How Did This Get Made? – Jade (Classic)

Released: March 31, 2026
Hosts: Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, Jason Mantzoukas

Episode Overview

The central theme of this episode is a hilarious, in-depth breakdown of the 1995 erotic thriller "Jade." Paul, June, and Jason revisit this misbegotten Joe Eszterhas–scripted, William Friedkin–directed film about sex scandals, murder, blackmail, and a mysterious woman known only as Jade. The trio reflects on the film’s nonsensical plot, bizarre sexual politics, 90s genre tropes, and the lasting cultural (and anatomical!) impressions it left behind. Along the way, they explore period-specific anxieties, the mechanics (and branding) of sex pillows, the evolution of erotic thrillers, and puzzlingly absent ginger representation in Hollywood.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introducing Jade: A Reviewer’s Perspective

• [02:03] Instead of a typical plot breakdown, Paul reads a passionate Amazon review from 2001:

  “It’s a nice movie if you like Basic Instinct or Bound or Eyes Wide Shut, which are better. You might like this one. I love it. [...] It’s also still a lot better than any porn movie because those bore you after five minutes. And this one will not. It’s not a porno. Five star review.”
  (— Jusellino Liberato d’Aquino, [03:02])

• Sets the tone for the show and highlights how Jade fits into the 90s erotic thriller boom.

2. The Erotic Thriller Era & Jade’s Place Within It

• [04:18–07:41] Jason and June place Jade in the canon of 80s/90s sex-soaked thrillers:
  • Written by Joe Eszterhas (Basic Instinct, Showgirls) and directed by Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist).
  • David Caruso’s notorious leap from NYPD Blue to (ill-fated) movie stardom.
  • The familiar genre beats: “The incredibly wealthy, the machinations of the incredibly wealthy sexually, and then complete disregard for life.” (Jason, [07:41])
  • Erotic thrillers’ recurring tropes: women with both sexual and professional power, secret cabals, and undercurrents of blackmail.

3. Personal Reactions, Nostalgia & Family Awkwardness

• [05:56–07:40] June describes “muscle memory” of watching steamy thrillers with her parents — “having to sit through sex scenes with them… all of it was so familiar. [...] I've never seen this movie, but I've also seen this movie many times.”
• The trio delight in how movies like Jade are basically “aspirational porn” for middle-aged audiences of the 90s.
• [12:19] June: “I was having the same flashbacks of watching these sex scenes with my parents watching them with him. [...] It was, like, uncomfortable."

4. Insane Plot Logistics & Character Confusion

• [07:41–11:10] Jason and June express confusion over basic character roles:
  • Caruso is a DA but acts like a cop, involved in car chases & busting into crime scenes.
  • Paul: “He runs investigations like a straight up cop.”
  • The genre’s habit of condensing huge city power-structures into a cast of 12 interconnected people.
• The cast runs down standout archetypal performances (shout-out to Ken King’s “Wilford Brimley cop”) and the magnetic allure of Linda Fiorentino as Jade.

5. Unsettling Details & 90s Kink: The Pubic Hair Lockets

• [14:14–16:48] A deep dive into the film’s notorious “pube boxes,” introduced as a plot detail:
  • “He had a bureau, and on top of the bureau were little lockets filled with women's pubic hair. And when this movie delivers that as one of the first plot points... I was like, ‘Oh, my god.’” (Paul, [15:13])
  • Jason: “There was a volume in each of those silver boxes... they are chock full of pubes. [...] You open it and pubes explode!” ([15:57–16:12])
• June becomes genuinely nauseated, highlighting the in-your-face, unnecessary excess of the detail — and how it barely factors into the plot.

6. Sexual Power, Gender Norms, and 90s Sexuality On Screen

• [17:44–18:48] June laments the redundant imagery of female sexuality: “That was my first experience of what a woman’s sexuality was: seeing multiple women in movies like this just give blowjobs, like, immediately,” and how movies taught women to literally “start sucking his dick immediately.”
• Jason: “These men are so powerful... they don’t even have to engage in flirting, pleasantries, foreplay. [...] It’s just transactional.”
• The group notes how Jade and its ilk present sex as something only for the super-wealthy and entirely transactional.

7. The “Double Ginger” Scene and Ginger Representation

• [19:51–21:37] June and Jason note:
  • Jade features a rare “double ginger” scene — two redheaded actors on screen together (“This is, you know, for a long time people thought that you couldn’t do it because the people wouldn’t watch it. And this movie proved them right.” — Jason, [19:59])
  • The rarity prompts a side discussion of redhead casting and their “box office viability.”

8. Absurd Action, 90s Costuming, and Miscasting

• [21:47–24:16]
  • Jade’s action sequences are widely mocked (“The car chases are terrible, terrible.” — Jason, [22:48])
  • The 90s fashion choices, especially Caruso’s “green on green on green” leprechaun look, are ridiculed.
  • The hosts debate the film’s key castings and agree only Linda Fiorentino is truly right for her role.

9. The “Sex Pillow” Sequence – An Extended Digression

• [33:14–44:00]
  • The group fixates on an inflatable sex pillow found at a crime scene, dissecting its purpose, construction, and onscreen presentation (“It looked like a travel pillow... it looked like it had one of those little plastic things that you blow up.” — June, [43:31])
  • Paul sketches possible pillow designs for branded merchandise, leading to riotous stick-figure sex art.
  • Jason: “This is insane… this might be the first How Did This Get Made T-shirt I buy.” ([41:25])
  • Insightful and hilarious exploration of sex toy product placement in 90s thrillers.

10. Frozen Pizza & Fuck House Logistics

• [45:06–47:17]
  • The trio is bemused by the bedroom fridge stocked with champagne, caviar, and especially frozen Wolfgang Puck pizza.
  • June: “If you’re going to a fuck house... you might need to sustain yourself. So I actually appreciated that there was a pizza there.” ([47:06])
  • Jason: “My problem is, like, the caviar, the champagne, these are bedroom things. But, like, a Wolfgang Puck pizza?” ([47:25])

11. Women’s Roles, Sex Work, and Plot Logic

• [49:20–52:12] Jason asks: Why is Jade, a high-powered professional, involved with the film’s sexual underworld?
  • Paul reveals behind-the-scenes changes:

    “Hester House writes this script and they offer it to Linda Fiorentino… she’s like, I don’t want to play a sex worker in this film. And Friedkin goes, don’t worry, I’ll rewrite it for you… So, it makes so much more sense. It’s written that she is also a sex worker.” ([50:26])

  • This last-minute rewrite and genre confusion helps explain the movie’s incoherence.
• They discuss the weird sexual triangle and ambiguous character motivations (“She can’t be Jade with him.” — June, [65:31])

12. Villainy, Power Structures, and 90s Paranoia

• [62:15–66:47]
  • The Governor’s casual abuse of power is dissected (and his infamous line: “I don’t get fucked, I do the fucking.”)
  • June ties Jade’s depiction of elite impunity to real-world figures like Jeffrey Epstein: “I agree that… this was sort of a trope of the time… But when you think of Jeffrey Epstein and what happened there… I do wonder about these men in power and what they’re capable of.” ([63:10])
• The main villain “wins,” leaving the ending shockingly bleak.

13. Absurd Mysteries, Plot Holes & The Ending

• [66:45–71:14] The hosts try to untangle the plot’s unresolved loose ends: the blackmail angles, missing evidence, and why characters keep getting murdered.
  • “It doesn’t make sense. And it ends so abruptly that you’re like, what did I just watch?” (Paul, [70:05])
  • Jason: “...the movie ends and the villain has won. The absolute gross villain has won. His wife is now trapped with him and David Caruso. I don’t even know... We don’t even end with David Caruso.” ([71:14])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the ginger-redhead pairing:
  Jason Manzoukas ([19:59]):
  "That's called a double ginger. And it's considered... you know, for a long time, people thought that you couldn't do it because the people wouldn't watch it. And this movie proved them right."

• Pubic Hair Boxes:
  Jason Manzoukas ([15:57]):
  "They’re not lockets, Paul. They’re boxes. And they’re little pill boxes or snuff boxes or something like that. They’re each engraved and they are chock full of pubes... It’s like the snakes in a can joke in that you open it and pubes explode!"

• On sex toy props:
  June Diane Raphael ([34:39]):
  “I do feel like for that kind of stuff, you want it, like, if someone walks in, you want it to look like it could just be a part of your decor.”

• Erotic thriller formula:
  Jason Manzoukas ([07:41]):
  “All exactly what you’re saying, June. Like, the incredibly wealthy. The machinations of the incredibly wealthy sexually. And then complete disregard for life.”

• About watching with parents:
  June Diane Raphael ([06:40]):
  "I don't think I've ever seen this movie, but I've also seen this movie many times."

• Caruso as DA but acting like a cop:
  Paul Scheer ([10:22]):
  “It’s bonkers that David Caruso in this film, whether it's—I mean, as he’s a DA—he runs investigations like a straight up cop, which, by the way, multiple car chases…”

• Frozen pizza in the fuck house:
  Jason Manzoukas ([46:49]):
  “If you want, I have a Wolfgang Puck pepper, peppers and sausage pizza that can go…”

• Absurd ending & villain’s victory:
  Jason Manzoukas ([71:04]):
  "...how often does that happen? The movie ends and the villain has won."

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:03] — Amazon review intro
• [05:42] — June’s nostalgia & “adult drama with parents” reflections
• [07:41] — Discussion of erotic thriller genre tropes
• [14:14] — Pubic hair boxes/horrific set design
• [17:44] — On transactional 90s movie sex scenes
• [19:51] — The “double ginger” scene
• [21:47] — Cast and costuming critique, especially Caruso’s wardrobe
• [33:14–44:00] — Hilarious and detailed “sex pillow” breakdown and merch brainstorm
• [45:06] — Wolfgang Puck pizza & luxury sex abodes
• [49:20] — Why is Jade involved? (Character motivation confusion)
• [62:15] — Governor’s monologue: "I don't get fucked, I do the fucking."
• [66:45] — Attempting to map out the plot twist and ending
• [71:40] — Would the hosts recommend watching Jade?

Conclusion & Recommendations

• The episode ends on the fitting note of “would you recommend watching Jade?” with a resounding yes—for laughs or as a time capsule of a genre and era that genuinely doesn’t exist anymore.
• Paul drops a wild trivia tidbit: “OJ Simpson was judged not guilty and said to the press he was excited to see Jade.” ([79:13])
• The hosts suggest also watching/covering genre contemporaries like Sliver, Body of Evidence, Showgirls, and cite the gaping holes and absurd logic of Jade as exactly the reason it’s so fun to dissect.

Final Thoughts

A vibrant, uproariously detailed roast and nostalgic deep-dive into one of the wildest (and most under-baked) entries in the 90s erotic thriller canon—Jade—this episode is filled with raucous laughs, genuine confusion, and oddly affectionate reminiscence for an extinct movie species.
If you’ve never seen Jade, this episode both saves you the trouble and makes you want to witness its madness firsthand.

Best quote for the spirit of the episode:
"I don't think I've ever seen this movie, but I've also seen this movie many times." – June Diane Raphael ([06:40])