Mon, 16 May 2022
It's our big silly tenth anniversary show! Yes, we have released a Flopcast episode every week for TEN YEARS. (Also, yes, we're sleepy, and yes, we're completely out of ideas. But here we are.) And we're celebrating with a special tenth anniversary FlopFight! Kornflake provided the contestants, and it's a bizarre randomized assortment of characters from sitcoms, movies, cartoons, and more. The competitions are equally ridiculous, involving jug bands, ant farms, and an Etch A Sketch. The results will shock you! Unless you've been listening all these years. Then it's pretty much what you'd expect. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 8 May 2022
After a too-long break from the show, the Mayor of Chickentown is back as our special guest co-host! (It's more court-ordered community service, we assume.) We start with a look at the recently-announced 2022 inductees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (We're happy about Lionel, Dolly, Pat Benatar, and all those Durans. On the other hand, still no 38 Special, but we can dream...) Then Kevin reports on this year's Watch City Steampunk Festival, where amongst all the geared and goggled humans, we found old friends Jessica, Sergio, and Panda! (Jessica gave a stunning performance as festival queen, she and Sergio are working on new music with their metal band Anaria, and Panda is actually Draculina in the comic books now. Our friends are pretty ridiculously amazing.) Kevin also picked up some weird old paperback books, including Mad books by Al Jaffee and novels based on Leave It to Beaver and The Brady Bunch. (Just try to keep us away from a Brady book. We'd read one about Fake Jan alone.) Also: A surprise caller on the Flopcast Hotline! (You'll probably recognize the voice.) Next week: Our tenth anniverary episode. Do not get excited. A correction from this episode: Kevin gave the wrong name for that excellent comic book shop in Waltham, Massachusetts! It is actually The Outer Limits! Sorry about that! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 1 May 2022
Kevin is being watched by enemy birds; Green Day coffee is on the way; Hit Parade celebrates five years of podcasting (with a quote from the Mayor of Chickentown!); The Flopcast celebrates ten years of podcasting in a couple of weeks (but we don't know what we're doing); we lightning-round through a bunch of TV talk (about Atypical, Picard, Derry Girls, Stranger Things, Girls5eva, Russian Doll, Umbrella Academy, Bridgerton, Is It Cake?, Vegetable Soup, The Monkees, This Is Us, Taskmaster, and especially Diff'rent Strokes); and things get weirdly musical when Kornflake breaks out... the Orba. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 24 April 2022
One again we've let the Chickentown Studios Supercomputer randomly determine our discussion topics, which means we're talking about "Talking Out of Turn" (an obscure 1980s single from a classic rock band), Action Jackson (the 1988 movie sadly not based on the Mego action figure line), The Young Rebels (a 1970s Revolutionary War-era TV series with Louis Gossett Jr.), and The Young Riders (a 1980s western TV series totally not inspired by Young Guns). Also: Classic rock keyboardist Chuck Leavell has a birthday, and Kornflake rides the prog rock school bus. And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 17 April 2022
It's a Chickens in the News follow-up report! We're revisiting the rogue hen that tried to break into the Pentagon a few weeks back, but now we have the official incident report to examine. (Has the Freedom of Information Act ever been put to better use?) And we've unearthed some startling new details, which may or may not involve a parking lot salad bar. Also: Kornflake is reading about a lost dog, Kevin is reading about Dazed and Confused, Ricardo Montalbán is reading to the children, comic book creators are stealing Kornflake's dreams, and there's a surprising connection between rare insect species and the stars of Baywatch. Just a typical Saturday morning here in Chickentown. The 42cast - Bill and Ted Panel with the Mayor! Earth Station One - more comic book trivia, and Fred Hembeck! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 10 April 2022
Special guest Blasted Bill is still here, and our favorite vehicles from 1980s pop culture are still doing battle in our latest FlopFight tournament. Some major players were knocked out last week (farewell, A-Team van) as Airwolf flew straight into the finals. Can anything stop that high-tech TV helicopter? The train from Silver Spoons and the station wagon from Nation Lampoon's Vacation are sure gonna try. Surprise upsets and random moments of silliness are guaranteed. Also: Happy Birthday to legendary voice actor Billy West! If the Red M&M were a 1980s vehicle, Billy would easily win the FlopFight. See Blasted Bill at Penguicon in Southfield, Michigan, April 22-24! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 3 April 2022
Our old pal Blasted Bill returns, and Bill is here for a FlopFight! The subject is 1980s vehicles, so your favorite cars, trucks, vans, and bikes from 80s movies and TV shall do battle. (Mr. T has the van. And if Jan Michael Vincent brings the helicopter, Hasselhoff will supply the talking car.) And it's a FlopFight, so the battles will be weird. (Which vehicle would make the superior birdwatcher? Let's discuss.) Also: Happy Birthday to Billy Dee Williams! Time to party on Cloud City. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 27 March 2022
It's just more random silliness, just for you. We imagine a world in which Kornflake is in control (it'll be all Howard Jones concerts, all the time), and Kevin recalls racing a turkey through the mean streets of Chickentown (the turkey won, of course). Then our supercomputer forces us to discuss Capitol Critters (the short-lived cartoon series with Doogie Howser as a field mouse in Washington DC), Arcade (a Tron-like movie starring Q from Star Trek and Ralphie from A Christmas Story - how did we miss this?), and another mystery pop song from the 1980s. Can you guess the song before Kornflake? Probably. The DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track's "Novelization Readings" panel, including Tron! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 20 March 2022
Another quick random show, including: Happy Birthday to Matthew Broderick (star of Ladyhawke) and Elton John (star of the "Nikita" music video); Kevin has a pile of 80s movie promo buttons ("Free Johnny Dangerously!"); Gloria Estefan is a cat; Madonna is not a mermaid; the American Sci-Fi Classics Track hosts another Battle of the Fictional Bands (former champion Dr. Teeth was excused this time); they're rolling D&D dice on But First, Let's Talk Nerdy; and of course, we're celebrating Pi Day. With pie. Battle of the Fictional Bands 2022! But First, Let's Talk Nerdy - the Dungeons & Dragons edition! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 13 March 2022
Time for a hugely important correction: Last week we got a couple of obscure Julian Lennon videos mixed up. (The "we" means Kevin. Kornflake was innocent this time...) But it's an excuse to revisit the wonderfully ridiculous "Stick Around" video, featuring cameos by stars from Square Pegs, Family Ties, The Karate Kid, and Saturday Night Live. Then we look at the week that "Stick Around" peaked on the pop chart in May 1986. Julian only reached number 32, while Flopcast favorites like The Outfield, OMD, Whitney, and Janet had top ten hits. If you managed to look away from MTV that Saturday night, your options included Gimme a Break, The Facts of Life... and the 1986 Miss Hollywood beauty pageant. (We checked - the whole thing is on YouTube, and it's hosted by Alan Thicke. You know what to do.) Meanwhile the Brat Pack continued to dominate the big screen, with Ally Sheedy starring in two of the top four movies. (Johnny 5? Yeah, he's still alive.) So pop in a Pet Shop Boys cassette and flop back 36 years with us. Also: World Frog Day is this week. Celebrate by hopping into traffic. Julian Lennon's goofy fun "Stick Around" video (watch for Jami, Joe, and Michael)... And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 6 March 2022
This week we let the Chickentown Studios supercomputer randomly determine our discussion topics. (Does this mean we're completely out of ideas? Oh, that happened six or seven years ago...) The result is an even weirder show than usual. Including: The 40th anniversary of Pac-Man Fever; songwriter Carole Bayer Sager's tribute to Mac and Me; Julian Lennon music videos (Correction: Kevin confused "Say You're Wrong" with "Stick Around"); how Wayne and Garth inspired Kornflake to pierce her ears; a 1980s sitcom Kornflake does not remember but hates anyway; Michael J. Fox's stunt double; Sheena's sugar walls; and oh yeah, a mystery date with a bowling chicken. Clearly our little experiment was a huge success, and humans should not be in charge of podcasts anymore. Eclectic Lee brings you 52 Weeks of Pac-Man Fever! (Also on Twitter!) And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 27 February 2022
It's a Tuesday spectacular! This episode was recorded on Tuesday, 2/22/22, so we're looking at the 2nd, 22nd, 222nd, and 2222nd biggest 1980s pop songs, according to the amazing book Ranking the '80s. You'd better believe Billy Ocean is involved, and he's gonna get out of our dreams and into our podcast. Also: A chicken tried to break into the Pentagon; Insane Ian is on HBO; Kevin is on Pop Culture Cosmos (discussing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), Earth Station One (discussing comic book trivia), ESO Board Silly (discussing the Olympics), and Earth Station DCU Classics (discussing Beppo the Super Monkey); and Happy Birthday to Jennifer Warnes, queen of the 80s pop duets. Yes, we swear it's the truth, and we owe it all to Jennifer. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Talk on Pop Culture Cosmos! Comic book trivia on Earth Station One! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 20 February 2022
Another weird mix of stuff from our latest Saturday morning recording session (for which we keep forgetting the Cocoa Puffs): For National Whatever Day we're celebrating a forgotten 1920s silent movie (and also guys named Mike); a box of wine was shipped to the studio from Washington state (or possibly Mars); Kornflake witnesses the miraculous birth of a shrimp; a miraculous newborn shrimp receives an inappropriate name; we zip through a lightning round of TV talk (covering Derry Girls, Bridgerton, The Book of Boba Fett, Peacemaker, Pen15, and Norwegian game shows); and Kornflake is back on Twitter for an online concert by Jim's Big Ego. Now enjoy, while we spend the rest of our Saturday flopping around doing nothing. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 13 February 2022
Just a weird mix of stuff this time: Kornflake learns that a former New England Patriots quarterback (no, not that one) is now in the wine business, and takes appropriate action; a giant Asian sea eagle has been hanging around Massachusetts, and we're trying to lure it to Chickentown Studios for an interview; Kornflake recommends a new webcomic about high school kids in the 80s (of course); and our friends at Rubber Chicken Comics brought an amazing 1974 anti-smoking PSA to our attention, and suddenly it's all we care about. (It's connected to Happy Days AND The Brady Bunch, so, you know...) Here it is, the bizarre 1974 PSA "Let's Call It Quits"... Kornflake's favorite new webcomic is Jim & Celeste! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 6 February 2022
It's a quick but fun show this week, as we review this year's nominees for induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Now if it were up to us, the list would include The Monkees, Weird Al, Men Without Hats, Martika, and The New Monkees. (There's a reason no one trusts us with anything.) But the actual list isn't bad! Some of our favorites from the 80s have been nominated again (come on, Pat Benatar and Devo). Dionne Warwick is back on the list too, because that's what psychic friends are for. Dolly Parton is a surprise first time nominee, and we certainly approve. (Why, we pour ourselves a cup of ambition here every week.) But we're probably most excited about Lionel Richie. Get off the floor, get on the ceiling, and let's do this. Hello. It's Lionel we're looking for. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 30 January 2022
We love Canada, and we love goofy public service announcements, so Kornflake has rounded up a bunch of Canadian PSAs to watch and discuss. And while nothing can replace Schoolhouse Rock and Robolar from Mars in our hearts, these videos (mostly from the 80s, of course) are pretty fantastic. They include: anti-smoking cartoon aliens, puppet geese in hot air balloons, puppet mice with a giant mousetrap, Canadian pop stars and hockey players, a freaky bear from space, a mystery in the woods, a beheaded kid (don't worry, he's fine), a depressed television, an angry furnace, an amputated robot (also fine), and an astonishing "Drugs, Drugs, Drugs" conga line. Links to all these weird and wonderful PSAs are in the show notes, so we can all play along together. We might even learn a valuable lesson or two. But probably not. Here you go, all the Canadian PSAs discussed in the show... Canadian geese in hot air balloons... Crazed anti-smoking bear with a rock band... TV that doesn't want you to watch TV... Canadian pop star Luba wants you to break free... Drugs, Drugs, Drugs conga line... Puppet mice and giant mousetrap... Something will happen to you in the woods. We just don't know what... Boating safety - just pretend you're on the water... Beware the freaky singing furnace in your basement... Puppets shouldn't put things in their puppet mouths... 1970s appliances are very angry about hot water... And the return of Astar, the frequently amputated robot... And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 23 January 2022
Our first Top 4 1/2 List of the year was perhaps inspired by how crazy cold it's been here in Chickentown. The topic is... ice. We have some ice-themed 80s music (remember Australian band Icehouse?), some Karate Kid ice-breaking action, several ice-powered superheroes (from Marvel, DC, and even Pixar), and a bunch more icy oddities. So stay inside and enjoy. Have some coffee. But not iced coffee, unless you're as weird as Kornflake. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 16 January 2022
Way too cold to leave the house, so today we're just flipping through another old issue of Dynamite, that classic magazine for kids of the 70s and 80s. (You could get Dynamite through the school book club or by subscription, so either your teacher or your mailman would know you're a huge nerd.) This issue is from 1981, and features an exclusive interview with Rick Springfield! (Rick is on the cover AND on a giant fold-out poster. Somebody's bedroom wall just got a lot dreamier.) Also inside: a Dark Crystal sneak preview, Brooke Shields and her Calvins, useless video game tips (your Gorf score is not likely to improve), the DynaMates pen pal service (surely a disaster in the making), more Dynamite Bummers (as lame as ever), a horse raffle (?), and a horrifying recipe for a rolled-up white bread pizza abomination. There, we read the whole thing for you, probably saving you 75 cents. Go buy a Twinkie or something. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 9 January 2022
Let's wrap up our annual two-part memorial show by getting through a long list of everyone we lost in the second half of 2021. From television, we have stars from The Andy Griffith Show, Night Court, Quantum Leap, Newhart... and a couple more (!) from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. From the world of music, we have members of ZZ Top and Kool & The Gang, rapper Biz Markie, a Rolling Stone, an Everly Brother... and yeah, a Monkee. And on and on it goes... there's the founder of Hands Across America... the voices behind Charlie in the Box and Billina the talking chicken... the writer of "I'm Just a Bill"... the Big Ragoo from Laverne and Shirley... the forgotten older brother from Happy Days... the World Wrestling Federation's Mr. Wonderful... and many more, including a certain beloved goddess from Saturday morning TV. Once again we recommend listening with a beverage close at hand. Kevin is sticking with coffee, while Kornflake has switched to the hard stuff. Because that's what Betty White would have wanted. Links: Speaking of Betty White, one of Kornflake's favorite animal rescue organizations is Almost Home Rescue - throw them a few bucks! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promo: |
Sun, 2 January 2022
As usual we're kicking off the new year by looking back on everyone we lost in the old year. This week's show covers the first half of 2021, with many of our favorites from the world of pop culture and beyond. Including: The voice of Hermey the Elf, the designer of our all-time favorite Muppets (Yipyipyipyipyip), two of the stars of Midnight Run, two Saturday morning TV genies (Jambi and Weenie), a Supreme, a Bay City Roller, one of the greatest songwriters in rock history, the man inside Twiki the Buck Rogers robot... and Herb from WKRP. And of course, hitting especially close to home here at The Flopcast, we have a couple of stars from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, although we knew them better from later projects: Gavin MacLeod (The Love Boat's Captain Stubing) and Cloris Leachman (The Facts of Life, School House Rock, and everything else). Next week we'll wrap this up with Part 2. But for now, grab a beverage and join us. (Kevin has coffee and Kornflake has tea, but something a bit stronger would be appropriate too...) Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 26 December 2021
It's our final show of 2021! So we're just relaxing and looking back on another ridiculous year of Flopcasting. (Yikes, we spent a lot of time obsessing over The Facts of Life. And we're not quite done.) But we also have a couple of special guests, because this is our second annual holiday crossover with Brittany and Martha of But First, Let's Talk Nerdy! Kevin is on their show this week (BFLTN episode 64) discussing favorite Christmas songs. (Spoiler: It gets silly.) Meanwhile Brittany and Martha are here on The Flopcast talking about Christmas in Las Vegas, Mariah vs. Wham, Hermey vs. Yukon, White Elephants vs. Yankee Swaps, and what to do with all the wrapping paper. (Spoiler: Also silly.) Then we wrap up the show with another annual tradition, as Kevin and Kornflake reveal their New Year's Resolutions. Okay, see you in 2022. Bring coffee. And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 19 December 2021
Every year we're bombarded with dozens more ridiculous (and nearly identical) Christmas movies from Hallmark, Lifetime, Netflix, etc. It's a never-ending parade of big city ladies back in their quaint little home towns for the holidays, dealing with awkward high school reunions, struggling family businesses, lame Christmas pageants, secret cookie recipes, the occasional prince or princess, country music stars, miscellaneous Brady Bunch cast members, and handsome dudes in flannel who work at the local tinsel factory or whatever. Just can't take it anymore? Worry not. The Flopcast is here to save Christmas. We're taking these Christmas movies and randomly inserting classic Saturday morning cartoon characters to make them better. Or at least weirder. (Do we care about a Christmas movie starring Brooke Shields? Not really. But what if we added Captain Caveman? Ah, now we're in business...) So grab your remote and a giant cup of boozified egg nog, and let's get to work. Also: Kornflake recommends new holiday cartoons from Aardman Animations, while Kevin is still watching the old stuff. In fact, this week Kevin joins our friends at the DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track for a Rankin/Bass character tournament that gets a little silly. (Will a Miser Brother end up in a duet with David Bowie? Hey, miracles happen most every day.) And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 12 December 2021
Let's wrap up our look at the Saturday morning TV landscape of 1971! ABC's lineup was probably the strongest of the three networks, but it's still quite weird. There were classics like Road Runner and Jonny Quest, alongside oddities like Filmation's Jerry Lewis cartoon, the Rankin/Bass animated version of the Jackson 5, and more psychedelic Krofft craziness with the living hats of Lidsville. Hanna Barbera recycled its Scooby Doo "traveling teen" format with Funky Phantom, starring a ghost who sounded just like Snagglepuss. We're very curious about Curiosity Shop, of which little video evidence survives. But all we really need are live action secret agent apes... and we'll always have Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 5 December 2021
To celebrate (just barely) our 500th episode, we decided to shove every single Flopcast segment into one extra-goofy show! Including: Chickens in the News (with more giant chicken topiary drama), our dumbest Top 4 1/2 List ever, National Whatever Day with one of the kids from Fame, a boozy edition of the Figgy Pudding Pages, a mini-FlopFight (starring Dionne Warwick and friends), an extra-festive round of Trapped in the House, a silly game hiding in a bag, the return of Capes or Apes, comic book trivia on Earth Station One, ElectraWoman and DynaGirl on The Batcave Podcast, a concert report starring Niki Luparelli and the Harvard Square Turkey, a convention report from Northeast Comic Con (with the stars of Lost in Space, Meatballs, and TV Guidance Counselor), a Facts of Life report that (shockingly) does not involve a backdoor pilot, and how The Sponge Awareness Foundation plans to rake in the big bucks for the holidays. It's a fast-paced, action-packed show in which you will learn absolutely nothing. But hey, thanks to everyone who has spent some or (yikes) all of the last 500 episodes being weird with us! Will we do another 500? Oh, yes. According to our parole officer, we sort of have to. Comic book trivia with Kevin and the Council of Michaels on Earth Station One! More ElectraWoman and DynaGirl talk on the Batcave Podcast with Kevin and John! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 28 November 2021
Our examination of Saturday morning TV from fifty years ago continues with the NBC schedule, and it's one of the weirdest lineups we've found so far. Among familiar old favorites like Woody Woodpecker, Pink Panther, and Deputy Dawg, we encounter psychedelic Krofft reruns, a two-headed llama, a comeback from Mr. Wizard, an odd live action import from Australia, and not one but TWO rock bands of hippie insects. Pour yourself a giant bowl of Lucky Charms and join us. Also: Kornflake loves socks but never wears them, Letters to Cleo is back in Boston, Max Weinberg is taking requests, Kornflake used to set things on fire, Kevin used to work with a muskrat, and one of us enjoyed some pre-show martinis. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 21 November 2021
We started our ridiculous Brat Pack tournament last week, and now it's time to settle things once and for all, like Swayze in Road House. A couple more Breakfast Club members enter the competition this time, along with the stars of 80s classics like Pretty in Pink, The Outsiders, Dirty Dancing, Red Dawn, and more. And because it's a FlopFight, we've added some weird twists involving Devo, Kenny Rogers, and Cap'n Crunch. If you've always dreamed of a world in which Demi Moore does battle with Anthony Michael Hall, then here you go. It's gonna get silly. And yes, DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track co-director Gary Mitchel is our special guest once again! And nobody puts Gary in the corner. Follow Gary on Twitter and Instagram! Follow Gary and Joe's American Sci-Fi Classics Track antics on YouTube and Facebook! The Mayor of Chickentown is on Earth Station Who episode 283! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 14 November 2021
Back in the 80s, whether you were hanging around St. Elmo's Bar or stuck in Saturday detention with the Breakfast Club, you could not avoid the Brat Pack. Those crazy kids were running wild in Hollywood, breaking hearts, listening to Simple Minds, and starring in every single John Hughes movie. And today we're throwing them all in a FlopFight tournament to determine the ultimate Brat Pack champion. Rob Lowe is an early favorite... Ally Sheedy could get some help from her Short Circuit robot buddy... but can anyone defeat Teen Queen Molly? We'll figure this out. In fact, we have a special guest expert on board: DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track co-director Gary Mitchel! And the silliness continues next week in Brat Pack FlopFight Part 2. So stay gold, and don't you forget about us. Follow Gary on Twitter and Instagram! Follow Gary and Joe's American Sci-Fi Classics Track antics on YouTube and Facebook! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 7 November 2021
We're way overdue for another look at an old Saturday morning TV schedule, so let's see what the kids watched on CBS half a century ago while chomping on their Count Chocula. The CBS 1971 Saturday morning lineup included classics like Bugs Bunny (of course), Scooby Doo (the original version), and The Flintstones (reformatted to feature Pebbles and Bamm Bamm, and their modern stone age rock band). The Harlem Globetrotters had their own goofy cartoon, and were still a decade away from battling robots on Gilligan's Island. There were THREE separate cartoons based on Archie characters! (One had an odd connection to Dick Tracy, while another featured the singing voice of a future Charlie's Angel star.) Meanwhile, Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch! starred a freaky cartoon bear wearing a belt but no pants. And there's even a weird Hair Bear/Brady Bunch connection. So we are officially delighted. (We might even have a 50-year-old lunch box from one of these shows here at Chickentown Studios...) Plus: Our second concert review of the whole stupid year, because the farewell Monkees tour may be coming to your town! Also: Happy Birthday to Lou Ferrigno. We do actually like him when he's angry. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 31 October 2021
It's one of our dumbest ideas ever: This is episode 495, so we're discussing Interstate 495, the Massachusetts highway we've spent our whole lives driving up and down like idiots. 495 starts near Rhode Island (look out!) and ends near New Hampshire (oh no!). In between are lots of weird Massachusetts towns, which bring back lots of weird Massachusetts memories. So today's silly road trip includes: fake Pilgrims, the Thermometer Man, nerds at a football stadium, the early days of The Sponge Awareness Foundation, Kevin's 1990s open mic night (hope you like Jewel covers), Rubber Chicken Comics, midnight Snapple, the quest for clam cakes, apple orchards with free booze, the upcoming Northeast Comic Con (yikes, A.L. from Meatballs will be there), Kornflake's school days, mysterious pineapple glop on the beach, and zorbing. Also: Happy Birthday to The Karate Kid himself, Ralph Macchio. If he doesn't actually start to age sometime soon, we're gonna have to sweep the other leg. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 24 October 2021
It's Halloween, but why not ignore the creepy neighbor kids and just enjoy our silly little show? (That sack of Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins you've been eyeballing all week? ALL YOURS.) Including: A festive round of "What's in the Bag," compliments of our friend Blasted Bill; Halloween Chickens in the News with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark; more Halloween Chickens in the News involving the secret history of candy corn; and Happy Birthday to the star of many seasonally appropriate movies, Winona Ryder. She was absolutely terrifying in Mermaids. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 17 October 2021
We just can't stop reviewing "backdoor pilot" episodes of The Facts of Life, so here we go again. This time Blair and Jo are graduating from Eastland, and perhaps this could have led to a spinoff series set at nearby Langley College. It didn't, of course, but it's still a fun two-part episode. We meet several new girls: Alexandra could have been a new Blair-type character at Eastland, while the graduating Emily, Bonnie, and Lisa could have joined a new cast at Langley. (For Lisa, life is a series of shoe problems. She could have become the most psychologically troubled sitcom character since Jan Brady.) We also have Mrs. Garrett juggling dozens of Jello molds and hundreds of pineapples, Roy the creepy bread delivery boy, a bizarre flashback sequence, Tootie seemingly in charge of the whole graduation ceremony, and the trouble with tassels. Also: We wish a Happy Birthday to Mork & Mindy's Pam Dawber, Kevin is on Gleaming the Tube and Earth Station One, and Kornflake is hiding under a giant pile of blankets. Kevin, Kevin, and Mike talking Wonder Woman on Gleaming the Tube! Kevin, Mike, and Mike talking Monkees on Earth Station One! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 10 October 2021
Just a silly mix of subjects this week, including: The new Monster Mash cereal (we might not eat it, but we still love it), Kornflake's concert report on Lindsey Stirling (she plays the violin while hanging upside down blindfolded; what more do you want?), Daryl Hall's birthday, Clint Eastwood's chicken movie, a correction from last week (sorry, Woonsocket), and the plan for next week. (Hint: Blair and Tootie are involved.) Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 3 October 2021
Our friend Kevin Cafferty is back for a Top 4 1/2 List dedicated to our favorite weird city: Woonsocket, Rhode Island! Both Kevin and Kevin (lot of Kevins on the show this week) spent way too much time in Woonsocket back in the 80s, and remember it all too well. Our conversation includes: Fine Woonsocket dining (weiners and coffee milk, fish and chips, egg rolls and jazz), movies at the Stadium Theatre and Cinemas 1-2-3 (and 4), thrift shopping at the flea market and Joe's Moldy Oldies, Pac-Man at Pizza Hut, Donkey Kong Junior at Social Donut, crazy Rhode Island cable TV shows, the majesty of Autumnfest, and lots more northern Rhode Island weirdness. (When you've had enough, you can slip right over the border to Massachusetts. It's pretty weird there too.) Check out Kevin Cafferty's podcasts: And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 26 September 2021
The subject of today's Top 4 1/2 List is, uh, whistling. We're still not sure why. But it's a fun list, including a classic TV theme song, a Bangles song, a bizarre Boston clown, a Muppet, a Guardian of the Galaxy, and lots more whistling weirdness. (We somehow missed the Frosty the Snowman traffic cop who swallows his whistle. Oops.) And we assure you, this show contains no actual whistling, so you may proceed with confidence. Your dog won't freak out. Also: National Drink Beer Day is this week! So go ahead and wet your whistle. Or your whistlepig. Your choice. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 19 September 2021
Our ten-part celebration of the 80s concludes, just as the 80s did, with 1989. Top 40 radio was ruled by Milli Vanilli, the New Kids, and hair metal. It was a problem. But at least we had telepathic Australian dolphins, thanks to Kornflake's favorite short-lived TV show, Dolphin Cove. Kornflake also has a list of celebrities who showed up for 1989's Circus of the Stars. (Was the cast of Growing Pains mauled by a tiger? Hey, we can dream...) And we're celebrating the 50th birthday of Alfonso Ribeiro, star of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Silver Spoons, and goofy breakdancing ads. Also: Chickens in the News brings us all the way to a New Zealand preschool, where the safety of the children has been entrusted to a clueless hen. We approve. Kevin's defense of Legends of the Superheroes in Classic Sci-Fi Court! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 12 September 2021
Kevin and the Mayor of Chickentown are back from Atlanta with a full report on DragonCon, where they joined all the masked and vaccinated nerds for a long silly Labor Day weekend. They had a busy schedule of panels, presentations, and events, and our discussion includes: The Suicide Squad, Smallville, Doctor Who, Pennyworth, DragonCon mead, Saturday Morning Live Roll-a-Panel, Classic Sci-Fi Court, burrito detectors, Fargo, John Scalzi, Louis Gossett Jr., Howard the Duck ribbons, The Geek Girls Run, A Discovery of Witches, The Justice Society of America, the Battle of the Fictional Bands, pizza pie with Kate from Strange Animals Podcast, Kevin's Digital Media panel mishap, and a million Loki variants everywhere you look. But the highlight for us was spending time onstage and offstage with Land of the Lost's original Will and Holly, Wesley Eure and Kathleen Coleman. (And an actual Sleestak too!) Hopefully the world will be less horrifying in time for DragonCon 2022, but meanwhile the geeks figured out how to make it work. Also this week: Happy Birthday to Amy Poehler, and the only part of 1988 that Kornflake remembers is Kylie Minogue. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 5 September 2021
Our ten-part celebration of the 80s brings us back to 1987 this week. For most of us, 1987 means Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise... and that's all. But the year had even more to offer, if you poke around enough. So first we take a quick look at the Billboard chart from this week in 1987, and find more questions than answers: Did Diane Warren write every hit song in the 1980s, or just most of them? Who had better hair, Richard Marx or the guy from Europe? And can most of society's ills be blamed on Starship? Then we examine the TV shows that debuted in 1987, and it's quite a list. Some long-running shows got started, such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, Full House, and Married... with Children. (The entire Fox Network started this year, actually, including those crude early Simpsons shorts...) Then there's the short-lived weird stuff: Max Headroom, My Two Dads, Beauty and the Beast, The Charmings, Out of This World (this is the one with the alien girl, not the robot girl), Roomies (Burt Young and Corey Haim, together at last), The Highwayman (Flash Gordon as a futuristic trucker), She's the Sheriff (Suzanne Somers as... you know), and lots more. Next week we'll be back from Atlanta to report on every crazy thing that happened at DragonCon. Meanwhile, enjoy 1987. Say hi to Debbie and Tiffany for us. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 29 August 2021
DragonCon, our very favorite annual gathering of the geeks, was a virtual-only event last year. But this year we're creeping back down to Atlanta and doing it for real! It'll be (mostly) business as usual: five days of nonstop panels, concerts, gaming, costumes, and all manner of nerdy fun. Celebrity guests include actors from Doctor Who, Star Trek, Smallville, Batwoman, Pinky and the Brain, Superman and Lois, and (our favorite) Land of the Lost. Safety protocols are in place, so if you're masked, vaccinated, and know how to play well with others, come on down. Kevin will be busy again this year with lots of silly panels and presentations, and we run through his whole schedule. (Warning: Since this episode was recorded, that schedule has already changed. Check our social media posts for the corrected version.) And we have new Flopcast badge ribbons for you too! (Also on this week's episode: Television of 1986, the Watch-A-Thon of Rassilon, and Barry Gibb's beard.) See you at DragonCon! Beware of Sleestak. And, you know, everything else. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 22 August 2021
Our ten-episode salute to the 80s creeps along with a quick look at the pop chart from this week in 1985! Dire Straits were computer-animated movers, Phil Collins was an Ocasek-style housefly, Wham met a weird kid in China, and Casey Kasem was very angry about the Pointer Sisters. Then we flip through a summer 1985 issue of Mad magazine, featuring a movie parody (Witness), a TV parody (Kate & Allie), a song parody (We Are the World), hippies vs. yuppies, Beta vs. VHS, Don Martin vs. the Boston Celtics, and lots of cartoon naked people. Also this week: For the first time in a million years, we sneaked out of our underground Chickentown bunker for some actual live music! We were double-masked and socially distant, but we attended the long-delayed album release show from our favorite synthpop band, Freezepop! (Also performing were impressive local metal band Worshipper and our glam rock heroes Sidewalk Driver!) Plus: Stifler's mom's birthday, more Suicide Squad talk with Earth Station DCU, and the Flopcast couch-to-5K-to-intense-pain training program. More Suicide Squad talk on Earth Station DCU! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 15 August 2021
Welcome to our TENTH annual summer robot Top 4 1/2 List! (It's an odd tradition, but it's all we have.) This year's theme is... 80s robots. Of course, lots of notable 80s robots have appeared on previous lists, so they're not included this time (sorry, Johnny 5) to make room for some all-new, all-weird entries. We have robots from 80s cartoons, 80s television, 80s movies, 80s commercials, and even a bizarre 80s PSA from Canada. In the 1980s, robots were completely ridiculous, and we loved them, so let's count them down. Also: The music and movies of 1984, Earth Station One's review of The Suicide Squad, and nerds on a roller coaster. Earth Station One reviews The Suicide Squad! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 8 August 2021
We're celebrating 1983, which the history books already call "the year of Mr. Roboto, and not much else." But we did notice that a bunch of actors who played comic book characters (Spider-Man, Thor, Superman, Lois, Luthor, Wonder Woman, and more) were born that year. And we run through some our favorite 1983 movies (DC Cab, The Outsiders, Wargames), 1983 comics books (Batman and the Outsiders, Omega Men, Alpha Flight), and 1983 music (new wave, new wave, and new wave). Also: The Kiss guys take the makeup off, the Teen Titans replace Robin with the Protector, Kornflake rides a party bus to Hooters, and we have questions about the anatomy of the Kool-Aid Man. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 1 August 2021
We're up to 1982 in our series of 80s-themed episodes, and it's time to review another Facts of Life backdoor pilot! This one looks eerily similar to a previous backdoor pilot, as the boys of Stone Academy get another shot at a spinoff series! But this time instead of a school dance, the plot involves a school boxing tournament. (Back in 1982, viewers probably thought they were watching Rocky III.) And the cast has been expanded to include a pretty nurse, a scary kid named Mongo (probably working for Ming the Merciless), a cameo by (then unknown) Crispin Glover, and 80s supernerd Eddie Deezen! (You know Eddie from Grease, Wargames, and a billion other things. He out-nerds us all.) Did it all work? Of course not. But it's magnificent. Also: 80s trivia with the ESO Network Board of Directors, and Happy Birthday to Tootie's real life mom. Next week: 1983. Of course. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 25 July 2021
Our ten-part series about the 1980s continues with a look at all the TV shows that debuted in 1981! Prime time soaps were on the rise (Dynasty, Falcon Crest), the Six Million Dollar Man became the Fall Guy, and Hill Street Blues premiered alongside 600 other (instantly forgotten) detective shows. We had a Brady Bunch spin-off (with Marcia, Jan, and their goofy husbands), a Jeffersons spin-off (Florence gets her own show... for a month), and an almost-but-not-quite Little House on the Prairie spin-off (the even-weirder-in-retrospect Father Murphy). Only one long-running sitcom started in 1981, and it was... Gimme a Break! (Congratulations to Ms. Carter and Mr. Sweet.) Love, Sidney and Private Benjamin lasted a couple of years, which isn't bad compared to the stuff only Kevin remembers, like Best of the West and Open All Night. Then there were some truly obscure short-lived oddities starring Gabe Kaplan, Sam Jones, and the Smothers Brothers. It was a weird year, but that's how we like it. And we give special attention to our favorite 1981 series, The Greatest American Hero. Kornflake saw the extra-long pilot episode for the first time just this week. Believe it or not. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 18 July 2021
We're kicking off ten weeks of 80s-themed shows... because when do we ever get to talk about the 80s around here? And this week we're looking at the year 1980. It was the year that brought us Flash Gordon, Caddyshack, Pac-Man, the Rubik's Cube, and a cheater in the Boston Marathon. (Some of us also cheated at the Rubik's Cube...) We also review the Billboard pop chart for this week in 1980, and find Billy Joel's first number one song, a couple of Xanadu favorites from Olivia and ELO, country rock from Eddie Rabbitt, early new wave from Gary Numan, and just a massive heap of yacht rock. (So... much... Ambrosia.) Also this week: Taskmaster is a Black Widow villain AND Kornflake's favorite game show; Baby Yoda is a Chia Pet; and Happy Birthday to our favorite Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter. All the world is waiting for you. More Flopcast 1980 talk! Kevin and the Mayor covered new 1980 TV shows in Flopcast 408 and 409! And Kevin and Kornflake reviewed 1980 Saturday morning TV in Flopcast 417, 419, and 421! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 11 July 2021
With the long-delayed release of Black Widow this week, many humans finally returned to actual movie theaters, where the $14 boxes of Raisinets had been waiting patiently since last year. Meanwhile Kevin and Kornflake are flopping back to 35 years ago, when the only Marvel movie in theaters was... Howard the Duck. We run through a big crazy list of movies from 1986, including some all-time favorites (Stand by Me, Karate Kid Part II), science fiction classics (Aliens, Star Trek IV), fantasy classics (Big Trouble in Little China, Labyrinth), and random oddities (Maximum Overdrive, My Chauffeur). The Brat Pack was out of control, Molly was pretty in pink, Kevin Bacon was a bike messenger, Jeff Goldblum was a fly, Johnny 5 was alive, Rodney went back to school, Ferris did not, Peggy Sue got married, and Audrey II just wanted to be fed. Yikes. In 1986, the only time we left the theater was when the government forced us to participate in Hands Across America. Also this week: Kornflake brings you... the Weird Eyeball Game. Talk to your favorite optician before playing. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 4 July 2021
Just some miscellaneous silly talk this week, including: Kickball with Kornflake; cursing your enemies with R2D2 ceramics; TV talk (we recommend Girls5eva, Rutherford Falls, We Are Lady Parts, and This Way Up); punk rock with The Linda Lindas; crazy screaming peacocks; fun with a giant book of 80s pop chart stats; fun with Wallace and Gromit on Earth Station One; Happy Birthday to the kid from One Day at a Time and Jennifer Slept Here; and after an entire year (!), as demanded by absolutely no one... the return of Chickens in the News. Kornflake talking Wallace and Gromit on Earth Station One! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 27 June 2021
Kevin and Kornflake are enjoying the new comic book-based Netflix show Sweet Tooth (we like hybrids), and we have an entire "sweet"-themed Top 4 1/2 List just for you. Our list includes cheap Halloween candy (of course), as well as a Sweet sitcom star, a cartoon dog, 90s music, a giant Muppet, and lots more silly sweet stuff. Your dentist will hate this episode. (Except for the part about Air Supply, based on the music they play in their waiting room.) Also: We have a major correction from last week (sorry, Family Ties star Michael Gross), we've seen a combined total of two Mel Brooks movies (are you impressed?), and we've been hanging around the DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track again. Flopcast Train Talk with Ed! Part 1 and Part 2 American Sci-Fi Classics panels: And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 20 June 2021
For the first time in a billion years, we have actual live human guests at Chickentown Studios! (Remember talking to people not on Zoom? Yeah, it's weird.) Brittany and Martha are here, from our sister podcast But First, Let's Talk Nerdy! We're celebrating their first year of podcasting by recalling some of the silliest moments in But First, Let's Talk Nerdy history. Including: The Coast Guard vs. the Sea Police, Archie vs. Gumby, eating your twin, fake movie blood recipes, squished pennies, Luna the Dragon, Rudolph bleeps, disturbing kangaroo videos, the man in your ceiling, and an impromptu Britney Spears parody about an evil wrinkly purple guy. So crack open a hard seltzer (we sure did) and hop aboard this train to Memory City (what?) before our favorite nerdy girls head back to Vegas. (Hey, Kevin is a guest on their show this week too! And before you ask: Yes, of course we talk about sentient pants.) Also: Kornflake is here with National Whatever Day, and she has some startling Family Ties trivia. Sha la la la. But First, Let's Talk Nerdy Episode 55 - Kevin joins Brittany and Martha for a cryptid-themed show! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promos: |
Sun, 13 June 2021
Yes, we're still examining every "backdoor pilot" episode of The Facts of Life, and we've arrived at "Jo's Cousin," which features, you know, Jo's cousin. She's 14-year-old aspiring mechanic Terry, played by the star of Kornflake's beloved Anne of Green Gables! We also meet Terry's angry father (you know him from Soap and Battlestar Galactica), her goofy brothers (including the star of Meatballs Part II), and their creepy friend (from the creepy classic Hardbodies). Armed with a Laura Ingalls dress and makeup advice from Blair, Terry arrives at her birthday dinner, everybody freaks out, and hilarity sort of ensues. Did this episode launch a successful spin-off series? Of course not. But do we love it anyway? You bet. Also discussed along the way: Jo vs. Amtrak, short-lived Italian family sitcoms (Mama Malone, The Tortellis, The Fanelli Boys), Birdie the Early Bird, mailing your children, and the horrors of early 80s frozen pizza. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! |
Sun, 6 June 2021
We'd been meaning to do a roller-skating-themed show for years, and it's finally here, in convenient Top 4 1/2 List format! We're listing our favorite roller-skating scenes and characters from movies and TV of the last half century. Plenty of skating humans, of course, but also some goofy Hanna Barbera skating birds, and one big weird wildebeest who is absolutely a zoo animal on wheels. And if you think there's a chance we forgot to include a certain Facts of Life girl, this must be your very first Flopcast. Welcome. Time to lace up those stupid skates, hit your favorite rink, and wander in circles all night like it's 1983. Birthday girl Bonnie Tyler will supply an appropriate soundtrack, and Dazzler (the roller-disco queen of Marvel Comics) has a mutant-powered light show just for you. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 30 May 2021
As a follow-up to our recent look at the Boston music scene of the 80s, let's move on to the 90s! And let's also move slightly south, to Rhode Island! (State motto: We're tiny, but we're also quite odd.) Another special guest is here too: filmmaker (It's a Bash!), podcaster (Gleaming the Tube), and longtime friend of the Flopcast Kevin Cafferty! Kevin and Kevin (this is gonna get confusing) both spent the 90s lurking around the filthy rock clubs of Providence, and recall long crazy nights at places like The Living Room, The Strand, Club Babyhead, and Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel. We saw a million local punk bands, spent time with several soon-to-be-famous performers (Green Day, Joan Osborne, Elliott Smith), and attended some ridiculously 1990s concerts (Spice Girls, No Doubt, Better Than Ezra). Meanwhile Kornflake was a couple of states away, figuring out how to sneak into Barenaked Ladies shows. Also: Late nights at Haven Brothers Diner (serving non-sober Rhode Islanders since 1893); Kevin Cafferty in a John Cafferty music video; Weird Al all alone on a Rhode Island roller coaster; and the mysterious connection between Rob Liefeld, The Aquabats, and Kenny G. Gleaming the Tube is Kevin and Mike's podcast about skateboarding in movies! There is indeed a movie about Providence's legendary Haven Brothers Diner! "Small Town Girl" by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band - with Kevin Cafferty cameo! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! |
Sun, 23 May 2021
If you were a 70s/80s kid who wanted to know what was really going on, you ordered Dynamite magazine through your school book club. Today we're flipping through the December 1979 issue of Dynamite, with Steve Martin on the cover. And hey, Steve's first (and come on, best) movie The Jerk premiered that same month! Which 70s celebrity did Steve enjoy playing horseshoes with? The answer will shock you. Also in this issue of Dynamite: world record grape-catching; disgusting popcorn beverages; Hollywood gossip about Superman, Miss Piggy, Kiss, and Erik Estrada; disco vs. rock; how to levitate with Magic Wanda; an especially lame batch of Dynamite Bummers; and lots more late 70s silliness. Also: The ESO Network's Doctor Geek has a new vaccination PSA, Kevin AND Kornflake are talking science fiction dogs with the American Sci-Fi Classics Track, rare video from the Sid and Marty Krofft theme park has resurfaced, Baby Yoda is a Chia Pet, and Happy Birthday to Paul Bettany (aka Vision in a turkey suit). Kevin and Kornflake together at last on a Classics Track panel, to discuss DOGS IN SCIENCE FICTION! The long lost Krofft theme park documentary! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! |
Sun, 16 May 2021
Happy Anniversary to us! (If you can hear Barney Rubble singing, our work is done.) We've been Flopcasting for nine long silly years, and we're celebrating with a special guest: Earth Station One co-host (and Tiki Zombie writer/publisher) Mike Gordon! Mike is from Massachusetts just like us, so we discuss growing up around the Boston music scene. Including: Boston radio (the Top 40 of Kiss 108 vs. The Rock of Boston, WBCN); our early concert experiences (were Kevin and Mike at the same concert way back in 1987, and was a giant robot there too?); the 70s Boston bands that conquered the world (Aerosmith, J. Geils, The Cars, and you know, Boston); the 80s music video era (experienced pre-cable through Friday Night Videos, obscure UHF shows, and our beloved V-66); the alt-rock scene of the 90s, when the women took over (Juliana Hatfield, Letters to Cleo, Belly); and our Boston favorites these days (such as Freezepop, Sidewalk Driver, and Carissa Johnson). Also: New stuff in the ESO Network TeePublic store from our sister podcast But First, Let's Talk Nerdy, and Kornflake reminds us that it's a very good idea to drink with chickens. Find Mike Gordon on Earth Station One, Earth Station Who, and The DragonCon Report! Tiki Zombie and more from Mike at New Legend Productions! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 9 May 2021
Our ongoing analysis of every "backdoor pilot" episode of The Facts of Life continues, and we're creeping back to March 1982. "Pac-Man Fever" was on the radio, Porky's ruled the box office, and our Facts of Life girls met the boys at Stone Academy. The plan was to launch a spinoff series set at this military school. That didn't happen, of course, despite a strong cast of young actors from 70s/80s classics like The Bad News Bears, Silver Spoons, James at 16, Soap, Jennifer Slept Here, and Kornflake's beloved Combat Academy. Will one of the boys sneak out of the big dance with Blair and squish into Mrs. Garrett's tiny VW Bug? And then will absolutely nothing happen? Let's find out. Also: Happy Birthday to Facts of Life stars Mackenzie Astin (Andy) AND Kim Fields (Tootie)! (By the way, Tootie's giant fancy dress from this episode deserved its own backdoor pilot.) Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 2 May 2021
Time for some bike talk, because spring is here, and we've taken to the mean streets of Chickentown on our shiny new bikes, like Kevin Bacon in Quicksilver and Nicole Kidman in BMX Bandits. We're not quite as accessorized as Pee Wee Herman, but hopefully we'll find some goofy license plates in our next box of Honey Comb cereal. Also: Our first vaccination appointments somehow involved turkeys and kangaroos; National Cartoonists Day has us pondering the weirdness of Heathcliff; the ESO Network Board of Directors is bored silly about The Love Boat (you're welcome!); and Happy Anniversary to our sister podcast But First, Let's Talk Nerdy, where they've been furious about the Marvel Cinematic Universe for an entire year. But First, Let's Talk Nerdy anniversary rant episodes 50-M and 50-B! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 25 April 2021
Time to wrap up our latest exciting and stupid FlopFight tournament! Only one member of the Love Boat cast shall survive! Your classic Love Boat crew is here, of course, including Isaac the bartender, Julie the cruise director, and Gopher the... whatever it is that Gopher does. A few lesser known characters get to play too, including stars from Happy Days, Spenser: For Hire, and, uh, Blame It on Rio. And because it's a FlopFight, things get a little weird, and the competition also involves superheroes, variety shows, robots, and kangaroos. Once again we're joined by your ship's DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track Director, Joe Crowe! Hey, maybe Joe will favor us with another impression of Tattoo from Fantasy Island! It's the Love Boat, kids, and all your crazy piña colada-fueled dreams are coming true. DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track on Facebook and YouTube! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 18 April 2021
Come aboard, we're expecting you for a Love Boat edition of our ridiculous tournament, the FlopFight! And we're joined by a special guest who knows a thing or two about ridiculous tournaments: DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track Director Joe Crowe! With Joe on board, we'll figure out which Pacific Princess crew member will survive to celebrate on the Aloha deck with a 1970s cocktail from Isaac's bar. Captain Stubing is an easy favorite, of course -- a respected commander, despite the silly white shorts. But perhaps the Captain's daughter Vicki can sneak in with a surprise victory. And let's not forget... the Charo factor. Anything goes in a FlopFight, so Gopher only knows what's gonna happen. This week's winner advances to the final round next week. Set a course for adventure and join us. Just don't let any weird celebrity guests into your cabin. DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track on Facebook and YouTube! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 11 April 2021
It's another "66" episode, which always reminds us of V66, Boston's late great 1980s music video channel. (You've all seen the documentary Life on the V, right? RIGHT?) This time we decided to party like it's 1985 and watch a bunch of music videos from the V66 era. If you want to jump on YouTube and watch along with us, VJ Kornflake's playlist is: "Obsession" by Animotion, "Invincible" by Pat Benatar, "Live is Life" by Opus (???), "Dancing on the Ceiling" by Lionel Richie, "Goonies R Good Enough" by Cyndi Lauper, and "A View to a Kill" by Duran Duran. Or just relax and enjoy our idiotic commentary. V66 didn't last long; it was soon replaced by the Home Shopping Network, because Bostonians desperately needed cubic zirconia. But we'll keep staring at these goofy videos forever, even if Rowdy Roddy Piper only appears in some of them. Also this week: Comic book trivia with Earth Station One, a DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track panel about rabbits (?), and Happy Birthday to 80s naughty girl Samantha Fox. The V66 documentary, Life on the V! Eric's latest short documentary, Video Visions! Kevin is back on Earth Station One for comic book trivia! The American Sci-Fi Classics Track bunny panel! VJ Kornflake's 1985 music video playlist: "Dancing on the Ceiling" by Lionel Richie "Goonies R Good Enough" by Cyndi Lauper "A View to a Kill" by Duran Duran And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! |
Sun, 4 April 2021
For no good reason, the name "Johnny" is the subject of our latest Top 4 1/2 List. (Has it been a slow week around here? What do you think?) We have characters named Johnny from movies, TV, songs, and even more goofy DC comic books. There might even be a robot on the list, since Ally Sheedy assures us that Johnny 5 is very much alive. Plus: Dueling Johnny songs from Chuck Berry and Men at Work, dueling Johnny songs from El DeBarge and "Weird Al" Yankovic, Greg Brady vs. Johnny Bravo, Charlie the Tuna vs. Mr. Peanut (?), and more. Did we miss your favorite Johnny? Let us know! The best way to reach us is by canal. Just ask Johnny Canal. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 28 March 2021
Our examination of every "backdoor pilot" episode of The Facts of Life continues... because we know what the people want. "Brian and Sylvia" was an odd 1981 attempt at a Facts of Life spinoff series. The premise: Tootie's Aunt Sylvia is a Buffalo TV news anchor, and Brian is her husband, a hockey coach played by pre-MacGyver Richard Dean Anderson. So if you're looking for early 80s mixed-marriage jokes that have not aged particularly well, this sitcom delivers the goods. Our conversation somehow also includes Willona from Good Times, the short-lived Sanford and Son spinoff Grady, a weird Thanksgiving at Plimoth Plantation, suffering through Godspell in junior high, and Tootie's aunt as a space princess on Jason of Star Command. Also: Kornflake is on Earth Station One (to discuss The Commitments), Kevin is on The DragonCon Report (to discuss, you know, DragonCon), and it's World Backup Day. So back up. Kornflake on Earth Station One! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 21 March 2021
Quick show this week (because we're exhausted), including: Kornflake at virtual MarsCon; Kornflake and Kevin in a silly new music video (from Power Salad and the great Luke Ski); baseball, blues, and spider movies with William Shatner; old TV talk (Facts of Life, Leave It to Beaver); new TV talk (WandaVision, Ted Lasso, Taskmaster); and for the first time in eight years, Kevin was right about something. MarsCon Comedy Music Track: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! "Red Beans and Rice" video by Power Salad and Luke Ski (with a cameo by your goofy Flopcast hosts)! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 14 March 2021
For more than 80 years, DC Comics has brought us legends like Wonder Woman and Batman... as well as sillier characters like Kite Man and Bat Mite. There's a long rich history of goofy characters at DC, and we love them all. So that's the subject of our latest Top 4 1/2 List: goofy DC characters. And we invited an expert to play along: Drew, co-host of the Earth Station DCU podcast! Our goofy list includes some Bat-villains, of course, as well as a crime-fighting chimpanzee, a teen president, a hippie mannequin, dogs in space, cab drivers in space, and more. This could have been a Top 400 List, because we didn't even get around to Matter Eater Lad, Mr. Tawky Tawny, Quisp, Bird-Boy, Mer-Boy, and all the residents of the Bizarro World. In fact, this episode just might go on forever... unless you can trick us into saying "Kltpzyxm." Drew and Cletus talk DC Comics every week on Earth Station DCU! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! |
Sun, 7 March 2021
Twenty years ago, Kevin and Kornflake first visited the great state of Michigan for the comedy music convention Dementia 2001! (Kevin's band The Sponge Awareness Foundation performed, then quickly returned to their rightful place in total obscurity.) And our guest this week is the organizer of Dementia 2001, our old friend Blasted Bill! We're talking weird Michigan trivia with Bill, and the conversation includes the invention of breakfast cereal (all thanks to Cornelius the Corn Flakes rooster), fun with soda (or "pop," as the locals call it), Yoopers vs. Trolls, a post office that floats, painted turtles, angry dentists, Freaks and Geeks, Dave Coulier, and lots more Upper Midwest silliness. Blasted Bill is largely responsible for The Flopcast even existing (though he's understandably reluctant to admit it), so we're happy he could join us and help Michiganify the show. (Here's one more fun fact just for you: Michigan is not actually the most mitten-shaped state. That honor goes to Wyoming. Assuming you have freakish rectangle-hands. And we think you do.) Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! |
Sun, 28 February 2021
"The Backs of Life" is our stupid new project for the stupid new year! The plan is to examine each "backdoor pilot" episode of The Facts of Life in excruciating detail. (You know backdoor pilots. It's when an episode of an existing TV show is used to introduce a potential new spin-off show. This happened on The Facts of Life... a lot.) But we're starting with a 1979 episode of Diff'rent Strokes (season 1, episode 24, "The Girls School"), because The Facts of Life itself started there as a backdoor pilot. Thrill to Mrs. Garrett making the move from housekeeper (for a rich dude) to housemother (for a bunch of crazy girls). We meet some future Facts of Life regulars (Blair with a cigarette! Tootie on rollerskates! MOLLY RINGWALD!), some girls we'd never see again (Jennifer? Laura?), and a headmaster played by the cranky guy from The Bob Newhart Show. We also get generic disco music, a frog named Leon, Dana Plato as a ballerina (sort of), Gary Coleman in a donkey costume, and another mysterious Fake Brady Girl connection. Also: More TV talk with ESO Board Silly, more Rock and Roll Hall of Fame talk with Pop Culture Cosmos, Happy 100th Episode to The 42cast, and Happy Birthday to a Cobra Kai sensei. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! |
Sun, 21 February 2021
Inspired by the discovery of some ancient Sponge Awareness Foundation music, we're flashing back to the very early 90s - specifically, this week in February 1990. Top 40 radio was dominated by pop/R&B ladies like Janet Jackson, Expose, and (along with our hero MC Skat Kat) Paula Abdul. At the movies, your options ranged all the way from Clive Barker horror to a Disney mermaid. And a weird week of television included a Love Boat reunion movie (with Rowdy Roddy Piper!), a very special Saturday Night Live (Wayne and Garth meet Aerosmith!), episode six of The Simpsons (introducing Bleeding Gums Murphy!), and a bizarre Brady Bunch revival (with Martha Quinn and Fake Marcia!). Our beloved 1980s were just a few weeks behind us, but there was no turning back. Before long, we'd settle into a steady diet of Crystal Pepsi and Zima, and hope for the best. Also: We unveil a Flopcast project that starts next week and includes a homework assignment for you. (Most homework assignments do not involve goofy old sitcoms, but this one totally does.) Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 14 February 2021
Longtime Flopcast listeners (those poor souls) know that every year we examine the new list of nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, even though it's stupid. But this year's list is surprisingly strong and diverse, and includes some Flopcast favorites. (Our beloved Go-Go's are way overdue for induction. And as society collapses right on schedule, we must acknowledge Devo. They warned us.) And hey, Tina Turner had better make the final cut, or we'll see you in the Thunderdome. Also: William Katt has a greatest American birthday, the Mayor of Chickentown returns to Oz, and the retro video game-style Flopcast t-shirt is suddenly a thing that exists. The American Sci-Fi Classics Return to Oz panel, with the Mayor of Chickentown! The ESO Network TeePublic store has a new Flopcast t-shirt! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! |
Sun, 7 February 2021
Let's wrap up our Facts of Life FlopFight, the tournament that somehow captures all the excitement of a girls' school and/or a gourmet food shop. Our combatants include the classic four Facts of Life girls (Blair, Jo, Natalie, Tootie), the lesser known Facts of Life girls (if you can possibly consider Molly Ringwald "lesser known"), and even a couple of Facts of Life guys (one of whom may have become a huge movie star). Only one shall survive; for the rest, the world never seems to be living up to their dreams. And because it's a FlopFight, this tournament involves chicken suits, submarines, candlepin bowling, ducks, and other perfectly normal competitions. Also: Happy Birthday to a Canadian pop star, Kornflake makes her DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track panel debut, and we say farewell to the legendary Cloris Leachman. And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 31 January 2021
Our latest FlopFight brings us to Peekskill, New York, home of (in '80s sitcom land, at least) Eastland School for Girls, Langley College, Edna's Edibles, and Over Our Heads. Yes, this is a Facts of Life FlopFight. We're taking the good, taking the bad, and putting the Facts of Life cast through a series of bizarre competitions in a silly tournament of our own design. Will Blair come out on top, thanks to another one of her brilliant ideas? Will Tootie roller-skate her way to victory? Let's find out. Also: Happy Birthday to the star of Kornflake's favorite goofy made-for-TV movie! Kevin is on Earth Station One to discuss the Justice Society of America! Kornflake and Jacob's album (appropriately titled I Don't Know What You're Talking About!) is now on Bandcamp! And their songs can also be heard on Manic Mondays and the MarsCon Comedy Music Track fundraiser album! Next week: Our competition continues, as suddenly we're finding out that this FlopFight is all about you. Kevin is back on Earth Station One to discuss the Justice Society of America! Hear a Kornflake and Jacob song on Manic Mondays episode 710! Kornflake and Jacob's album is now available on Bandcamp! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 24 January 2021
Let's flip through another old issue of Dynamite, the magazine all the cool kids of the 70s and 80s faithfully ordered through the school book club. (Ah, the book club... the reason your teacher had to spend half the day counting nickels...) And for no particular reason, we're looking at a 1980 issue with a cover story about Benji ("Hollywood's Top Dog"). At this time Benji was starring in a Chevy Chase movie, but would soon conquer Saturday morning TV with the bizarre dog-robot-alien series Benji, Zax & the Alien Prince. Also in this issue: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, The Fonz, Erik Estrada, Cheap Trick, Dynamite Bummers, and the true (?) story of a sea monster vs. a chicken. Plus: "What's in the Bag" makes our Kenny Rogers dreams come true, Kornflake almost fronts a cover band for a certain 80s superstar, Kevin meets a sleepy hot dog vendor, and the DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track gives us another excuse to scream about The Cat from Outer Space. Links: Another weird American Sci-Fi Classics panel: Cats in Science Fiction! Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 17 January 2021
Okay, let's wrap up our 2020 memorial list, with everyone we lost in the second half of the longest year in history. (As with last week's show, strong beverages are strongly recommended.) Including (and this isn't the whole list): Our skeptic hero (James "The Amazing" Randi), professional old dude Wilford Brimley, the creators of Scooby Doo (Joe Ruby and Ken Spears), the Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), a Mythbuster (Grant Imahara), a Bond girl (Diana Rigg), an actual Bond (Sean Connery), a bunch of classic musicians (from Fleetwood Mac, Kool and the Gang, Van Halen, The Outfield, and Midnight Oil), a couple of classic Star Wars actors (David Prowse and Jeremy Bulloch), a Gilligan's Island castaway (Dawn Wells), and... Squiggy. Plus: Kevin pesters an NBA legend and juggles Spam for Regis Philbin, Kornflake may have thrown a camcorder in a washing machine, and we recall the margarine wars of the 1970s. Because it's not nice to fool Mother Nature. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 10 January 2021
Have a strong beverage standing by, because it's that time again. The Mayor of Chickentown joins Kevin and Kornflake as we recall everyone we lost in 2020, from the world of pop culture and beyond. This is a long list, including members of Monty Python, Rush, and the Pointer Sisters; the actors behind Leave It to Beaver's Eddie Haskell, Flash Gordon's Ming the Merciless, and Wonder Woman's Steve Trevor; the legendary Little Richard; and the funniest guy in the history of everything, Fred Willard. And don't worry, we didn't forget the voice of Cindy Bear, the singer of The Jeffersons theme song, the puppeteer of the Caddyshack gopher, and the president of the Hair Club for Men. And this show only covers the first half of the year. By the time we're done next week, you'll have a big gray beard, just like the late, great Kenny Rogers. Kevin will be a panelist at (virtual) Arisia, January 15-18! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 3 January 2021
Just in time for Cobra Kai season 3, Kevin and Kornflake take a quick spoiler-free look at seasons 1 and 2! Of course we're longtime Karate Kid fans, so we're waxing on and off about Billy Zabka (not just an 80s bully anymore), Ralph Macchio (who somehow hasn't aged since the first movie), the All Valley Tournament, Golf N' Stuff, Bananarama pancakes (it's a cruel, cruel breakfast), the Facts of Life/Karate Kid connection, and why we're naming a Boston subway station after Hilary Swank. And when you're caught up on all this Cobra Kai/Miyagi-Do action, we recommend a few more shows (about Tasmanian real estate agents, Irish schoolgirls, and crazy kids from Brockton, Massachusetts). Also, we watched a certain new movie on Christmas day, and we have a question about Wonder Woman and Waldenbooks. From Donkeys to Otters: Christmas Gets Weird (American Sci-Fi Classics panel) Earth Station DCU Episode 220: Wonder Woman 1984 And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 27 December 2020
It's our final show of 2020, so let's look back at the BEST YEAR EVER. Okay, maybe it wasn't... but we still managed to keep our goofy show flopping along by Zoom every week. (Of course we miss having Kornflake live in Chickentown Studios... but on the other hand, we're saving a fortune on coffee...) As the stupid year wraps up, we reflect on our convention appearances (all from the beginning of the year, wonder why), our podcast guests (huh, our most frequent - and most bleeped - guests were a couple of nerdy girls), and all our silly Flopcast segments (National Whatever Day, Chickens in the News, The Top 4 1/2 List, What's in the Bag, The Pudding Pages, FlopFight, Capes or Apes, and of course, new for 2020... Trapped in the House). And since it's become a beloved Flopcast tradition, we also reveal our New Year's Resolutions! (Kornflake came up with a good one. Kevin's will shock you.) So hang in there and keep being festive, kids. See you in 2021. Prepare to giggle. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 20 December 2020
Like an unwanted box of ribbon candy from your great-aunt, here's an assortment of holiday (and non-holiday) weirdness, just for you. Flopcast superfan Arturo has another amazing "What's in the Bag" for us (and yes, chickens are involved); Flopcast superfan Lee reminds us to celebrate the career of wrestling's biggest baldest bad guy, King Kong Bundy; original Kiss drummer Peter Criss turns 75 this week (so sorry, Beth, he'll probably be out late again); the DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track recommends funny holiday songs (including singing dogs, Christmas chickens, a new one from Whitney Avalon, a classic from Niki Luparelli, and maybe a little Sponge Awareness Foundation); and our epic holiday podcast crossover event concludes with But First, Let's Talk Nerdy episode 34, as Kevin joins Martha and Brittany to scream about Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. Razzleberry dressing not included. But First, Let's Talk Nerdy episode 34 - a Flopcast crossover event! American Sci-Fi Classics Funny Holiday Songs panel! Whitney Avalon's (explicit!) new Christmas song, "WTF 2020?!" A special Christmas wish (also explicit!) from Niki Luparelli! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 13 December 2020
Break out the nog and join us for an epic podcast crossover event! Brittany and Martha (of But First, Let's Talk Nerdy) are here for the holidays, with a Flopcast Top 4 1/2 List of Christmas cartoon characters! It's a super-fun, super-festive list, including a snowman (but not the one you're thinking of), a snow monster (yes, that one), our favorite Sombertown schoolteacher, assorted rabbits and ducks, and a couple of misfits. Also: More Hallmark movie talk, Limahl's birthday, Bobby Brady's hair, reindeer bleeps, and the Figgy Pudding Pages. And this is just part one! Tune into episode 34 of But First, Let's Talk Nerdy (available later this week) for the shocking conclusion. Is this the greatest holiday crossover since Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July? Only King Moonracer knows the truth. And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 6 December 2020
As our holiday festivities continue, we're scrolling through a list of Hallmark Christmas movies... and fixing them. Is there any way to redeem these crazy generic holiday romantic comedies, all featuring big city career women returning to their hometowns to find true love and the meaning of Christmas? Yeah, we've got you covered, as we script-doctor these turkeys and randomly add Snow Misers, Sharknadoes, angry chickens, a certain fruit-obsessed Martian, and lots more perfectly reasonable improvements. So it's safe to turn on your TV again this month. We just saved Christmas. And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 29 November 2020
It's been a few months since we played that horrifying game we invented for 2020, Trapped in the House. But as we creep into the holiday season, it's time for a few rounds of Trapped in the House: Holiday Edition! We have some tough choices to make, as our homes are about to be invaded by lords a-leaping, maids a-milking, sarcastic candy, singing dogs, obnoxious Rankin Bass characters, and yes, zombies. Let's see what happens. We'll be home for Christmas. You will too. Lock the door. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 22 November 2020
It's our Thanksgiving spectacular! But not really! We're just looking up weird facts about the stuff served at Charlie Brown's infamous backyard Thanksgiving dinner. (Remember, Thanksgiving step one: Have your dog battle an evil demon lawn chair.) So we learn about ancient disgusting toast recipes, popcorn archaeology, Easter pretzel hunts, and the jellybean battlefields of the American Civil War. This is very useful trivia to scream at your uncle over Zoom on Thursday. Also: Bowling alley jukeboxes, the Underdog balloon, and Thanksgiving fun with ESO Board Silly and the American Sci-Fi Classics Track. So enjoy, and be festive. But stay home. And if you're cooking a tofu turkey, just save us a tofu drumstick and the tofu neck. The Flopcast on Facebook! Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 15 November 2020
Let's wrap up our review of 1990 Saturday morning TV with a look at the bizarre lineup on NBC. We had a couple of cartoonified SCTV stars taking care of weird kids (John Candy in Camp Candy and Rick Moranis in Gravedale High), Captain N: The Game Master (with a shameless parade of Nintendo characters), movie parodies from the Chipmunks, awkward cartoon dancing from Kid 'n Play... and the beginning of the end for Saturday morning cartoons with Saved By the Bell and The Guys Next Door. (Don't remember The Guys Next Door? It was a Monkees-style sitcom about a New Kids-style boy band. And as a civilization, we have collectively decided to pretend it never happened.) Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 8 November 2020
We're so amused by all those fours in this week's episode number that we turned it into a Top 4 1/2 List. So the subject is... four! Our favorite fours. (Yeah, we know. We're out of ideas.) Some of our picks are obvious - gotta go with the Fantastic Four, even if it leads to the endless debate of Human Torch vs. HERBIE the robot. And there's a four-themed cartoon, thanks to School House Rock. But as usual, the list gets weird quickly, with various "four" stuff from TV, music, games, and more. We assure you, before we're done, Frankie Valli will be shrieking in your head. Also: Obscure children's shows (you know we love Vegetable Soup), The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the Whoopi Goldberg/High Feather connection, and a road trip to Woonsocket, North Dakota that hopefully will never happen. So grab four cups of coffee and join us. This show is pretty sneaky, sis. American Sci-Fi Classics panel: Rocky Horror Picture Show! American Sci-Fi Classics panel: Obscure Children's Shows! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 1 November 2020
Just a random heap of goofy topics this week, so let's go. We have zombie coffee vs. robot coffee, Amazing Randi follow-up, freaky Halloween costumes, the Aquabats, the Creature from the Black Lagoon (and several other lagoons), Markie Post (and several other Markies), ElectraWoman, Wonder Woman, Pudding Pages, Power Records, Batman finds a Picasso, Fred Flintstone goes on a diet, Lynda Carter spins for democracy, and Kornflake walks through a giant pumpkin. Skepchick podcast on James Randi And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 25 October 2020
We lost a hero this week, so this show is our memorial tribute to James Randi. As a magician, The Amazing Randi performed around the world, toured with Alice Cooper, and taught Fonzie an escape trick on Happy Days. (By the way, Happy 75th Birthday to Henry Winkler!) But Randi was even better known as a skeptic and an investigator of claims of the paranormal and supernatural. His work debunked countless psychics, faith healers, and alternative medicine snake oil peddlers. He taught us to think critically, demand evidence, and follow the science. In addition to discussing his remarkable life, we also share some personal memories of our time with Randi, and we replay our quick Flopcast interview from way back at DragonCon 2012. (Randi loved DragonCon. He was a geek like us.) So join us as we celebrate a little guy with a big beard and a bigger heart, a self-proclaimed cheat and charlatan, an honest liar. Then let's get back to work. Earth Station One Podcast with Victoria Price! Strange Animals Podcast: The Dover Demon! DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track: Serial Killers vs. Cereal Mascots! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 18 October 2020
It's another cartoon-themed episode, as we continue our look at the Saturday morning TV landscape of 1990. This time we've tuned into CBS and found some long-running favorites (Muppet Babies, Garfield and Friends, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pee Wee's Playhouse) and a couple of short-lived oddities (Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures, and yes, Dink the Little Dinosaur.) Our discussion includes Barbara Billingsley, Lorenzo Music, a couple of cartoon chickens (Camilla and Sheldon), and a tooth-brushing turtle. Also: John Lithgow sings, George Carlin is pumped up like Hans and Franz, and the DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track has serial killers battling cereal mascots. The Trix Rabbit shall have its final revenge, and we're all doomed. DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track: Serial Killers vs. Cereal Mascots! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 11 October 2020
It's about time for a vaguely Halloween-themed show... so this week we're just talking about Frankenstein. Mary Shelley's novel introduced our favorite monster to the world way back in 1818 (which was also the last time we left the house). And 153 years later, the Frankenstein monster reached its final perfect form as a hideous pink breakfast cereal mascot. But there have been lots more versions along the way, in movies (with Sting and Flashdance!) (oh, and Boris Karloff), cartoons (Frankenstein Jr.! Drak Pack!), and even Saturday Night Live (with a little help from Tonto and Tarzan). And in television, besides our pal Herman Munster, there's also a 1979 Frankenstein sitcom that no one else remembers, nor should they. Coincidentally, our friends at DragonCon's American Sci-Fi Classics Track also released a Frankenstein show this week! Tune in and check it out. For better reception, adjust those weird bolts sticking out of your neck. The American Sci-Fi Classics Track's Frankenstein panel! Only if you dare: 1979's Struck By Lightning! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 4 October 2020
A few months back, we examined the Saturday morning cartoon schedules of each major TV network from the year 1980. Now we're jumping ahead by a decade for three more cartoon-themed episodes, starting with ABC's Saturday morning schedule from the ridiculous year of 1990. How ridiculous was it? Well... there was a New Kids on the Block cartoon. Television probably should have just ended right there, for the sake of the children. But moving on, the rest of the ABC lineup was pretty strong overall. There were some fresh revivals of classic cartoon properties (like Scooby Doo and Winnie the Pooh), as well as animated versions of recent supernatural comedy films (Ghostbusters and Beetlejuice). Even the Wizard of Oz gang reunited for a faithful new cartoon series... and you know we're always on the side of the flying monkeys. So join us. Let's figure out what happened. Do not bring your MC Hammer cassette. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 27 September 2020
Inspired by the DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track's "Hostess Fruit Pie Theater" (don't ask), we're looking at those bizarre Hostess comic book ads of the 70s and 80s. It was a time when every Marvel and DC superhero (as well as all the Archie characters, Looney Tunes characters, Casper, Richie Rich, and even Sad Sack) were completely obsessed with Hostess products. Aquaman could stop a bank robbery with a fruit pie. So we're counting down our favorite goofy Hostess ads in another Flopcast Top 4 1/2 List! We also play a quick round of Trapped in the House featuring the classic Hostess characters. (Do you really want Twinkie the Kid stomping around your home? Think carefully...) Also: Children should definitely climb inside strange delivery trucks, Geordi La Forge wants you to fish yogurt lids out of the trash, and Kornflake has lobster wine, because of course she does. Links: Mike's Amazing World of Comics has an amazing collection of Hostess ads! Our Top 4 1/2 Hostess ads: Spider-Man vs. The Human Computer! The Road Runner in Paul Revere's Run! Richie Rich Meets 2 Smart Robots! American Sci-Fi Classics Track's Hostess Fruit Pie Theater! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 20 September 2020
Just a quick simple show this week, as we recombobulate post-DragonCon. (Yeah, we're even sleepier than usual.) Including: Online movie riffing with The Mads, remembering Tower Records, Fake Jan, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Ricky Schroder in a tuxedo, Kornflake on a trampoline, and Happy Birthday to one giant supertwin. Links: MST3K's Trace and Frank, The Mads! The Tower Records documentary, All Things Must Pass! Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 13 September 2020
We seem to have survived the first (and yikes, hopefully the last) online "virtual" version of DragonCon! This year, instead of descending upon downtown Atlanta, we all stayed home, got on the stupid internet, and made it happen. Kevin and the Mayor of Chickentown (as well as lots more ESO Network personnel) were quite busy with DragonCon panels and meetups throughout Labor Day weekend, and this year Kornflake was able to join us too! Time to look back and figure out what in the world happened. Including: Panels on Lost in Space, Titans, 12 Monkeys, and more; fun with green screens; costuming at home; a Twilight Zone tournament; The Shadow meets Taylor Dayne; the virtual Hilton bar; the virtual Geek Girls Run; making pie (the boozy kind) way up in Massachusetts; a surprise Roll-a-Panel (featuring The Last Dragon); naughty novelizations; and freaking out over Fonzie cartoons. It was magnificent. Special thanks to everyone at DragonCon's American Sci-Fi Classics Track and American SF-Fantasy Media Track! You are our people. See you next year, nerds, one weird way or another... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 6 September 2020
It's DragonCon weekend, and while the convention is virtual this year, we're not gonna miss hanging out with Martha and Brittany from the podcast But First, Let's Talk Nerdy! And the Mayor of Chickentown is here too! It's a party, so get ready for some silly DragonCon talk, including: The Marriott vs. the Hyatt, a friendly dog crashing our Zoom call, our traditional Sam Adams Octoberfest, plastic mermaids, cereal box costumes, Agents of SHIELD costumes, packing costumes for DragonCon, having a giant head, the DragonCon Geek Girls Run, making Kevin jealous with mimosas and waffles, Booster Gold, Scooby Doo, and Katy Perry conspiracy theories. It all gets a little crazy, but that's DragonCon. Hopefully we can do it all for real in Atlanta next year. But for now, join us right here. No membership badge required. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! |
Sun, 30 August 2020
We're just a few days away from DragonCon! Normally we'd be flying to Atlanta right about now, with our Sleestak costumes carefully stuffed in our carry-on bags. But DragonCon is happening online this year, so just stay home and tune in. (But do still dress like a Sleestak. Always.) And we have more special DragonCon guests here on the Flopcast this week! Christine and Darryl are veteran DragonCon attendees, often spotted around the convention in their eerily accurate Doctor Crusher and Captain Picard costumes. So we're talking Star Trek (and DragonCon's Trek Track), our adventures as DragonCon Newbie Walking Tour guides, rolling giant dice with the American Sci-Fi Classics Track, and being trapped in Rhode Island for DragonCon weekend. (Rhode Island is at least as weird as DragonCon, so that helps.) Kevin and the Mayor (and lots more ESO Network personnel) will be appearing on several virtual DragonCon panels - watch our social media pages for our complete schedule, coming very soon. Meanwhile, be like Kornflake, stock up on scary beverages, and prepare for online geekery. This is happening. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 23 August 2020
As virtual DragonCon approaches, we're virtually catching up with some of our favorite DragonCon people. And our guest this week is another old friend, coming to you all the way from Tennessee: Strange Animals Podcast host Kate Shaw! Kevin and Kate met through the small press publishing scene of the 90s, before they traded in their photocopiers and staplers for microphones and digital recorders. Now they meet up at DragonCon every year (except, you know, this year), and their DragonCon memories include steampunk owl-catcher costumes, birdwatching in the rain, and trying to give away a banana. Kate is working with DragonCon's Digital Media track again this year, and we'll share her virtual panel schedule soon, assuming we're not all devoured by giant ice worms. Also this week: DragonCon beverages, the DragonCon parade, Mary Tyler Moore costume groups, and Bigfoot. (Warning: As the convention gets closer, this show gets weirder.) |
Sun, 16 August 2020
In a normal year, right now we'd be preparing to go to Atlanta for DragonCon, our favorite annual gathering of the geeks. But, as you may have noticed, this is not a normal year. We're still going to DragonCon, but it'll be an online virtual convention - just fire up your Commodore 64 and tune in! (You're old school. We like that.) And since we won't get to hang out with our DragonCon friends in person, we're bringing them here to the Flopcast, starting this week with Jessica Mercy! Jessica is a singer (with her band Anaria), a costume designer and model (with Good Enough Cosplay), and a longtime DragonCon attendee. And she's back on the Flopcast (after seven years!) to discuss her history with the convention, her experience as a DragonCon guest and performer, and her upcoming projects. Jessica is one of the most talented people we know (and yikes, that's saying something), and she's keeping busy, even in our weird new world. Also: The return of the Swedish Chef (and his new turkey friend), memories of DragonCon 1996 (only some of which involve GWAR), and the day the coffee died in Chickentown. Jessica Mercy's symphonic metal band, Anaria! Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 9 August 2020
Never mind the humans, it's time for our ninth (!) annual robot-themed Top 4 1/2 List. And because this is not a normal summer, we're combining the robot list with our new quarantine era segment, Trapped in the House. Kevin is supplying the weird robot options, and Kornflake must choose which robots are stomping on over to her place and moving in. Are these robots angry, crazy, and super annoying? But of course. Also: 1980s computers, Partners in Crime with Loni and Lynda, virtual DragonCon, and a very exciting bird feeder update. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! Watch-A-Thon of Rassilon episode 126, with the Mayor of Chickentown! |
Sun, 2 August 2020
It's our Billy Joel episode! Which we've been meaning to do for years! (Sorry about the delay. We've been really busy and/or sleepy.) We start by celebrating the 40th (!) anniversary of the Glass Houses album, and determine if it's really still rock and roll to us. Then Kornflake presents a Top 4 1/2 List of her favorite Billy Joel songs. (It's a slightly randomized list, based on coin tosses, so you can play along at home and guess if Kornflake prefers uptown girls or innocent men.) So grab a bottle of red and a bottle of white. (And a bottle of Ramblin' Root Beer. Don't ask us why.) We'll supply the hot funk, cool punk, old junk, big shots, angry young piano men, and heart attackackackackackacks. We just may be the lunatics you're looking for. But probably not. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 26 July 2020
Because we're idiots, last summer we forced ourselves to watch all the Meatballs sequels. (There were three, which felt like three hundred.) So this week, continuing the theme of disappointing follow-ups to classic Bill Murray movies, we finally watched all the Caddyshack sequels. (There was just one, which somehow also felt like three hundred.) Caddyshack II got a few things right: A script by Harold Ramis (which was unfortunately rewritten into oblivion), another killer theme song from Kenny Loggins ("Nobody's Fool" is arguably superior to "I'm Alright"), the return of Chevy Chase (still advising everyone to be the ball), and the return of our beloved gopher (now sounding suspiciously like Frank Welker). But then there were some problems, with Dan Aykroyd, Jackie Mason, and Robert Stack as vastly inferior substitutes for Bill, Rodney, and Ted. On the other hand, there was a weird connection to Steve Martin's The Jerk, a weird connection to Robolar from Mars, and a Bushwood Country Club snob played by a future member of Wilson Phillips. So that's something. (Oh, we also sneaked in a Kim Richards double feature this week, with the classic Escape to Witch Mountain and the non-classic Tuff Turf.) In summary: We like watching stupid things, so here we are. Back at the shack. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! |
Sun, 19 July 2020
A mysterious package arrived at the studio, and now we're the proud (?) owners of a Teen Beat 1981 Calendar magazine. You can read it like a magazine (and learn all about Gary Coleman) or hang it on the wall like a calendar (and spend an entire month staring at John Schneider). We flip through the whole thing, hoping at least one month would feature a chimpanzee, and we are not disappointed. (KISS fans, however, were disappointed by the departure of Peter Criss... but at least he's Teen Beat's Miss December.) So join us back in 1981, which was way less horrifying than 2020. Also: A Texas chicken makes the perfect escape, Kevin is talking about Archie, Kornflake is talking about Oliver & Company, Martha and Brittany are in the Geek Seat, and birthday girl Edie McClurg was a Snork. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promo: Metal Geeks! Rewatching the Magic: A Disney Fan Podcast, with special guest Kornflake! American Sci-Fi Classics Quarantine Panel #14: To Riverdale and Back Again - Everything's Archie! The ESO Bored Silly podcast is available through ESO's Patreon! But First, Let's Talk Nerdy's Martha and Brittany in the Geek Seat on Earth Station One! |
Sun, 12 July 2020
It's the conclusion of our latest silly tournament, as we randomly draw more Lilith Fair performers to compete in more stupid events. (For example, would Sheryl Crow or Jewel be a better Lyft driver? We have the definitive answer.) Last week, your Lilith queen Sarah McLachlan was knocked out of contention, so it's anybody's game at this point. Kevin loves Joan Osborne, Kornflake loves the Indigo Girls, but can anyone stop Dar Williams? Meanwhile, a bizarre dark horse contender emerges... So hop aboard for another crazy FlopFight. A change would do you good. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 5 July 2020
The 2020s have been, uh, less than delightful so far. So let's go back to the 1990s, and back to the Lilith Fair, for another ridiculous FlopFight tournament! We're randomly drawing the names of Lilith Fair performers, and debating how they would fare in various stupid competitions. It's stuff like, could Suzanne Vega defeat Fiona Apple in a staring contest? Would Tracy Chapman be a better breakdancer than Bonnie Raitt? These are the important questions, people. And this is just part one. For more crazy Lilith action, join us next week, when our final FlopFight champion shall arrive in the arms of the angel, far away from here. Also this week: A drive-in stand up comedy show, a Beck song lyrics quiz, and an inflatable chicken (for indoor use only). Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 28 June 2020
Longtime friends of the Flopcast Brittany and Martha are back this week, as we officially announce that their podcast But First, Let's Talk Nerdy is now part of the ESO Network! We catch up on life in Las Vegas during the pandemic (Kevin escaped just in time), some of their recent nerdy show topics (like Sailor Moon, Cowboy Bebop, Riverdale, and James Bond), and the art of podcasting while tipsy (they need a sponsorship deal with White Claw). Be sure to check out But First, Let's Talk Nerdy, and welcome Brittany and Martha to our weird little ESO family! Also: We recommend online shows from Speak Up and Niki Luparelli, we still love Atari 2600 Asteroids, we remember comic book writer Denny O'Neil, and we're seriously considering watching Caddyshack II. Please, somebody stop us. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promo: But First, Let's Talk Nerdy!
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Sun, 21 June 2020
Last week Kevin listed his ten favorite albums from the 1980s, year by ridiculous year. So this week it's Kornflake's turn, with an album list from the 1990s! (You may not remember the 90s very well. You were so goofed up on Crystal Pepsi back then.) It's a fun mix of alt-rock, pop, boy bands, and maybe even a little rap and hair metal. (But alas, no Spacehog...) Also: Happy Birthday to a classic TV mom (from Lassie AND Lost in Space), Kornflake is drinking something that isn't coffee, Kevin keeps running into Herbie the Love Bug, and Rhode Island wants outdoor strip clubs. Kids, the world isn't getting less weird anytime soon. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts Email: info@flopcast.net |
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