THE DON
THE DON is a docu-drama on the life of the producer of TOP GUN, Don Simpson, which uses narration, clips, and fictional re-enactments via “lost tapes'' to take you behind the scenes into Hollywood’s decade of decadence, the 1980s. Before the era of MeToo, there was Don Simpson the poster boy of toxic masculinity, whose outlandish behavior was not only tolerated but encouraged by the film industry who profited greatly off Don’s movies. Don Simpson was, like the character he named after himself in his movie TOP GUN, a maverick. His signature style of filmmaking created one hit after another— AMERICAN GIGOLO, FLASHDANCE, BEVERLY HILLS COP, TOP GUN- they all came from the mind of Don Simpson. Don loved the movies so much that he created a mythological persona known as “The Don” to match his signature movies— loud, ballsy, cheesy— his movies were full of homo-erotic testoterone-driven race car drivers and navy fighter pilots and stripper/welders who wanted to be ballerinas— these were the movies from Don’s absurd fantasy world— this was the world that Don actually lived in— there was no separation between life and art. And that movie persona that he created— “The Don”— grew more and more outrageous and more extreme— until ultimately… it killed him.
- Update frequency
- every 5 days
- Average duration
- 25 minutes
- Episodes
- 20
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2022
"Dying Like Elvis on the Toilet"
The End. In this episode we chronicle Don's final days. His last gasp attempt at making a comeback with his film, "The Rock". His dependency on a team of doctors that would bill him upwards of $50,0…
"Death in the Pool House"
In this episode, we go deep into Don's pill addiction and his time in seclusion with his personal doctor slash filmmaking partner. We look into how and why Don turned away from studio films to make a…
Top Gun on Wheels
Don and Tom's "Days of Blunder"... In this episode, we go into what went so right on Don and Tom’s critically panned and vastly under-rated unofficial sequel to Top Gun, "Days of Thunder"... And we …
Top Guns- Don and Tom- True Religion
Don and Eddie Murphy have another box office hit with Beverly Hills Cop 2-- all in spite of Don's preoccupations with cocaine and call girls and plastic surgeries. After several failed attempts in re…
Top Gun- Don and Tom Part 3
In this episode, we go deep into the production of “Top Gun”. We learn of how Don’s insistence on throwing parties for the cast helped to fuel the rivalry between Maverick and Ice Man... The partying…
Top Gun--Don and Tom Part 2
In this episode, we look into Don’s paternal relationship with Tom Cruise, how Don nearly sabotaged the Top Gun screenwriters efforts to produce a script good enough for Tom, and how Don’s last ditch…
Top Gun- Don and Tom
The first of three episodes devoted to the Top Gun partnership of Don and Tom Cruise. In this episode, we track the origins of Top Gun... How MTV videos of bands singing about nuclear war shaped Do…
DON, SLY STALLONE AND EDDIE MURPHY
THE DON Season 2: Maverick, Top Gun, Don’s Greatest Hits, And The Addictions That Killed Him”
In this episode, we learn just how close Sly Stallone came to starring in Beverly Hills Cop. We dive in…
TOP GUNS DON & TOM
THE DON Season 2: Maverick, Top Gun, Don’s Greatest Hits, And The Addictions That Killed Him”
In this episode, we track Don’s collision course with Tom Cruise-- beginning with Tom’s role in "Endl…
"DON GOES HOME TO ALASKA AND THE MAFIA COMES LOOKING FOR HIM"
THE DON Season 2: Maverick, Top Gun, Don’s Greatest Hits, And The Addictions That Killed Him”
In Episode 3, we go into Don’s last days as a Paramount executive. His obession with making a third God…
DON'S GREATEST HITS AND THE ADDICTIONS THAT KILLED HIM
Season 2 of "The Don" is a twelve episode double-order. We’re going all the way to the end... From Don’s greatest hits- Flashdance, Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, Days of Thunder-- to his final days as …
"MORE DON FANTASIES COME TRUE"
THE DON Season 2: Maverick, Top Gun, Don’s Greatest Hits, And The Addictions That Killed Him”
Episode 2- “MORE DON FANTASIES COME TRUE”-- We look into Don’s influence on American Gigolo, Richard G…
THE DON Season 2
THE DON is a docu-drama on the life of the producer of TOP GUN, Don Simpson, which uses narration, clips, and fictional re-enactments via “lost tapes'' to take you behind the scenes into Hollywood’s …
"Don Flies Too Close to the Sun"
Pierce receives an invitation from Don’s former assistant, MIA, now a major producer, to move into Don’s house. It’s a thrill for Pierce to live in Don’s house- he had always wanted to see the great …
"A Tale of Two Simpsons"
Pierce connects with an actress who had worked with Autumn Weston on the b-horror movie Leprechaun in which Jennifer Anniston starred in her first leading role. Here, Pierce learns that Autumn’s doct…
The Belle de Jour of Beverly Hills
Pierce is upset that John Gregory Dunne had penned Don’s obituary. We learn that Pierce and Don had a falling out and that Pierce knew little of Don’s dark days before his death. A tip from Robert Ev…
"Mobsters and Tennis"
Pierce misses Don's funeral and mistakenly ends up at the funeral of fabled Hollywood lawyer and fixer Sidney Korshak. It’s there that he connects with the producer of Chinatown, The Godfather, and R…
"Don and Allan"
Pierce was called to Los Angeles by Don’s former drug dealer, Royce Newton, just hours after Don’s death. Royce is concerned that it was his cocaine that killed Don and he wants Pierce to find out th…
Don's Dead
Episode One introduces Don Simpson, the producer behind such blockbuster hits as Flashdance, Beverly Hills Cop, and Top Gun. Don, like the Tom Cruise character in Top Gun- had a “need for speed.” Don…
Introducing: THE DON
The podcast series THE DON chronicles the wild anecdotes and escapes of Hollywood’s last great showman, Don Simpson, the producer who made such 80s classics as AMERICAN GIGOLO, FLASHDANCE, BEVERLY HI…