Scott Michaels and Mike Dorsey host the Dearly Departed podcast. They recently took time to talk to TVGrapevine about their podcast, future plans and more.
What made you decide to do your podcast?
SCOTT MICHAELS: I’ve been putting information out on my own for over 20 years. It’s been used by others, and so I decided to start my own show to tell my stories my way. And it’s nice for people who can’t get to Hollywood to see things for themselves, we bring that into their homes. I used to write it, but it’s much more heartfelt when we talk about it out loud.
MIKE DORSEY: Scott and I have collaborated on documentaries about the dark side of Hollywood for nearly 15 years, so doing a podcast on that subject was a natural evolution for us. We love talking about this subject and we both have tons of personal stories to share.
What was the biggest challenge?
SCOTT: Finding time and coming up with good subjects.
MIKE: From a technical standpoint, I’m a filmmaker and a producer, so I wanted to make sure the show sounded great and was professional. And it does! I’m proud of how it’s come out.
What are some of your favorite memories from working on it?
SCOTT: Getting my niece to open up about being a character at Disneyworld was fascinating. And being able to tell my story about working on Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was really cool.
MIKE: I agree with Scott. The highlight so far has been talking about Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (which I saw 3 times in theaters) in Episode 11 and how our film, The Six Degrees of Helter Skelter, was an influence on it.
What do you hope people like about it?
SCOTT: Hopefully they like us and our personal stories.
MIKE: I hope that people find the show as equally fun and entertaining as it is educational.
What was the most stand out moment of your show?
SCOTT: We’re able to share stories about our favorite things and people are responding to it – there are all of these stupid stories that I’ve kept to myself all these years that I can finally talk about, like the bit about prank-calling celebrities when a buddy got me a copy of Buddy Hackett’s personal Rolodex.
MIKE: Every episode has standout moments because of Scott’s crazy stories, like the bit about prank-calling celebrities. He’s met or spoken to a majority of the famous people we talk about. I also really loved Episode 2 about Susan Cabot aka The Wasp Woman – it’s funny because it’s our least popular episode yet but it’s my favorite story.
What else are you working on?
SCOTT: I’m scheduling more events at my shop and getting ready for Halloween, although it’s Halloween for us all the time.
MIKE: Planning the next episode! I’ve made eight documentaries and I was a co-producer on the Universal series Unsolved last year, which was influenced by my documentary Murder Rap about the Biggie and Tupac murders. So I’m always developing and pitching projects, which at the moment includes a scripted crime series and several documentary projects on subjects that I’m passionate about. I’m just waiting for my next film or series to get picked up.
Tell me a fun fact about yourself?
SCOTT: One of my best friends was one of the Transylvanians in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which I wrote a book about.
MIKE: I’m probably the #2 or #3 biggest expert in the world on the murders of Tupac and Biggie. And I like candy corn.
What are you watching on TV these days?
SCOTT: Judge Judy – I will never miss an episode. That is my every day happy place. Also Difficult People on Hulu – they stopped making it but I’ve probably watched each one five times.
MIKE: Succession on HBO continues to be amazing. I’ve also been binging old series on Netflix that I missed during their first runs – I recently finished watching all 11 seasons of Cheers and now I’m working my way through The West Wing.
Anything else you want to share?
SCOTT: I have the cremated remains of seven people and two dogs at my shop – we’ve sort of become an unofficial cemetery.
MIKE: I can’t really top that.
