Episode Scores

Episode Scores

We score episode on a scale of one to ten based on ten categories:

• Outward Appearances (Makeup / Hair )
• Acting/ Casting (Do they capture the spirit of the people they are playing? Beyond that, is the acting good?
• Passage of Time
• Costuming
• Quality of the script
• Accuracy
• Storytelling (was it clichéd/was it interesting/was it inventive?)
• Production value
• Production / Direction decision making 
• Do we care?

We rate each category on the one to ten scale, then divide by ten to reach the final score. You can learn more about the scoring system and about Biopic: A Podcast Story in general by listening to our very special introductory episode, "Introduction: Who Are We and What Are We Doing?"

 

Here is how our episodes so far fared in the ratings.  

1. The Doors: 5.65 — Our first episode! We hadn't really figured out the scoring system here and Rena wishes that new listeners would skip to Episode 10 or later and listen to this one later on as an example of what we used to sound like. We could re-record it, but it's been a while and neither of us feels like sitting through The Doors again. For example, we spend eight minutes reading the Wikipedia segment on inaccuracies. This is not something that happens in subsequent episodes. We didn't know what we were doing here. Update 3/5: We pulled this episode for the foreseeable future. Why? Because this it drives Rena nuts that people keep downloading the amateurish first episode. We need to re-record it with decent sound under the current scoring system, but neither of us feels like re-watching The Doors. Unfortunately, it's our most downloaded episode, and we wish that people would listen first to anything from Episode 10 on.
2. Coal Miner's Daughter 7.675 Update 3/5: We pulled this episode for the foreseeable future. We will re-record and re-release at some point in 2025.
3. Caligula 3.25 — The episode that killed the "ego surrender" category. We replaced it with "Production-Direction Decision-Making." Update 3/5: We pulled this episode for the foreseeable future. We will re-record and re-release at some point in 2025 or 2026.
4. Respect 8.575
5. The Conqueror (5/28) 1.45 — The first episode that Rena is still proud of.
6. Milk (6/4/2024 - Pride Month) 10 — The sound is messed up on this one, alas, because this was early days and we went into filter overkill. The content is good, but the sound is a mess and we're sorry. We also didn't know that you really have to turn off the air conditioner when you are recording. Update 3/5: We pulled this episode for the foreseeable future. We will re-record and re-release at some point in 2025 with decent sound.
7. Bessie (6/11/2024 - Pride Month) 5.675 — Sara thinks that she may have been a tad hyperbolic in her praise to Queen Latifah's performance, and it has been haunting her ever since.
8. Rocketman (6/17/2024 - Pride Month) 8.3375
9. Gia (6/24/2024 - Pride Month) 3.7
10. Cobb (7/2/2024) 4.25 — At this point the sound quality improves dramatically because Rena ran into an old friend who graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and does sound/film/tech stuff for a living, who said that we needed to turn the air conditioner off while we record.
11. Evita (7/9/2024) 7.25 — Features at least five minutes of us squealing "ewwwwww" at photos of Eva Peron's corpse.
12. Becket (7/16/2024) 7
13. Frida (7/23/2024) 7.8
14. Race (7/30/2024 - Olympics) 7.75
15. Prefontaine (8/6/2024 - Olympics) 4.25
16. Cleopatra (8/13/2024 - Liz Taylor version)  3.975
17. Get On Up! (8/20/2024) 8.3
18. Gotti (8/27/2024) 2.25
19. And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (9/10/2024) 6.2
20. Reagan (9/3/2024) 2.35
21. Gandhi (9/17/2024) 6.2
22. The Duchess (9/24/2024) 7.15 Our first proper costume drama!
23. The Pride of the Yankees 6.45 (10/1/2024) Our first black-and-white movie!
24. Saint Joan 6.65 (10/8/2024 - Otto Preminger/Jean Seberg version)
25. Ray 6.3 (10/15/2024)
26. Liz and Dick 2.5 (10/22/2024)
27. Ed Wood 9.13 (10/29/2024) With our first guest star, comedian and producer Liam McEneany!
28. Lincoln 10 (11/5/2024) Election Day Episode.
29. All the Way 7.65 (11/12/2024)
30. Amistad 6.9 (11/19/2024)
31. Tennessee Johnson 1.45 (11/26/2024)
32. Priscilla 7.35 (12/03/2024)
33. The Private Life of Henry VIII 6.9 (12/10/2024)
34. Maria, with Maria Callas Biographer Sophia Lambton 4.67 (12/17/2024)
35. Bohemian Rhapsody 6.75 (12/24/2024)
36. Spartacus 8.4125 (12/31/2024)
37. Radioactive 5.65 (1/7/2025)
38. Marie Antoinette with Special Guest Belle from Silhouettes: A Fashion History Podcast 8.01 (1/14/2025)
39. Trumbo 8.025 (1/21/2025)
40. A Complete Unknown 6.3 (1/28/2025)
41. Harriet 6.725 (2/4/2025)
42. 42 7.7 (2/11/2025)
43. Straight Outta Compton 9.175 (2/18/2025)
44. Shirley 8.35 (2/25/2025)
45. Lisztomania 6.666666666666667 — Rena’s birthday episode, since she shares a birthday with Roger Daltrey of The Who, who is also the star of Ken Russell's Lisztomania. Guest starring Elana Levin of the Graphic Policy podcast. (3/4)
46. Walk the Line 6.425 (3/11)
47. Star 80 9.2 (3/18) Our first anniversary! This is the date that Rena pitched the concept to Sara. In honor of the occasion, we talk about Sara's favorite biopic, Star 80.
48. The Agony and the Ecstasy with Fry and Bry from Pontifacts 3.5 (3/25)
49. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story ∞/1 (4/1)
50. The Alamo (1960 version) 2.1875 (4/8)