The Flopcast

We've had "Weird Al" Yankovic on our minds lately, probably because Kevin just participated in an American Sci-Fi Classics panel all about Al. (Check it out! We have a YouTube link just for you.) So we just invented The Weird Al Game, in which Kevin and Kornflake try to guess each other's favorite Weird Al songs. This week we're covering Al's first seven albums. Does Kornflake want a new duck? Will Kevin visit the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota? Join us as we dare to be stupid. (Admittedly, that's business as usual around here...) Also: Kornflake is celebrating Ice Cream For Breakfast Day, because apparently she loves rocky road.

The American Sci-Fi Classics Track online panel all about Weird Al!

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Email: info@flopcast.net

Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

This week's promo: But First, Let's Talk Nerdy!

Direct download: Flopcast_560.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:24pm EDT

We are back from Arisia, Boston's annual convention of science fiction, fantasy, and general geekery. So here's our full report, including Kevin's comic book panels (on comic book memoirs and the history of Image Comics), the Mayor of Chickentown's Age and Fandom panel, and our pal Kevin Cafferty's Year in TV and Year in Star Wars panels! Also: The Post Meridian Radio Players with another fine genderswap Star Trek show! (We are big fans of Captain Jane T. Kirk.) The Geeky Belly Dance Show! The Masquerade! Our favorite costumes! (Our favorite costumes involved lobsters and anteaters, of course.) And Kevin runs around Boston like a maniac, finds the new MLK "Embrace" sculpture, and helps out the tourists at Cheers. Plus: Stargirl talk on Earth Station One, and National Whatever Day, because nothing is going to break Kornflake's stride.

Earth Station One episode 668 - A Look Back at Stargirl!

And our regular links...

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

The Flopcast on Mastadon!

Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts!

Email: info@flopcast.net

Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

 

Direct download: Flopcast_559.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:48pm EDT

This weekend we are at Arisia, one of our favorite local fantasy and science fiction conventions. If you drop everything and run screaming towards Boston RIGHT NOW, you may be able to catch Kevin moderating a panel about Image Comics. (Bring your mint condition CGC-slabbed Walking Dead #1. We'll sign it and ruin it.) And yes, we have goofy badge ribbons for you. Watch for our full report on Arisia next week. But meanwhile this week: A "Chickens in the News" story about man vs. chicken vs. garage, devil tales (and Drake's Devil Dogs) on the Earth Station One podcast, and Happy Birthday to Ronnie Milsap, who made some early 80s country pop songs that we actually liked.

If it's not too late, find us at Arisia!

Earth Station One episode 666 - Our Favorite Devil Tales!

And our regular links...

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

The Flopcast on Mastadon!

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: Modern Musicology!

Direct download: Flopcast_558.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

Let's wrap up our annual two-part memorial show, because we just can't take it anymore. This week's list includes: a couple of animation legends (Jules Bass and Paul Coker Jr.), a couple more 80s comedy stars (Judy Tenuta and Gallagher), beloved television actors (Nichelle Nichols and Tony Dow), beloved singers (Olivia Newton John and Irene Cara), another Goodfellas star, another Sesame Street star, another Gorgeous Lady of Wrestling, the voice of Batman, the creator of The Monkees, the evil guy from Tron, a Pointer sister, and many more. As usual, we recommend that you have a strong beverage standing by. Just be sure to cover it when the watermelons start flying.

And our regular links...

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

The Flopcast on Mastadon!

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: Thunder Talk!

Direct download: Flopcast_557.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:15am EDT

Our annual two-part memorial show begins here, as we recall the pop culture legends we lost in the first half of 2022. Including: actors (Sidney Poitier, Sally Kellerman, William Hurt, Ray Liotta), musicians (Ronnie Spector, Meat Loaf, Vangelis), comedians (Bob Saget, Louie Anderson, Gilbert Gottfried), artists (Neal Adams, George PĂ©rez), a Gorgeous Lady of Wrestling, the moms from Seinfeld, the guy who made "Convoy," and many more. So join us, and bring a beverage. (Maybe garnish it with an orange slice. For Gilbert.)

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

The Flopcast on Mastadon!

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: Epsilon Three!

Direct download: Flopcast_556_for_libsyn.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:13pm EDT

Last show of the year! So it's a quick one, as we look back on another goofy year of Flopcasting, including our 2022 Flopcast guests (all four of them), our strict cupcake and lobster roll diet program, and our ongoing obsession with Canadian PSAs. Plus: Happy Birthday to Ted Danson! Part 2 of our holiday podcast crossover with But First, Let's Talk Nerdy! (Warning: May contain Sponge Awareness music.) One last Electra Woman and Dyna Girl review on The Batcave Podcast! (Yes, it's the bizarre Markie Post pilot.) And A Very Pac-Man Christmas with the DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track! (Also A Very Manimal Christmas and A Very Turbo Teen Christmas. Someone probably should have stopped us.) And finally... our New Year's Resolutions. Sort of. See you in 2023, nerds.

The second half of our holiday crossover with But First, Let's Talk Nerdy!

Our final Electra Woman review on The Batcave Podcast!

Christmas Comes to Pac-Land: The American Sci-Fi Classics table read!

And our regular links...

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

NEW! The Flopcast on Mastadon!

Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts!

Email: info@flopcast.net

Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

 

Direct download: Flopcast_555.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

Lots of weird holiday mirth and/or merriment this week! First we celebrate National Hard Candy Day with a True Tale of Ribbon Candy. Then Kornflake's annual pilgrimage to the Trap Tree yields startling results. Kornflake also has a new favorite holiday special, and of course the star of Footloose is involved. We also flip through Holly Jolly, a wonderful book of pop culture Christmas history, and learn that the first store Santa appeared in 1890 in nearby Brockton, Massachusetts. (We assume he was as cranky and unpleasant as the rest of us locals.) Then it's time for The Figgy Pudding Pages, and Kornflake has a True Tale of Holiday Air Hockey Injuries. And for our main event, we welcome back Martha and Brittany, the hosts of our sister podcast But First, Let's Talk Nerdy! Reporting live from Las Vegas, they tell us about Christmas at Disneyland, miserable Christmas decoration vandals, and their recent discovery of a Hallmark Christmas movie that actually wasn't bad. Then it's time for a silly little game, as Martha and Brittany take our Christmas Cartoon Quote Quiz! We assume you've been studying all those classic Rankin/Bass shows, so you can play along too! Grab an egg nog, feel free to spike it until you're properly nogified, and enjoy. This week's show is so festive that you'll feel like Jack Frost is nipping at you inappropriately.

Find the second half of our holiday crossover on Episode 79 of But First, Let's Talk Nerdy!

And our regular links...

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

The Flopcast on Twitter!

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: Monkeeing Around!

Direct download: Flopcast_554.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:25pm EDT

It's no secret that we're obsessed with holiday cartoons, and this week we're diving into Frosty the Snowman and its sequels. Everyone knows the 1969 Rankin/Bass original, in which Frosty and Karen hitch a train to the North Pole so Frosty can melt away while Karen freezes to death. Then there's Frosty's Winter Wonderland from 1976, with Jack Frost serving as Best Man at a bizarre snow-person wedding. 1979 saw the ultimate Rankin/Bass crossover event: Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July. (Worlds will live, worlds will die, Ethel Merman will sing, and the RBU will never be the same.) Things get even weirder in 1992 with Frosty Returns. John Goodman is the voice of Frosty, SNL's Lorne Michaels is the producer, music is by Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh, and director Bill Melendez makes the whole thing look like a Charlie Brown special. Finally we have 2005's The Legend of Frosty the Snowman, which brings it all back to the original cartoon with a cameo from long-suffering magician Professor Hinkle. And if you've been waiting for a Frosty cartoon narrated by Burt Reynolds, this is it. (Also this week: Kevin Geeks Out About Christmas. Seriously.) So slip into your favorite magic hat and we'll all go belly-whopping together. Happy Birthday.

Kevin Geeks Out!

And our regular links...

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

The Flopcast on Twitter!

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: Earth Station DCU!

Direct download: Flopcast_553.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:48pm EDT

For our holiday shopping, we're traveling back to 1981 and looking through an advertisement flyer from Child World, a toy store chain that just happened to have a Woonsocket, Rhode Island location. Kevin and Kornflake have selected 4 1/2 gifts for each other, but we used very different shopping strategies. Kornflake thoughtfully chose classic video games, Star Wars toys, and super hero action figures. Meanwhile Kevin was just looking for strange stuff, so we have a freaky doll with hair that really grows, a forgotten (but possibly awesome) game called Baboon Ball, a forgotten (but possibly terrifying) playset called the Clown House, and more. Cover yourselves; things are about to get weird under the tree.

The 1981 Child World flyer, compliments of Plaid Stallions!

And our regular links...

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

The Flopcast on Twitter!

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: Earth Station One!

Direct download: Flopcast_552.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:56pm EDT

As is tradition around here, we're taking a bunch of those Hallmark-style made-for-TV holiday movies, and we're fixing them. Over 150 goofy new holiday movies are debuting this year, and they're all the same: random big city career women are returning to their hometowns to save their grandfathers' stuggling figgy pudding shops while also falling in love with flannel-shirted dudes who run kitten orphanages. Our plan is to randomly insert some weird new element to each movie, thus creating an instant holiday classic. Can these movies be redeemed by adding stuff like roller disco, giant starfish, or actors from Happy Days? We think you know the answer. Hang on, kids, we're gonna save Christmas.

Earth Station One's Geek Holiday Gift Guide!

And our regular links...

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

The Flopcast on Twitter!

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: Drinking With Authors!

Direct download: Flopcast_551.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:26pm EDT