Only Murders In The White House (THE RESIDENCE, 2025)
It's Wes Anderson meets PADDINGTON meets CLUE, all set in the White House. Well, not the ENTIRE White House. Just... THE RESIDENCE! This hit Netflix series from Shondaland presents an offbeat murder mystery wrapped up in some truly excellent production design. The series goes into details of how the White House works that have never been seen on screen before. But what about the Fake President? Did they give us enough detail there? Let's put our detective caps on and find out... Note: We actually manage to talk spoiler-free about the series for the majority of this episode. Unless, of course, you consider it a spoiler to find out that this is the first [REDACTED] American president we've covered on this podcast. Find us on Instagram, Threads, or Bluesky at Fake_Presidents, or email us at fakepresidents [at] gmail.com to join the conversation!
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1:00:20
Follow the De Niro (ZERO DAY, 2025)
In Netflix's 6-part series ZERO DAY, Robert De Niro plays a former U.S President with cognitive issues (who chose not to run for reelection), and Angela Bassett is a current U.S. President with a great wardrobe. Together they must figure out who perpetrated the greatest, deadliest hack in U.S. history! Well, actually, it's mostly just De Niro doing the figuring and the outing. Joan Allen, Jesse Plemons, and Connie Britton round out De Niro's inner circle, while Lizzy Caplan and Matthew Modine are members of congress "just asking questions" about De Niro's investigative operation. But the biggest, most pressing question of all... Why does Ben feel the need to do his Randy Newman impression in this episode?! Find us on BlueSky, Threads, or Instagram -- or email us at fakepresidents [at] gmail.com -- to join the convo!
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39:26
This is POTUS (PARADISE, 2025)
In Hulu's newest TV series PARADISE, James Marsden is a murdered U.S. president, and Sterling K. Brown is the Secret Service agent at the center of the investigation. Oh, and (SPOILER ALERT) the whole series takes place in [REDACTED] because [REDACTED] and the truth is that [REDACTED] also [REDACTED] and everyone is [REDACTED]. From Dan Fogelman, who also wrote THIS IS US and CARS. Find us at Fake_Presidents on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, or email us fakepresidents [at] gmail.com to join the convo!
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57:35
Red Hulk Gives You Wiiings (CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD, 2025)
Happy Presidents Day! To mark the occasion, we rushed out opening weekend to check out the return of Harrison Ford to the White House. Well, technically, in AIR FORCE ONE, Ford never made it to the White House, but this time, in Marvel's CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD, Indy gets scenes in the Oval, in the Rose Garden, in the Residence, in a battleship, and he even gets some more action aboard Air Force One (well, some Peloton action, that is). Oh yeah, and Anthony Mackie is the Captain America with wings trying to keep President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross from losing his cool. Spoilers don’t get heavy until deep into the episode, and we give a warning before they come on strong. Find us on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, or email us at fake presidents [at] gmail.com to join the convo! We're always open to suggestions for fake potuses to cover...
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53:55
The Dude-In-Chief (THE CONTENDER, 2000)
We cover 2000's THE CONTENDER starring Jeff Bridges as a U. S. president sometime between 2007 and 2010. Joan Allen is a senator nominated to fill an open VP slot who refuses to address any allegations of sexual impropriety in her past. Gary Oldman is a congressman trying to destroy her during the confirmation hearings. Does anyone actually read these show notes? Do we need to mention that Christian Slater, Sam Elliott, William Peterson, Mike Binder, and Saul Rubinek are all in it, too, in order to game some search engines? You know, for all the Rubinek-heads out there? The episode title is a BIG LEBOWSKI reference, since Bridges and Elliott were in that movie. We also considered: The Big Lewinski, Bone Allen, Capitol Gang Bang, and Hearing Impaired. Did we pick the right one? LET US KNOW. Email us at fakepresidents [at] gmail.com. We're also at Threads, Instagram, and Bluesky.
Remember when you could talk about politics without it being hazardous to your health? We think we’ve found a loophole. Each episode, Eric Buchman and Ben Oren take a deep dive into a fictional American president from film or TV, to see just how much fiction there really is. It’s a podcast sorta about politics and kinda about pop culture, hosted by two former politicos turned TV writer/producers who’d much rather talk about real movies and fake politics than fake movies and real politics.
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