The Flopcast

Why, it's New Year's Eve, so Kevin and Kornflake grab some coffee (that most festive of beverages) and look back at 2017. 'Twas a horrifying year overall (did you notice?), but we got through it together, and managed to have some fun here on our goofy little show. Our convention schedule was busy this year; highlights included our meeting with Judy Tenuta, our defense of Howard the Duck, and our final shocking confrontation with Greg Brady. We also brought you dozens of concert reports on the most exciting new artists of today, including Richard Marx, Men Without Hats, and Air Supply. (We define "today" as "at least 30 years ago.") And of course, 2017 also brought us a new Earth Station One book (have you read Kevin's weird chicken story yet?), a wonderful old Love Boat script, our ten-part review of High Feather (you're welcome!)... and the return of Robolar from Mars. But now it's time to look forward, as we also reveal our ridiculous New Year's Resolutions, and announce our schedule for Boston's favorite science fiction convention, Arisia! Join us there, get a Flopcast badge ribbon, and please bring more coffee.

Direct download: Flopcast_295.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:51am EDT

It's a quick show this holiday week, so you'll have plenty of time to dedicate to avoiding your family. But in the spirit of the season, we play a round of Figgy Pudding Pages, and discuss if kids prefer cool electronic games or weird hair appliances for Christmas. Also: A Flopcast correspondent reports live from Florida with a very festive Chickens in the News update. Plus: More 90s fun with MTV's The Real World, Elvis Costello, and Crash Test Dummies. Now it's time to pop in that DVD of Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey and relax. Pass the nog, please.

Direct download: Flopcast_294.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:04am EDT

Our goofy holiday festivities continue with a special visit from the Mayor of Chickentown! And the Mayor is here to present a Top 4 1/2 List of Mayors! Specifically, all those wacky mayors from our favorite holiday cartoons! You may recall the mayor from 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (who freaked out over Mr. Trundle's broken clock) and the mayor from The Year Without a Santa Claus (who had to deal with those pesky Miser Brothers). But we cover some lesser known mayors too... including an evil mayor voiced by Charles Nelson Reilly! Yes, that really happened, and it was wonderful. Also: Tracy Bonham, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, the ESO Book Club, a Christmas Crustacean edition of What's in the Bag, and yes, evil gorillas. It's everything you need for a perfect holiday season. Enjoy.

Direct download: Flopcast_293.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:04pm EDT

This week we take a quick look back at some favorite cartoons, and one very memorable sax solo, from 1992. Also: Kevin returns to Oberon for a Nightmare Before Christmas concert and burlesque show with Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys, and Kevin and the Mayor sneak down to Connecticut for another Speak Up storytelling show. And because we were in Connecticut, we have a major update on our recent Turkeys in the News segment! Join us as the story of Kevin the Turkey reaches its shocking conclusion. We also get Kornflake's final podcast recommendation of the year, and since we're in the middle of the stupid holidays, we recommend Grant's Advent Calendar too! Next week: More holiday silliness, probably. Meanwhile, watch out for turkeys.

Direct download: Flopcast_292.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:39pm EDT

It's a holiday spectacular, sort of, but not really! First, Kornflake's 1991 edition of National Whatever Day celebrates the debut of Ren and Stimpy, a show considered quite outrageous in its time. How innocent we were. Kornflake has also made her annual pilgrimage to the lobster trap Christmas tree up in Maine (a weird crustacean-themed holiday tradition, but why not). Meanwhile, Kevin ran around Boston like a maniac all week, and has concert reports on Letters to Cleo, Blake Babies, Squeeze, and Niki Luparelli and the Gold Diggers (with Lipstick Criminals). In other words, we're exhausted. But we still manage to play a round of Figgy Pudding Pages and come up with a wacky new holiday money-making scheme. (Listen to the show for details, but in short: If everyone knocks their Christmas trees over, we'll be filthy rich.)

Direct download: Flopcast_291.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:20am EDT

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