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Oral History

  1. backstories
    ‘Look at Me Like a Human Boy!’An oral history of Clifford, the 1994 cult comedy about a deranged little boy played by Martin Short.
    By Rob Turbovsky
  2. oral history
    ‘We Were a Part of History’Beyoncé and the Chicks’ audacious CMAs set, and the volatile reaction offstage, as told by its background performers.
    By Zach Schonfeld
  3. backstories
    How Clone High Rose From the DeadAn oral history of Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s vexed animation experiment and its unlikely return 20 years later.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  4. by order of the king
    ‘I Still Don’t Know What It Was’An oral history of Kings, the ambitious, expensive, and admittedly weird drama on which NBC bet its prestige-TV future and lost.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk and Jackson McHenry
  5. backstories
    ‘There Couldn’t Be Any Normal Scenes in This Movie’Damien Chazelle and his collaborators explain Babylon in three key scenes.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  6. oral history
    An Oral History of ‘David Pumpkins’The story of Saturday Night Live’s most improbable breakout character.
    By Jesse David Fox
  7. backstories
    An Oral History of Lilo & StitchThe beloved Disney movie made in a “secret hangar” that almost brought hand-drawn animation back.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  8. oral history
    ‘She Wanted to Be Fantastic’An oral history of Beyoncé in Austin Powers: Goldmember, a goofy anomaly in a now-rarefied pop career.
    By Matthew Jacobs
  9. putting the atoms together
    ‘No Aliens, No Spaceships, No Invasion of Earth’An oral history of Contact, the sci-fi movie that defied Hollywood norms and made it big anyway.
    By Rachel Handler
  10. community theater
    ‘We Should Hate It, But It Works’An oral history of the inexplicably star-studded, hallucinogenic ending of Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again.
    By Rachel Handler
  11. oral history
    How Blue Man Group Blew UpAn oral history of the wildly successful show, starring strange bald men painted in Yves Klein blue.
    By Molly Langmuir
  12. backstories
    The Little Streaming Comedy Platform That Couldn’tAn oral history of Seeso, NBCUniversal’s short-lived, extremely doomed comedy experiment.
    By Will Storey
  13. the vampire chronicles
    An Oral History of Queen of the DamnedHow an Anne Rice novel became a Hollywood saga involving Aaliyah and the guy from Korn.
    By Matthew Jacobs
  14. book excerpt
    Mac Miller Found Freedom on FacesAn oral history of Mac Miller’s 2014 opus, now available on streaming services for the first time, excerpted from The Book of Mac.
    By Donna-Claire Chesman
  15. oral history
    ‘What’s the Best and Worst Day of Your Life?’How System of a Down’s “Chop Suey!” tore up the airwaves — before getting banned post–9/11.
    By Jeremy Gordon
  16. oral history
    The Oral History of Madonna’s Truth or DareMadonna’s seminal 1991 documentary had few precedents. That’s why it can’t be replicated today.
    By Matthew Jacobs
  17. oral history
    No, They Weren’t Dead the Whole TimeAn oral history of Lost’s daring, divisive finale, our last truly communal broadcast TV experience
    By Jen Chaney
  18. oral history
    ‘We’ll Never Make That Kind of Movie Again’An oral history of The Emperor’s New Groove, a raucous Disney animated film that almost never happened.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  19. oral history
    An Oral History of Election Night 2016 at MSNBCWhat it was like to cover the news on the day that gave us the past four years.
    By Jen Chaney
  20. lux aeterna
    An Oral History of Requiem for a DreamDarren Aronofsky’s 2000 movie is the work of artists who hadn’t yet been told what they could and couldn’t do.
    By Alison Willmore
  21. oral history
    An Oral History of the Very First Episode of Yo! MTV RapsOn August 6, 1988, MTV finally, officially, embraced a genre that was born in New York.
    By Jen Chaney
  22. kristy’s great idea
    An Oral History of The Baby-Sitters Club MovieFrom first kisses to first periods to narrowly avoided perms, inside the making of a ’90s sleepover classic.
    By Jessica Goldstein
  23. oral history
    An Oral History of Rihanna’s Debut Song, ‘Pon de Replay’Fifteen years ago, a dancehall riddim and a Bajan teenager laid the groundwork for a pop icon.
    By Bianca Gracie
  24. dance the sh*t out of it
    An Oral History of Center StageHow 24 pairs of leather pants, a tearaway tutu, and red pointe shoes made for a generation’s greatest dance movie.
    By Chloe Angyal
  25. oral history
    An Oral History of How BoJack Horseman Almost Killed BoJack HorsemanThe show’s creators on making a trippy, creepy, death-obsessed penultimate episode.
    By Jen Chaney
  26. oral history
    An Oral History of Cats, As Told by Its Original Cats“It became this joke. But it was the most spectacular thing of its time.”
    By Molly Langmuir
  27. oral history
    I Think You Should Leave’s ‘Focus Group’ Sketch: An Oral History“They called me in and were like, ‘I think we just discovered a star.’”
    By Jesse David Fox
  28. oral history
    ‘What the Hell Is Skimbleshanks?’ The Oral History of SNL’s Cats SketchJames Van Der Beek, Chris Parnell, and Mike Schur revisit a forgotten SNL classic.
    By Dan Reilly
  29. oral history
    Jersey Shore: An Oral History“It was like zebras in the Serengeti. We wanted to see this in action. Where does that happen? The Jersey Shore.”
    By Molly Fitzpatrick
  30. fall preview 2019
    The Hustle Behind HustlersHow do you get a film about rich white men getting scammed made in an industry run by rich white men? First step: Get J.Lo to sign on.
    By Rachel Handler
  31. backstories
    The Season SNL Embraced Its Old, Weird Self AgainThe show’s writers walk us through the highlights from a year when they dialed back the Trump.
    By Dave Schilling
  32. remember that time
    An Oral History of the Eyes Wide Shut OrgyStaging that scene from Stanley Kubrick’s divisive final film.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  33. scene to meme
    ‘Not Great, Bob!’: The Making of Mad Men’s Greatest MemeThe writers and actors behind season six’s “In Care Of” take us behind the scenes of the elevator confrontation that will live on in pixelated infamy.
    By Whitney Friedlander
  34. oral history
    An Oral History of Game of Thrones, As Told By Its Bit Players“Do you know how they keep cattle? That’s sort of how they keep us.”
    By Dan Reilly and Lila Shapiro
  35. behind the scenes
    How Shrill Made Its Dream ‘Fat Babe Pool Party’ a Reality“I almost cried because it was so beautiful. I just really wanted it to feel like a dream.”
    By Allison Shoemaker
  36. oral history
    The True Origins of Monty Python’s Spamalot MusicalThe best stories from the updated Monty Python oral history, including how Mel Brooks helped give birth to Spamalot.
    By Brian Boone
  37. oral history
    An Oral History of The Dark Knight’s Pencil TrickNo CGI, but a few bouts of unconsciousness.
    By Abraham Josephine Riesman
  38. book excerpt
    How BoJack Horseman Got MadeThe origins of TV’s favorite alcoholic, narcissistic, self-destructive talking horse.
    By Chris McDonnell
  39. oral history
    ‘The Sketch That Always Plays Hot’An oral history of Saturday Night Live’s “Black Jeopardy.”
    By Dave Schilling
  40. oral history
    ‘Splat!’: The Oral History of Sex and the City’s Most Shocking EpisodeThe episode where Lexi Featherston committed the ultimate party foul.
    By Nisha Gopalan
  41. oral history
    An Oral History of The Americans Series FinaleBehind “START,” one of the finest series-enders of the modern TV era.
    By Jen Chaney
  42. oral history
    The Inside Story of How Timeless Was Canceled and Uncanceled in Just Three Days“I’d seen shows get canceled and then picked up by other networks, but I’d never seen a network do this.”
    By Jackson McHenry
  43. oral history
    How Get Out, the First Great Movie of the Trump Era, Got MadeIt began as a rebuke to Obama-inspired dreams of racial harmony and became a conduit for fears reignited by the rise of the new president.
    By Jada Yuan and Hunter Harris
  44. An Oral History of the Time Bob Costas Had Pink Eye at the Sochi Olympics“The decision to take him off air was … not difficult.”
    By Kelly Conaboy
  45. oral history
    The Disaster Artist: An Oral HistoryHow James Franco and friends brought the story behind the 21st century’s biggest cult film to life.
    By Nate Jones
  46. oral history
    The Oral History of Seinfeld’s ‘The Contest’Larry David & Co. remember when the sitcom mastered its domain.
    By Jen Chaney
  47. A Deep Dive Into BoJack Horseman’s Dementia EpisodeRaphael Bob-Waksberg, writer Kate Purdy, and animator Lisa Hanawalt explain how they made “Time’s Arrow.”
    By Jen Chaney
  48. oral history
    ‘It Has Provided Me with So Much Joy": Read This Oral History of ‘Comedy […]To celebrate today’s release of the 500th episode of Comedy Bang! Bang!, The Daily Beast posted a great new oral history of the show and its […]
    By Megh Wright
  49. The Story Behind The Simpsons’ Legendary Planet of the Apes MusicalInside the process that one writer calls “a magic visit from the joke fairy.”
    By Jesse David Fox
  50. hirings and firings
    All the Reasons Jean-Claude Van Damme Was Allegedly Fired From PredatorHe kept passing out, or he wanted the Predator to kickbox, or he broke the head of the costume. Who knows!
    By Ethan Sapienza
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