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Now Playing Podcast Hosts May 1 ‘Jason Takes Manhattan’ Watch Party

For the first time since 2009, Now Playing Podcast is going back to Crystal Lake. It will be a brief return, because we’re then hopping a boat for the Big Apple!

On Friday, May 1 at 9 p.m. EST, Now Playing will host a LIVE Friday the 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan watch party on Hot Mic, marking our return to the Friday franchise. Now Playing launched its retrospective format 11 years ago, covering the entire Jason Voorhees saga in anticipation of the Platinum Dunes remake.

Over the years, listeners have been requesting a revisit, noting that the original Friday reviews lacked the polish of future Now Playing episodes. It’s true, the show didn’t find its footing until we established the retrospective format, and while we eschewed the idea of re-recording those old shows, we couldn’t resist the idea of a live watch party with listeners.

If you don’t have a copy of Jason Takes Manhattan lying around, we’ll be streaming the movie on Amazon Prime Video. Join us at 9 p.m. and “press play” with our hosts to stay in sync.

If you missed our Oscars party and don’t have the Hot Mic app on your phone, here’s what to do:

1. Download the Hot Mic app

2. Sign up with invite code NOWPLAYING

3. Join us at 9p EST!

It’s that easy. We’ll see you soon Class of ’89!

Join Now Playing Podcast for a LIVE "Friday the 13th Part 8" watch party on Hot Mic on Friday, May 1 at 9 p.m. EST.

April 29, 2020 Posted by | Movies, Now Playing Podcast | , | 1 Comment

Why ‘Jason Takes Manhattan’ was Now Playing Podcast’s toughest show

To mark the 10th anniversary of Now Playing Podcast in 2017, hosts and staff are looking back at defining moments throughout the show’s history.

On February 4, 2009, Now Playing Podcast released one of its most memorable early episodes. On the eighth anniversary of the Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan review, host Arnie Carvalho reflects on the behind-the-scenes craziness that listeners never heard on the air.

Friday the 13th Part VII was our most loved show on that series. It was also our first big failure. It was our third recording on a Sunday night. We suddenly learned recording this many shows is exhausting, even for shorter shows. We made a ton of jokes about Friday the 13th but there was no content. More, it was our shortest recording of the series by far.

I walked away from the conversation with my sides hurting from laughter, but exhausted and frustrated the show wasn’t better. Stuart the e-mailed me and said he didn’t think the show was very good either. We roped Brock into the conversation, he agreed, and we re-recorded that show top to bottom.

BUT… that attempt wasn’t very good either. We were much better about explaining the beats of the movie, but we had told each other all of our jokes, and the fun wasn’t there.

I spent about 60 hours working on that show. I took both versions into the editing software and I took the funny from Recording No. 1 and put it with the thoughtfulness and the structure of Recording No. 2. The result was what some people still call our funniest show.

By the way, while doing the series it was Brock that started pushing for Star Trek. He seemed as excited for the Trek reboot as I was for the Friday the 13th one. I wasn’t feeling it, but then when we saw the download numbers for Friday the 13th, and when we realized how much fun we were having, we were all excited to boldly go into our next retrospective!

Now Playing Podcast’s Friday the 13th Retrospective Series was released from January 9 to Feb. 20, 2009. The 13 episode series can be heard on the Now Playing Podcast website.

February 5, 2017 Posted by | Movies, News | , , , , | Comments Off on Why ‘Jason Takes Manhattan’ was Now Playing Podcast’s toughest show