Sunday, June 22, 2025

Flopcast 685: This Is Your 1985, and It's Long Overdue

It's the 40th anniversary of Live Aid, and we have a guy who was there. Our friend Rich Wilhelm takes us on a deep dive through his long day at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia for the biggest charity concert in history. Including: General admission tickets at the shocking price of thirty-five dollars! Rich's mom carefully recording the whole show on VHS! The unknown kid who talked his way into opening the concert! Philadelphia hometown heroes like Hall & Oates, Patti LaBelle, and The Hooters! The globe-trotting antics of Phil Collins (and Cher)! Led Zeppelin reunited! Our favorite loverboy, Billy Ocean! Tina's wardrobe malfunction (with a little help from Mick)! And the surprise Lionel Richie finale! Plus Madonna, the Cars, REO Speedwagon, Rick Springfield, Tom Petty, Run-D.M.C., Duran Duran, and pretty much everyone else! Hey, if you're gonna be trapped in an overcrowded stadium for sixteen hours on a hot summer day, you could do worse. These days, you can find Rich writing about music for PopMatters.com. But on July 13, 1985, Rich was at Live Aid. And the line to be super-jealous of Rich starts right here.

Sunday, June 15, 2025

Flopcast 684: 1984 is Back in Fashion

The Mayor finally gets a week off, because we have a special guest. Judy is one of Kevin's running buddies, and she teaches us all about ultramarathon running! (Have you ever run 100 miles in a day? Judy has. Don't you feel completely exhausted just reading that?) Then for some 1980s talk (which does happen occasionally around here), we explore the world of 80s fashion. Hopefully you still have your leg warmers and giant shoulder pads ready to go. And finally, since this is our 1984 episode, Judy shares her Top 4 ½ List of favorite movies from that magical year. Is Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo at the top of her list? Probably not, but let's find out together...

Sunday, June 8, 2025

Flopcast 683: The 1983 Movie Recasting Movie Character Movie Game

Flopcast episode 683! As our 1980s-themed episodes roll along, we return to the weird movie game we played a few weeks ago. But this time we're looking at the movies of 1983. So we're yanking characters from randomly-selected movies, shoving them into different movies, and seeing what happens. Our participants are characters from Return of the Jedi, National Lampoon's Vacation, Superman III, Flashdance, and many more. Including... D.C. Cab. So yeah, that means Mr. T might get involved. And he already pities all of us.

Sunday, June 1, 2025

Flopcast 682: Well, We're Living Here in 1982

It's another 80s-themed episode, and we're up to 1982. And to keep this one short and silly, we're just looking at the albums we bought from that year. It's a mix of goofy mainstream pop (Hall & Oates, Air Supply, REO Speedwagon), some slightly cooler stuff (Elvis Costello, Devo, Midnight Oil), and one very special record from Buckner and Garcia. Because this was the year we all had Pac-Man Fever. And some of us never fully recovered.

Sunday, May 25, 2025

Flopcast 681: TV This Week in 1981 - The Mustaches Were Flying

It's a simple plan this week: We're just looking at what was on television in late May of 1981. Including: A bizarre Happy Days musical, a horrifying Waltons episode, Mork in a bubble, skydiving Hulk, something called "Women Who Rate a 10," Bo Duke with amnesia, Daisy Duke on Enos, Batman on Fantasy Island, a Muppet on a medical drama, a dead parrot at Mel's Diner, and way too many variety shows (from Bob Hope, Steve Allen, Robert Klein, the Gatlin Brothers, and the Mandrell Sisters). It all sounds wonderful, doesn't it? You should probably cancel Netflix and invest in a time machine.

Sunday, May 18, 2025

Flopcast 680: The 1980 Movie Recasting Movie Character Movie Game

As we kick off ten weeks of 80s-themed episodes, we're returning to a goofy little game we invented a couple of years ago. The idea is to pluck characters from randomly selected movies from the year 1980, insert them into other movies, and discuss the ramifications. Potential movies include Flash Gordon, Caddyshack, Popeye, Xanadu, The Empire Strikes Back, and many more. So grab a hideously overpriced tub of popcorn and get comfortable. In all likelihood, this is gonna get weird.

Sunday, May 11, 2025

Flopcast 679: The Dove Above - Our Anniversary Spectacular

It's the 13th anniversary of the Flopcast! We started this nonsense way back in 2012 (as court-ordered community service, but let's not get into that), and here we are today, as dizzy and confused as ever. And to celebrate, we're doing... not much of anything. Kevin and the Mayor just wander through a few quick little subjects, including: Running a half marathon in Maine; running a 5K in the rain; a visit to the Watch City Steampunk Festival, ruled by our friend Queen Jessica Mercy; the return of our favorite metal band, Anaria; an important ornithological discovery right here at the studio; the Columbo-style antics of Natasha Lyonne on Poker Face; and a pile of new "facsimile" comic books, which allow us to enjoy the first Aquaman story without spending eight zillion dollars. Now it's on to yet another year of Flopcasting. We promise to continue accomplishing nothing.

Sunday, May 4, 2025

Flopcast 678: SNL FlopFight Part 2 - Any Questions?

It's the conclusion of our FlopFight tournament of Saturday Night Live characters! We have miscellaneous freaks and weirdos competing from 50 years of SNL history. Will it be Wayne and Garth vs. Hans and Franz? Canteen Boy vs. Gap Girls? So many possibilities. But only one shall survive, and they shall look marvelous.

Sunday, April 27, 2025

Flopcast 677: SNL FlopFight Part 1 - Clang Clang Clang

Let's celebrate 50 years of Saturday Night Live with a big silly tournament of SNL characters. Church Lady vs. Target Lady? Festrunk Brothers vs. Sweeney Sisters? Gilly vs. Gumby? So many weird possibilities, but only one shall survive and advance to next week's final round. Anything can happen, it will be ridiculous and stupid, and we promise not to provide you with any deep thoughts.

Sunday, April 20, 2025

Flopcast 676: Breakdancing Fish Police - The Comics of 1985

We're looking back at the comic book scene of forty years ago, and we've brought in a special guest to help: ESO Network Director (and longtime comic book fan) Mike Faber. The big story of 1985 was Crisis on Infinite Earths, but we cover much more, including: The New Teen Titans, Justice League Detroit, the trial of the Flash, Elvira's House of Mystery, Secret Wars II, Heroes for Hope, the silliness of Ambush Bug, the genius of Alan Moore (Swamp Thing, Miracleman), and the independent stuff too (Love and Rockets, Cerebus, DNAgents, Jon Sable Freelance, and those crazy Ninja Turtles). This podcast should be bagged, boarded, graded, slabbed, and thrown on eBay with a Buy It Now price of zero dollars.

Sunday, April 13, 2025

Flopcast 675: Hands Off the Chicken

Just a few quick subjects this week: We recommend the improv comedy of Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation's Jean-Ralphio!), we look at some Saturday Night Live-related comic books (including when Spider-Man met Belushi), and we take it to the streets. Not because we're Doobie Brothers, but because we're angry.

Sunday, April 6, 2025

Flopcast 674: The Tent Circuit

If you grew up in or around the bizarro state of Rhode Island, you might remember the Warwick Musical Theatre. For decades, this tent-style venue (with a rotating circular stage in the middle) hosted concerts, comedy, musicals, and even wrestling. (Guess how many times Liberace performed there. No, you're low. Guess again.) And back in the 80s, this is where some of us first saw Weird Al, the Monkees, and oh yeah, Air Supply. So let's take a look at the whole wild history of the Warwick tent, which alas, has been gone for about a quarter century. (These days a giant hardware store is there, in case you need 8,000 hammers.) But in our hearts, Laura Branigan and Billy Ocean are playing there RIGHT NOW.