In episode 146: If you had the money, would you like to own a piece of Hollywood history? What are the most expensive props and movie memorabilia ever, and is there etiquette for who can take iconic items with them when the cameras stop rolling?
Football chants are often creative, catchy but are they ever really original? Reviews. Are star rating accurate and how much do critics hate giving a rating?
Just some of your questions answered on this episode of The Rest Is Entertainment.
Assistant Producer: Aaliyah Akude
Video Editor: Charlie Rodwell + Teo Ayodeji-Ansell Producer: Joey McCarthy
Senior Producer: Neil Fearn
Head of Content: Tom Whiter
Exec Producers: Tony Pastor + Jack Davenport
Download ‘Prop Auctions, Celebrity Bodyguards & Football Chants’ as an MP3
Inside This Episode
What happens to movie/TV props after a production ends?
In the past, “there were no protocols at all,” with items sometimes ending up in costume rental shops. Today, prop masters often keep items after productions end, and they eventually make their way to auction houses. There’s a fascinating auction market for film and TV props, where iconic items can fetch enormous sums. Some incredibly valuable items like the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz have sold for as much as “$28,000,000.”
How do football chants originate and spread?
Football chants develop organically, with Adam Hurrey (of Football Clichés) explaining that while some fans try to create new chants, “the easiest and most effective way to establish a new chart amongst the fan base is to steal it from a rival club.” Distribution must be completely organic—through word-of-mouth at stadiums. No artists have sued fans for adapting their songs into chants, though it “does feel like a landmark legal case waiting to happen.”
What happened to the movie tie-in song trend?
Movie tie-in songs became prominent in the 1980s with hits like Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters,” explaining the film’s premise and serving as marketing. The trend flourished during the MTV era because “you could have videos with footage from the film” acting as adverts. The practice has declined significantly because “MTV is a nothing now,” though some franchises like James Bond still maintain the tradition, and films like Barbie have had successful soundtrack hits.
What does it take to be a celebrity bodyguard?
Most high-level bodyguards or close protection officers (CPOs) have backgrounds in military or police service. The work can be extremely lucrative—”upwards of £5,000 a day” for top-tier celebrities—but requires constant vigilance against increasingly complex threats. For someone like Taylor Swift, who reportedly “spends something like $12-13,000,000 a year” on security with “50 CPOs” and “four with her at all time,” the job involves extensive travel and difficult shift patterns.
How do star ratings work in reviews?
Star ratings originated in travel guidebooks before being adopted by film critics. Critics like Peter Bradshaw at The Guardian are “solely responsible for what I put above my reviews,” with no scientific system. Bradshaw appreciates that star ratings “make you take a clear position” rather than allowing critics to “obfuscate.” While common for film and TV reviews in headlines, book reviews rarely use star systems, though online platforms like Amazon and Goodreads have made book ratings “absolutely huge.”
Media Mentions
Movies
- The Wizard of Oz
- Rocky
- Rocky III
- Dirty Dancing
- An Officer and a Gentleman
- Armageddon
- Pretty Woman
- Dangerous Minds
- Men in Black (implied)
- Breakfast at Tiffany’s
- Jailhouse Rock
- The Graduate
- Ghostbusters
- Barbie
Television Shows
- Frasier
- Cheers
- The Sopranos
- Mad Men
- ER
- Gunsmoke
- Columbo
- Murder, She Wrote
- Dynasty
- Wonder Woman
- MASH
- Different Strokes
- The Cosby Show
- Roseanne
- House of Games
- Pointless
- Monty Python’s Flying Circus
Music
- “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor
- “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” from Dirty Dancing
- “Up Where We Belong” from An Officer and a Gentleman
- “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith
- “Batdance ” by Prince
- “Adams Family Groove ” by MC Hammer
- “Everything I Do” by Bryan Adams
- “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio
- “Rotterdam” by The Beautiful South
- “Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel
- “Mrs. Robinson” by Simon and Garfunkel
- “Scarborough Fair” by Simon and Garfunkel
- “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel
Hot Takes
- “MTV is a nothing now. I mean, it was such a big part of when I was growing up.”
- “Culturally, Dangerous Minds… I don’t think it would get green lit these days.”
- “Huey Lewis versus Ray Parker Junior. That was the Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson of the nineteen eighties.”
- “By the time the BBC [closed], it was like England during the war when they took all the signs down to foil the Nazis. Or when they storm a presidential palace, when there’s been a coup.”
Who’s Who
- Adam Hurrey – Creator of Football Clichés social media accounts and podcast
- Taylor Swift – Singer mentioned regarding her security team
- Kim Kardashian – Mentioned regarding Paris robbery incident
- Kourtney Kardashian – Mentioned in Paris robbery story
- Kendall Jenner – Mentioned in Paris robbery story
- Kylie Jenner – Mentioned regarding bodyguard rumour
- Kevin Costner – Referenced for his role in The Bodyguard
- Whitney Houston – Referenced regarding The Bodyguard
- Lady Gaga – Mentioned regarding Rio concert security threat
- Ronnie O’Sullivan – Snooker player mentioned regarding keeping memorabilia
- Alec Guinness – Mentioned regarding Obi-Wan Kenobi costume
- Ray Parker Jr. – Performer of Ghostbusters theme song
- Huey Lewis – Sued Ray Parker Jr. over Ghostbusters theme
- Prince – Mentioned regarding Batman soundtrack
- MC Hammer – Mentioned regarding Addams Family soundtrack
- Bryan Adams – Performer of Robin Hood soundtrack hit
- Coolio – Mentioned regarding Dangerous Minds soundtrack
- Dua Lipa – Mentioned regarding Barbie soundtrack
- Billie Eilish – Mentioned as Bond theme performer
- Peter Bradshaw – Film critic at The Guardian
- Irene Thirer – Early film critic who started star rating system
- Roger Ebert – Film critic mentioned regarding rating systems
- Clive James – Mentioned as television writer
- JK Rowling – Mentioned regarding book ratings
- Saddam Hussein – Mentioned regarding palace looting
- Monty Python – Comedy group mentioned for upcoming podcast episode
Notable Numbers
- $28,000,000 – Price for ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz
- $5,000 – Daily rate for top celebrity bodyguards
- $12-13,000,000 – Taylor Swift’s annual security costs
- 50 – Number of close protection officers employed by Taylor Swift
- 4 – Number of bodyguards with Taylor Swift at all times
- $1,500 – Reserve price for Lieutenant Columbo nameplate at auction
- $60,000 – Current bid for Frasier’s iconic coffee table at auction
- $100,000-200,000 – Reserve for Wonder Woman costume corset
- $125,000 – Guide price for original Cheers front door at auction
- 4.2-4.3 – Average star rating for books on Amazon
- 4.5+ – Considered an excellent star rating for books on Amazon
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