Tom's Top 3: August 5, 2025
Good Luck, We're All Counting On You
Hi everyone! Welcome to this week’s installment of Tom’s Top 3 Tuesdays, where I highlight three pieces of content (Podcasts/Shows/Songs/Articles/etc.) that I found interesting or noteworthy from the prior week.
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[Podcast] Barron’s Streetwise - Disney’s Lost Decade. What’s Next?
Host Jack Hough discusses how Disney has stagnated, despite 75% of analysts rating the stock as a “buy.”
The last 30 years of Disney has really been a story of acquisitions. The Capital Cities/ABC 1995 blockbuster led to a cable boom, fueled by ESPN. In the decades since, they have gone on a shopping spree like a kid with daddy’s credit card in Downtown Disney. They bought Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, and (most of) Hulu.
This turned out to be quite prescient. The “Disney Flywheel” spun as fast as ever—box office successes beget theme park attractions beget merchandise. Disney had no problem exploiting those IP goldmines.
The entertainment industry, blinded by the undeniable success of Netflix, collectively killed the golden goose that was cable. A green-eyed Disney also fell victim to the temptation, and proceeded to invest heavily in their direct-to-consumer business. Thankfully for them, they had a theme park business to keep them afloat, but money was leaking everywhere else.
So maybe they weren’t sinking, but they weren’t really going anywhere. Hence the “Lost Decade.”
But there might be reason for hope. The Disney Bundle (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN) is a truly unique offering. The Citi analyst interviewed in this episode suggested that the largest growth opportunity is in international streaming, where Disney has much lower market penetration than Netflix.
[YouTube] Hats Off Entertainment - Leslie Nielsen | A Serious Talent | A Docu-Mini
I was first introduced to Leslie Nielsen through Mr. Magoo, which I absolutely adored as a kid (I wonder if it holds up). While I love Airplane and Naked Gun, I never knew of Nielsen’s full career story. I was surprised to learn that he was a serious character actor before breaking into comedy. In the end, he fully embraced his calling.
I found one clip to be particularly thought-provoking. In a 1996 interview, Nielsen said the following:
The real big break was, somewhere in that timespan, even before Airplane, I woke up one morning and decided that I had been taking myself too seriously.
And I just stopped it. And have been continuing to stop it ever since.
Along with that kind of thing, when you stop taking yourself seriously then you stop blaming people for things that have happened to you. And the moment you stop blaming people… you go for the laughs.
So my life today is like a vacation.
[YouTube] stryder HD - ‘70s AVENGERS - Teaser Trailer
I just thought this was super fun and entertaining. And what an impressive look at how far AI “video” has come.
So many of the casting ideas are spot on. My 3 favorites are probably Bowie for Dr. Strange, Eastwood for Wolverine, and De Niro for Winter Soldier.
Let me know which casting choice you liked the most in the comments!
That wraps up this edition of Tom’s Top 3 Tuesdays. If you made it to this point, please drop a 1️⃣, 2️⃣, or 3️⃣ in the comments to let me know what you found most interesting/useful. And as always, please like and consider sharing with a friend who you think would enjoy! I’ll be back next week. ✌️