Episode 82: The Killing of the Unicorn with Patrick
Completing my Playboy history digression (see also: Episode 81 with Doom), Patrick (from Episode 79 on the Mamas and the Papas) is back to discuss two Playboy adjacent films from the 1980s—They All Laughed (1981) and Star 80 (1983).
The common thread here is the story of Playmate of the Year 1980, Dorothy Stratten, who was murdered by her estranged husband at the age of 20.
Star 80 was based on Teresa Carpenter’s piece in the Village Voice titled, “Death of a Playmate.”
They All Laughed was just made available on HBO Max; Star 80 is available for rent on various platforms.
Some of the things we discuss are:
The Girls Next Door is available to stream (for free!) on Tubi; The Girls Next Level podcast hosted by Bridget and Holly is available whereever you get your podcasts. They also have a Patreon.
Read about Gene Siskel hanging at the Playboy Mansion.
Watch the 1979 Roller Disco & Pajama Party special shot at the Playboy Mansion. It’s hard to reconcile the Dorothy Stratten dropping it low on stage with the Village People with the doe-eyed naïf portrayed in Star 80.
Audrey Hepburn was born in 1929; Yoko Ono was born in 1933.
John Lennon was murdered on December 8, 1980; his final interview was published in the January 1981 issue of Playboy.
The country music boom of the early-mid-1980s seems like a fever dream now but it was real. This was when Dolly Parton went mainstream with 9 to 5; John Travolta played country in Urban Cowboy, as did Sly Stallone in Rhinestone. Colleen Camp’s “One Day Since Yesterday” landed at #89 in the Top 100 Billboard Country chart.
Funny People (2009), written and directed by Judd Apatow, shares some similarities with They All Laughed. Both films have something of a “home movie” feel to them.
Jamie Lee Curtis played Dorothy in the made-for-TV movie, Death of a Centerfold.
In retrospect, I wonder how much of Parker Posey’s gum-chewing, Dairy Queen employee character in Waiting for Guffman was based on Dorothy Stratten.
Eric Roberts says his character in Star 80 was based on Bob Fosse.
Star Stowe, whose story was featured in the true crime series The Playboy Murders, was Gene Simmon’s girlfriend before she posed for Playboy.
I wrote about the “Disco Sucks” guys back in 2020.
Truly one of the great moments of television—Happy 25 years to Freaks and Geeks!
The songs played are:
“I Just Want To Be Your Everything” by Andy Gibb
“Disco Daddy” by the Four Tops
“One Day Since Yesterday” by Colleen Camp
“Oh Yoko” by John Lennon
[Workaholics sting]
“Fuckin’ in the Butt” by David Allen Coe
“It’s A Love Thing” by the Whispers
“The Last Unicorn” by America
“What Kind of Girl Do you Think We Are” by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention [Fillmore East, June 1971]
[“Disco is alive!”] from S1E18, Freaks and Geeks
“Do You Think I’m Sexy” by Rod Stewart