Sunday, November 17, 2024

Flopcast 654: Some Kind of Potato Scientist

Even as we stagger toward a horrifying future, The Flopcast is here with more silly things for you, because we're gonna get through this together. And this week we're celebrating Danny DeVito's 80th birthday (just as we celebrated his 70th birthday about a decade ago), we have a Chickens in the News story about an actual robot chicken... and then we just turn the whole show over to the robots. If you're on the correct side of history, please join us as we resist, persist, take care of each other, and keep going.

Sunday, November 10, 2024

Flopcast 653: Enjoy Bread Day, You Freaks

Need a break from, you know, everything? We're just hiding behind a giant stack of Dynamite magazines, and you're welcome to join us. We've pulled out a Dynamite issue from 1980 with the hosts of That's Incredible on the cover. (Cathy Lee Crosby looks lovely, while Fran Tarkenton and John Davidson are missing some teeth... our copy may have been defaced decades ago by some kid with a Bic pen.) Inside we can read about New Hampshire's Old Man of the Mountain, Gary Coleman's chihuahua, a Billy Joel album that never happened, a vampire maze, Dynamite Bummers, the Dynamite Duo... and an electronic chicken game. We don't know why they kept making magazines after 1980, when it was done to perfection.

Sunday, November 3, 2024

Flopcast 652: Landon of the Lost

We looked at the TV shows of 1974 (fifty years ago!) a few months back with the Mayor, but now it's Kornflake's turn. Our list again includes some of the usual suspects like Rhoda and The Rockford Files... but ultimately we can all agree that the most important show of that year was Hong Kong Phooey. We also take a quick look at some bands that debuted in 1974; some are still favorites of ours (Blondie! Squeeze!), while we're learning about others for the first time, despite some very intriguing band names. Also: We wish a Happy Birthday to Bonnie Raitt, and we welcome two new podcasts to the ESO Network: Have Coffee Will Travel and BatChums! (One of these shows features two guys discussing Batman, but we can't remember which.)

Sunday, October 27, 2024

Flopcast 651: Halloween FlopFight Part 2 - Zombie Belly

It's the terrifying conclusion of our Halloween FlopFight! Leaping into the tournament this week are characters from Nightmare Before Christmas, Hocus Pocus, Bewitched, Happy Days (what?), and more. Each matchup is drawn randomly, and the exact competitions are randomized too. (So for example, it could be Count Chocula against Jack Skellington, but in a pie-eating contest. Stuff like that.) So anything goes, and special guest Blasted Bill is back to keep things nice and silly. We're also wishing a Happy Birthday to 90s singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins, who has something in common with one of our FlopFighters: a mysterious middle initial. Because a certain Tom Hanks SNL character is also competing. Any questions?

Sunday, October 20, 2024

Flopcast 650: Halloween FlopFight Part 1 - Candy and Quicksand

Halloween superfan Blasted Bill joins us for a Halloween FlopFight! We're randomly throwing Halloween characters (from horror movies, cartoon specials, cereal boxes, and beyond) into another ridiculous tournament. Why, the very first match has the Great Pumpkin battling Yummy Mummy! Who will win? That depends on the exact nature of the competition, which is also chosen at random. So anything could happen, and this week's winner shall advance to next week's final round. So grab a ringside seat, grab some fun-size Twix bars, and enjoy.

Sunday, October 13, 2024

Flopcast 649: Mad in the Fall

As our Halloween festivities continue, we take a quick look at the horror movies parodied in Mad Magazine in the 1980s. Including: The Shining, Poltergeist, Psycho II, a couple of Alien movies, and Gremlins (with Alfred E. Neuman as Gizmo on the cover). Speaking of Mad and Alfred, we just visited the Norman Rockwell Museum for an amazing exhibit called "What, Me Worry? The Art & Humor of Mad Magazine." And it closes in two weeks, so GO RIGHT NOW. Also: It's World Singing Day. And we are not the world.

Sunday, October 6, 2024

Flopcast 648: Your Job Is To Freak Everybody Out

It's Halloween season, which means it's Monster Cereal season! And while we rarely eat the stuff anymore, we do welcome the return of Count Chocula, Franken Berry, Boo Berry, and the new girl, zombie DJ Carmella Creeper. (Sorry, Fruit Brute and Yummy Mummy fans. Those weirdos aren't around this year.) The big news is that the monsters have pets now! Meet the Frightful Friends: Benny the Bat, Igor the Spider, Scratch the Snake, and Meow Berry. (What, no chicken?! Send your letters of complaint to General Mills...) Several Flopcast listeners have even provided photos of this year's cereal boxes, saving us a trip to the grocery store, where we'd just blow all our podcasting profits on Doritos. Also: Happy Birthday to Scott Bakula! He's probably out there Quantum-leaping and Enterprise-splaining right now.

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Flopcast 647: The Super Dictionary - Dust the Tiger

With Dragon Con finally out of the way, we can have some real fun! Let's read the dictionary! Specifically we're diving back into The Super Dictionary, a bizarre 1978 book for kids that mixed learning and DC Comics superheroes, and left everyone thoroughly confused. After perusing a few more entries, we have some questions, such as: Is Batgirl a pirate? (Or a mechanic, or a bikini model?) Is Supergirl terrified of mice? And why are Batman and Robin climbing a giant baby? We're equally confused by the villains, as we see Joker planning a dinner party and Catwoman, yes, dusting the tiger. (Not a euphemism.) So join us for a super-weird vocabulary lesson. We promise you will learn nothing.

Sunday, September 22, 2024

Flopcast 646: Dragon Con Review Part 3 - Screaming Bikini Chicken Ladies

Let's wrap up our look back at Dragon Con 2024, before we have to creep back to Atlanta for Dragon Con 2025! The final two days of our favorite nerdfest included: Sci-Fi Court! (The Mayor defended Beastmaster, and Kevin defended Wonder Woman. But not the Wonder Woman you're thinking of.) A couple of rounds of Roll-A-Panel, in which a giant d20 determined which movies were discussed! (Don't worry, we did not miss Sheena: Queen of the Jungle.) Celebrity Q&A panels with Giancarlo Esposito, Ming Na Wen, Manny Jacinto, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Mike Colter! Script readings of Three's Company and Out of This World, featuring kazoos, a surprise message from space, and a million Helens Roper! The new Dragon Tales book! Retro arcade games! Barbies! Teeth! And yes, screaming bikini chicken ladies. It was magnificent. See you next year, weirdos.

Sunday, September 15, 2024

Flopcast 645: Dragon Con Review Part 2 - Broil the Scientists

The Mayor of Chickentown joins Kevin and Kornflake as our look back at Dragon Con 2024 continues! This time we're covering Friday and Saturday, when the convention was so crowded that we could not have squished one more nerd into Atlanta. Our coverage includes: The Geek Girls Run! The ESO Network's Freaks and Geeks 25th Anniversary panel! More panels on punk rock sci-fi, Office Space, Aquaman, cicadas, and apes! Monty Python's John Cleese! Flute-playing astronaut Cady Coleman! A super-weird (as usual) round of Sci-Fi Explosion! And perhaps a naughty Star Trek puppet show too! It was all quite exhausting, and yikes, we still had two days to go. Stock up on mead and cheese (that's our Dragon Con health plan) and enjoy...

Sunday, September 8, 2024

Flopcast 644: Dragon Con Review Part 1 - Do Not Drink It

Here we go with the first of three (yikes, hopefully no more than three) Dragon Con review episodes! This week Kevin and Kornflake go over everything that happened Wednesday and Thursday, as our giant Atlanta nerd festival was just getting started. Including: A meeting of the geeks at Logan Airport in Boston! The Dragon Con debut of our pal Blasted Bill! Our third annual meeting with the Muscovy ducks of Piedmont Park! The Dragon Con Newbie Walking Tour! A disgusting beverage! The Council of Kevins! The Sci-Fi Music Video Book Club! The 120 Minutes dance party! And lots more shenanigans and silliness with the greatest collection of nerds and weirdos ever assembled. And this is only the beginning...

Sunday, September 1, 2024

Flopcast 643: So Many Robots Out There

It's Dragon Con weekend, but we didn't forget about a weird Flopcast summer tradition: our annual robot-themed Top 4 ½ List! And we have a special guest to deliver the list: our old pal (and original Sponge Awareness Foundation member) Jim, finally making his Flopcast debut! Jim has a list of surprise robots from movies and TV; that is, robots that we didn't know were robots until the big reveal. Call them androids, call them simuloids, call them replicants, Cylons, fembots, whatever you like. But they're robots in disguise, and they're out there. By the way, the Chickaphant, an alien chicken/elephant hybrid, is also out there somewhere. Please don't leave the house.