The Tom Gulley Show

In August 1835, the New York Sun began publishing one of the most extraordinary stories in the history of American journalism: a supposed discovery of life on the Moon. According to the newspaper, the Moon was populated by bizarre animals, lush forests, oceans—and intelligent, winged humanoids.

It was completely fabricated.

The Great Moon Hoax of 1835 became one of the most famous newspaper hoaxes in American history, captivating readers and turning the New York Sun into a publishing sensation. The story claimed that the discoveries had been made with an extraordinarily powerful telescope and attributed them to the real-life astronomer Sir John Herschel.

But why did so many people believe it? How was the hoax created? Who was behind it? And how did a newspaper manage to convince readers that civilization—and creatures—had been discovered on the Moon?

On The Tom Gulley Show, Tom looks back at the Great Moon Hoax, the strange world it created in print, the newspaper business of 1830s New York, the public's fascination with astronomy, and the remarkable story of how one of the greatest fake news stories ever published became a genuine newspaper phenomenon.

Long before social media, viral posts, clickbait and the internet, there was the Great Moon Hoax.

#GreatMoonHoax #MoonHoax #History #AmericanHistory #Journalism #NewYorkSun #TomGulleyShow #Hoaxes #FakeNews #19thCentury

thetomgulleyshow.com

Hayden Panettiere was already working in show business before she was old enough to remember it. A commercial at 11 months old launched a career that would take her from daytime television and A Bug’s Life to Remember the Titans, Heroes, Scream 4, and Nashville—and make her one of the most recognizable young stars of her generation.

But Hayden Panettiere’s story is much bigger than Claire Bennet, the indestructible cheerleader from Heroes, or Juliette Barnes, the ambitious country singer she played on Nashville. She grew up in front of millions of people, moved from child star to leading actress, recorded music, became a fixture of the Scream franchise, and spent much of her adult life trying to navigate the extraordinary pressures that came with becoming famous so young.

On August 16, 2026, Hayden Panettiere died at the age of 36. Her death brings a remarkable—and painfully short—career back into focus.

On this edition of The Tom Gulley Show, Tom looks back at Hayden Panettiere’s life and career, from her earliest television roles and childhood movies to Heroes, Scream, Nashville, her music, and the very public struggles that shaped the later chapters of her life. It’s the story of a performer who spent virtually her entire life in the spotlight—and whose career was far more complicated than her most famous roles might suggest.

Watch episodes of HEROES on Tubi for FREE: https://tubitv.com/series/300020687/heroes

Watch episodes of NASHVILLE on Pluto for FREE:
https://pluto.tv/us/on-demand/series/69e27f773f22a165b07a5582

#HaydenPanettiere #Heroes #Nashville #Scream #Scream4 #ScreamVI #Actress #ChildStar #TelevisionHistory #HollywoodHistory #TomGulleyShow

thetomgulleyshow.com

The Gong Show was unlike anything else on American television. Part game show, part comedy spectacle, and part gloriously unpredictable talent competition, Chuck Barris’s bizarre 1970s TV phenomenon turned ordinary people, outrageous performers, celebrity judges, and the unmistakable sound of a gong into one of the most memorable shows in television history.

On this episode of The Tom Gulley Show, Tom takes a deep dive into The Gong Show—from its 1976 debut and Chuck Barris’s unconventional approach to television to the strange performers, celebrity appearances, recurring characters, outrageous acts, and the famous gong that could end a performance at any moment. The show became a cultural phenomenon precisely because it seemed willing to put almost anything on television.

But The Gong Show was more than a collection of weird acts. It reflected the anything-goes spirit of 1970s television, when network programming could be experimental, irreverent, and genuinely unpredictable. Its influence can still be seen in modern talent competitions, comedy programs, reality television, and the endless appetite for spectacularly bad—and occasionally spectacularly good—performances.

Chuck Barris, Gene Gene the Dancing Machine, the Gong Show Orchestra, celebrity judges, bizarre contestants, and some of the strangest moments ever broadcast on network television all come together in a look back at one of TV's most wonderfully odd creations.

If you remember The Gong Show, this is a trip back to an era when television had very few rules. If you don't, you're about to find out just how strange network television could get.

The Tom Gulley Show explores the people, places, events, entertainment, inventions, cultural phenomena, and curious pieces of history that made the world we live in.

#TheGongShow #ChuckBarris #1970sTV #ClassicTV #TelevisionHistory #TomGulleyShow #GameShows #TVHistory

thetomgulleyshow.com

Roadside attractions are as American as the open road: giant fiberglass animals, mysterious monuments, bizarre museums, oddball tourist traps, dinosaur parks, miniature towns, gravity-defying buildings, and spectacularly strange places that exist for one reason — to make you stop the car.

Before interstate highways turned long-distance travel into a race from one destination to another, America's highways were lined with places designed to grab a driver's attention. Roadside attractions became part of the great American road trip, competing for motorists with enormous signs, outrageous claims, colorful characters, souvenirs, and attractions you simply couldn't see anywhere else.

From the early tourist traps and roadside curiosities of the 1920s and 1930s to the giant statues, novelty architecture, drive-through attractions, and unforgettable destinations that followed, roadside attractions tell a fascinating story about American travel, tourism, advertising, automobiles, and popular culture.

Tom takes a long drive through the history of America's roadside attractions — the weird, wonderful, ambitious, sometimes ridiculous places that turned a trip across the country into an adventure of its own.

If you've ever pulled off the highway because something looked too strange to ignore, this one's for you.

#RoadsideAttractions #AmericanRoadTrip #RoadTrip #RoadsideAmerica #AmericanHistory #TouristTraps #TomGulleyShow

thetomgulleyshow.com

Jaws, the 1975 Steven Spielberg thriller, didn't just become one of the biggest movies in Hollywood history—it changed the way audiences experienced movies. Based on Peter Benchley's bestselling novel, Jaws turned a relatively simple story about a great white shark into a cultural phenomenon, a box-office sensation, and one of the most influential films ever made.

But the story behind Jaws is almost as fascinating as the movie itself. From the disastrous production and the mechanical shark that famously refused to cooperate, to Spielberg's decision to keep the shark mostly out of sight, the making of Jaws was filled with problems that could easily have sunk the entire production. Instead, those problems helped create a movie that still works nearly five decades later.

Tom takes a deep dive into Jaws—the novel, the production, the cast, the legendary performances of Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, and Lorraine Gary, the unforgettable score by John Williams, the summer of 1975, and the enormous cultural impact of a movie that made millions of people think twice before swimming in the ocean.

Why does Jaws remain so effective? How did a movie plagued by production problems become a landmark of American cinema? And how did one mechanical shark help change Hollywood forever?

Lemme Tell Ya ’Bout Jaws.

#Jaws #JawsMovie #StevenSpielberg #MovieHistory #FilmHistory #ClassicMovies #GreatWhiteShark #HollywoodHistory #TomGulleyShow

thetomgulleyshow.com 

Victor Lustig may be the greatest con man you’ve never heard of—and he actually sold the Eiffel Tower. Not once, but twice.

A master of deception, forged documents, false identities, elaborate confidence games, and sheer nerve, Victor Lustig built a criminal career around convincing people to believe exactly what he wanted them to believe. His most famous scam involved the Eiffel Tower, but that was only one of the extraordinary schemes that made Lustig one of the most notorious con artists of the 20th century.

On this episode of The Tom Gulley Show, Tom takes a deep dive into the bizarre life and remarkable scams of Victor Lustig, from his early years and transformation into a professional swindler to the Eiffel Tower con, his encounters with wealthy businessmen and criminals, and the audacious schemes that eventually brought him into the sights of American law enforcement.

Victor Lustig’s story is a strange combination of crime, psychology, persuasion, confidence, and incredible audacity. He understood that the most successful con often depends less on deception than on giving people exactly the story they want to believe.

If you’re fascinated by famous con artists, true crime, American crime history, confidence tricks, scams, historical criminals, and the strange characters who managed to fool people again and again, Victor Lustig is a story you won’t want to miss.

#VictorLustig #ConArtist #EiffelTower #TrueCrime #History #Scams #TheTomGulleyShow #CrimeHistory

thetomgulleyshow.com

The Immortal was one of those fascinating television shows that seemed to arrive out of nowhere—and disappeared almost as quickly. Premiering in 1970, this unusual science-fiction adventure series starred Christopher George as Ben Richards, a man whose extraordinary blood made him virtually immune to disease and dramatically slowed his aging. Unfortunately, it also made him the target of people who wanted that blood for themselves.

Based on the novel The Immortals by James Gunn, The Immortal combined science fiction, action, mystery and the kind of episodic storytelling that defined early-1970s television. Richards spent much of the series on the run, trying to stay alive while being pursued by people who saw his unusual biology as a valuable commodity.

But what made The Immortal so memorable? Why did a television premise involving a man who couldn't die fail to become a major hit? How did the series fit into the explosion of science-fiction and supernatural programming on American television in the early 1970s? And why is this intriguing series largely forgotten today?

Tom Gulley takes a trip back to the era of 1970s television, when networks were willing to take some wonderfully strange chances on science fiction, adventure and high-concept drama. From Christopher George and the show's unusual premise to its place alongside other cult TV programs of the period, The Immortal is a terrific example of a television series that deserves another look.

If you remember The Immortal, Christopher George, 1970s science fiction television, or the wonderfully eccentric world of vintage TV, this is a trip back to a very different era of television.

Watch The Immortal for FREE on YouTube:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHkRm9NxLxR0BN8Bw18WmBq15Yqnl-_3K&si=sSo34V0nMoSg68x1

#TheImmortal #1970sTV #ClassicTV #70sTV #ChristopherGeorge #ScienceFiction #VintageTV #CultTV #TVHistory #TomGulleyShow

thetomgulleyshow.com

The Great Emu War of 1932 sounds like a joke, but it actually happened. In Western Australia, thousands of emus were destroying crops, and the Australian government responded by sending soldiers armed with machine guns to deal with them. What followed became one of the strangest episodes in military history—and an extraordinary example of how badly humans can misjudge their opponent.

On The Tom Gulley Show, Tom takes a deep dive into the Great Emu War, the farmers who demanded government action, the Australian soldiers sent into the field, the Lewis machine guns they carried, and the remarkably resilient emus that proved to be much harder to defeat than anyone expected.

The Great Emu War has everything you'd expect from an Australian historical oddity: desperate farmers, military hardware, thousands of enormous flightless birds, and a government operation that became an international punchline. But behind the humor is a fascinating story about agriculture, economics, government policy, military strategy, and one of the most unusual conflicts ever fought.

If you've ever wondered how Australia managed to lose a war against emus, this is the story.

#TheGreatEmuWar #EmuWar #AustralianHistory #History #MilitaryHistory #Australia #TomGulleyShow

thetomgulleyshow.com

From Saturday Night Live to National Lampoon's Animal House and The Blues Brothers, few entertainers left a mark on American comedy like John Belushi. His explosive energy, unforgettable characters, and fearless performances helped redefine sketch comedy and inspired generations of comedians, actors, and performers.

Tonight on The Tom Gulley Show, Tom takes a deep dive into the remarkable life, meteoric rise, and heartbreaking fall of one of comedy's greatest legends. Discover how Belushi became an icon of television and film, examine the creative partnerships that fueled his success, and explore the pressures of sudden fame that ultimately led to tragedy at just 33 years old.

Whether you remember watching the original Saturday Night Live, quote Animal House by heart, or simply want to understand why John Belushi remains one of the most influential comedic performers in history, this is an episode you won't want to miss. You could check out something else, but nooooooooooooo...IYKYK.

If you enjoy deep dives into television history, classic movies, comedy legends, pop culture, and fascinating historical stories, be sure to subscribe and join us for new episodes of The Tom Gulley Show.

#JohnBelushi #SaturdayNightLive #SNL #AnimalHouse #TheBluesBrothers #ComedyHistory #ComedyLegend #ClassicComedy #TelevisionHistory #TheTomGulleyShow

thetomgulleyshow.com

Would you eat a meal made from roadkill? It may sound unbelievable, but across America, roadkill cuisine has a long and surprisingly legal history. From deer and elk to wild turkey and even more unusual finds, thousands of people salvage animals killed on the nation's highways every year—whether for necessity, sustainability, or simple curiosity.

On this episode of The Tom Gulley Show, Tom explores the strange, controversial, and often misunderstood world of roadkill cuisine. Discover how different states regulate roadkill harvesting, where it's legal (and where it isn't), the surprising history behind eating animals found along the roadside, and why this unusual practice has become increasingly common in parts of the United States.

You'll also hear about the practical, ethical, environmental, and public health questions surrounding roadkill consumption, along with bizarre true stories, odd traditions, and the fascinating intersection of food culture, wildlife management, and American history.

Whether you think it's resourceful or revolting, roadkill cuisine is one of the most unusual food traditions you've probably never explored.

If you enjoy fascinating history, forgotten Americana, strange traditions, and offbeat stories, be sure to subscribe, like the video, and share it with someone who'll definitely have an opinion about this one!

#Roadkill #RoadkillCuisine #FoodHistory #AmericanHistory #WildGame #WildGameCooking #OddHistory #StrangeHistory #RoadsideAmerica #CookingHistory #TheTomGulleyShow #HistoryPodcast #YouTubeHistory

thetomgulleyshow.com