Sunday, September 17, 2023

Flopcast 593: Dragon Con Review Part 2 - Stay Away From Aquaman

Our Dragon Con recap continues, and this time we're just covering Saturday. While everyone else in Atlanta was out on the street for the big Dragon Con parade, Kevin was hiding in the American Sci-Fi Classics Track room for the ESO Network's celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Super Friends. (Were any Wonder Twin powers activated? Perhaps...) The Mayor of Chickentown (our resident Barbie expert) was busy too with an American Sci-Fi/Fantasy Media Track panel about the Barbie movie! (There were approximately 63,000 Barbies at Dragon Con this year, and they were approximately everywhere.) Also: Kevins vs. Michaels, hobbits in the Con Suite, charity screenings of Krull (with the lights on) and Pee Wee's Big Adventure (with the lights off), and Kevin and the Mayor onstage together at Dragon Con for the very first time! (Also, speaking of Mr. Herman, we even ran into our favorite Pee Wee cosplayer, the amazing Remy Dee.) And yikes, there are still two more days of Dragon Con left to cover! This has to end at some point. Next week, hopefully.

Sunday, September 10, 2023

Flopcast 592: Dragon Con Review Part 1 - The Duck Is Fine

We have apparently survived Dragon Con 2023, and it's gonna take THREE episodes to review everything that happened at our favorite annual gathering of 70,000 nerds and/or geeks. This week we're just covering Wednesday through Friday, including: The amazing costumes of Brandon the Shapeshifter, the muscovy ducks of Piedmont Park, the Dragon Con Newbie Walking Tours, Kate from Strange Animals Podcast, Chris from Sci-Fi Explosion, Kevin from Gleaming the Tube, a tribute to MTV 120 Minutes, the Geek Girls Run, the legendary Marty Krofft (and HR Pufnstuf!), a Twilight Zone "Eye of the Beholder" deep dive with the American Sci Fi Classics Track, weird music video fun with the Jonzun Crew, and much more. We'll try to make you feel as dizzy and confused as if you were really there. Plus: Wherever we go, whatever we do, we will be right here waiting for Kornflake's National Whatever Day. Next week: Dragon Con review continues. And it's a safe bet that things will just keep getting weirder.

Sunday, September 3, 2023

Flopcast 591: Dragon Con Schedule Fun - Good Job, Everybody

It's Dragon Con week! Alas, Kornflake cannot join us at Dragon Con, but let's just pretend that she can! Kevin has prepared a hypothetical weekend of silly events for Kornflake, based on the actual Dragon Con schedule. Including: robot battles, coloring books and coffee, burlesque, the old Krofft theme park, a tea party for puppets, and more. Plus: It's National Star Trek Day! (Hey, maybe we can just beam Kornflake to Atlanta.) Next week: Our actual review of Dragon Con. Assuming there are any survivors.

Sunday, August 27, 2023

Flopcast 590: Everybody's on Strike - Our Dragon Con Preview

It's time for Dragon Con, so round up all your local weirdos and stick them on a bus to Atlanta! Kevin and the Mayor of Chickentown will be there, and we're sharing our whole schedule with you. Come see the Mayor talk about Rocky Horror, Schmigadoon, and Barbie! (Did you know our Mayor is a Barbie expert? There's a lot going on here. It's not just chickens.) Meanwhile Kevin's nonstop schedule of silliness (with the American Sci-Fi Classics track and the American Sci-Fi and Fantasy Media track) includes panels and presentations on The Super Friends, The Twilight Zone, Krull, Titans, Stargirl, Wonder Woman, fictional bands, weird music videos, and much more. (Join us Friday morning for the Geek Girls Run! Don't you want to stomp around in the Atlanta heat? What's wrong with you?) We also take a quick look at the Dragon Con guest list, and we're most excited that the legendary Marty Krofft will be there! You know we'll be looking for Marty. We have 8,000 questions about Lidsville alone.

Sunday, August 20, 2023

Flopcast 589: Nightmare on 1989 Street

As we frantically prepare for Dragon Con 2023, we're wrapping up our 10-episode look back at the 1980s with a visit to Dragon Con 1989! We weren't actually there (probably too busy watching Batman for the nineteenth time), but we did scrape up some information about the third ever installment of Atlanta's legendary nerdfest. It was held on a different weekend back then (in October instead of Labor Day), at a different location (the Omni Hotel at CNN Center, dangerously close to the former location of The World of Sid and Marty Krofft), and with far fewer humans in attendance. (There were 2400 people at Dragon Con 1989. This year there will be 2400 people at Dragon Con just waiting for an elevator.) But there were still some impressive guests from literature, horror, and gaming. We even found a list of movies and videos that were shown in 1989. (Star Trek: The Next Generation bloopers! Kornflake could have taken a very weird Brent Break.) So it might be too late to attend the 1989 version, but Dragon Con is coming around again very soon. See you there. Also: Kornflake's final pair of 1980s TV commercials! If you think computers don't care about chewing gum, get ready for a shock.

Sunday, August 13, 2023

Flopcast 588: 1988 Could Never Tear Us Apart

The vacationing Kornflake is flopped on a hammock somewhere, but the Mayor of Chickentown is here to celebrate the year 1988. After a quick look at some of the year's least popular movies (Kevin and the Mayor each saw just one of them), we turn to music. Specifically we're looking at the 1988 concert schedule at Great Woods, a beloved outdoor venue that dominated southern New England's summer concert landscape back in the day. The 1988 lineup at Great Woods featured classic rock (here comes Jethro Tull with that crazy flute), hair metal (Def Leppard, Europe, and a blindingly white combo show with Whitesnake and Great White), new wave (we should not have missed Depeche Mode with OMD), and Top 40 (George Michael, Huey Lewis, and more). Guns 'n' Roses opened for Aerosmith. Roy Orbison opened for the Beach Boys. Santana and Herbie Hancock were part of something called "Jazz Explosion," which sounds absolutely terrifying. And Kevin went to Great Woods for the very first time that summer, to see an Australian band that found massive success in the 80s. (And we don't mean Air Supply, or Men at Work, or Midnight Oil. Keep guessing.) Also: Last week we forgot to mention a certain giant robot from 1987. We apologize to giant robots everywhere.

Sunday, August 6, 2023

Flopcast 587: The Sad Robot French Fries of 1987

Go away, soft weak humans! It's time for our annual robot-themed Top 4 ½ List! And it's also time for our 1987-themed show! So once again we've turned to our pal Chris from Sci-Fi Explosion, because we knew Chris could come up with a magnificent list of 1987 robots. And yikes, he sure did. We have some all-time favorites (a certain Star Trek android debuted that year), some lesser known oddities (yes yes yes, robot french fries), and a poignant tribute to a fallen hero whose faithful robot always knew the secret word. Plus: Greg Hawkes and Eddie Japan are keeping the music of The Cars alive, Kornflake is hunting for bargains, Kevin and Chris are preparing silly things for DragonCon, and Tom Bosley is battling demon plastic wrap.

Sunday, July 30, 2023

Flopcast 586: Pour Yourself an Icy Glass of 1986

Welcome back to 1986! (We need you for Hands Across America. Please go stand in the middle of Iowa for nine hours.) Kornflake has a goofy 1986 commercial in which the voice of God screams at you about drain cleaners. Then Kevin has a concert report on one of our favorite singers, who made her solo debut in 1986: Belinda Carlisle! You know we'll see Belinda whenever we can, because go go go go go. Also: Happy Birthday to the original Eddie Munster, Butch Patrick! He went from being a wolf boy to battling Charles Nelson Reilly in Lidsville, the magical world of living hats. Come on, Butch had range.

Sunday, July 23, 2023

Flopcast 585: 1985 - There's a New Goonie in Town

As we cross the halfway point in our ten-part exploration of the 1980s, we're randomly recasting the movies of 1985, and hopefully making them weirder. We might extract Chevy Chase from Fletch, for example, and drop him into the Kelly LeBrock role in Weird Science. That would free up Kelly to star in Rambo: First Blood Part II, Stallone can replace Cher as the mom in Mask, and so on. Chances of this being a huge disaster: excellent. If you've ever wondered why we don't run Hollywood, this episode may provide some answers. Also: We're watching unsettling 1985 Pizza Hut commercials, and Kornflake is a secret Rush fan.

Sunday, July 16, 2023

Flopcast 584: 1984 - No Others, Just Yothers

Our ten-episode trip through the 1980s continues, and we're looking at some very short-lived sitcoms from 1984. Including: The Duck Factory (starring Jim Carrey and Dippy Duck), Dreams (with John Stamos, Jami Gertz, and breakdancing), E/R (not the medical drama with George Clooney, but the medical sitcom with George Clooney), It's Your Move (with Jason Bateman and the Dregs of Humanity), and a bunch more. The world has moved on from these goofy little shows, but we're staying right here. Plus: Hefty trash bags vs. wimpy trash bags, and Happy Birthday to WandaVision actress Kathryn Hahn. It's been Kathryn's birthday all along.

Sunday, July 9, 2023

Flopcast 583: Never Tell an Angel That It's 1983

This week we're back in 1983! Kornflake shares a goofy 1983 commercial for Dial soap, while Kevin takes an absurdly quick look at the pop music of 1983. It was the year new wave conquered the Top 40, and we approved. (For more complete coverage of 1983 music, we refer you to recent episodes of White Rocket Entertainment and Modern Musicology. While the Flopcast covers Kajagoogoo, they take care of everything else.) We also stopped by Northeast Comic Con (aka Music Con) and saw members of the Monkees (Micky), the Runaways (Cherie), the Ramones (Richie), and the Stompers (Sal)! A Monkees cover band called Zilch was there too, as well as old friend of The Flopcast (and, as Flash Gordon, savior of the universe) Sam J. Jones! Plus: A concert report on Elvis Costello and the Imposters (along with Charlie Sexton) and Nick Lowe (along with his Mexican wrestling-masked backup band Los Straitjackets). And best of all, Happy Birthday to America's 1980s sweetheart, Phoebe Cates! Celebrate by watching Private School. It's not Phoebe's best movie, but it is Phoebe's 1983 movie.

Sunday, July 2, 2023

Flopcast 582: A Big Disgusting Smooch for 1982

It's 1982 (in our hearts, at least), so we're looking at the Mad magazines of 1982. (Historians agree that for a truly accurate account of the past, you should just read Mad. Plus you get to do the Fold-In.) That year Mad's TV and movie parodies included Raiders of the Lost Ark, Archie Bunker's Place, Family Feud, For Your Eyes Only, The Greatest American Hero, The Fall Guy, M*A*S*H, The Facts of Life, and Rocky III! (Want to see Alfred E. Neuman as Mr. T? Done!) Mad also covered video games (their Man of the Year may have been a Pac-Man) and did some silly stuff with lobsters too, just for Kornflake. And speaking of Kornflake, her pick for 1982 is a Corn Flakes commercial! Also: It's Freezepop Day. So listen to some synthpop and chomp on a weird frozen thing.