About this episode

The episode explores the pop culture of the weekend of June 27-29, 1986, focusing on film releases, box office reports, and notable news stories.

The Summer of 86 at 40 is a weekly retrospective journey through United States pop culture surrounding the films released in May, June, July and August of 1986. Brandon Peters, Scott Mendelson and Aaron Neuwirth take a weekend by weekend look at the films released as well as the news stories, commercials, television and music that rounded out the general public’s lives as they lined the pockets of the box office to see these movies. June 27-29, 1986: As this month and episode finishes, we are halfway through our journey with quite possibly the best week yet. After a gymnastics drama, we are treated to a ZAZ comedy, a legendary puppeteered fantasy film that bombed and a buddy action film that should’ve spawned at least 2 sequels. We’ll also be discussing the box office report, notable news stories, a 1986 commercial, the top 10 Nielsen rated tv programs for the week and the top 10 of Casey Kasem’s American top 40 from the week these films were released. Brandon Peters and the show are on Facebook and social media @brandon4kuhd. Subscribe to the YouTube channel for visual versions as well as 4k, Blu-ray, DVD reviews & additional material. Scott Mendelson…

People in this episode

Host: Brandon Peters

Guests: Scott Mendelson, Aaron Neuwirth

Topics covered

• 1986 pop culture
• film releases
• box office
• television
• music
• nostalgia

Keywords

• 1986 films
• box office report
• Nielsen ratings
• commercials
• pop culture
• ZAZ comedy
• puppeteered fantasy film

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: weliveentertainment.com, 2 Black Guys Talk Godzilla

Books & works: American top 40, The Outside Scoop, The Box Office Podcast, Out Now with Aaron & Abe

More episodes of The Brandon Peters Show

• The Summer of 86 at 40: July 25-27, 1986 · July 20, 2026 · 1h 57m
• The Summer of 86 at 40: “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin with Jennifer Wreyford · July 17, 2026 · 26 min
• The Summer of 86 at 40: July 18-20, 1986 · July 13, 2026 · 1h 55m
• The Summer of 86 at 40: “Invisible Touch” by Genesis with Matt Pelsor · July 10, 2026 · 26 min
• The Summer of 86 at 40: July 11-13, 1986 · July 6, 2026 · 1h 54m
• The Summer of 86 at 40: “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel with Jessica Alsman · July 3, 2026 · 25 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Brandon Peters Show podcast page.