I don’t know much about movies, but I have really come to adore Scarecrow Video, and a big part of that is thanks to Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast (GGACP). Most people know Gilbert Gottfried (1955-2022) for the over-the-top persona he honed in standup, movies, and voiceover work. But rather than a brash, screaming lunatic, the podcast showcased his voracious appetite for movies and TV shows, his reverence for iconic talent, and his bizarre steel trap mind for theme tunes and obscure impressions.
Over the course of hundreds of episodes, Gilbert and his co-host Frank Santopadre interviewed some of America's most eminent figures of stage and screen. But when they weren't busy working through Frank's stacks of frighteningly detailed note cards, Gilbert regaled listeners with ludicrous (and occasionally substantiated!) rumors regarding the proclivities of such figures as Marlon Brando, Sammy Davis Jr., Cesar Romero, Danny Thomas, and countless others. Gilbert enthralled guests and listeners alike with impressions of people nobody has thought about in 25 years and renditions of TV theme songs nobody had heard in 50 years.
The collection of titles available for rental in this section is an homage to GGACP. Some of these are movies Gilbert starred in that were discussed time and again on the show. Others are movies that Gilbert notably did not star in, lost roles that were a topic of frequent discussion. Podcast co-host Frank Santopadre was kind enough to suggest a list of titles that particularly stand out to him from his time with Gilbert. Others were selected by Scarecrow staff who are fans of the podcast. And there are a few oddball things in here that might give die-hard listeners a good chuckle.
Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast still has a home at gilbertpocast.com, and the podcast feed continues to re-post old episodes as "encores" when a guest's birthday comes around or there's a relevant holiday or event.
Borrowing from the podcast, I must say that our collection here "only scratches the surface", and to Scarecrow Video I say: “Oh, thank you!" for working with me to put this section together.
So rent a few of these titles, grab a bowl of orange (or tangerine) wedges, put your feet up on your glass coffee table, never mind the helicopter circling overhead, and enjoy some classic movies and television through the lens of this podcast that serves as an amazing, colossal historical document and love letter to American comedy, cinema, and television.
Kolbe Kegel
April 22, 2025
First, the podcast namesake!
The Amazing Colossal Man (VHS)
Podcast Co-host Frank Santopadre himself was kind enough to agree to share a list of titles that especially evoke his time on the podcast with Gilbert (this after I accosted him as well as Gilbert's dear wife at the release party of Gilbert's standup comedy album Still Screaming):
Then there are the iconic roles thoroughly embobied by the inimitable Gilbert Gottfried that came up time and time again on the podcast:
The iconic roles protrayed by Gilbert pale in comparison only to the iconic roles he was promised, only for them to be famously stripped from his grasp:
Gilbert lost the part to Dustin Hoffman and said "The only way I could see my name being in the same sentence with Dustin Hoffman would be, I've seen Gilbert Gottfried's acting, and he's no Dustin Hoffman." (episode with John Schuck)
"I auditioned for Life Stinks. And I got, of course, the classic Hollywood thing: You're who we want! You're it! And then it turns out I didn't get it. And I said, well, who did they get? Billy Barty. I lost out to a famous midget!" (mini episode with Sandy Helberg)