Overview of How Did This Get Made? — “The Dirt Bike Kid (Classic)”
Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas tackle the 1985 kids’ movie The Dirt Bike Kid, starring Peter Billingsley. The episode centers on how bizarrely the film shifts between genres and plots: what seems like a simple dirt-bike adventure quickly becomes a strange mashup of a magical sentient bike, a Little League storyline, and a battle to save a hot dog shop from a creepy banker, Mr. Hodgkins (Stuart Pankin). The hosts are amused, baffled, and occasionally disturbed by the movie’s logic, tone, and 1980s kid-movie weirdness.
What the Movie Is About
Core premise
- Peter Billingsley plays Jack, a kid who buys a mysterious dirt bike that appears to be magical and possibly sentient.
- The bike helps him fly, move on its own, and basically function as a superhero vehicle.
- The story eventually becomes less about racing and more about:
- saving the family’s hot dog restaurant,
- battling a bank foreclosure,
- and dealing with a villainous banker with shady motives.
Why it feels so strange
- The hosts kept expecting the film to be a straightforward “kid wants bike / enters race” story.
- Instead, it veers into:
- Little League drama,
- corporate real-estate scheming,
- arcade/hot-dog-store hangouts,
- and airborne dirt-bike set pieces.
Main Discussion Points
The sentient bike is weirdly underdeveloped
- Jason compares it to E.T. and Herbie.
- The bike has lights, noises, and some emotion, but no real backstory.
- The hosts are amazed that:
- the bike can drive itself,
- fly through the air,
- and even get “arrested” by police,
- yet nobody in the movie seems especially shocked.
The plot keeps changing
- The movie opens like a dirt-bike fantasy.
- Then it becomes a baseball movie.
- Then it becomes a save-the-business-from-the-bank movie.
- The hosts are frustrated that the movie keeps setting up one story and then abandoning it.
Mr. Hodgkins is the real center of the movie
- Stuart Pankin’s banker character is a classic over-the-top 80s villain.
- The hosts obsess over how often the movie says “Hodgkins.”
- They joke that the bank feels like a weirdly exaggerated corporate fortress for a small-town story.
- His behavior is so creepy and predatory that the episode spends a lot of time discussing the film’s discomforting treatment of women and power.
The movie’s treatment of kids and adults feels off
- The hosts are uncomfortable with the film’s sexualized kid behavior, especially Peter Billingsley’s best friend.
- They also talk about how many 80s family movies casually normalized creepy or predatory behavior.
- June in particular reflects on how much harmful material kids absorbed from movies like this without recognizing it at the time.
The baseball scenes caused a lot of debate
- There’s a long discussion about whether Peter Billingsley was safe or out at home plate.
- June, who was once a youth umpire, argues the call was clear at first and later revisits her own past as an ump with some regret.
- They ultimately get caught up in the logic of the scene and whether the catcher was blocking the plate.
Fun Comparisons and Running Jokes
Movies they compare it to
- E.T.
- Herbie
- Rad
- Supergirl
- Maximum Overdrive
- Jack and the Beanstalk
- though they mostly mean this in the loosest, most ridiculous sense
Running bits
- “Me and My Dirt Bike” is jokingly suggested as a better title.
- They keep asking, “What is this movie called again?”
- They joke about the hot dog place being a “hot dog store.”
- They repeatedly return to the absurdity of a bike being treated like a living creature with a personality.
Verdicts
June
- No
- She found the movie too frustrating, too long, and too off-putting in its sexualized and creepy 80s-movie behavior.
Jason
- Yes, with caveats
- He recommends it as a bizarre curiosity, especially if you fast-forward through the slow parts.
- He’s fascinated by its madness and nostalgic 80s energy.
Paul
- Middle ground
- He’s less enthusiastic than Jason, but not fully against it.
- He thinks a supercut would be much better than sitting through the whole movie.
Second Opinions From Listeners
The episode also reads a few Amazon-style reviews:
- Some are pure nostalgia: “good movie as a kid, still okay if you’re high.”
- Several reviewers claim personal ties to the production and give it five stars because they worked on it or their kids were involved.
- One review stands out as especially unsettling: someone bought it for a coworker who apparently watched it repeatedly.
Key Takeaways
- The Dirt Bike Kid is remembered less for coherent storytelling and more for its surreal 80s kid-movie energy.
- The movie’s biggest strengths, according to the hosts, are its weirdness, accidental comedy, and Stuart Pankin’s villain performance.
- Its biggest problems are its tonal chaos, awkward gender politics, and a plot that keeps changing without warning.
- The episode’s overall vibe is affectionate exasperation: the hosts are entertained by the failure, even when they don’t like the movie itself.