Sunday, November 1, 2026

Flopcast 756: Do the Jellyfish

It's just a big weird mixed bag this week, as we cover all the non-Dragon Con, non-Fairuzapalooza stuff we've been up to lately. Including: A new play starring the doctor from Northern Exposure! Doing the Jellyfish with RiffTrax and Mystery Science Theater 3000! The Logan Awards for Excellence in Comedy Music! A giant dog terrorizing the city of Albany! An Andy Warhol-inspired pillow fight! And a day of rock stars in Boston with Melissa Auf der Maur and Sidewalk Driver! Wow, who knows what we'll see and do next? Hopefully nothing.

Sunday, October 25, 2026

Flopcast 755: Fairuzapalooza Part 2 - People Without Heads

If 1939's The Wizard of Oz isn't dark and weird enough for you, perhaps 1985's Return to Oz will be more to your liking. The Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion have been replaced by a robot, a pumpkinhead, a couch with wings... and a talking chicken. There's also a gang of rollerskating freaks just waiting to haunt your nightmares for years to come. It's magnificent. And the role of Dorothy just happens to be played by a very young Fairuza Balk, which means yes, we're still celebrating Fairuzapalooza. And we have another special guest: Author, publisher, and podcaster Jim Beard (Becky Books, Flinch Books, 13th Dimension)! So join us for another round of Fairuzifying action. Remember: Back in Kansas, the chickens don't talk. So you might as well stay here.

Sunday, October 18, 2026

Flopcast 754: Fairuzapalooza Part 1 - Lack of Tootie

Just to be ridiculous, we're creeping into Halloween season with a look at two different movies about witches starring Fairuza Balk. And we're calling it... Fairuzapalooza. Up first is the odd 1986 cable TV movie The Worst Witch, with young Fairuza at a school for witches, also starring Tim Curry, Diana Rigg, and our beloved Mrs. Garrett from The Facts of Life, Charlotte Rae. Then a decade later, Fairuza was a teen witch (along with Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell, and Rachel True) in The Craft. (The soundtrack has Letters to Cleo covering a song by The Cars, and nothing else matters.) Helping us sort out all this Fairuzifying witchery is returning Flopcast guest Kevin Cafferty (The Best Stuff in the World, Gleaming the Tube)! And we're not done! Next week we'll just keep on Fairuzing.

Sunday, October 11, 2026

Flopcast 753: Chicken Hands

We're reviewing another old Dynamite magazine, compliments of our pal Chris from Sci-Fi Explosion! This is a 1977 issue, and the cover features ill-fated sitcom couple Pinky Tuscadero and Fonzie. (Yes, we're talking about Happy Days again. Yes, we have a problem.) Also in this issue: A superhero named Jive Turkey! Skateboarding! She-Monsters! Disgusting pancakes! Jodie Foster! Magic Wanda! The DC Comics Hotline! And lots more mid-70s weirdness for the kids. So forget your school book club and enjoy Dynamite magazine in its final perfect form: the audio podcast.

Sunday, October 4, 2026

Flopcast 752: Dragon Con Review Part 4 - Even By Manimal Standards

At last, it's the end of our Dragon Con coverage, just in time for us to start working on our zombie steampunk Mrs. Roper costumes for next year. Our look back at the last two days of the convention includes: Panels about witchcraft in fiction, comedy in science fiction, Superman meeting Spider-Man, and Justice League Unlimited! A dramatic reading of a Manimal script! More fun with Electra Woman and Dyna Girl! The magic of Banachek! Billy Ocean in space, drunk Ewoks, the Tooncinator, and more video weirdness from Sci-Fi Explosion! A Roll-a-Panel of movies from 2001! And a What's in the Bag segment featuring everything we dragged back from Atlanta! (Including a 50-year-old treasure from the legendary World of Sid and Marty Krofft theme park!) Okay, that was Dragon Con. Time for a nap, which should last about four months.

Sunday, September 27, 2026

Flopcast 751: Dragon Con Review Part 3 - Just the Right Level of Derangement

Saturday was our longest, busiest, silliest day at Dragon Con, the massive convention of pop culture nerdiness that takes over Atlanta every Labor Day weekend. Including: Saturday morning cartoons! Our Krofft Supershow 50th Anniversary celebration! Our Pee Wee's Playhouse 40th Anniversary celebration! An actual Bugaloo! Electra Woman and Dyna Girl versus the Empress of Evil! The Battle of the Fictional Bands! Fandom Feud! Our Saturday Night Live table read, with Johnny Canal, Matt Foley, Lampreys, Deep Thoughts, and more! The Music Video Book Club! And perhaps some late night Eurovision Karaoke! Next week: The end of it all! Hopefully.

Sunday, September 20, 2026

Flopcast 750: Dragon Con Review Part 2 - Bribe Them With Cheez-Its

Our Dragon Con 2026 coverage continues, as we cover every goofy thing we did on Friday at our favorite annual gathering of weirdos. Including: The Geek Girls Run! An American Sci-Fi Classics Track Tournament of Villains! American Sci-Fi/Fantasy Media Track panels on Pluribus, Lanterns, and Supergirl! The cast of Land of the Lost! A meeting with Tron! The Dragon Con Hustle! And a late night parade of Yip-Yips! So that was Friday, we still have a long way to go, and it's just gonna get weirder.

Sunday, September 13, 2026

Flopcast 749: Dragon Con Review Part 1 - Ceremonies, Scissors, and Pants

After another long weekend among 75,000 other nerds in miserably hot and humid Atlanta, our Dragon Con 2026 review begins now! (Warning: This might be a four-parter. There's a lot of ridiculousness to cover.) Including: A weird new way to get to the airport! The nightmarish badge pickup line! The Skeptics Guide to the Universe crew! A surprise reality TV star! The Tim Curry tribute panel! Dancing at the 8-Bit Ball! Not dancing at the 120 Minutes Dance Party! Trogdor the giant inflatable dragon! A Depeche Mode video brought to life! Lots more goofy stuff! And we're just getting started! And we're already exhausted!

Sunday, September 6, 2026

Flopcast 748: Maid of Steel

It might be Dragon Con weekend, but it's still summertime, and you know what that means around here. It's time for our annual robot-themed Top 4 ½ List! And it's a weird one. In honor of this year's new Supergirl movie, we're counting down robots on the covers of Supergirl comic books. (What?) Along the way, we'll meet a robot man named Robotman, a four-armed robot bank robber, a robot who climbs skyscrapers King Kong-style, and perhaps even a juvenile delinquent robot from space. Will Supergirl wear a different costume in every comic we look at? ALMOST. Are we completely out of ideas for robot lists? APPARENTLY. But if you have any complaints, you can write to Supergirl's comic book letter column, which in the early 70s was called "Super Fe-Mail." And that should be the first thing you complain about.