Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky

Episode 324: Singin' in the Rain

Released 26 November 2025

For this episode, we watched the 1952 MGM musical Singin' in the Rain, directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly who also starred alongside Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds and Jean Hagen. Arthur Freed produced and wrote most of the songs alongside composer Nacio Herb Brown. Slightly overshadowed at the time by the enormous commercial and critical success of An American in Paris the year before, this movie is now widely regarded as the absolute pinnacle of the golden age of Hollywood musicals. And who are we to disagree?

• Tom's new podcast: https://podfollow.com/all-british-comedy-explained
• Jess's storytelling theatre show: https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/16-postcodes-jhby
• Lip Sync Battle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPCJIB1f7jk

BEST PICK – the book is available now from all the usual places.

• From the publisher https://tinyurl.com/best-pick-book-rowman
• UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3zFNATI
• US Amazon https://www.amzn.com/1538163101
• UK bookstore https://www.waterstones.com/book/9781538163108
• US bookstore https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/best-pick-john-dorney/1139956434
• Audio book https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Best-Pick-Audiobook/B09SBMX1V4

To send in your questions, comments, thoughts and ideas, you can join our Facebook group, email us on bestpickpod@gmail.com, or find us on Bluesky.

You can also visit our website at https://bestpickpod.com and sign up to our mailing list to get notified as soon as a new episode is released. Just follow this link: http://eepurl.com/dbHO3n.

If you enjoy this podcast and you'd like to help us to continue to make it, you can now support us on Patreon for as little as £2.50 per month, but please be aware that future releases will continue to be sporadic.

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky

Episode 323: 2001 A Space Odyssey

Released 29 October 2025

For this episode, we watched Stanley Kubrick's iconic science fiction masterpiece 2001 A Space Odyssey, written by Kubrick and Arthur C Clarke and starring Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester and the voice of Douglas Rain. It was nominated for four Oscars and won one for its special effects, the only Academy Award which Kubrick ever won. It ranks sixth on the 2022 Sight & Sound critics list and it tops the directors list.

• Tom's new podcast: https://podfollow.com/all-british-comedy-explained
• Jess's amazing storytelling show: https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/16-postcodes-jhby

BEST PICK – the book is available now from all the usual places.

• From the publisher https://tinyurl.com/best-pick-book-rowman
• UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3zFNATI
• US Amazon https://www.amzn.com/1538163101
• UK bookstore https://www.waterstones.com/book/9781538163108
• US bookstore https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/best-pick-john-dorney/1139956434
• Audio book https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Best-Pick-Audiobook/B09SBMX1V4

To send in your questions, comments, thoughts and ideas, you can join our Facebook group, email us on bestpickpod@gmail.com, or find us on Bluesky.

You can also visit our website at https://bestpickpod.com and sign up to our mailing list to get notified as soon as a new episode is released. Just follow this link: http://eepurl.com/dbHO3n.

If you enjoy this podcast and you'd like to help us to continue to make it, you can now support us on Patreon for as little as £2.50 per month, but please be aware that future releases will continue to be sporadic.

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky

Episode 18: Annie Hall (1977) recorded live at the London Podcast Festival.

Released 26 September 2018. Rereleased 12 October 2025.

For this episode – which we are re-running in honour of Diane Keaton – we watched Annie Hall, written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman and directed by Allen, who also starred alongside Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane and Paul Simon.

The film won four Academy Awards including Best Actress for Diane Keaton and Best Screenplay for Allen and Brickman.

• Star Wars Despecialized https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGrXO2RDzLg&vl=en
• Kathy Griffin's Woody Allen story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i62GcGDgI4

Thanks to Zoe, Sally and everyone at the London Podcast Festival for making this happen.

Tom's new podcast ALL BRITISH COMEDY EXPLAINED is now available here in audio: https://podfollow.com/all-british-comedy-explained and here in video: https://www.youtube.com/@AllBritishComedyExplained

BEST PICK the book is available now from all the usual places, and the paperback is out now.

• From the publisher https://tinyurl.com/best-pick-book-rowman
• UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3zFNATI
• US Amazon https://www.amzn.com/1538163101
• UK bookstore https://www.waterstones.com/book/9781538163108
• US bookstore https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/best-pick-john-dorney/1139956434
• Audio book https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Best-Pick-Audiobook/B09SBMX1V4

To send in your questions, comments, thoughts and ideas, you can join our Facebook group, email us on bestpickpod@gmail.com, or find us on Bluesky.

You can also visit our website at https://bestpickpod.com and sign up to our mailing list to get notified as soon as a new episode is released. Just follow this link: http://eepurl.com/dbHO3n.

If you enjoy this podcast and you'd like to help us to continue to make it, you can now support us on Patreon for as little as £2.50 per month.