Every gang of misfits needs a bully to run from, and Butch was ours. This week Blake and Jordan reunite with their old castmate Sam Saletta, the leather-jacketed troublemaker who made the Rascals' lives miserable in the 1994 classic. Sam was the "voiceover kid" out of Chicago before he ever met Steven Spielberg, and he walked out of his screen test 90% sure he had the part. He did, and nearly thirty years later the three of them pick right back up like no time has passed.

Sam finally spills the story of how Blake and Jordan actually got their roles: the original Woim got sent home for calling a kid "fuckface" on the playground, and the original Froggy flipped a Connect 4 board in the school trailer. From there the guys trace Sam's whole run, the TV circuit and Seventh Heaven alongside sister Nikki, three or four years as Sam Dullard on Rocket Power under cartoon legend Charlie Adler, and the voice change that quietly ended his cartoon career. He talks about stage-parent Karen (pushy in the good way), chasing normalcy as an independent kid who watched Hollywood chew people up, and the high school music program that launched a second career as a professional musician.

The back half gets into the real stuff and the ridiculous stuff in equal measure. Sam explains how his family handled the money, why he knew about and signed off on the investment in moving to LA, and the residual-check absurdity that ends in a check for literally zero dollars. He shares how first-season American Idol wanted a contract owning his past, present, and future, why he walked, and how he made peace with Butch after years of people trying to test him for playing one of the most legendary bullies in cinema history. Plus the pig pucky rankings you've been waiting for (oatmeal and dirt, dead last).

And yes, the guys build out the full Butch cinematic universe: he buys the clubhouse, tears it down, puts up luxury condos, and hires Woim as his loyal maintenance man. From our childhood to yours, this is The Not So Little Rascals.

🎥 What happens in this episode?

00:00 Cold Open: Pig Pucky, Ranked

00:47 Reunion: Butch and Woim Back Together

01:28 The Chicago Voiceover Kid and Meeting Spielberg

04:36 The Replacement Rascals: How Blake and Jordan Really Got In

06:49 Typecast as the Bully, and the People Who Try You

09:30 The TV Circuit, Seventh Heaven, and Sister Nikki

10:20 Rocket Power, Sam Dullard, and Charlie Adler

13:52 When the Voice Changed

15:00 Stage-Parent Karen and the Sibling Dynamic

18:14 Favorite Rascals Memories and School as a Kid Actor

21:10 Burroughs, Music, and Chasing Normalcy

26:02 The Third Act: COVID, Real Estate, and Buying a House from a Little Rascal

28:51 How the Money Was Handled, and Residual-Check Hell

34:20 Perform Forever? His Son, and Watching the Movie Together

38:17 Pig Pucky Rankings and Butch's Hypothetical Future

44:06 Anonymity, American Idol Season One, and Making Peace with Butch

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We sit down with Kiami Davael, who a whole generation knows as Lavender, Matilda's loyal best friend in the 1996 classic. Kiami's "first call" story starts with a dream she'd had since age three, and a mom who told her that while there was only one Whitney Houston, she could be the best Kiami there ever was.

Kiami takes us from a small town in Kentucky to Los Angeles, where an agent fought to get her in the room for a role that wasn't written for a girl who looked like her, until Mara Wilson's mom took one look and told Danny DeVito, "that's your Lavender." She shares what it was like to grow up on that set with "Uncle Danny," turning nine over a giant birthday cake, and what it means now when grown women tell her Lavender was the first time they ever saw themselves on screen.

We get into the honest stuff too, the sting of rejection as she aged out of the roles she used to book, the loneliness of high school, and the "create your own yes" mindset that turned her into a writer, director, and producer. She's open about a mom who did the research, protected every dollar, and made decisions with her instead of for her, one of the most refreshing money stories we've heard. And she tells us about the documentary she's making about her own life, on her own terms.

It's funny, it's honest, and it's a reminder of exactly why this podcast exists, because the real stories behind the kids you grew up watching are always more interesting than anything that made it on screen.

🎥 What happens in this episode?

00:00 – Cold open, and welcoming Kiami

01:21 – Booking Matilda: "that's your Lavender"

04:21 – Kentucky, Whitney Houston, and "be the best Kiami"

07:44 – The move to LA and the first auditions

10:16 – Did she know Matilda would be huge? Why Lavender is her

14:08 – On set with Uncle Danny and a birthday cake

16:37 – Oldest of seven, and different households

21:00 – "The first time they saw themselves on screen"

23:34 – Handling the trolls and owning her place in history

25:33 – After Matilda, and aging into the awkward years

31:11 – Rejection, and "create your own yes"

34:44 – High school, bullying, and turning that tassel

41:55 – Choosing college, going home, and Starbucks

48:12 – The money: a mom who did the research

51:03 – The chocolate cake scene and the reunion

54:10 – The documentary, identity, and the proud/grateful close

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We sit down with Justin Cooper, the kid who played Max Reede, Jim Carrey's son in the 1997 blockbuster Liar Liar. Justin's "first call" story is a good one: he was standing in line at a Kinko's when his mom got word that Jim Carrey wanted to meet him first, just to make sure the two of them clicked before the cameras rolled.

Justin was working before most kids can read, starting with a Domino's commercial at four and rolling into his own series The Boys Are Back, two years on General Hospital, a Full House episode, and his own TGIF sitcom Brother's Keeper, all before his teens. He takes us behind the scenes of Liar Liar, from the Batmobile in Jim Carrey's backyard to a hidden Fire Marshal Bill cameo tucked into one of the movie's most emotional scenes, and the one bit that actually got overwhelming as a kid: the claw.

We get into the honest stuff too, the awkward jump from private school to public school, hiding his past to try to blend in, a protective mom who quietly intercepted some genuinely startling fan mail, and the slow decision to walk away as auditions started to feel like work. Then the reinvention: cold-emailing his way into an internship that became a 14-year career producing an overnight sports radio show, and finding a version of the business that finally fit.

It's funny, it's honest, and it's a reminder of exactly why this podcast exists, because the real stories behind the kids you grew up watching are always more interesting than anything that made it on screen.

🎥 What happens in this episode?

00:00 – Cold open: the prison mail

00:54 – The call at the Kinko's, and meeting Jim Carrey

03:41 – The Riddler costume and the Batmobile in the backyard

07:13 – How it started: Disneyland, headshots, and a Domino's commercial

14:09 – Full House, Brother's Keeper, and life on a sitcom

18:38 – After Liar Liar: buffet lines, prison mail, and a protective mom

24:08 – Jennifer Tilly, poker, and Meadows Oaks camp

28:46 – Private school, public school, and the bullying

35:42 – Sports radio, the listeners, and the claw

38:50 – Stepping away, the grind, and the awkward years

42:04 – Family, the money, and the Coogan account

47:27 – From intern to producer

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