this came from. Don't forget, uh, the sequel was Fletch 2, then it became Fletch Saved, and then Fletch Lived. So that's pretty rare to have something that original in the process of the sequel. But back to what we're talking about, I wonder if the writer has any rights to the scripts that they write.

"Big Bob" West 14:29

I don't know. I think that once they pay for the script, it's owned by the studio, and that's it. It's it's theirs forever, just sitting in limbo, sitting in a storage unit. That's a shame, too.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 14:39

I wonder if they have the ability to put it out there to publish it in any way. Or, you know.

Jake Parrish 14:46

Well, here's the thing. I know that there's an old version of an Indiana Jones script that was written by um oh I know he directed one of the Harry Potter movies. I think he directed one of them. I can't remember. Anyway, he wrote a script for the fourth Indiana Jones that never was picked up. But if you do a uh a Google search for it, you can find it pretty much in its entirety. Um so those scripts can be out there.

"Big Bob" West 15:15

So often people will take pieces of one script and use it in a new movie.

Jake Parrish 15:20

Oh yeah, yeah.

"Big Bob" West 15:21

Maybe it's been Frankenstein into something else.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 15:24

You know, one thing I can tell you is from our interview with Jason McDonald, he said every single script, every single version that has come across his desk or David Liszt's desk or Gregory McDonald's desk over the last 20 something years, they've all been scripts that could easily be Fletch movies. And he was uh pretty happy with all of them that that he's that he's read. That's great. And the sorceress is very active on Twitter. Yes. Thank you very much for your support. Great to have followers that also continue to spread the word of Fletch.

Jake Parrish 16:00

Yeah, big fan of Gregory McDonald as well, which is really, really nice to see. And calling in from over the pond. So that might get a couple extra points. That never gets a let's go to the next voicemail.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 16:16

Let's see who's gonna win this hat.

SPEAKER_03 16:18

Hello, guys. My name is Mark Dalps from Denver, Colorado. And I've been a fan of Fletch for years of all the novels. And all I can say is I've read every single one of them. I think they're great. And gonna borrow your cow for a second. My car just hit a water buffalo. That's my favorite line in the entire movie. Love you. I'm in. Thank you. Yes.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 16:47

Frody and slips, you can't take them back. We love you too. We're not ashamed to admit it. And we love all the fans, and thank you so much for calling in. I mean, to to have a fan that loves the movies, loves the novels, loves us, and loves us. Yeah, we I mean, it's just great. I mean, Mark, we love your body, we love everything about you. This one's for you, buddy.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

Uh I just got out of the shower.

SPEAKER_16 17:09

Yeah. Can I borrow your towel for a sec? My car just hit a water buffalo. Nice place to have here.

Jake Parrish 17:16

Mark, thanks so much for the call. Thank you, Mark. Something that we forgot to comment on since our last episode was the fact that we've hit 10,000 downloads. Yes. That's pretty significant.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 17:27

Yeah. That's all you guys. Yeah. Thank you. And just to think, something that we created on a whim a year ago has been listened to 10,000 times. Actually, now it's closer to 13,000 times, but I know we're not in the Joe Rogan numbers or anything like that, but that's pretty significant for a little fletched podcast like us.

Jake Parrish 17:46

Yeah, and by the way, we get zero any type of monetary benefits from this whatsoever.

"Big Bob" West 17:54

We did we did come across a we did come across a free hat. That's about all we've got. We're giving that away. Uh Laker Jim, how much in the red are we?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 18:02

Yeah, just to get the podcast out there to you guys, yeah, it's about sixty dollars a month just just to have the subscription to do that.

Jake Parrish 18:10

That's take taking sixty dollars of baby food from Jim's, you know, baby's mouth. Think about that.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 18:18

Which is fine.

Jake Parrish 18:19

Which is fine. It's where the she'll live, right? Show me.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 18:24

It'll be fine. Yeah. All right, let's get into let's get right to the next voicemail.

SPEAKER_07 18:29

Hello, everybody, it's fletchcat. My name is Matthew Daniel. I'm from Provo, Utah. Oh my gosh. I always enjoy and Provo. My license plate says Flet. Currently it's all in three runs and I love Let more than anything. It's my favorite movie in the comedy genre. No question. I quote it often. And it's not just because I was born and raised in Provo, which is nothing like how it is depicted in the movie. Although it may as well be because, quite frankly, that is in Provo.

"Big Bob" West 19:13

That's what they all say.

SPEAKER_07 19:14

But I just want to say I love the podcast. I love that you guys hit 10,000 downloads. It's pretty great. My own podcast hit that a while ago. Uh it's pretty fantastic. I love that you guys have a podcast dedicated to Fletch. I cannot wait to hear how you feel about Fatch Fletch. It's a movie that has far too long in the making. Keep it up.

"Big Bob" West 19:37

Matthew. Matthew Ray Call. That's awesome. What a fan. You know, Provo Spain, uh, Provo Utah. And uh, you know, has the Fletch uh Fletch deal and everything. That's awesome, man. I I I know he is excited about this new movie because you could hear it in his voice.

SPEAKER_16 19:53

Yeah well, I mean, for your favorite movie to reference the town and state you live in, swedging between Wyoming and Nevada. You've seen pictures.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 20:04

How I mean, how can you get much better than that? I mean, of all the cities of all the states for them to pick because Provo, Utah is not the city and state from the book, right, Jay?

Jake Parrish 20:13

Right, right, right. It's in Pennsylvania. Remember, he's going back and forth to PA, supposedly.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 20:17

Right. So for the movie to just pick that out of the hat and you to be from there, yeah, it's your favorite movie.

"Big Bob" West 20:24

And this too, Matt, you know, Burton Gilliam is a good friend. I have one question for Matt is have you been singing with the Marmon Tabernacle Choir lately?

Jake Parrish 20:34

That was a great call. Provo, Utah. Yeah, absolutely. That's a huge fan, though. I mean, like that really takes dedication. I mean, a lot of people get sports teams or a funny saying or something like that on your license plates, but to actually have Fletch, that really says something. I love it.

"Big Bob" West 20:52

I wonder how often Matt has been chased down by mean dogs, too. I heard that's a big deal in promo. That's so cool. Thank you, Matt.

SPEAKER_05 21:02

Hey, Laker Jim, Jake, Bob. Hope you guys are doing well. This is Dan from Detroit, and uh just wanted to call and say absolutely love the podcast. Banged all the episodes recently, and now I'm waiting on the new ones. Um, I just had a general question. I know one of you had mentioned um one of the previous episodes. Some of the other actors compared for the role of left. And I didn't know that Carl Rhodin was one of them. And uh I love Carl Rhodin. Um one of the funniest movies on another call from Clifford. And then Martin Court, oh my god, one of the funny weirdest movies out of everything. Um just wanted to get your thoughts on what you think he would have done with the role. Um, you know, from the project, might not have worked. Ultimately, I think they did the right thing with Freddie, but want to hear your thoughts on what he might do with the role. All right, I gotta head out now. You're an alphabet. Take care, guys.

Jake Parrish 22:03

Love it. I love it when they throw it. A little line in there. Yeah. Thanks, Dan.

"Big Bob" West 22:09

So Dan's from Dan from Detroit. Well, first of all, I gotta imagine Dan being from Detroit. He has much like I have too longed for many years for an Axel Foley Fletch crossover movie. And that that is uh something that I think that if that ever happened, that would have been so cool to see where Fletch is actually working with a real police officer undercover. And and really there's a lot of distinctions to be, you know, how often does Axel Foley use fake aliases as well? There's characters are very similar, plus the whole similarity with the soundtracks as well. Um, but yeah, uh Charles Groden, I think, would have been a little too serious for the role. You guys agree?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 22:44

I think he could have been a good fletch. I don't think the movie would have been successful with him uh in the role.

"Big Bob" West 22:50

Listen, Charles Groden's very funny, and he he's he you saw him in seems like old times where he worked with Chevy as well. You can kind of see the difference. Yeah, that's a funny movie. Yeah, the difference in the sense of humor is he's a little too serious. It is kind of if you appreciate how his comedy kind of plays off the fact that he is in crazy situations that you know I just don't think it would have been the right the right fit. I think Chevy was the perfect casting, but I don't think looks-wise, Fletch has to be a good looking guy.

Jake Parrish 23:19

And I mean, yeah, I mean Chevy when he was younger was a good looking guy. I mean, he was in pretty good shape, and I just think that might have been too far removed from the role to go in that direction. I think I agree he has the wit, he has the humor. I think that part is solid. Yeah, but I just think from yeah, again, I hate to be shallow, but I mean, they went so far removed from it just when they picked Chevy compared to the original book. So I think that would be even farther away from what the book actually describes, uh Flesh as I just don't think he has a star power to carry the movie.

"Big Bob" West 23:58

But you know what? You you mentioned too playing off other people. I think he would have been a great, either a great Frank or a great chief, yeah, or Gillette, or or Gillette. Yeah, he could have played any of those three roles very well.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 24:08

Yeah, I could see him as Gillette, yeah. And hey, listen, we appreciate anybody that binges our podcast. I mean, to me, honestly, me and Jake look at the we look at the stats every day, and when I see somebody well, see the preview episode, episode one, episode two, episode three. Nothing gets us more excited than seeing a new listener going through them one at a time. And and to be honest, I mean, somebody that gives us uh God, what is it, maybe 25 hours, 30 hours of podcast listening? Yeah, that's a hardcore Fletch game.

Jake Parrish 24:41

Yeah, because Fletch one, our first episode has almost a thousand downloads itself. So that's there was a lot of sampling going on, that's for sure. Um, and I remember the other day you texted me, where you were saying, Hey, someone's getting caught up on all the uh underhill episodes or something like that. Yeah, somebody all the underhills in one yeah.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 25:02

All right, let's give uh the next voicemail a listen. Thank you for your call. Yes, that was great.

SPEAKER_06 25:09

Hey gang, this is Jack from southern Utah calling southern Utah. Wanted to ask you guys who you think is the best female opposite of fletches in the books. I know that there's a bunch of different options there, but wanted to get your opinion on that. Also, I want to win the swag. It looks baller.

SPEAKER_07 25:33

Zach, thank you so much for second people from Utah.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 25:36

Utah. Absolutely. But that is a good question that he brings up. The best female opposite of Fletch in the books.

"Big Bob" West 25:45

I think I'm most qualified to answer, and I think it's obviously Bobby. Uh because she's the only book character I know.

Jake Parrish 25:52

Bobby didn't last very long. Yeah, she didn't last very long. Although I think, you know, I mean, Bobby was really, I think it really kind of um set Fletch on a different course once he saw Bobby die in the book. I mean, she basically, I mean, she died in his apartment. Um, but for me, I would probably say Moxie, you know, Moxie was around for a couple of books, and you know, they really, I think, connected with each other. They would always pretend when they saw each other that it was the first time meeting each other, and it was really neat. And I think they had a really good relationship in the couple of books that they were in. So for me, I would say probably Moxie. I'd have to agree.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 26:34

I haven't I haven't read all the books, but but the first name that kind of came to my mind when I heard the question was Freddie Arbonaut. Yes, yeah, she's in a couple of little yes, yeah. She's in a couple books, and she also is a pretty good adversary to Fletch. She is, she's a good foil. Yeah, she gives him a run for his money. She's a reporter as well. Kind of threw herself at him in one of the books.

Jake Parrish 26:55

That's a good, you know, that's good too. Yeah, she was in a couple books too. And um, one thing was, yeah, she didn't take any of his shit at all. I mean, he would really press her hard, and he would um, I think he really respected her and she would press back. So that's a good one, too.

"Big Bob" West 27:13

For what you're describing, that would be very uh apropos to a a f uh a female character in 2022, you know. That I could see how they could really take somebody like that and really, you know, push hard on uh developing somebody like that in the in a new movie. Hopefully, if we get those two.

Jake Parrish 27:29

Which which book was which book was that from? She was in Fletch's fortune and then showed up again in Fletch and the Man Who. And Fletch and the Man Who, uh, Fletch is a press reporter for a candidate, a presidential candidate. So he's like the press secretary, you know. And um, he's riding with a bunch of reporters on a bus during the book as he campaigns this nominee and Freddie's in there. And Freddie, he meets Freddie at um the journalism convention in Fletch's Fortune. And that would be the again, Fortune and and the man who would be the, I would say, the next two movies if they do them. So again, maybe we would see Freddie in in those two books or in those two movies.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 28:09

Jay, can I ask you an off-topic question, but kind of while we're on it? Why is he the man who?

Jake Parrish 28:17

The man who would be president, I think.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 28:20

Ah, okay. That makes sense.

Jake Parrish 28:22

Yeah, the candidate. He's an interesting character too, because there's so much going on with the candidate, and I don't want to spoil it since you're going through it, but with his wife and you know, and and his children. So he's a very complicated character as well. And is actually, I think, uh really gains Fletch's respect, I think, by the uh by the end of the book. Um, I think he's just kind of thrown into a situation in the beginning with a friend of his that he was in the military with that let him, you know, basically asked him to take over this position. But I think by the end of the book, he actually really comes to respect the uh the candidate.

SPEAKER_11 29:04

Hey guys, this is David from New Mexico. Um, just one kind of question about the books. Thinking about reading the Fletch series, and uh no disrespect to uh Laker Jim and Bob, but this question is for Jake. Jake, what order would you recommend reading the books? I know you can read them either in order of timeline or in order they were written, but I want to know your opinion of what order you suggest I should read it, which is the best way to read it. Thank you guys.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 29:31

Love the show. David, no disrespect at all. Jake, the floor is yours.

Jake Parrish 29:38

You know, that's a great question. And um, we've had that question before. I've been asked that question a lot, and again, I go back and forth, but I think I finally settled on just the overall arc of the character, and I think you probably would start from the beginning, although he didn't write them in order. We know that he wrote them out of order, but just to see kind of a nice fun arc of where Fletch began in Fletch one all the way through to Son of Fletch and Fletch Reflected. So let's go Fletch one, Fletch 2, Fletch and the Widow Bradley, Fletch, then to Brazil for karaoke fletch, then to Boston for Confess, and then after Confess, we went to the plantation for Fletch's Fortune in the journalism convention, then to South Florida to Key West for Fletch's Moxie, and then finally Fletch and the Man Who, and then again the son of Fletch books, son of Fletch and Fletch Reflection.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 30:51

Now, Jake, I have a question. And I guess the only way I can kind of compare this question would be like Star Wars, which was filmed out of order of the way it was written. The middle was filmed first, then the beginning, then the end. Now, if you were to watch Star Wars the way you are suggesting to read the book, you'd ruin a lot of the surprises of Star Wars. You'd ruin the Darth Vader reveal as Luke's father if you were to watch it from one on. Does anything like that happen in Fletch where you'd ruin a couple creative surprises that the author came up with writing it the way he did?

Jake Parrish 31:33

Not too much. I mean, like, there definitely is some callbacks that you figure out, like um, you find a little bit more when you read Fletch, the original, and then when you go back and you figure out a little bit more about, say, like Alston Chambers, uh, you find out where he was when you read them out of order, when you read them in the order they were written, you find out like, oh, so Alston and Fletch were friends. Obviously, they were in the military together, but oh, they were they were friends, you know, from the very beginning during Fletch one, which was kind of neat. Um so again, there's two different camps where you could do that, but I think if you just want to see a nice overarc of the character, I would start at Fletch One and go all the way to the end.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 32:19

Any weird continuity that you can think of that doesn't match up with the books being written the way they were?

Jake Parrish 32:25

The only thing that I thought is a little bit different is that um if you go back and read like Fletch One and Fletch Two, this is when Fletch is in LA, he's learning to become a reporter, and he's he's establishing this relationship with Frank. And Frank seems like uh he has more of a relationship in Frank, but because in Fletch 2, in the beginning, when he's getting married, he actually comes to his wedding um at the beginning of Fletch 2, when when he marries, um, when he marries Barbara. But uh then when you read Fletch, which is the fourth book, uh, it almost seems like that relationship has been rewound a little bit. You know what I mean? Like it it isn't as progressive as it seems like it should have been since Frank was already in Fletch uh Fletch One, Fletch Two, and in Fletch and the Widow Bradley. Does that make sense?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 33:26

Yeah, I get it. Sort of a close friend early on, and then becomes like his complete nemesis, kind of like it's more of his relationship with Frank in the movie in the book in the later books.

Jake Parrish 33:42

Yes, yes. It seems like that relationship is a little bit more established in those three prequel books compared to by the time you get to the first book that obviously he wrote later um to kind of fill in his early, you know, his early life.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 33:59

Great call, good question. That was David from New Mexico. We actually get a lot of downloads from New Mexico.

Jake Parrish 34:05

Isn't that funny?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 34:06

A lot of fans there. Yeah. You know, and it's a good question because we get asked it a lot, like you mentioned. Yes. So it's great to finally be able to cover it on the show. Yes. Okay, let's see who's next.

SPEAKER_00 34:18

Hey guys, it's Mark from Chicago. Love the show. One game I love to play is Mount Rushmore. Jake, I would love to hear your Mount Rushmore Fletch books. Big Bob, you're Mount Rushmore of Fletch movie characters, Fletch Lives and Fletch. And Lake and Jim, I'd love to know your overall Mount Rushmore of the world of Fletch. And to me, you guys belong up down the Mount Rushmore. Thanks for everything you guys do.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 34:43

That's actually a great question. Wow. Very well thought out, especially the end part. Uh Mount Rushmore is something we do all the time. We do it with wrestlers, we do it with different TV shows or musicians and things like that. Who wants to go first?

Jake Parrish 34:57

I'll go boo. I'll go first.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 34:58

Um now the now Mount Rushmore is four or five present. There's four. Four presents.

Jake Parrish 35:05

Yeah. Okay, so my book, Mount Rushmore, would be Fletch. Okay, Confess Fletch, Fletch and the Man Who.

"Big Bob" West 35:17

Big, big, big money right on this Abraham Lincoln spot.

Jake Parrish 35:21

And Fletch. Yeah, Fletch's Fortune. Fletch's Fortune. Those are my those are my four favorites. Fletch, Confess. No, Fletch's Fortune and uh Fletch and the Man Who. So those are my four favorite books.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 35:36

Okay. Now, Bob, the Mount Rushmore of Fletch movie characters. And now he did mention you can you can do Fletch Lives characters. Yeah.

"Big Bob" West 35:45

So look at it. I'll be honest. I I've done I've been doing this for years, and I I have five Mount Rushmores of varying topics, and then the real one I have. So I'm gonna give you I'm gonna give you them quick, okay? The first one is the ladies of Fletch. In the George Washington spot, I have Peggy Lee's Orbra, of course. Um, followed by Gail, Becky, and of course Larry in the honor of Abe Lincoln spot. I think we can all agree on those. Um the next one I have is it's it's Fletch aliases. I'm not a rushmore. You really have this question somehow. Yeah, yeah, I've been doing this for a long time. Uh so so in the Abraham Lincoln, you gotta have a good forehead. So I have Baba Ah Rum first. Of course, followed right by G. Gordon Liddy. Um Claude Henry Smoot in the Roosevelt spot because of the glasses, and uh Elmer Fudd Gantry on the end. Um I have uh I and I have I have uh what I call what I like to call friends of fletch.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 36:49

Oh yeah, this is great. We finished the fucking joke already. All right, but what is what but answer his question. What is the overall fletch Mount Rushmore for the movies? Give it to us the top four across the board.

"Big Bob" West 37:02

So here we go. It's probably the aliases, is is the one most people would agree is the way to go, but I go a different route. I go with uh what I call Beach Rushmore, and it's Fletch, Fat Sam, Creasy, and Gupta. Wow, well, sure, yeah.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 37:16

But I think this guy's just asking for overall characters. Yeah, so if you're gonna be the best characters in in the movies, four best Fletch, Larry, Frank, Gillette.

Jake Parrish 37:28

I I don't know. I think as far as longevity, I would I would almost put underhill in there instead of Gillette.

"Big Bob" West 37:36

Yeah, really. That's why I have like six of these damn things going because I can't decide. I think you have to go alias. I think you have to go aliases because really it's about the Fletch characters.

Jake Parrish 37:46

Yeah I would probably go Fletch, Stanwyck, Frank, Underhill.

"Big Bob" West 37:54

Underhill is the interchangeable, you know. I think you have to have those three. Fletch, Stanwick, and Frank. And then your fourth one is really dealer's choice.

Jake Parrish 38:05

Yeah, it could be Gail, it could be maybe Larry, Larry, maybe maybe Fat Sam.

"Big Bob" West 38:11

Maybe Fat Sam, maybe the chief.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 38:13

What did what did he what did he ask me? He asked me for overall Fletch, yes, overall fletch.

"Big Bob" West 38:18

So you're talking about, I think from from what I get, it's it's the Fletch universe, right?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 38:23

Yes, so I mean, without question, Gregor McDonald is is one of the four. Um absolutely chase is one of the four. Um you could make a case for Peter Douglas being one of the four. You can make a case for Andrew Bergman being one of the four. What about Michael Ritchie? He sure certainly can make a case. He directed both movies.

Jake Parrish 38:46

And then when do you bring the new one in? Is John Hamm?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 38:49

Well, okay, so there it is. We love the movie. John Hamm is one of the four. I mean, another a person to play Fletch has to be in the Mount Rushmore, Fletch, right? Right. Okay, so here's my four: Chevy, Gregory McDonald, John Hamm, and Harold Faltermeyer.

Jake Parrish 39:05

I think you nailed it. And I like that you brought up Peter Douglas because without Peter Douglas, who knows where we would be.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 39:12

That guy was relentless. That guy would not take no for an answer. That he wanted this made into a movie. Yeah, great question. Really great question. A lot to think about there. We're gonna have to think about that and maybe we'll come back to it another another time.

"Big Bob" West 39:26

Well, I think that the obvious answer is the fourth spot goes to a friend of the show, Burton Gilliam with Bud.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 39:32

Anybody. And I think that and the guy that was very kind of the guy to also say that he would put us up there. Um, you know, certainly don't we don't belong up there, but thank you for for saying that.

SPEAKER_01 39:46

Hey guys, this is Kara from New York. Um, I was listening to uh one of your podcasts uh with a narrator, the book narrator, uh Dan John Miller, and he had mentioned that he's given no direction for the voices that he uses when reading the books. If any of you caught uh Marsha Get Harden on the talk a few weeks ago, she does the Countess voice from the movie, and it's the same voice Dan John Miller uses. So I wonder if she listened to the audio for inspiration. Just thought that was interesting. Love the show, guys.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 40:15

You know what? I actually have that clip. So why don't we pull up a clip from Dan John Miller's voice of the Countess, and then we'll play the clip of Marcia Gay Harden on the talk doing the Countess as well. Let's take a listen. Okay.

SPEAKER_13 40:31

Here's Dan John Miller. Now, Flesh, I am not going to have any of your double talk in English. I want the truth. Absolutely. What are you drinking? Kampari and soda. Still watching your figure, huh? Might as well everyone else is. Oh Flesh, you will help me. I will? You have to help me. I do? Menti's dead. I'm an early widow with nothing. Nothing. I married Menti. And his paintings. They are my paintings. Menti would want me to have them. I know this. Many times he spoke of our paintings.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 41:12

And here's Marcia K.

SPEAKER_13 41:13

Hardin.

SPEAKER_10 41:14

I played an Italian contessa, and they really wanted to hire an Italian to come do it, but it was COVID, so they couldn't get an Italian woman to come over and actually come over. So Greg called me and said, Will I do it? And I was like, They're gonna kill me. I'm not allowed to play Italian and they would just do it. So every day I was doing Italian of this woman who was calling me from Italy, and I was doing this, and it was doing Italian all the time. And so then when I got this head, it was like dummy, why the tumultuous muscles is a muscle.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 41:49

It's very similar. Listen, it's completely possible she read the book and also listened to the audio at the same time. That could just be an Italian countess voice. That's the way you did the accent.

"Big Bob" West 42:00

You know, it's also possible that the director heard the audiobook and said, Hey, this is how you need to, you know, voice the character to her, to the actress. I guess that's possible.

Jake Parrish 42:11

It was interesting that she said that they they really wanted an Italian woman, but Matola must be really high on her, you know. He really, really wanted her.

"Big Bob" West 42:18

Yeah, this is a real chicken before the egg kind of question, you know, who who heard what voice and how did it adapt?

Jake Parrish 42:24

Yeah, I have a feeling it's probably I mean, she's a well-trained actress, and she's been around a long time and she's been great in a lot of things. She's a very good actress. I would imagine that hey, this isn't an Italian countess, go. And she probably just could pick it up like that. But it is funny how similar they do sound.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 42:44

Good connection, great call. That was that was really fun to hear. Okay, what do we got next?

SPEAKER_03 42:49

Hey guys, this is Scott, and I want to know what character you would choose to cameo in one of the upcoming Fletch films.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 42:57

I thought that would be a fun thing for you guys to discuss. Look forward to hearing it. Good question, Scott. I've never thought of that before, actually. Um, if I had to pick somebody to bring back as a cameo, now we don't have a lot of people alive, to be perfectly. And yeah, I guess I would bring back Fat Sam. I would bring back George Went, I think, in a cameo.

Jake Parrish 43:20

My pleasure, brother. I think for me, it would be fun to see Fletch run into Gillette somewhere. I agree.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 43:30

Good call.

Jake Parrish 43:30

You know, you know, maybe he's he's um just down on his luck, still chasing ambulances or something like that, but now he's you know, maybe in Boston.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 43:41

Oh, that would be fun.

Jake Parrish 43:42

And uh, you know, he turns the corner and and there's Gillette. That would be funny.

"Big Bob" West 43:46

Yeah, Bob, who would you bring back? There's so many scenarios where he he winds up in jail. Oh no. I see where you're going. I mean, how do you not have Ben? How do you not have bent over?

SPEAKER_03 43:59

Take your

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 44:01

That would actually be pretty funny. That would be great. If Randall Tech's cop turned around. You know, you never know. Okay, just a few calls left.

SPEAKER_12 44:10

Hey FletchCast. This is Gary from the Catskills in New York. I just want to tell you, I love the show. I didn't know what a podcast was before you guys, but I don't miss an episode. Tomorrow I turned 77 years old. I love Fletch just as much as you guys might question what characters, you know, besides Fletch, are your favorite characters? Uh absolutely love the podcast. And I listen to old episodes all the time. Sometimes I pick up new stuff that I've neared previously. What you guys do, honestly, for the world of Fletch is can't be can't be measured. So I look forward to hearing the show and hope you guys like the question. One last thing, if I could just give a shout-out to my friend Keith. Uh, we're big Fletch fans. We grew up watching it together as young men, and uh we listened to the podcast actually, and we discussed it afterwards. We call each other and we have a great laugh. Talk to you guys soon.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 45:05

Gary, happy birthday, 77 years old. Wow. Long time Fletch fan. So good to hear that. You're definitely bucking for Call of the Night. So favorite characters can't be Fletch, can be in the movies or the books. Bob, who are you who is your favorite character outside of Fletch?

"Big Bob" West 45:21

Outside of Fletch. Um, though my heart wants to go with Bud because he has always been just one of the it's that scene that makes me so happy. I I gotta go with Larry. Larry is the best friend Fletch could ever have.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 45:36

That honestly that answer surprised me.

"Big Bob" West 45:38

Yeah. Yeah, uh it surprises myself. There's look, I mean, Jesus, there's a hundred characters I could choose, but it that's Fletch's right-hand person, you know, and there is no Fletch without Larry. I I feel in in the in in the world of uh fletch and writing, you know, writing his paper and writing his column and everything. There's no fletch without Larry. I feel like Larry does so much for Fletch, and you gotta, in my opinion, you gotta have Larry.

SPEAKER_06 46:02

My hero.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 46:04

Well, I'm gonna stick in the I'm gonna stay in the newsroom. And honestly, when I thought about that question, when I was listening to the question, my first thought was Frank. I really love the Frank character. Frank goes from he goes from zero to a hundred in every emotion in between. Proud of Fletch to angry of Fletch, to firing Fletch, to proud of Fletch. I'm gonna go with Frank. Richard Libertini, to me, he killed it. I love that character. Plus, Lattery picked up the ball and ran with it. He absolutely killed it and confessed. And I can't wait to see what he does with the character in Fortune. Uh so yeah, Frank's my answer. He has so many, so many antagonists. I honestly thought you were gonna go like Jimmy Lee Farnsworth or something. Yeah.

Jake Parrish 46:45

Well, I have to say though, that I was I immediately thought of Frank too. I mean, I hate to just borrow against, but that's a huge part of his life, is the newspaper. And without that foil that is Frank. And you're you're right. I mean, Richard Libertini was just so perfect for that role. And they played off each other so well, and they had great chemistry. Absolutely. And every scene was great, every scene that they did together was great. I use some new deodorant. You know, he has respect for Fletch, he's just annoyed with him, you know. He's just like he's frustrated with them.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 47:21

I actually liked I love the groveling prank too. It's like Fletch, I got nervous. You know, I got forgive me. Fletch, yeah, yeah.

Jake Parrish 47:29

Got a little A-frame up at Arrowhead. Go up there for a while.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 47:34

Uh so Gary, again, great call. If we ever do a fletch cast after show, you and your buddy Keith can host it. Oh, yeah. I promise you that. Okay, we got one last call, and then we're gonna find out who's gonna win this confessed fletch hat.

SPEAKER_17 47:47

Um, Mr. Laker Jim Swartho. Uh, my name is Igor Stravinsky. I'm calling about a fletch hat that I would like to win. I was looking at Instagram and overheard some people talking about a fletch hat. And three million dollars sounded like a good price to me. Are you kidding me? Oh, oh, is that right? Oh, well, in that case, I've been very misinformed. Yes, well, uh, I would still love to listen to your podcast anyway. What's a good time for the next episode? First thing in the morning. Hey, this is Jim from Dynamic Minnesota. Just wanted to call and let you know keep up the great work. Uh I hope it helps me win one of your hats. Uh I tell you what, why don't you keep one half for yourself? Go out and get a nice piece of hat. Well, um, I got a deadline to make, so it's uh Jim with the game. Thanks, gentlemen. Take care. Jesus.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 48:49

How many points did Tim hit there? And he had an audio clip in the middle of it? He did the voice, he did it in one take. That's the only voicemail I have from him.

Jake Parrish 49:00

The Mr. Potato Head insert.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 49:03

I mean, I hope people got that reference because that that gave me chills. That gave me chills. For those of you that didn't get that reference, when uh when he's on the phone doing the Igor Stravinsky voice uh with Jim Swarthau, the desk clerk is listening to a Mr. Potato Head commercial.

Jake Parrish 49:24

I love how he says keep 10 hats for yourself and go out and get a nice piece of hats.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 49:29

Oh my unbelievable. I mean talking about the last call, just swooping in on this contest. I mean I guess picking the winner is just a formality at this point. Um but uh I would like to thank everyone that called and honestly, the very first call, the one that called in about recording the movie on audio and listening to it on cassette in his car, that one had it for me all the way through. It was the first one, and I was like, ooh, this one's gonna be hard to beat. And everyone after it, I loved, I definitely loved. But that one held that one held through. What were you thinking through throughout the uh voicemails?

Jake Parrish 50:13

Yeah, I thought it was either going to be the call from Houston about the guy who recorded the audio, or I really like the UK call just because it was great, you know, to hear from people from across the across the ocean. But that one I I'm sorry, but that one there's no comparison. The production value, I laughed my ass off. And I think probably our listeners would agree that that is the clear winner. Would you? Yeah, think that I agree.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 50:45

I mean, I I I think that I think hands down. And Bob just Bob actually we just lost Bob at the very end of that call, but he just texted me that that was the greatest call he's ever heard, and that was who he's voting for. So it's a sweep. I mean, unbelievable, Tim. He said he was from Minnesota, yeah.

Jake Parrish 51:08

Um, he nailed the Igor Stravinsky voice, too. I mean, right he nailed it. Oh, oh, very misinformed.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 51:18

Tim, the hat is yours. Enjoy it. Uh, please send me your guests. But you know what I'm gonna do, Jake? Yeah, everybody that called, I want to send them something for uh for participating in this contest. We really appreciate it. All the calls were great. Honestly, every single call. I love to death. Thank you so much, guys. Tim, the hat is yours. Everybody else, reach out to us at imfletchcast at gmail.com, send us your address, and we're gonna get something in the mail to you guys right away.

Jake Parrish 51:48

Yeah, thanks everyone for calling. I know it's you know just taking a minute out of your day. It's really, really appreciated. And uh yeah, something will be in the mail. Uh you didn't lose again this time.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 52:02

Nobody lost today with this episode. Uh such great stuff, Fletch fans. Thank you so much for Bob, Jake. I'm Linker Jim. We'll talk to you soon. See ya.

Jake Parrish 52:13

See ya.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 52:15

Kind of want to listen to that last call, kick. Man, that was so funny.