Cusack is raised early and cut off as stepping on Casting What-Ifs.
The hosts say the director wanted John Cusack, who liked the script but said he had played his last teenage role; a host is glad because Cusack would have been too old.
Moyle's interviews stress how young Slater was, but a host notes Slater turned 51 the day before, so he was at least 20 during filming.
The hosts say Drew Barrymore pursued the Nora role hard but Moyle pushed for Samantha Mathis; a host is glad since Barrymore would have been 15.

Roger Ebert's review

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 00:41:41Read transcript

An over/under of two stars is set for the Ebert review and the under is taken.
Asked for a guess, the reply is that the review probably feels tossed off, as if he had seen it all before, siding with the under. — Andy Greenwald
The stated review is three and a half stars; Ebert is quoted as calling it hard-hitting, critical and worth seeing, and the hosts joke that he is back.

Picking Nits

Easily discovered identity; oblivious parents; unmasked phone voice; weak pirate signal; car broadcast; elaborate disguise; no siblings; no drinking or drugs

In the discussion (9)

Approx. transcript time · 01:03:36Read transcript

The FCC should have found him within minutes, and his parents should have noticed him smoking and monologuing in the basement.
The PA system prank scene is called unrealistic, and it was also on a nitpick list.
Clues like moving from back east, the dad-bought radio kit and eating in the stairwell meant no Sherlock Holmes was needed.
The dad never connects the radio equipment he bought to the pirate DJ, even after the parents say they could hear Mark talking.
He uses his real voice on phone calls, so the prank girls could identify him from one answer in English class.
Pirate signals are weak and patchy, and broadcasting from a moving car off a car battery is absurd.
Wanting a tiny audience clashes with the elaborate lengths he goes to disguise himself, and his soldering hobby should have tipped off his parents.
The film seems to consist entirely of only children, with no siblings questioning anyone.
The teenagers only drink Diet Pepsi and smoke, with no weed or alcohol, attributed to 1990 fear culture.

Recasting Couch

Ally Sheedy as the English teacher; Jimmy Eckhouse as Mark's dad; Tim Kazurinsky as the main teacher

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 01:10:44Read transcript

Ali Sheedy is proposed for the English teacher, giving the film a link to the John Hughes and Breakfast Club era, as a mid-20s teacher a few years out of school.
Casting someone like Sheedy would visually suggest a future beyond high school for a Nora type; the other host is convinced and switches teams.
Jimmy Eckhouse from 90210 is proposed as Mark's dad, so the parents, who otherwise just chain-smoke and drink wine like the non-mob characters in The Sopranos, would show some humanity before his late turn; the reply is "that's fair".
Tim Kazerinsky should have been the main teacher, or alternatively Brian Doyle-Dill-Berry; the reply is "That's a great one."

Half-Assed Internet Research

Smoking illness; Montreal school inspiration; improvised dance; Santa Clarita filming; license suspension

In the discussion (5)

Approx. transcript time · 01:12:19Read transcript

As read on air, Slater became physically ill several times from the cigarette smoking during filming.
As read on air, the school was based on a Montreal high school where the director's sister taught that weeded out students who lowered averages.
As read on air, the director wanted to choreograph the fake-masturbation dance but Slater overruled him to keep it spontaneous.
As read on air, the film was shot in Santa Clarita, which a host finds very Arizona-like.
As read on air, Slater's license had been suspended for the second time in two years, so his character could not drive and Nora drives in the finale.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Mark's next five years; whether Mark and Nora last

In the discussion (5)

Approx. transcript time · 01:27:13Read transcript

Mark likely gets a good attorney and probation rather than jail, but with a felony record.
He lands on The Real World Seattle, then MTV hosting such as Alternative Nation, with a joke about Zane Low.
The film has Mark and Nora barely kiss before a brief public kiss and going to prison for each other.
The relationship does not last; Nora is too cool and heads to Oberlin, dating older men.
Nora is called the most obvious unspun spinoff character, perhaps as a college student or a young teacher leading her own revolution.