Dead Eyes

Introducing: Tiny Dinos May 07, 2024

A brief hello from Connor including an audiobook recommendation and a preview of his new podcast, Tiny Dinos...

Listen to Tiny Dinos here:

https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/tinydinos

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The Making of Dead Eyes (Live in Belgium) Apr 17, 2023

Connor takes producers Mike and Harry to Ostend, Belgium for the first DS Podcast Festival to give a keynote presentation on the making of Dead Eyes.

Recorded in Ostend, Belgium on April 2nd, 2022.

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31 - Tom Mar 10, 2022

Connor talks with Tom Hanks.

Episode Transcript

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30 - Buzz & Billis Mar 03, 2022

Connor investigates two high school productions of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific:one that took place in 1990 during his freshman year at Jefferson City High in Missouri, and the other in 1974 at Skyline High in Oakland, California, where a high school senior named Thom Hanks played a coveted role.

Episode Transcript

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29 - The Blacklist List Feb 17, 2022

Connor talks with six actors who were cast in roles on NBC's The Blacklist that he also auditioned for.

The Blacklist List

#410 - "Rafa" (Jimmie Saito)
#417 - "Bobby J" (Bruce Faulk)
#501 - "Hawkins" (Aida Turturro)
#513 - "Forensics Investigator Muncie" (Neal Lerner)
#521 - Julius Hannelore (Jeffrey Bean)
#603 - Reggie Deeks (Alex Breaux)

Episode Transcript

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28 - Illumination Day Feb 03, 2022

When Connor learns of the existence of Tom Hanks' Electric City, he starts asking questions of anyone who will talk to him about it, including Paul Scheer (The League, How Did This Get Made), Tara Jayne Sands (Pokémon, Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh!), Jason Antoon (NCIS: Hawaii, Minority Report), supervising producer Samantha Scharff (SNL, The Colbert Report), and former Playtone creative exec Joshua Feldman.

Episode Transcript

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27 - Colin Jan 20, 2022

Connor talks with actor Colin Hanks (Mad Men, Life In Pieces, American Crime Story: Impeachment) about his 2015 Tower Records documentary and also other topics.

Episode Transcript

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26 - Band of Others Jan 06, 2022

Connor talks with Zach Braff (Scrubs, Garden State), Adam Scott (Parks & Recreation, Party Down) and David Krumholtz (Numb3rs, The Deuce) about how they all auditioned for Band of Brothers and were not cast.

Episode Transcript

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25 - The True Meaning of Dead Eyes Dec 23, 2021

Connor talks with comedian Nikki Glaser (FBoy Island) along with an array of experts in hope of discovering "the true meaning of 'dead eyes.'"

Episode Transcript

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24 - The Colonel(s) Dec 09, 2021

Connor talks with actors and executives about how he almost became “Colonel Sanders,” and the ups and downs of an ad campaign where re-casting the lead role is its defining feature.

Watch Connor's re-audition for Colonel Sanders on The Chris Gethard Show

Episode Transcript

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Listen to The Rumor wherever you get podcasts.

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23 - Brought To You By Turd Husband™️ Nov 25, 2021

Connor talks with Nicole Byer (Nailed It!), Johnathan Fernandez (Gossip Girl), Ann Carr (Red Oaks) and Molly Lloyd (Pinkalicious & Peterrific) about the strange and sometimes treacherous world of acting in commercials.

Connor doing car dealership ads as a kid.

Connor's New York Lottery Ad

Episode Transcript

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22 - You've Got Tweet Nov 11, 2021

Connor talks with comedian Aparna Nancherla (Bojack Horseman, Corporate) about the time when Tom Hanks tweeted about how funny she is.

The original tweet.

Follow Aparna on Twitter and you'll see what Tom Hanks saw.

Episode Transcript

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21 - Let the Mystery Be Oct 28, 2021

Dead Eyes returns for Season Three! Connor talks with Damon Lindelof (LOST, The Leftovers, Watchmen) and Starlee Kine (Mystery Show, Search Party) about solving the “mystery” of “dead eyes.”

Episode Transcript

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Dead Eyes Season 3 Trailer Oct 20, 2021

Season 3 of Dead Eyes premieres October 28th, with new episodes dropping every other Thursday. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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20 - The Big Zielinski Feb 25, 2021

In the Season 2 finale, Connor talks to Band of Brothers Lead Writer and Supervising Producer Erik Jendresen, and learns the truth about Episode 5 "Crossroads" and Private John S. Zielinski.

Episode Transcript

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19 - Young Tom Hankses Feb 11, 2021

Connor talks to three actors who shared roles with Tom Hanks when they were kids: Elijah Wood (Radio Flyer), David Moscow (Big), and Michael Conner Humphreys (Forrest Gump).

Episode Transcript

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18 - Saturday Tonight Live Jan 28, 2021

After failing to book Jimmy Fallon on the podcast, Connor instead talks to his good friend, comedian Alex Song-Xia, whose brief time as a writer on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ended before her contract was up.

Also, Rolling Stone’s chief TV critic and Band of Brothers aficionado Alan Sepinwall weighs in on the character Lieutenant George Rice, played by Fallon in the epic mini-series. His new podcast Too Long; Didn’t Watch is now available

Episode Transcript

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17 - Lacking Warmth Jan 14, 2021

Connor talks to the creators/writers/directors/producers of Freaks and Geeks Judd Apatow and Paul Feig about failure, success and uncomfortable encounters with famous people.

Episode Transcript

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16 - Castaways Dec 31, 2020

As 2020 comes to a close, Connor finds himself inexplicably stranded on a desert island with a cassette player and tapes containing deleted scenes from the first 15 episodes of the show.

Episode Transcript

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15 - Marvel's Agents of C.A.S.T.I.N.G. Dec 17, 2020

In an attempt to understand why neither he nor Tom Hanks has yet to book a role in a superhero project, Connor assembles an Avengers-style team of actors from Marvel films & TV shows with a diverse range of casting "superpowers." Featuring Zach Cherry (triumphed over Connor to win the role of "Street Vendor" in Spider-Man: Homecoming) Chris Gethard (cut from Iron Man 3) and Lea Thompson (lead human actor in the very first Marvel feature)!

Episode Transcript

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14 - Thinking About Don't Think Twice Again Dec 03, 2020

Connor tries to understand what made him right for a small role in writer-director Mike Birbiglia’s 2016 critically-acclaimed feature film Don’t Think Twice.

Co-star Tami Sagher recounts filming an excruciating scene while Connor observed. Ira Glass, the film’s producer, tries to understand what Connor is trying to do with this podcast.

Episode Transcript

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13 - Hilary & Robert & Punch & Judy Nov 19, 2020

Connor tracks down his former agent, Hilary Gagan, as well as her former assistant, Robert Styles, who both reveal conflicting memories about his Band of Brothers firing.

Episode Transcript

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12 - Pathetic Man Nov 05, 2020

Connor accepts a non-speaking role with a memorable name, then experiences a series of minor humiliations. Featuring Lauren Lapkus (The Wrong Missy, Jurassic World, Crashing).

Episode Transcript

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11 - Piss Siblings Oct 22, 2020

Connor books an unusual role on HBO's VEEP after over a decade in the show biz wilderness, with some help from his friend Shannon O'Neill (How To Fix A Drug Scandal, Broad City). Featuring VEEP's Matt Walsh and Tony Hale.

The Chris Gethard Show episode where Shannon spills the beans.

The Chris Gethard Show clip where Connor has to eat vegetables.

Episode Transcript

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Season 2 Prologue (w/ Ira Glass) Oct 15, 2020

Season 2 fast approaches. Connor seeks sage wisdom and advice from This American Life creator Ira Glass.

Dead Eyes Season 2 premieres on Oct 22.

Episode Transcript

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10 - Moose/Nixon Jul 09, 2020

In the Season 1 finale, Connor connects with two of the actors he almost worked with on Band of Brothers: Ron Livingston (Office Space, Search Party) and Stephen McCole (Rushmore, Outlander).

Episode Transcript

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09 - Neighbors & Pals Jun 25, 2020

Seth Rogen clears up a misunderstanding and reveals his surprising connection to Connor, sharing multiple stories of show business disappointment & failure.

Episode Transcript

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08 - Show-Me State Apr 09, 2020

When a global pandemic hits, Connor loses another show business job and moves back in with his parents.

Featuring Ryan Miller from the band Guster, plus Bill and Gretta Ratliff.

Episode Transcript

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07 - GTM Mar 12, 2020

Connor chases another phantom, one that went missing from the 2019 romantic comedy Isn't It Romantic between its filming and its release. It's a self-contained casting mystery, and he only has one episode to solve it.

The truth is out there.

Episode Transcript

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06 - Ryan Johnson's Star Wars Prequel Rumors Mar 05, 2020

EPISODE VI

RYAN JOHNSON'S STAR WARS PREQUEL RUMORS

It is a period of hope: the late 1990s!

A student at the Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts, CONNOR RATLIFF is tasked with creating a web page to promote himself as an actor.

This leads to the unlikely creation of a fictional character with a name that would someday become legendary in ways that even a Jedi master could not have predicted.

Meanwhile, half a world away, veteran stage actor HOLMES OSBORNE's career is ascendant, thanks to an opportunity given to him by TOM HANKS in his feature film debut as writer/director, That Thing You Do! Soon enough, he would be revealed to the world as DONNIE DARKO'S FATHER.

Little do they know that a young man named RIAN JOHNSON has just begun a 7-year journey to make a movie of his own, the success of which would set in motion a chain of events that would transform him into one of the most powerful filmmakers in the galaxy...

More than two decades later, a mysterious podcast reveals the ways in which these seemingly unrelated figures are connected. Connor, obsessed with his firing from Band of Brothers, enlists his friend, Syfy's JACKIE JENNINGS, to help him unpack the myriad ways that their fates are entwined, in his unending search for ANSWERS...

Episode Transcript

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05 - The Last Remains of the Dodo Feb 20, 2020

Singer-songwriter Aimee Mann learns how she unwittingly provided the soundtrack to Connor's entire Band of Brothers experience.

Listen to Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo and the rest of Aimee's catalogueon Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, or wherever else you get music.

Follow Aimee on Twitter @aimeemann

Watch Tom Hanks present at the Academy Awards as Toy Story'sWoody.

Episode Transcript

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04 - Any Questions? Feb 13, 2020

Connor imagines an alternate timeline with the help of Saturday Night Live alumn Bobby Moynihan, who played a major role in one of Tom Hanks's late-career triumphs: David S. Pumpkins.

Watch the Haunted Elevator sketch that gave the world David S. Pumpkins.

Episode Transcript

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03 - The Replacement Feb 06, 2020

Connor doesn't trust his memory.

Actor, comedian, and showrunner of Adam Ruins Everything Adam Conover explains that, without a doubt, Connor is misremembering the details of his experience on Band of Brothers. At least some of them.

Award-winning illustrator Maëlle Doliveux critiques an autobiographical comic that Connor wrote and drew about being fired.

Connor has an overdue conversation with actor Adam Sims, his replacement on Band Of Brothers. The two discover their respective stories share more in common than they'd anticipated.

For Maelle's full analysis of Connor's comic, check out the Dead Eyes YouTube channel.

Episode Transcript

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02 - Tristesse Jan 30, 2020

A 10-year-old Connor acts onstage in a 1985 production of Oliver! and has a seemingly disastrous first television interview. Years later, a 17-year-old Connor stars in a production of Ordinary People across from Emmy-winning actor Jon Hamm (Mad Men, The Town, Baby Driver), who was a senior in college at the time.

Connor and Jon look back on their time working together and recount their highs and lows in various audition rooms.

Plus, a recreation of Connor's Band of Brothers re-audition scene featuring Nicole Drespel (UCB, Broad City, 30 Rock), and a candid conversation about the audition process with a real New York City casting director.

See 10-year-old Connor's appearance on KRCG-TV's Showtime.

Episode Transcript

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01 - He's Having Second Thoughts Jan 23, 2020

In the year 2000, actor Connor Ratliff is fired by Tom Hanks from the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers for supposedly having "dead eyes". Two decades later, Connor talks about it with his friends D'Arcy Carden (The Good Place, Barry) and Zach Woods (Silicon Valley, The Office, Avenue 5).

Episode Transcript

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Coming Soon: Dead Eyes Jan 10, 2020

A quest to solve a very stupid mystery that has haunted comedian Connor Ratliff for two decades: Why Tom Hanks fired him from a small role in the 2001 HBO mini-series, Band Of Brothers.

Subscribe today and catch the first episode, launching 1/23!

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