The Rewatchables: ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins

Published 2019-04-30; 1:22:26 by the feed.

As extracted (engineer-sonnet-2026-10-13)

The extraction calls the show “The Rewatchables (The Ringer)” and the episode “Mean Girls with Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins”.

Hosts: Bill Simmons. Guests: Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins.

Subject films: Mean Girls (2004).

On the transcript: No speaker labels; sponsor reads (Vudu, The Black Tux, Luminary) skipped entirely. Dialogue snippets at the top and bottom are film clips, not conversation.

Awards and segments (66)

Most rewatchable scene

floated The talent show Jingle Bell Rock number
“The town show.”
Bill Simmons · 0:21:45
floated The sabotage montage
“Uh, the sabotage montage.”
Bill Simmons · 0:22:57
floated The four-way phone call
“The 4 way phone call.”
Bill Simmons · 0:23:19
floated "Watch where you're going" lunch scene, then Katie realizing she's the new queen bee
“Followed by Lindsay Lohan realizing she's the new queen bee with the 2 following her.”
Bill Simmons · 0:23:41
pick The burn book blowout, the fight, and Tim Meadows in the gym (his single favorite section)
“I think the burn book bro up bra followed by Tim Meadows in the gym is my single favorite section, so I'm going with that one.”
Bill Simmons · 0:25:43
floated The very first lunch scene where Regina invites Katie to sit with her
“First is the very 1st lunch scene.”
unknown · 0:24:13
floated The first burn book scene with Amy Poehler (cool mom)
“The 1st burn book scene with Amy Poehler.”
unknown · 0:24:38
pick Katie in the oversized pink lacrosse shirt walking the hallway, visibly not fitting in
“I think I think Lindsay Lohan wearing the oversized pink lacosse shirt is one of like my, like, I love when I'm walking down the hallway and she doesn't obviously doesn't fit in.”
unknown · 0:25:28
pick The first lunch scene with the Plastics at the table
“I think I'm going with the 1st lunch scene.”
Amanda Dobbins · 0:25:55

What's aged the best · What about the movie has held up best.

pick Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron (Katie): 2004 Lohan compared to a teenage phenom pitcher at his peak.
“We mentioned 2004 Lindsay Lohan.”
Bill Simmons · 0:27:56
pick Regina George: An all-time high school villain.
“Great high school villain.”
unknown · 0:28:39
pick The cast (Lohan, McAdams, Seyfried, Chabert, Fey, Poehler, Meadows)
“Another thing that's aged the best, the cast.”
Bill Simmons · 0:30:28
pick The homeschooling jokes, which set up the outsider premise
“Well, it also just gives the premise of the movie.”
unknown · 0:31:47
pick The Army of Skanks fantasy team name
“I just think it always was a great fantasy team, name, Army of Skanks.”
Bill Simmons · 0:32:04
pick The nutrition bar sabotage
“Nutrition bar sabotage.”
unknown · 0:32:18
pick Janice Ian's look (goth style that later came back)
“But then people actually started dressing like Janice in a few years later.”
unknown · 0:32:44
pick The rule that old boyfriends are off limits to friends
“The quote, old boyfriends are off limits to friends.”
unknown · 0:32:53
pick The Hollywood slut rule (Halloween)
“I just take the Hollywood slut rule is really funny.”
unknown · 0:34:01
pick Regina and the script; it became an early meme movie
“For me, it's Regina and the script.”
unknown · 0:34:33
pick Mean Girls (the whole movie)
“I think this whole movie's aged the best.”
unknown · 0:35:31
pick Hanging out in malls
“I forgot to do for what's age the best hanging out in malls because I think I think that's back.”
unknown · 0:59:20

What's aged the worst · What about the movie has not held up.

winner The four-way phone call: Nobody would have one now; it would be FaceTime.
“I go with a four-way cause for what stage the worst.”
Bill Simmons · 0:44:49
winner The basic insensitivities: the coach plotline and the jungle/Africa references
“I'm going with the basic insensitivities that are kind of, like the coach plotline, all that stuff.”
unknown · 0:45:02
nominee The soundtrack isn't good enough, no hip-hop
“The soundtrack just isn't good enough.”
unknown · 0:36:40
nominee Jonathan Bennett as Aaron Samuels: His career never moved past Aaron Samuels.
“His IMDb is age the worst.”
Bill Simmons · 0:37:52
nominee Casting Claudia from Party of Five as one of the Plastics, a one-time surprise
“The shot casting of Claudia from Party of 5 being one of the girls of Mean Girls and like looking really good in adult.”
unknown · 0:38:39
nominee Coach Carr, step away from the underage girls
“Coach Carr step away from the underage girls, which still makes me laugh, but... It's really great.”
unknown · 0:39:39
nominee Built This Way (Samantha Ronson), since Lohan later dated her
“Samantha Ronson's built that way, built this way, which was the song that they keep playing throughout that song with the little guitar.”
unknown · 0:39:54
nominee Katie dumbing herself down to win Aaron Samuels
“Katie dumbing herself down to win over Aaron Samuels.”
unknown · 0:42:28
nominee Fetch (floated, then withdrawn because the line lives on)
“Okay, maybe that hasn't age worse.”
unknown · 0:39:36

Vivian Award (worst clothes, the reverse Vivian) · The worst clothes in the movie; the Vivian Award is for best clothes.

winner Katie's party dress (black dress with pink top)
“For me, it's the it's the party dress.”
unknown · 0:48:23
winner The short skirt and Henley top at school
“I think for me, it's the short skirt and like, and like Henley top when she's in school.”
unknown · 0:48:25
nominee Lindsay Lohan's pink ruffled wide-waistband mini skirt
“that pink ruffled skirt that Lindsay Lohan is wearing when she strides, when they're striding down post kind of transformation”
unknown · 0:45:55

Casting what ifs · Almost-castings and recasts.

pick Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams as originally cast in the opposite roles: McAdams seen as too old for the homeschooled Katie.
“Originally an edition for the opposite roles.”
unknown · 0:50:51
pick Lindsay Lohan as Regina George (wanted to play her)
“Lindsay Lohan wanted to play Regina.”
unknown · 0:51:15
pick James Franco as Aaron Samuels (considered): A darker, less jockey Aaron; he would take up space the men don't take in this movie.
“Considered for the role of Aaron Samuels.”
unknown · 0:51:44
pick Elisha Cuthbert as Regina George (lost the part)
“Somebody who lost the part of Regina George.”
unknown · 0:52:53

Saul Rubinek Award (overacting) · The most over-the-top performance.

winner Kevin G.: Tries to take up space in a movie where the men don't.
“So we're giving it to Kevin G.”
Bill Simmons · 0:55:14
nominee Amy Poehler as Mrs. George, the cool mom: Could have scaled it back 10%; the others disagreed.
“Amy Poehler.”
Bill Simmons · 0:54:26
nominee Damian
“Damian, a little bit too much for me.”
unknown · 0:55:17

Dion Waiters Award (best heat check) · A small role that makes a big impact.

winner Tim Meadows as Mr. Duvall: Does a lot with a little and sells a weakly written character.
“I'm personally going with Tim Meadows, but I know that's not a popular choice.”
Bill Simmons · 0:56:46
nominee Amy Poehler
“Amy Powler, Tim Meadows.”
Bill Simmons · 0:56:10
nominee Amanda Seyfried as Karen
“Amanda Sayfried.”
unknown · 0:56:13

Apex Mountain · Where a cast member's career peaked relative to this movie.

winner Lindsay Lohan: Unanimous: the highest peak anyone may have reached.
“It's the highest peak anyone may have ever reached on their apex mountain.”
Bill Simmons · 1:03:28
pick Tina Fey: Mean Girls gave her the power to do 30 Rock and Sarah Palin.
“Writes Mean Girls has an incredible amount of power that then allows her to do 30 rock.”
unknown · 1:03:46
pick Rachel McAdams: Suggested her peak was Wedding Crashers, the end of a trilogy with this and The Notebook.
“I would say wedding crashers because this is so much bigger than...”
unknown · 1:04:16

Joey Pants Award (best that guy) · The best that-guy actor in the movie.

winner Damian: Described as just Damian; people walk around saying Damian.
“I think he's just Damien.”
unknown · 1:05:31
nominee The nerdy girl who ended up in the Ariana Grande video
“I think it's the woman who ended up in the Ariana Grande video who was like, Regina's George said X was cool, so I did blah, blah, blah, whatever that line is.”
unknown · 1:05:15

Picking Nits · Nitpicks of a movie they love.

pick Regina George falling for the Kälteen nutrition bars: His wife thinks it's the biggest flaw; Regina would know about weight loss bars.
“she can't believe Regina George fell for the call teen bar thing.”
Bill Simmons · 1:07:39
pick Katie winning prom queen after the burn book
“How did Katie win the prom queen after the burn book debacle?”
Bill Simmons · 1:08:58
pick Kevin G. and Janice Ian thrown together at the end
“How did Kevin G. and Janice Ian get thrown together at the end?”
unknown · 1:10:12
pick The ending is too neat, too high school PSA; Fey and Meadows end up together
“Because it is, like, too neat and too high school PSA.”
unknown · 1:10:21
pick Katie's speech at the end
“I mean, also, like, this speech that Katie gives at the end sucks.”
unknown · 1:10:40
pick Regina getting hit by a speeding, empty school bus; no crosswalk system
“Why didn't the school have a better crosswalk system?”
unknown · 1:11:35
pick The plastic tiara breaks too easily
“Seemed a little easy to break the tiara, that plastic.”
unknown · 1:12:05
pick Aaron Samuels chases the purse thief and never asks why Katie was with the coach
“Although I never understand the part where he steals the purse.”
unknown · 0:23:02

Best quote · The best or most iconic line.

winner Gretchen, stop trying to make fetch happen: Called the iconic quote.
“I think it's Gretchen.”
unknown · 1:15:08
nominee Old boyfriends are off limits to friends
“Well, boyfriends are off limit to friends that's just the rules of feminism.”
unknown · 1:12:21
nominee Wow, Damien, you've truly outgaged yourself
“Wow, Damien, you've truly outgaged yourself is the big Lizzy Kaplan quote of that whole movie.”
unknown · 1:12:26
nominee I'm not a regular mom, I'm a cool mom (top 3 quote)
“I'm a cool mom.”
unknown · 0:54:51
nominee On Wednesdays, we wear pink
“And on Wednesdays, we wear pink.”
unknown · 1:14:57

Who won the movie · Who came out of the movie best.

winner Rachel McAdams as Regina George: Came out of nowhere, created an all-time character, and built a career.
“I do think it's Rachel McGann.”
unknown · 1:18:06
nominee Lizzy Kaplan as Janice Ian: Doesn't win but her advanced metrics are very high.
“She's going to come up and who won the movie, even though she doesn't win because her her advanced metrics in this movie are really high.”
unknown · 1:13:01

Unanswerable questions · Open questions about the characters after the film.

pick Regina George: did she become an all-American lacrosse player in college?: Yes; the guesses were Duke, UNC, Williams.
“Did she become an all-American lacrosse porn college?”
unknown · 1:16:55
pick Cady and Aaron Samuels: did they break up at Halloween or Thanksgiving?: Answered Thanksgiving.
“Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving when everybody came back.”
unknown · 1:17:45

Best Lorne Michaels movie · The best movie from Lorne Michaels's string of SNL-adjacent films.

winner Mean Girls: Nominees: Wayne's World, Mean Girls, Tommy Boy.
“I think this is the best Lauren Michaels movie.”
Bill Simmons · 0:16:22

Films that came up

Claims (51)

lineage (lineage): Mean Girls → Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Simmons proposes a championship-belt lineage of smart teen movies starting with Fast Times and running through Mean Girls.
“I feel like Fast Times at Ridgemont High was the 1st one.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:02:07 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
unmapped (generational pick): The Kissing Booth → To All the Boys I've Loved Before. Kissing Booth revived teen movies but To All the Boys was smarter and crossed generations like the lineage films.
“to all the boys I love before really had a cross-generation.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:02:39 · Juliet Litman (0.50 sure it was them)
theme (genre commentary): Mean Girls → Cruel Intentions. Cruel Intentions is argued to be a smart teen movie because it comments on the genre; Simmons says it is an adult movie using teens, coming on Rewatchables 99.
“That's actually an adult movie that's using teens, which is what makes it so weird and uncomfortable.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:04:15 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
unmapped (timeline slot): Mean Girls → Scream. Scream gets slotted between Clueless and Mean Girls in the smart-teen-movie lineage.
“can I throw that in between clueless and mean girls?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:04:52 · Juliet Litman (0.50 sure it was them)
unmapped (shared family): Heathers → Mean Girls. Heathers was written by Daniel Waters, brother of Mean Girls director Mark Waters.
“It was written by Daniel Waters, who is the brother of Mark Waters, who directed Mean Girls.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:06:57 · Juliet Litman (0.60 sure it was them)
unmapped (siblings): Daniel Waters → Mark Waters. The writer of Heathers and the director of Mean Girls are brothers.
“It was written by Daniel Waters, who is the brother of Mark Waters, who directed Mean Girls.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:06:57 · Juliet Litman (0.60 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Mean Girls → Clueless. Clueless brought the teen genre back and made it female; Mean Girls inherits that more female guiding hand.
“Clueless brought the genre back and I think people missed it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:07:10 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
unmapped (overqualified lead): Mean Girls → Easy A. Emma Stone in Easy A is the other candidate for an actress overqualified for a teen movie, alongside Lohan.
“Emma Stone would be the other candidate for just, Completely overqualified to be in one of these movies.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:07:52 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
people (performance): Lindsay Lohan → The Parent Trap. Lohan is jarringly awesome playing two characters in The Parent Trap, which Simmons' daughter watched for a year.
“she's like jarringly awesome in that movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:08:50 · Bill Simmons (0.90 sure it was them)
career (career projection): Lindsay Lohan → Jodie Foster. After Freaky Friday, Ebert's comparison made it seem Lohan would be the next Jodie Foster, doing teen movies then winning Oscars.
“So at this point, we're like, this is the next Jody Foster.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:09:20 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
career (career run): Mean Girls → Freaky Friday. Freaky Friday made $92 million; Lohan's run went Freaky Friday, Confessions, Mean Girls, then the wheels came off.
“Uh, did confessions of a teenage drama queen, then it goes well on that mean girls.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:09:26 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if career): Lindsay Lohan → River Phoenix. Another talented actor whose career is a what-if; Simmons compares to athletes lost to injury or drugs.
“River Phoenix, who I think is another one where it's, there's a lot of what ifs that go with him”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:13:54 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
people (same producer): Mean Girls → Wayne's World. Wayne's World, Mean Girls and Tommy Boy are the nominees for best Lorne Michaels movie; Mean Girls wins as he lets talent paint the canvas.
“Wayne's World, Mean Girls and Tommy Boy.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:16:16 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
people (same producer): Mean Girls → Tommy Boy. Tommy Boy is the third Lorne Michaels nominee, whose stars also did not peak as expected.
“All 3 of those, I feel like the stars didn't really hit the peak you thought they were going to.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:16:45 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
unmapped (sad arc): Lindsay Lohan → Chris Farley. Farley is another Lorne Michaels star whose end got sad.
“Farley's another one like this.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:16:50 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
unmapped (rare teen star): Lindsay Lohan → Alicia Silverstone. No teen star like Lohan or Silverstone has appeared since; both show how hard young-woman fame is.
“I feel the same way about Alicia Silverstone.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:17:12 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
unmapped (cost of fame): Alicia Silverstone → Clueless. Stories about Silverstone being anorexic on the Clueless set are cited as devastating, tying her fate to Lohan's.
“stories about Alicia Silverstone just being so anorexic on set of Clueless are like pretty, are like pretty devastating”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:17:25 · Juliet Litman (0.60 sure it was them)
verdict (favorite teen movie): Mean Girls → She's All That. Asked for a favorite high school movie, one guest picks She's All That, itself a ripoff of an earlier film.
“I like really loved she's all that.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:19:27 · Juliet Litman (0.50 sure it was them)
theme (trope): Secret Admirer → Mean Girls. The trope that the guy does not notice his hot friend until late recurs in Secret Admirer and Dawson's Creek.
“Secret admirer has Lori Laughlin, C. Thomas Howes, in love with Kelly Preston”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:20:17 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
career (career before): Mean Girls → The Hot Chick. McAdams had been in Canada and The Hot Chick before Mean Girls made her career.
“She was in the hot chick, but I didn't see that.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:26:38 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career run): Rachel McAdams → The Notebook. 2004 brought Mean Girls then The Notebook then Wedding Crashers, the 'trilogy' that gave McAdams career power.
“2004 is Mean Girls and then the notebook.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:26:46 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
programming (recommendation): Rachel McAdams → Red Eye. Red Eye is called very underrated.
“And the very underrated redeye.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:26:52 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (recommendation): Rachel McAdams → Morning Glory. Juliet pushes Morning Glory as a wonderful underrated McAdams rom-com.
“This is a great time to remind everyone to watch the wonderful film, Morning Glory”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:27:18 · Juliet Litman (0.60 sure it was them)
theme (sports analogy): Lindsay Lohan → Dwight Gooden. Simmons likens 2004 Lohan to 1985 Dwight Gooden, a young phenom who cratered with cocaine.
“that was like Dwight Gooden in 1985 on the Mets.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:27:59 · Bill Simmons (0.90 sure it was them)
theme (character descent): Mean Girls → Heathers. Regina George is framed as the legacy of the original Heather (Kim Walker), the first Heather killed.
“Regina George. To me is the legacy of the 3 Heathers and Heathers.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:29:42 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Christina Aguilera → Mean Girls. Damian's talent-show number is a Christina Aguilera song, "Beautiful", named as a favorite moment.
“And then he sings beautiful, right? Yes, he does. Christina Aguilera song?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:33:57 · Juliet Litman (0.40 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Kelis → Mean Girls. Kelis's "Milkshake" needle-drop is singled out as the best use of music in a soundtrack the speaker otherwise finds weak.
“The best part is when they use Khalis, when she like sees everything, it's like a jungle in the milkshake.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:37:24 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
people (cast shock parallel): Mean Girls → Spring Breakers. Claudia from Party of 5 looking grown up in Mean Girls was a 2004 shock, like Vanessa Hudgens in Spring Breakers.
“It was kind of like when Vanessa Hudgens was in spring breakers.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:39:06 · Juliet Litman (0.40 sure it was them)
craft (soundtrack/dating): Lindsay Lohan → Samantha Ronson. The soundtrack song 'Built This Way' is by Samantha Ronson, whom Lohan later dated, which throws a viewer off.
“Katie starts dating the person who did the song a year later.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:40:07 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
unmapped (same cohort): Lindsay Lohan → Mischa Barton. Barton is in the same paparazzi-era cohort on a similar trajectory, though judged less talented.
“Misha Barton. She's on a very similar trajectory as Lindsay Lohan.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:40:17 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
industry (awards crossover): Mean Girls → Pretty Woman. The Vivian Award for best clothes started at the Pretty Woman rewatchables; here it is reversed for worst clothes.
“We had the Vivian Award for best clothes in a movie that we started during the Pretty Women rewatchables”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:45:24 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
what-if (casting what-if): Lindsay Lohan → Pretty Woman. Asked whether Lohan could have starred in Pretty Woman at 23; they say no, her power was suburban edge, not hard exterior and soft center.
“Could she have done Pretty Woman if Pretty Woman was 20 years later?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:48:41 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
what-if (role swap what-if): Lindsay Lohan → Rachel McAdams. They were originally cast in opposite roles; McAdams would have been too old to be believable as homeschooled Cady.
“Originally an edition for the opposite roles.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:50:51 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
people (casting context): Mean Girls → Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. Lohan said she had just played Confessions and Freaky Friday, not the cool girl, which is why she wanted Regina.
“I just played in Confessions of a teenager drama queen in Freaky Friday, not the cool girl in school.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:51:17 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
what-if (casting what-if): James Franco → Mean Girls. Considered for Aaron Samuels; would have been darker, taken up space, and played up the satire.
“he kind of changes the energy of the, of the movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:52:19 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (casting what-if): Elisha Cuthbert → Mean Girls. Cuthbert lost the part of Regina George.
“Somebody who lost the part of Regina George.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:52:53 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
people (cast overlap): Mean Girls → The Girl Next Door. Cuthbert's other film, with Paul Dano in the cast, is called a great teen movie (transcribed 'Backstore').
“Backstore is a great teen movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:53:06 · Juliet Litman (0.40 sure it was them)
people (pitch/producer): Tina Fey → Lorne Michaels. Fey pitched a movie about relational aggression; Michaels asked for cool cars and clothes too.
“He was like, okay, but could they also have cool cars and cool clothes?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:58:22 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
unmapped (on-set mentor): Lacey Chabert → Amanda Seyfried. Seyfried says Chabert took her in, listening to Dido in her trailer.
“I don't know what I would have done without Lacey Shea Bear.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:00:24 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
career (career springboard): Tina Fey → Mean Girls. Fey's Apex Mountain: writing Mean Girls gave her the power to do 30 Rock, with Sarah Palin on top.
“Writes Mean Girls has an incredible amount of power that then allows her to do 30 rock.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:03:46 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
verdict (Apex Mountain comparison): Mean Girls → Wedding Crashers. Debating McAdams' Apex Mountain, they weigh Wedding Crashers as the third of her trilogy with career power.
“So at the end, by the end of the trilogy of this notebook wedding crashers, she has so much career power at that point”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:04:16 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
industry (MTV Movie Awards moment): Rachel McAdams → Ryan Gosling. The Notebook pair's MTV Movie Awards stage appearance was a landmark for college women.
“Very important to generation of women.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:05:04 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
unmapped (calorie-counting): Mean Girls → Bridget Jones's Diary. Calorie knowledge memorized like multiplication tables, as in Bridget Jones, shows Regina would not fall for the Kalteen bar.
“There's a good passage in Bridget Jones about how she just, like, has calorie counts memorized, like multiplication tables.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:08:36 · Juliet Litman (0.50 sure it was them)
theme (nitpick parallel): Mean Girls → Clueless. Cher's heifer line in Clueless shows women are conscious of calories, backing the Regina-would-know nitpick.
“It's like that moment in clueless when she's like, I'm such a heifer.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:08:45 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
theme (genre DNA): Mean Girls → Heathers. Mean Girls is described as part Heathers and part after-school special; the ending was pushed away from Heathers toward the relatable.
“This movie is like part Heathers and part after school special.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:11:54 · Juliet Litman (0.55 sure it was them)
lineage (remake vibe): Mean Girls → Election. A hypothetical 'Mean Girls 2020' would have an election vibe like Tracy Flick.
“I feel like that has like an election vibe, like the Tracy Flick.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:16:45 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
theme (generational comparison): Lindsay Lohan → Elizabeth Taylor. People thought Lohan was this generation's Elizabeth Taylor, then the bad parts happened without the good.
“that's Elizabeth Taylor for this generation.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:18:22 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
people (people): Julia Roberts → Danny Moder. Roberts married a regular guy who works as a camera guy, offered as the path Lohan might have taken.
“He's a camera guy. camera guy? Just married a regular dude and she was good.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:18:55 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
what-if (alternate arc): Lindsay Lohan → Julia Roberts. Roberts married a regular guy and stayed fine; maybe Lohan could have had that path.
“Just married a regular dude and she was good.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:18:57 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
unmapped (timeless): Mean Girls → The Princess Bride. Simmons says the film will live on like The Princess Bride, a short list.
“Princess Bride, I think, is like that.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:20:20 · Bill Simmons (0.75 sure it was them)
unmapped (timeless social dynamics): Mean Girls → Clueless. Clueless and The Princess Bride are named alongside Mean Girls as films that will live on because they capture transcendent social dynamics.
“Clueless is like that.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:20:25 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)

Fun items (27)

fun, about Mean Girls: Mean Girls is dated April 30, 2004, but fans celebrate Mean Girls Day on October 3rd, after the line about the date; Simmons only learned of it while researching.
“People think Mean Girls Day is October 3rd, but actually it came out on April 30th.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:01:48 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Fast Times at Ridgemont High: Cameron Crowe went undercover in high school as a grown-up to learn how teens talked.
“he actually went undercover in high school as a grown up to try to learn how people were talking.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:06:26 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Heathers: Fun fact: Heathers was written by Daniel Waters, brother of Mean Girls director Mark Waters.
“It was written by Daniel Waters, who is the brother of Mark Waters, who directed Mean Girls.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:06:57 · Juliet Litman (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Lindsay Lohan: The rewatchables crew remembers an MTV 'Diary' episode filmed right before Mean Girls, plus a hosted SNL with Debbie Downer, and a 2005 return whose monologue was about her problems.
“By the time she comes back in 05.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:15:54 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Mean Girls: Most rewatchable scene picks: the talent show (Jingle Bell Rock), the sabotage montage, the four-way phone call, the lunch scene, the burn book blowup, Tim Meadows in the gym; Simmons picks the burn book blowup into the gym.
“Um, the burn book blowout bra.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:23:47 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Mean Girls: Amanda picks the first lunch scene as most rewatchable: Regina introducing the Plastics in about three minutes.
“I think I'm going with the 1st lunch scene.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:25:55 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Rachel McAdams: They recall being shocked McAdams was 27 when she played Regina; later debate whether she was 25.
“I remember being shocked to find out she was 27 when she was in Mean Girls.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:26:27 · Juliet Litman (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Gretchen Wieners: Juliet's villains-podcast takeaway: Gretchen Wieners is the true villain because she gives Regina her power and is the only one who learns nothing.
“What I learned is that Gretchen Wiener is the true villain of the movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:29:08 · Juliet Litman (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Janice Ian: Lizzy Caplan said Janice was styled to stand out as an outcast, but years later people dressed like her.
“But then people actually started dressing like Janice in a few years later.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:32:44 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Mean Girls: It was an early meme movie, with Tumblr-era life and even the Obama campaign using Mean Girls memes.
“the Obama campaign was using mean girl means and it had this 2nd internet life”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:34:59 · Amanda Dobbins (0.45 sure it was them)
fun, about Mean Girls: Worst-aged: four-way phone calls, Africa/jungle references, the coach plotline; Simmons notes teens would group FaceTime now.
“There's just nobody would ever have a 4 way call now”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:35:54 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Mean Girls: Soundtrack rant: the film is aimed at young women but the music sounds like a deodorant commercial; no hip-hop in 2004; probably budget.
“instead of actually being good.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:37:11 · Juliet Litman (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Jonathan Bennett: Aaron Samuels' IMDb is aged worst; running gag that Juliet will be trained by Aaron Samuels and a Mark Ruffalo road-trip indie.
“His IMDb is age the worst.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:37:52 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about Mean Girls: The reverse Vivian Award for worst clothes: wide-waistband mini skirts, kitten heels, blue eyeshadow, the party dress; the Henley top and short skirt also hated.
“Now you want to do the reverse Vivian.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:45:35 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Regina George: Lohan originally wanted to play Regina but the director insisted Katie (Cady) was the heroine; the irony is she really was Regina.
“So I had a war with the director and he said, no, Katie is the heroine and that's who you are.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:51:26 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Amy Poehler: Saul Rubinek award for overacting nominees: Kevin G, Damian, and Simmons' hot take on Amy Poehler's cool mom; the group gives it to Kevin G.
“This is my hottest take of the podcast.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:54:43 · Juliet Litman (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Tim Meadows: Best 'heat check' pick: Tim Meadows sells the worst-written character; they cannot understand why he is not a bigger star.
“I don't understand why he's not a bigger star after seeing him this”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:56:51 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Mean Girls: Original title was 'Homeschooled'; the script was R-rated before changing 'cherry popped' and hot-dog lines for PG-13.
“The original title this movie was?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:57:44 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Tim Meadows: Meadows broke his hand before shooting, which is why his Principal Duvall wears a cast.
“Tim Meadows broke his hand before shooting had to wear a cast.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:00:03 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Amanda Seyfried: A cocktail wiener pinned into Amy Poehler's bra was how the Chihuahua scene was filmed.
“They pinned a piece of a cocktail wiener into her bra.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:01:17 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Lindsay Lohan: Lohan has repeatedly pitched and treated a Mean Girls sequel; direct-to-TV Mean Girls 2 aired on ABC Family January 23, 2011.
“She'd written a treatment for the film.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:02:27 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Lindsay Lohan: Apex Mountain: Lohan's 2004 is the highest peak anyone has reached, unanimous; Tina Fey, McAdams, Seyfried, Chabert and Poehler also considered.
“It's the highest peak anyone may have ever reached on their apex mountain.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:03:28 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Mean Girls: Best nitpick: Regina George falling for the Kalteen bar, and Katie winning prom queen after the burn book, which they explain as a rejection vote.
“This is a rejection vote.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:09:54 · Juliet Litman (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Lizzy Caplan: Lizzy Caplan goes up for who won the movie on advanced metrics: every scene she is in is strong.
“her advanced metrics in this movie are really high.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:13:01 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Mean Girls: Best quote picks: 'Stop trying to make fetch happen' is the iconic line; others include 'I'm a cool mom' and 'On Wednesdays, we wear pink'.
“Gretchen, stop trying to make fetch happen.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:13:36 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Regina George: Unanswerable question: Regina becomes a lacrosse star at Duke or Northwestern or Williams.
“Duke for her.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:17:04 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Rachel McAdams: Who won the movie: McAdams, who came out of nowhere and made an all-time character, beats Lohan at her peak.
“I just think Rachel McAdams comes out of nowhere.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Mean Girls’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Amanda Dobbins · 1:18:18 · Juliet Litman (0.45 sure it was them)

Who's talking

Bill Simmons (host): Loves ensemble casts and film-lineage framing, sports analogies (Dwight Gooden, Penny Hardaway), and the show's recurring awards. Wants a better soundtrack, and cannot stand the ending speech. Is a sucker for his wife and kids' opinions of the film.
Juliet Litman (guest): Adores the film's social critique and Tim Meadows, loves rom-coms like Morning Glory and teen movies like She's All That, hates the music choices and the Kalteen-bar plot hole. A sucker for the Aaron Samuels fantasy.
Amanda Dobbins (guest): Loves Regina George and the script, the first lunch scene, Lizzy Caplan, and Mean Girls as internet culture. Hates dumbing down for a boy and the ending speech; a sucker for teen-movie lineage and McAdams.

The show's recurring bits

Apex Mountain: The moment a star peaks; where on the mountain a performance sits.
Who Won the Movie: The hosts name the person who came out of the film best off.
The Ebert review: Roger Ebert's original review and star rating read aloud. Ebert is cited, never on the show.
Casting what-ifs: Who was almost cast, or who should have been.
Most rewatchable scene: The scene each host would stop on while flipping channels.
Aged best / aged worst: What holds up and what does not.
Picking Nits: The little things in a film the hosts love that they don't think totally work: the nits.
Double feature: The film each host would pair it with; a programming pick.

Names the transcriber got wrong

Lauren Michaels = Lorne Michaels
Rachel McDonald's / Rachel McGann = Rachel McAdams
Lizzy Kaplan = Lizzy Caplan
Lacey Shea Bear / Lacey Shea Bear = Lacey Chabert
Amanda Seafried = Amanda Seyfried
Voodoo = Vudu (sponsor)
Backstore = probably The Girl Next Door
Cathartic/Kalteen bars appear as 'call teen bar'
Jennifer Jason Lee = Jennifer Jason Leigh
Alicia Cuthbert = Elisha Cuthbert
Misha Barton = Mischa Barton
Andrew Myers = Andy Fickman (director)
Samantha Ronson's 'built that way' = Built This Way
Kevin G/Kevin Gnapoor