Episode #813: Night at the Museum
Added 2025-07-29 04:00:01 +0000 UTC“He’s a little hobgoblin in this one!” - Steve on Mickey Rooney
On the season 15 finale of WHM, we’re chatting about the hyper-successful, super-weird family film, Night at the Museum! How obnoxious is this day-dreamer, inventor character they have Stiller playing? Has no one else ever worked late at this museum besides the security team? Is there no overnight janitorial staff? Did anyone else have “Mickey Rooney Fight Scene” on their Night at the Museum bingo card? Could this script have cared any less about Carla Gugino’s character? And dear lord, Ricky Gervais in Big Box Hollywood films, glad those days are gone! PLUS: Should we bring back Mickey Rooney Old Man insults like “hopscotch” and “hot dog” and “cement mixer”?
Night at the Museum stars Ben Stiller, Carla Gugino, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs, Jake Cherry, Ricky Gervais, Patrick Gallagher, Rami Malek, Charlie Murphy, Steve Coogan, Mizuo Peck, Paul Rudd, Anne Meara, Brad Garrett, Crystal the Monkey, Owen Wilson, and the late, great Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt; directed by Shawn Levy.
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Original cover art by Felipe Sobreiro.
Comments
I met someone from this movie! Crystal the monkey! I went to this animal sanctuary in Agua Dulce, CA and they had all these cool animals, some you could pet/interact with (kangaroos, wallabies, fennec fox etc) and Crystal was staying there (I think they mentioned The Hangover 2 as one of her many credits)
Bolo Santosi
2025-08-07 18:10:25 +0000 UTCmy sister and I have been saying "he looks like a weirdy" for the past like 15 years, I had kind of forgotten what it was from
Mitochondria
2025-08-07 05:05:31 +0000 UTCI hate to be the “ummm actually” guy. But when it comes to Teddy Roosevelt I have to. His stance on Native Americans was indeed indefensible. But our hosts did make a couple jokes about his treatment of black people when he was rather staunchly anti-racist toward the black population. - He advocated for school desegregation in New York in the late 1800s/early 1900s, specifically saying that he had no issue with his kids sharing a school room with black students. Pushing for something that was not a mainstream belief 6 decades before most Americans even entertained the possibility. - He was the first president EVER to invite a black person to the White House for dinner. And was raked over the coals in the press for sullying the White House with a black guest (Booker T Washington FYI). To which he told the press “that he would invite anyone he thought fit to dine with him, regardless of their race. He believed in judging individuals on their merits, not on their skin color.” - After Minnie Cox, the first black female postmaster was pressured out of her post in Mississippi, President Theodore Roosevelt continued to pay her salary and punished the town by rerouting their mail 30 miles away until they gave her back the position. - He was also the first president to appoint a Jewish cabinet member. - he also said "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president ...is morally treasonable to the American public." while he was president. Which I think seems rather relevant to what is going on right now.
John Beck
2025-08-01 20:29:58 +0000 UTCDid anyone else catch Eric saying "Lois and Clark" instead of Lewis and Clark. In an innocent and nerdy way, I laughed.
Elliott Tipton
2025-08-01 02:54:35 +0000 UTCI know this was boring but I promise the second movie is so much worse and much less boring. You got weird, so-unfunny-it-loops-around Hank Azaria as Rami Malek’s fucking brother, Amy Adams as the definition of secondhand embarrassment with her Amelia Earhart, Bill Hader as fucking General Custer… A Stay Tuned and a half and a whole, truly
Dante Zvezda
2025-07-31 05:50:44 +0000 UTCThere was the Mystery Men episode way back when, so not the first
Exambolor
2025-07-31 05:00:07 +0000 UTCThis... this can't be his first appearance, can it?
Tim O'
2025-07-30 23:39:02 +0000 UTCWelcome to the show Ben Stiller.
Les Whinen
2025-07-30 21:26:08 +0000 UTCThey still sell the clapper! I saw a Darth Vader clapper at CVS.
ShamusMcc
2025-07-30 21:03:25 +0000 UTCPerfect beer crack at around 2:28. Just perfect.
Jason
2025-07-30 12:53:52 +0000 UTCWell, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard the word “docent”. I guess it’s an American thing?
Craig
2025-07-30 06:55:32 +0000 UTCI'm younger than you guys and I had one career day in elementary school in Southern California
I.C. Weiner
2025-07-30 02:54:09 +0000 UTCHave been listening more or less since the start when I was beginning high school. Happy 15th! PS: Do most wanted as a twofer with the glimmer man please!
Vincent Mollica
2025-07-30 01:36:41 +0000 UTCPart of me is afraid to ask what exact joke you guys were alluding to at the end of the Sublime tangent. The perks of having never listened to them, I guess? Also, yeah, it is annoying when a film with such an obvious "one crazy night" premise ends up taking place over more than one night. The biggest offender in this regard might just be John Landis' Into the Night.
profondo robbo
2025-07-30 01:07:17 +0000 UTCThank you guys for 15 seasons. I started listening in 2017, and now I'm an old bastard who gets the inside jokes. Your voices are a comfort, and life would be less fun without them. Stay off the moors while you're in Britain! 🐺
Tim O'
2025-07-30 00:38:22 +0000 UTCCannot wait for season 16! Hope you guys have a great remainder of your summers!
Barista Bran
2025-07-30 00:32:15 +0000 UTCI was hyped as fuck for Lost in Space'98. Big mistake.
CharlesGrodin'sToupee
2025-07-30 00:16:51 +0000 UTCZero Effect is also Bill Pullman's finest hour.
CharlesGrodin'sToupee
2025-07-30 00:14:53 +0000 UTCSublime riffing, guys!! Love it
Jaime Lee Ezell
2025-07-29 20:37:13 +0000 UTCGowanus and AHNULD—a match made in heaven. Should I break out the ol' black tie and opera pumps?
Adam Lewis
2025-07-29 19:51:32 +0000 UTCMy Wish list for episodes about comedy movies in this style would be gulliver's travels 2010 , The secret life of Walter Mitty, bed time stories and old dogs.
Mark D Myers
2025-07-29 19:51:25 +0000 UTCMy favorite movie with Ben Stiller is 1997s Zero Effect. He’s not being panicky idiot Ben Stiller in it, he just acts. Plus it’s a great snapshot of 1997 Portland, OR where I grew up.
Frank Grimes
2025-07-29 16:45:11 +0000 UTCSo I work as a wedding DJ and this weekend the mother son dance was to because you loved me by Celine Deon. All I could hear was Steve being like “you make cuummmm when I wanna fart” lololol hilarious
stephen sammartino
2025-07-29 16:12:12 +0000 UTCHey! I was at the live show in Seattle. Maybe I’ll hear myself laughing in the recording next week.
Paul
2025-07-29 15:35:04 +0000 UTCMy introduction to WHM was when Steve and Andrew guested on the Total Recall episode of Blank Check, so this anniversary show feels significant
Chris Rose
2025-07-29 15:17:54 +0000 UTCI would like to see a night at the museum film but with the relic monster.
Matthew Lloyd
2025-07-29 14:34:58 +0000 UTCHow i remember it is Amy Adams is a doll thing and the curse makes her alive. And the whole night she thinks she's human and Ben Stiller is like "yeah after this movie ima smash" then she's like "dude I know im not real and you're still into it? And they both are like you're right it would be wrong
Paterick Caddery
2025-07-29 14:25:29 +0000 UTCRe: Mod Squad and Lost in Space - did anyone else get WAY too hyped about those 90s adaptations of old TV shows, because you were 13 and completely bought into the marketing (and it worked with Mission Impossible...), or were you normal?
Matt
2025-07-29 13:32:45 +0000 UTCNYC live show?! Oh, you know I'll be there. 🙌 I watched the first two of these movies back-to-back in 2010 bc I was in the fervent early days of my Rami Malek stanning, having just watched The Pacific. Also I was on painkillers after wisdom teeth surgery. So that probably influenced my decision too. Probably the best way to watch these?
Rose Esposito
2025-07-29 12:41:09 +0000 UTCI just want to point out that you guys did break the Robin Williams silence streak with your amazing live show about "The Birdcage" which was a WLM, but that was a classy way to break the streak!
Russell Balow
2025-07-29 11:02:00 +0000 UTCI too had a Clapper! And the moment the lightbulb burnt out, it broke the Clapper too, so they're garbage.
Busiris
2025-07-29 07:37:48 +0000 UTCIn reply to this https://bsky.app/profile/jfruh.bsky.social/post/3lq255z2k6s2w
Tyler Weeks
2025-07-29 06:08:31 +0000 UTCGreat minds - an actual Bluesky post of mine from a few months back: ''Archie was a takeoff of Andy Hardy' is one of those things you can guess, but you look at the pre-DeCarlo/Lucey version that has Rooney's winnably(?) sadistic little goblin face and you can REALLY see it'
Tyler Weeks
2025-07-29 06:07:48 +0000 UTCFirst time seeing this and I was surprised that I quite enjoyed it. It's definitely dumb shit for babies, but for some reason it worked for me. I still hate Ricky Gervais so so much though.
Tony King
2025-07-29 06:02:25 +0000 UTCI've read that book and yeah, kinda
Jack
2025-07-29 06:00:40 +0000 UTCI was already planning a NY trip to catch Waiting for Godot to celebrate when a land a job. Now I’ll just have to make sure I align it with the live show.
Rod
2025-07-29 05:11:57 +0000 UTCI’m the same, also watched it a ton as a kid so no rewatch required Hope the guys cover the second movie in the future
Exambolor
2025-07-29 05:03:28 +0000 UTCI've seen this movie so many times as a kid, I don't even need to rewatch it for the episode lol to nobody's surprise, I loved Jumanji too.
Ray
2025-07-29 04:44:40 +0000 UTCSo excited for The Bell House 15th anniversary show in December! Yes, Andrew: the show covered Robin's THE BIRDCAGE in Jersey last year for a LIVE! WLM episode after his sad passing in 2014.
Cody Downs
2025-07-29 04:10:49 +0000 UTC
