1999: The Podcast John Brooks & Jenn Tisdale

Three to Tango was the 126th-highest grossing movie of 1999, sandwiched between two movies we have covered already, Drop Dead Gorgeous at 125, and Bats at 127.
It opened in 8th place (behind Bats, which it would ultimately outgross) on the very not rom-com season of October the 22nd, going on to gross 10 and a half million dollars worldwide on a 20 million dollar budget.
Three to Tango - which, we can't stress enough, features no tango or dancing of any kind - was written by Aline Brosch McKenna, who would go on to write romcoms like 27 Dresses and Laws of Attraction in addition to the likes of Morning Glory, Cruella, The Devil Wears Prada, and We Bought a Zoo, along with Rodney Patrick Vaccaro, who did not go on to write those things
Starring Matthew Perry, Neve Campbell, Dylan McDermott, Oliver Platt, John C. McGinley, Bob Balaban, Deborah Rush, Kelly Rowan, and (appropriately) Sue for Swingers Patrick van Horn, Three to Tango has a stellar cast, but it was not one of the highest grossing romcoms of the year.
She's All That, however, was. So we invited the writer of that movie, R. Lee Fleming Jr., to talk to us about Three to Tango.
Lee is on twitter @QualityShorts

It's the second half of May, 1999 - the 16th through the 31st - and the most anticipated event of the year finally arrives as Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace finally opens on May 19th, taking in $68 million on its opening weekend.
This week:

We'll explain why $68 million is a lot more than it sounds like!

Moby! LEN! The Backstreet Boys!

The end of Home Improvement!


Slobodan Milosevic faces justice!

Susan Lucci!

And more!

This week, John is joined by special guest, the host of Pop Culture Reflections!
Connect with Justin on Twitter @PopCultRefPod

Never Been Kissed was the 43-rd highest grossing movie of the year, just edging out last week's Forces of Nature (though proving far more profitable) at the box office.
Never Been Kissed opened April 9th, pitting it against The Matrix in its second week, but still managed to post an impressive second place finish for the week, taking in 14 million dollars. This is largely thanks to the overwhelming popularity of star Drew Barrymore, coming off consecutive romantic hits in 1998 with Ever After and The Wedding Singer.
It's a strange movie with an, um, uncomfortable premise. It's part farce, part tragedy, part love story (all of which tends to be true of Shakespeare's plays, from which it draws its narrative template). Never Been Kissed also became a huge home video hit, watched a rewatched by its target demo for years after, as Barrymore's "Josie Grosie" became an Elder Gen-X/Millennial folk hero.
This week, John and Jenn welcome comedians, podcasters, and, as of recently, authors Trae Crowder and Corey Ryan Forrester to talk about high school trauma, inappropriate relationships, the ethics of the 1990s, and Drew.
Trae is on Twitter @traecrowder
Corey is on Twitter @coreyrforrester

Forces of Nature was the 44th highest-grossing movie of 1999, opening at #1 at the box office on March 19th and taking in 17 million dollars in its first week, going on to make 94 million worldwide on a budget of (somehow) 75 million dollars.
Starring Sandra Bullock and Ben Affleck at a time when both actors' stars were at a high point and one of just a few features directed by accomplished television director Bronwen Hughes, Forces of Nature was the follow-up to her 1996 adaptation of Harriet the Spy, and written by Family Ties writing alum Marc Lawrence, who also wrote 1999’s The Out-of-Towners and would go on to reteam with star Sandra Bullock for Miss Congeniality 1 and 2 as well as Two Weeks Notice with Hugh Grant.
Forces of Nature has a weird and very 1999 visual aesthetic that flies in the face of rom-com tradition, and it dares to at least try something unique and different instead of adhering to genre conventions. It's a stranger, surprising movie. But is it a good one?
You can find Julia and her work on her website, juliasirmons.com

Four special guests share their fond memories of the movie that (re)started it all: Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace.
This is followed by a rerelease of our Phantom Menace episode, the second in the podcast's history, with Brian Silliman and Matt Romano from the podcast RETURN OF THE POD: A Star Wars Podcast.
Enjoy. And may the Force be with you, always.

We have hit May 1999! This is one of the biggest months of the year, and we haven't even gotten to its biggest event yet!
But in the first two weeks of May 1999, we got:


Duel of the Fates!

Robbie Williams!


The Mummy!

The premiere of SpongeBob SquarePants on Nickelodeon!

Prestige Star Wars counter-programming!

And more!

This week, John is joined by a special guest - author Chris Morgan, who has written a book about the Nickelodeon 90s that is currently available, and whose next book, 99 Episodes that Defined the 90s will be available soon! (Sooner than September, anyway)
Chris is on Twitter @ChrisXMorgan