Don Simpson

Made films the shows talk about.

Wikidata Q725170: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by Wikidata joins them to Beverly Hills Cop II, which ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan credits them on.

Counted as producer, the making department they hold the most credits in. The films the hosts said they produced, which the two lists below run through too: Flashdance (1983); Beverly Hills Cop (1984); Top Gun (1986); Beverly Hills Cop II (1987); Days of Thunder (1990); Bad Boys (1995); Crimson Tide (1995); The Rock (1996); Dangerous Minds.

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Top Gun (1986): 2 lines, within their own work

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Days of Thunder (1990), which they produced: Top Gun ⇒ Days of Thunder (the host's read). Days of Thunder is essentially Top Gun with cars.
    “it's essentially just Top Gun with cars”
    The Big Picture · The 1990 Movie Draft · 0:49:49 · Chris Ryan (0.85 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (retread) · through Days of Thunder (1990), which they produced: Top Gun ⇒ Days of Thunder (the host's read). Days of Thunder is tapping the same vein as Top Gun in its afterburner.
    “we're still like in the vapor trail, the afterburner of Top Gun here”
    The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 1:00:45 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

1970s cop movies: 1 line

  1. lineage (tone lineage) · through Beverly Hills Cop (1984), which they produced: 1970s cop movies ⇒ Beverly Hills Cop (the host's read). The first film feels like an extension of 70s cop movies, especially the Detroit material, while the sequel feels glossy and 80s.
    “There's a world in which that almost feels like an extension of like 70s cop movies.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:07:52 · Chris Ryan (0.70 sure it was them)

Beverly Hills Cop II (1987): 1 line, within their own work

  1. theme (scrapped premise) · through The Rock (1996), which they produced: Beverly Hills Cop II ⇒ The Rock (the host's read). The abandoned England/Scotland Yard concept with Sean Connery became the backbone of The Rock a decade later.
    “initially written Beverly Hills Cop 2 to be Eddie Murphy in England, solving crimes with Sean Connery, actually, which basically, I think, winds up being like essentially the backbone for what the rock is 10 years later or whatever.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:00:18 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

In the Heat of the Night (1967): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Beverly Hills Cop (1984), which they produced: In the Heat of the Night ⇒ Beverly Hills Cop (the host's read). Described as In the Heat of the Night meets Beverly Hills; both are fish-out-of-water movies.
    “said that the Beverly Hills Cop is essentially in the heat of the night meets Beverly Hills.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ With Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:27:42 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Michael Eisner: 1 line

  1. industry (industry) · through Beverly Hills Cop (1984), which they produced: Michael Eisner ⇒ Beverly Hills Cop (the maker said so: a podcast the speaker did with Eisner). Eisner claims he came up with the idea after a speeding ticket in 1975; Simpson claimed it from 1977.
    “in 1975, he got a speeding ticket with a cop, thought the guy was a little bit of a dick”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ With Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:06:23 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)

The French Connection (1971): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Beverly Hills Cop (1984), which they produced: The French Connection ⇒ Beverly Hills Cop (the host's read). Recast Popeye Doyle as Axel Foley and the movie barely changes; the apartments are essentially the same.
    “Like you take the French connection and you recast Dean Hackman's, you make Popeye Doyle, Axel Foley.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ With Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:23:34 · Wesley Morris (0.70 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Days of Thunder (1990): 2 lines, within their own work

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Top Gun (1986), which they produced: Top Gun ⇒ Days of Thunder (the host's read). Days of Thunder is essentially Top Gun with cars.
    “it's essentially just Top Gun with cars”
    The Big Picture · The 1990 Movie Draft · 0:49:49 · Chris Ryan (0.85 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (retread) · through Top Gun (1986), which they produced: Top Gun ⇒ Days of Thunder (the host's read). Days of Thunder is tapping the same vein as Top Gun in its afterburner.
    “we're still like in the vapor trail, the afterburner of Top Gun here”
    The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 1:00:45 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

Rosewood: 1 line

  1. unmapped (real-life basis) · them, directly: Don Simpson ⇒ Rosewood (the host's read). The guns in Rosewood's trunk were based on Don Simpson, who kept guns in his trunk.
    “The guns in the trunk was based on Don Simpson.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:54:52 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)

Shawn Ryan: 1 line

  1. programming (programming) · through Beverly Hills Cop (1984), which they produced: Beverly Hills Cop ⇒ Shawn Ryan (the host's read). Shawn Ryan tried a Beverly Hills Cop TV show; CBS made a pilot that didn't work.
    “that CBS did a pilot for and apparently it didn't work.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ With Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:09:37 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006): 1 line

  1. unmapped (parody target) · through Days of Thunder (1990), which they produced: Days of Thunder ⇒ Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (the host's read). The film is not a direct parody but spoofs movies like Days of Thunder; Reilly was in both.
    “I don't think this movie is like a direct parody of that, but it is parodying movies like Days of Thunder.”
    The Rewatchables · 'Talladega Nights' With Craig Horlbeck, Danny Heifetz, and Danny Kelly · 1:05:52 · Craig Horlbeck (0.50 sure it was them)

The Rock (1996): 1 line, within their own work

  1. theme (scrapped premise) · through Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), which they produced: Beverly Hills Cop II ⇒ The Rock (the host's read). The abandoned England/Scotland Yard concept with Sean Connery became the backbone of The Rock a decade later.
    “initially written Beverly Hills Cop 2 to be Eddie Murphy in England, solving crimes with Sean Connery, actually, which basically, I think, winds up being like essentially the backbone for what the rock is 10 years later or whatever.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:00:18 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Top Gun: Maverick (2022): 1 line

  1. lineage (sequel verdict) · through Top Gun (1986), which they produced: Top Gun ⇒ Top Gun: Maverick (the host's read). Chris says the sequel delivered and is better than the first, and Amanda agrees.
    “It's better than the 1st one”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 1:26:26 · Chris Ryan (0.80 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Producing (12) everyone in producing

What was said about them, by kind

career (1)

  1. career (career run): Don Simpson → The Rock. Simpson and Bruckheimer's run of hits ended with The Rock and then Simpson died.
    “Flash Dance, Thief of Hearts, Beverly's Cop, Top Gun, Beverly's Cop 2, Days of Thunder, the Ref, Bad Boys, Crimson Tide, Dangerous Minds, The Rock.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:44:28 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)

people (2)

  1. people (producer excess): Beverly Hills Cop II → Don Simpson. Ryan says he thinks of the sequel as directed by Simpson and Bruckheimer because of their 80s cocaine excess.
    “I kind of think of this one as directed by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer because it has all of the 80s cocaine excess that I associate with them during this decade.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:03:10 · Chris Ryan (0.70 sure it was them)
  2. people (producer power): Don Simpson → The Presidio. Simpson was powerful enough to have Paramount pull writer Larry Ferguson off The Presidio mid-script.
    “Simpson is so powerful at this point that he had Paramount remove a writer named Larry Ferguson from the Presidio to come help with this film.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:42:29 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)

unmapped (2)

  1. unmapped (unintentional impersonation): Don Simpson → Paul Reiser. Reiser's strung-out Ferrari scene reads as a Don Simpson impersonation.
    “Paul Reiser maybe unintentionally doing a Don Simpson impersonation when he shows up in a Ferrari with 2 women in it”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:34:24 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (real-life basis): Don Simpson → Rosewood. The guns in Rosewood's trunk were based on Don Simpson, who kept guns in his trunk.
    “The guns in the trunk was based on Don Simpson.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:54:52 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

None.