Rental Return: Tales From the Video Store – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.

Rental Return: Tales From the Video Store

The Retro Network

Tv & Film

Society & Culture

Frequency: 1 episode/35d. Total Eps: 35

Relive the days of video rental stores through the stories of former employees. You'll hear experiences from the infancy of rental stores in the 1980s, their dominance in the 1990s, and their demise in the 2000s. From VHS to DVD, from Blockbuster to 'Mom and Pop' stores, Rental Return celebrates this distinctive time in film history.

Read moreCollapse

Site

RSS

Apple

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

🇬🇧 Great Britain - filmHistory
25/08/2026
#72
🇬🇧 Great Britain - filmHistory
24/08/2026
#56
🇬🇧 Great Britain - filmHistory
23/08/2026
#40
🇬🇧 Great Britain - filmHistory
22/08/2026
#31

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.

See all

https://twitter.com/hojukoolander
36 shares
https://twitter.com/trnsocial
30 shares
https://twitter.com/zacshipley
6 shares

https://www.patreon.com/theretronetwork
46 shares
https://patreon.com/theretronetwork
1 share

https://www.facebook.com/trnsocial
32 shares
https://www.facebook.com/Captain-Video-114047622017345/
1 share

RSS feed quality and score

Technical evaluation of the podcast's RSS feed quality and structure.

See all

RSS feed quality

To improve

Score global : 0%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

Year

Latest published episodes

Recent episodes with titles, durations, and descriptions.

See all

Joe & Mike: Father and Son Video Store Memories

Season 4

Friday, April 5, 2024 • Duration 46:04

We close out season 4 with a first for Rental Return as we interview a father and son who both worked at video rental stores. Joe shares amazing stories about his time as the general manager of Canadian chain, The Video Movie Place from 1984-1988, while Mike reveals how much the business changed a decade later when he worked at Blockbuster Video.

Plus, we announce a special event screening of documentary, 7 Year Rental, which you can get an invite to by contacting @hojukoolander on social media or sending an e-mail to hojukoolander@gmail.com.

Follow @TRNsocial on X, Instagram, and Facebook for more Rental Return visuals provided by our Video Heroes and other memories form the video store era.

Support Geekster and shows like Rental Return by becoming a VIP on Patreon. Your monthly support helps Geekster and its creators, but also gets your name in the show notes as a supporter, access to the VIP Lounge chat on Slack, and exclusive content.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on X or Instagram or email hojukoolander@gmail.com.

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Chad Droze
Ken Spaulding
retrodolls77
Tim Heasley

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Read moreCollapse

Lee

Season 4

Friday, March 15, 2024 • Duration 26:15

Lee joins us to recount his experience working at multiple Movie Gallery stores throughout the state of Iowa. Hear tales of getting peed on while dressed up as The Grinch for in-store events, destroying video store shelves with Spider-Man style shenanigans and so much more!

Follow @TRNsocial on X, Instagram, and Facebook for more Rental Return visuals provided by our Video Heroes and other memories form the video store era.

Support The Retro Network and shows like Rental Return by becoming a VIP on Patreon. Your monthly support helps TRN and its creators, but also gets your name in the show notes as a supporter, access to the VIP Lounge chat on Slack, and exclusive content.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on X or Instagram or email hojukoolander@gmail.com.

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Chad Droze
Ken Spaulding
retrodolls77
Tim Heasley

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Read moreCollapse

Russ Burlingame

Season 3

Friday, March 31, 2023 • Duration 47:39

Season 3 of Rental Return - Tales From the Video Store continues with an interview of Russ Burlingame (@RussBurlingame) who worked at Emerald City Video and just about every chain video store during the 2000s in the Syracuse area. Russ talks about the difference between working at a "Mom and Pop" store versus the corporate giants. He remembers some of the unique décor at Emerald City Video include screen used (and not so screen used) props. We also hear some stories of bad customers and what it was like to be a manager. Finally, Russ tells a heartwarming story about how he reconnected with a long lost customer.

Follow @TRNsocial on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more including visuals from our Video Heroes.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on Twitter or email hojukoolander@gmail.com

Visit The Retro Network on Patreon to support Rental Return and other network podcasts. You VIP status gets your name in the show notes of all shows on The Retro Network, an invite to the private VIP Lounge chat on Slack, and exclusive content.

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Chad Droze
Ken Spaulding
retrodolls77
Tim Heasley

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Michael May

Season 3

Thursday, March 23, 2023 • Duration 28:31

Season 3 of Rental Return - Tales From the Video Store continues with an interview of Michael May (@MichaelMayComix) who worked for a "Mom and Pop" store called Adventureland Video (later changed to Aardvark Video) in the late 80s in Tallahassee, Florida. Listen as he shares his early memories of visiting the store and how eventually was hired and became the manager for a time. Michael talks about ordering new movies, the perks of taking posters home, and how Blockbuster essentially led to the store going out of business.

Follow @TRNsocial on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more including visuals from our Video Heroes.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on Twitter or email hojukoolander@gmail.com

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Chad Droze
Ken Spaulding
retrodolls77
Tim Heasley

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Andy Serwin

Season 3

Thursday, March 16, 2023 • Duration 31:27

Season 3 of Rental Return - Tales From the Video Store continues with an interview of Andy Serwin who worked for a "Mom and Pop" store called The Video Hut in the late 80s in rural Pennsylvania. Listen as he shares his memories of working at the store and the family atmosphere it had when he started. Then he talks about new ownership and how he eventually moved on from working at the store. Andy also talks about the perks he experienced like watching movies all day and a close call he had while visiting a convenient store and still on the clock.

Follow @TRNsocial on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more including visuals from our Video Heroes.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on Twitter or email hojukoolander@gmail.com

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Chad Droze
Ken Spaulding
retrodolls77
Tim Heasley

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Read moreCollapse

Michael Labbe

Season 3

Thursday, March 9, 2023 • Duration 32:05

Season 3 of Rental Return - Tales From the Video Store continues with an interview of Michael Labbe (@Superstarml) who worked for Movie Gallery in Augusta, ME in the late '90s to early 2000s. Listen as he shares his memories of working at the store, what he did in a typical week, and perks. Michael also remembers the layout of the store, encounters with the adult film room, and the unique time of when VHS was slowly being replaced by DVD. He also tells a sad story about the demise of his personal collection of hundreds of tapes.

Follow @TRNsocial on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more including visuals from our Video Heroes.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on Twitter or email hojukoolander@gmail.com

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Chad Droze
Ken Spaulding
retrodolls77
Tim Heasley

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Landon

Season 3

Thursday, March 2, 2023 • Duration 25:52

Season 3 of Rental Return - Tales From the Video Store kicks off with an interview of Landon (@HOC_STUDIOS) who grew up in a family-owned store in the early to mid '90s. Listen as he shares his memories of the store his mother ran for several years including her trips to the VHS warehouse that sold tapes and promotional items. Brandon also talks about the setup of the store, his favorite and least favorite rentals, and a ghost that still haunts a former video store location to this day. He also gives listeners a sad story about what happened to the vast library of VHS tapes kept inside his home and a redemptive experience that found him inside the remains of a store that went out of business years ago.

Follow @TRNsocial on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more including visuals from our Video Heroes.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on Twitter or email hojukoolander@gmail.com

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Chad Droze
Ken Spaulding
retrodolls77
Tim Heasley

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Season 3 Preview

Season 3

Monday, February 27, 2023 • Duration 41:05

Adam, Chad, and Jason host a preview episode for Season 3 of the Rental Return podcast series. First, the hosts comment on the recent representation of rental stores on Netflix including Blockbuster and That 90s Show. Then the trio share recent VHS finds in thrift stores and on eBay. Then, get a sneak preview of what to expect for Season 3 of Rental Return.

Follow @TRNsocial on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more Rental Return visuals provided by our Video Heroes and other memories form the video store era.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on Twitter.

Creators & Guests

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Chad Droze
Ken Spaulding
retrodolls77
Tim Heasley

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Season 3 Trailer

Season 3

Sunday, February 19, 2023 • Duration 02:12

Get ready for Season 3 of Rental Return as we introduce our Video Heroes!

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Chad Droze
Ken Spaulding
retrodolls77
Tim Heasley

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Read moreCollapse

Season 2 Rewind

Season 2

Friday, March 4, 2022 • Duration 01:01:38

With Season 2 of Rental Return in the books, Adam (@Hojukoolander), Chad (@HorrorMovieBBQ), and Jason (@RD80s) bookend the season by reflecting on what they learned through the experiences shared by the Video Heroes. They discuss some of the crazier stories, things they did not know about the video store business, and favorite moments overall. They also talk about some old newspaper stories that Jason dug up from the '80s about video rental stores, news about a video store closing recently in PA, and the trio's recent acquisitions in their collections.

Erol's Video Club Newspaper Ads
Read the Newspaper stories on TheRetroNetwork.com

Follow @TRNsocial on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more from Rental Return visuals and VHS memories.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on Twitter or hojukoolander@gmail.com

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Chad Droze
Ken Spaulding
retrodolls77
Tim Heasley

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Rental Return: Tales From the Video Store – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Rental Return: Tales From the Video Store – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Twitter23

Patreon2

Facebook2

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Twitter23

Patreon2

Facebook2