Sun, 29 December 2024
In Part 1 of our two-part memorial show, we look back on people from pop culture (and beyond) who died in the first half of 2024. It's a long list, so it's a long show. Including: People from movies (Cindy Morgan, Carl Weathers, Louis Gossett Jr., Dabney Coleman, Donald Sutherland), comedy (Richard Lewis, Joe Flaherty, Martin Mull), television (Joyce Randolph, Kevin Brophy, David Soul), music (Melanie, Mojo Nixon, Eric Carmen), comic books (José Delbo, Ramona Fradon, Trina Robbins), and many more. (The inventor of Pop-Tarts? But of course.) Next week: Memorial Show Part 2. Meanwhile this week, we also reveal our New Year's Resolution, which you will never guess. 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!
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Sun, 22 December 2024
Welcome to the Flopcast holiday variety spectacular, in which we sip egg nog and nothing happens. But we do pack quite a few festive subjects into this quick little show, including: Weird 1970s Christmas cartoons! (The Fourth King is an obscure one we'd never seen before. And our favorite, A Cosmic Christmas, is now available from RiffTrax!) A Joan Osborne concert! The Air Supply Christmas album! The Figgy Pudding Pages! Drive-in movie theaters! Weird singing bird decorations! And the opening of a glitter bomb Christmas card, ensuring that Chickentown Studios will be nice and sparkly all year. Okay, get out there and be merry or bright (but not both). It's time for our big holiday nap. 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: The 42cast! This week's promo: Modern Musicology!
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Sun, 15 December 2024
Spinning out of last week's review of The Year Without a Santa Claus, this week we're looking at another classic Rankin/Bass Christmas cartoon that debuted fifty years ago: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas! It's set in the bizarre little town of Junctionville, where humans and mice coexist in a way we can't quite figure out. There we meet a humble clockmaker, a nerdy mouse, a clueless wacky mayor, an egomaniacal vindictive Santa, and a selfish materialistic populace dreaming of a huge Christmas payday, if only their giant musical clock doesn't explode. It's magnificent. We also discuss the whole voice cast, including Jennifer Grey's father, Amanda Plummer's mother, one of the Bad News Bears, Franken Berry, Twinkie the Kid, and (according to Wikipedia) an "owl-faced, portly character actor." So knock back an egg nog or six, let up a little on the wonder why, and give this podcast a try. 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!
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Sun, 8 December 2024
The Mayor of Chickentown is here to help us celebrate the 50th anniversary of a Rankin/Bass animated classic, The Year Without a Santa Claus. It's best remembered for Snow Miser and Heat Miser, of course, but we're here to break down the whole thing. We discuss the goofy plot, the goofier characters, the actors behind those characters, the book that inspired the cartoon, the live action remake, the animated sequel, and more. And while everyone knows that Heat and Snow Miser's mother is Mother Nature, we're going to reveal who their fathers are. (This holiday season, we're trying to be more like a trashy daytime talk show, and we could use your support.) 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: EnterpriseSplaining!
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Sun, 1 December 2024
It's the holiday season, which means it's the holiday movie season, which means it's time for us to get to work. Because if you tune your TV to the Hallmark channel (or Lifetime, or Netflix, or anywhere else), you'll be assaulted by dozens of ridiculous new romantic holiday movies. A parade of big city girls will be returning to their quaint home towns to save their families' struggling mistletoe factories, and perhaps fall in love with some flannel-shirted dudes along the way. (And somehow, almost every movie stars Lacey Chabert.) So here on the Flopcast, we try to fix these movies by adding some weird random element. Can Christmas be saved by, for example, a gorilla suit? We sure think so. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!
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Sun, 24 November 2024
As usual, we ring in the stupid holidays with a Letters to Cleo concert report, because our favorite 90s Boston band always comes home for Thanksgiving. (Letters to Cleo once performed on Parks and Recreation, and weirdly, just down the street from the concert, we spotted an actual citizen of Pawnee, Indiana. It was either Jerry, Garry, Larry, or Barry.) Then, as we approach the 100th anniversary of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Kevin and the Mayor look back at some of the odd performances and big freaky balloons in parades past. (The 1974 and 1984 parades included future Flopcast guests! Weird...) Anyway, have a festive holiday, and don't worry about inviting Patty, Marcie, and Franklin. They'll just show up. 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: Modern Musicology!
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Sun, 17 November 2024
Even as we stagger toward a horrifying future, The Flopcast is here with more silly things for you, because we're gonna get through this together. And this week we're celebrating Danny DeVito's 80th birthday (just as we celebrated his 70th birthday about a decade ago), we have a Chickens in the News story about an actual robot chicken... and then we just turn the whole show over to the robots. If you're on the correct side of history, please join us as we resist, persist, take care of each other, and keep going. 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: Dragon Con Report!
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Sun, 10 November 2024
Need a break from, you know, everything? We're just hiding behind a giant stack of Dynamite magazines, and you're welcome to join us. We've pulled out a Dynamite issue from 1980 with the hosts of That's Incredible on the cover. (Cathy Lee Crosby looks lovely, while Fran Tarkenton and John Davidson are missing some teeth... our copy may have been defaced decades ago by some kid with a Bic pen.) Inside we can read about New Hampshire's Old Man of the Mountain, Gary Coleman's chihuahua, a Billy Joel album that never happened, a vampire maze, Dynamite Bummers, the Dynamite Duo... and an electronic chicken game. We don't know why they kept making magazines after 1980, when it was done to perfection. 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: The Watch-A-Thon of Rassilon!
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Sun, 3 November 2024
We looked at the TV shows of 1974 (fifty years ago!) a few months back with the Mayor, but now it's Kornflake's turn. Our list again includes some of the usual suspects like Rhoda and The Rockford Files... but ultimately we can all agree that the most important show of that year was Hong Kong Phooey. We also take a quick look at some bands that debuted in 1974; some are still favorites of ours (Blondie! Squeeze!), while we're learning about others for the first time, despite some very intriguing band names. Also: We wish a Happy Birthday to Bonnie Raitt, and we welcome two new podcasts to the ESO Network: Have Coffee Will Travel and BatChums! (One of these shows features two guys discussing Batman, but we can't remember which.) 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: Tales From Hollywoodland!
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Sun, 27 October 2024
It's the terrifying conclusion of our Halloween FlopFight! Leaping into the tournament this week are characters from Nightmare Before Christmas, Hocus Pocus, Bewitched, Happy Days (what?), and more. Each matchup is drawn randomly, and the exact competitions are randomized too. (So for example, it could be Count Chocula against Jack Skellington, but in a pie-eating contest. Stuff like that.) So anything goes, and special guest Blasted Bill is back to keep things nice and silly. We're also wishing a Happy Birthday to 90s singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins, who has something in common with one of our FlopFighters: a mysterious middle initial. Because a certain Tom Hanks SNL character is also competing. Any questions? The Mayor talking Doctor Who on The Best Stuff in the World podcast! 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: Have Coffee, Will Travel!
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Sun, 20 October 2024
Halloween superfan Blasted Bill joins us for a Halloween FlopFight! We're randomly throwing Halloween characters (from horror movies, cartoon specials, cereal boxes, and beyond) into another ridiculous tournament. Why, the very first match has the Great Pumpkin battling Yummy Mummy! Who will win? That depends on the exact nature of the competition, which is also chosen at random. So anything could happen, and this week's winner shall advance to next week's final round. So grab a ringside seat, grab some fun-size Twix bars, and enjoy. And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 13 October 2024
As our Halloween festivities continue, we take a quick look at the horror movies parodied in Mad Magazine in the 1980s. Including: The Shining, Poltergeist, Psycho II, a couple of Alien movies, and Gremlins (with Alfred E. Neuman as Gizmo on the cover). Speaking of Mad and Alfred, we just visited the Norman Rockwell Museum for an amazing exhibit called "What, Me Worry? The Art & Humor of Mad Magazine." And it closes in two weeks, so GO RIGHT NOW. Also: It's World Singing Day. And we are not the world. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 6 October 2024
It's Halloween season, which means it's Monster Cereal season! And while we rarely eat the stuff anymore, we do welcome the return of Count Chocula, Franken Berry, Boo Berry, and the new girl, zombie DJ Carmella Creeper. (Sorry, Fruit Brute and Yummy Mummy fans. Those weirdos aren't around this year.) The big news is that the monsters have pets now! Meet the Frightful Friends: Benny the Bat, Igor the Spider, Scratch the Snake, and Meow Berry. (What, no chicken?! Send your letters of complaint to General Mills...) Several Flopcast listeners have even provided photos of this year's cereal boxes, saving us a trip to the grocery store, where we'd just blow all our podcasting profits on Doritos. Also: Happy Birthday to Scott Bakula! He's probably out there Quantum-leaping and Enterprise-splaining right now. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 29 September 2024
With Dragon Con finally out of the way, we can have some real fun! Let's read the dictionary! Specifically we're diving back into The Super Dictionary, a bizarre 1978 book for kids that mixed learning and DC Comics superheroes, and left everyone thoroughly confused. After perusing a few more entries, we have some questions, such as: Is Batgirl a pirate? (Or a mechanic, or a bikini model?) Is Supergirl terrified of mice? And why are Batman and Robin climbing a giant baby? We're equally confused by the villains, as we see Joker planning a dinner party and Catwoman, yes, dusting the tiger. (Not a euphemism.) So join us for a super-weird vocabulary lesson. We promise you will learn nothing. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 22 September 2024
Let's wrap up our look back at Dragon Con 2024, before we have to creep back to Atlanta for Dragon Con 2025! The final two days of our favorite nerdfest included: Sci-Fi Court! (The Mayor defended Beastmaster, and Kevin defended Wonder Woman. But not the Wonder Woman you're thinking of.) A couple of rounds of Roll-A-Panel, in which a giant d20 determined which movies were discussed! (Don't worry, we did not miss Sheena: Queen of the Jungle.) Celebrity Q&A panels with Giancarlo Esposito, Ming Na Wen, Manny Jacinto, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Mike Colter! Script readings of Three's Company and Out of This World, featuring kazoos, a surprise message from space, and a million Helens Roper! The new Dragon Tales book! Retro arcade games! Barbies! Teeth! And yes, screaming bikini chicken ladies. It was magnificent. See you next year, weirdos. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 15 September 2024
The Mayor of Chickentown joins Kevin and Kornflake as our look back at Dragon Con 2024 continues! This time we're covering Friday and Saturday, when the convention was so crowded that we could not have squished one more nerd into Atlanta. Our coverage includes: The Geek Girls Run! The ESO Network's Freaks and Geeks 25th Anniversary panel! More panels on punk rock sci-fi, Office Space, Aquaman, cicadas, and apes! Monty Python's John Cleese! Flute-playing astronaut Cady Coleman! A super-weird (as usual) round of Sci-Fi Explosion! And perhaps a naughty Star Trek puppet show too! It was all quite exhausting, and yikes, we still had two days to go. Stock up on mead and cheese (that's our Dragon Con health plan) and enjoy... And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 8 September 2024
Here we go with the first of three (yikes, hopefully no more than three) Dragon Con review episodes! This week Kevin and Kornflake go over everything that happened Wednesday and Thursday, as our giant Atlanta nerd festival was just getting started. Including: A meeting of the geeks at Logan Airport in Boston! The Dragon Con debut of our pal Blasted Bill! Our third annual meeting with the Muscovy ducks of Piedmont Park! The Dragon Con Newbie Walking Tour! A disgusting beverage! The Council of Kevins! The Sci-Fi Music Video Book Club! The 120 Minutes dance party! And lots more shenanigans and silliness with the greatest collection of nerds and weirdos ever assembled. And this is only the beginning... 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: The 42cast and Monster Attack! |
Sun, 1 September 2024
It's Dragon Con weekend, but we didn't forget about a weird Flopcast summer tradition: our annual robot-themed Top 4 1/2 List! And we have a special guest to deliver the list: our old pal (and original Sponge Awareness Foundation member) Jim, finally making his Flopcast debut! Jim has a list of surprise robots from movies and TV; that is, robots that we didn't know were robots until the big reveal. Call them androids, call them simuloids, call them replicants, Cylons, fembots, whatever you like. But they're robots in disguise, and they're out there. By the way, the Chickaphant, an alien chicken/elephant hybrid, is also out there somewhere. Please don't leave the house. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 25 August 2024
Dragon Con is just days away, which means tens of thousands of nerds shall soon descend upon the unsuspecting city of Atlanta. (Actually, Atlanta knows we're coming. They're jacking up the price of giant rum drinks at this very moment...) Kevin and the Mayor of Chickentown will be busy with panels, presentations, and various bizarre Dragon Con events, so this week we're sharing our schedule with you. Including: Panels on Aquaman, Batman, What If...?, and Freaks and Geeks! The Sci-Fi Music Video Book Club! The return of Sci-Fi Court! A couple of Roll-A-Panels! A not-at-all-silly script reading of a Three's Company episode! The Geek Girls Run! Apes! (So many apes...) And lots more weird stuff, of course. Find us there! We'll have shiny badge ribbons for you. And we'll file our full Dragon Con report here in a couple of weeks, assuming we're not trampled by an inflatable T-rex mob. And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 18 August 2024
Dragon Con, our favorite gigantic nerdfest of the year, is just a couple of weeks away, and we're already exhausted. Today we're looking at Dragon Con's guest list of TV and movie stars, writers, artists, musicians, scientists, podcasters, puppeteers, and miscellaneous weirdos. Including: A trio of Lord of the Rings hobbits, a Monty Python guy, a Robot Chicken guy, a bunch of Fraggles, a bunch of Star Trek actors (including a certain bearded Commander whose birthday we're celebrating), a flute-playing astronaut, Canadian teen pop star Robin Sparkles, and more. We're also thrilled to announce the release of Dragon Tales, a collection of stories and essays all about Dragon Con. (There's even a contribution from Kevin, and believe it or not, it's completely ridiculous.) This is a super-fun book, and all the proceeds go to charity, so we hope you'll pop over to Amazon and order a copy right now. Next week: The dragon talk continues, and it just keeps getting weirder. And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 11 August 2024
Kornflake returns to wrap up the summer song project we started last week! This time we're covering the 1990s, and selecting the songs we most associate with each summer. So we'll probably cover some Mariah, some Paula, and perhaps a Barenaked Lady or two. Along the way, our 90s memories include Kornflake on the radio requesting a Seal song, and Kevin in a church basement insisting that life is not a highway. Kids, it was a weird decade full of weird summers. We're entering the Smash Mouth era. Cover yourselves. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 4 August 2024
As the Hit Parade podcast recently taught us, each year Billboard declares an official "Song of the Summer" based on chart performance. We're taking a more subjective approach, and choosing which songs we most associate with each summer of the 1980s. Of course you'll find some Go-Go's and some Kenny Loggins on our list (come on, it's us), but perhaps we'll surprise you with a choice or two. And which songs would you pick? What reminds you of the summer of 1984, as you biked through the heat to the arcade in search of Donkey Kong Junior? (Is it Huey Lewis? It's probably Huey Lewis.) Let us know! And prepare for next week, when we'll take on the summer songs of the 1990s. It'll be intense. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 28 July 2024
For the first time in four years, Kevin and Kornflake are together at Chickentown Studios! (Kevin brought the coffee, and Kornflake brought the doughnuts, so come on, it's a party.) Kornflake is passing through Chickentown on her summer vacation, so we have a quick vacation road trip quiz! Do we learn anything? Not really. Except that you probably don't want to stay in a yurt. Also: We wish a Happy Birthday to everyone named Greta, and we play a bird-themed round of What's in the Bag! Next week, we'll be recording from separate locations as usual. Our lawyers insisted. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 21 July 2024
Our five-part New Wave Game was just preparation for this week. Kevin and the Mayor of Chickentown have a full report on the latest (and longest) retro 80s new wave concert to come to town. The eight (EIGHT!) acts were: The Plimsouls, Tommy Tutone, Bow Wow Wow, Wang Chung, Men Without Hats, Modern English, Thompson Twins, and Thomas Dolby! So we melted with you, we wanted candy, we were blinded with science, we got Jenny's phone number, and we may have even Wang Chunged. But let's keep that our little secret. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 14 July 2024
Based on the advice of our lawyers, your Flopcast hosts rarely meet up in person these days. But it did just happen, because we both showed up at an odd little event called the Hops and Humorous Arts (or HAHA) Festival. This was an evening of short comedy films, and one of the filmmakers was an old friend from the world of funny music: Tom Rockwell, aka Devo Spice! So we got to hang out with Tom, see a bunch of weird little movies, drink a bunch of weird little beverages, and try (but mostly fail) to play some classic arcade games. Also this week: We wish a Happy Birthday to rock legend Dion, and play a quick round of our silly Ranking the 80s game. 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 Trek!
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Sun, 7 July 2024
Time to wrap up our New Wave Game and see if anyone survives! We're down to the final three volumes of the CD series Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the 80s, and either Kevin or Kornflake could still win. (But come on, our money is on Kornflake...) And we've reached the mid-80s, when there was no shortage of new wave hits in the Top 40. So we're talking about acts like Wang Chung, Thompson Twins, Katrina and the Waves, Animotion, Tears for Fears, Bananarama, and Men at Work. It seemed like nothing was off limits on the pop charts. A musical about chess? Sure. Vietnam-era news clips set to a dance beat? Absolutely. The Dream Academy had a hit that sounded like nothing else. Arcadia had a hit that sounded exactly like Duran Duran, and with good reason. There's even a trio of New England-area new wave bands represented here. (We all know 'Til Tuesday, but do you remember Miracle Legion? How about Rubber Rodeo?) So enjoy one last round of new wave madness, and then we can relax. Just like Frankie said. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 30 June 2024
We start with a quick report from a local nerd convention, where Kevin met up with some heroes of 1970s kids TV: Our old friends Wesley Eure and Kathy Coleman from Land of the Lost, our new friends Doug and Emmy Jo from The New Zoo Revue... and the legendary Sid Krofft. (We're still sort of freaking out about that last one...) Then Kevin and the Mayor of Chickentown look at the prime time TV shows that debuted half a century ago, in the year 1974. It's a short list (there were just three networks, kids), but it includes some long-running classics like Happy Days, Good Times, Little House on the Prairie, and Rockford Files. It also includes some short-lived shows that few remember, even if their casts included future stars like Jodie Foster, Penny Marshall, and Mark Hamill. And if you're looking for a show about Swedish immigrants in 1850s Minnesota starring Kurt Russell, the android from Logan's Run, and Bobby Brady's brother... we've got you covered there too. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 23 June 2024
On the longest day of the year, we made the shortest show of the year. Including: Kornflake likes when Aubrey Plaza is weird, Kevin apologizes to a turkey, a rooster named Earl works at an auto shop, and we launch our new Flopcast "Too Many Comics" bonus episodes for ESO Network Patreon supporters. There, that was quick. Time for the longest nap of the year. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 16 June 2024
The struggle continues, as we're still trying to guess each other's favorite songs from the Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the 80s CD series. By 1983, the radio was bursting with new wave weirdos who never would have dented the Top 40 in the pre-MTV era. But suddenly acts like Madness, Nena, and Taco (TACO!) were scoring huge oddball hits. Culture Club was peaking, while Tears For Fears was just getting started. Spandau Ballet delivered a new romantic classic. Big Country turned their guitars into bagpipes. And even a young Tracey Ullman tossed off a gorgeous throwback pop single. Meanwhile some truly goofy (but still super-fun) acts kept a safe distance from mainstream success. (Casey Kasem never had to introduce "Earthquake Song" by Little Girls.) Let's sort it all out and try to score a few more points in this penultimate edition of our silly New Wave Game. Also: A visit to the ukulele festival with the Unlikely Strummers, the Somerville Ukulele Club, and a thousand more ukulele-wielding humans; Lindsay Wagner's bionic birthday; Kevin's parentheses; Kornflake's "eep" words; and Joe's (possibly successful) attempt to swoop in and win the whole game. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 9 June 2024
Another quick fill-in show? You bet! We're flipping through three old comic books that the Mayor of Chickentown actually owned as a little kid, decades before her rise to poultry-themed political bigwig. Up first is The Wizard of Oz, a giant-sized movie adaptation that was actually the first collaboration between Marvel and DC! (Only a flying monkey could bring these rival publishers together.) We also have an issue of Spidey Super Stories, which was published in conjunction with Spider-Man's segments on The Electic Company. And we even have a Casper the Friendly Ghost comic with a creepy Eddie Munster-type demon child on the cover. Plus: Spider-Man goes to the mall! Richie Rich dies! Morgan Freeman as Easy Reader! Irene Cara and Short Circus! Wendy and Spooky! Sad Sack selling Hostess Cupcakes! And more comic book ads for Grit, onion gum, Witchiepoo masks, and The Bad News Bears! Is this whole episode a sneaky backdoor pilot for a Flopcast spinoff show? Perhaps... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 2 June 2024
Kevin just watched a horrible movie and can't wait to tell the Mayor all about it! So kids, welcome to 1978's Record City. It's purportedly a comedy, but yikes, not a single joke lands. But at least the setting is fun, since the whole thing takes place at a late 70s California record store, and they have the Blondie and Jim Croce posters to prove it. The movie is also notable for its ensemble cast of familiar faces from Flopcast favorites like Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Brady Bunch, Batman, Lost Saucer, and even Pink Lady and Jeff. Get ready for some wacky (and problematic and cringeworthy) record store hijinks that completely fail to entertain. Meanwhile, just outside Record City, there's a big talent show hosted by a certain Disco Duck-singing DJ, and starring a certain Sledge-O-Matic-wielding comedian. Do we recommend that you watch Record City? Absolutely not. Does Record City somehow feature just one single arm from a gorilla suit? Oh yes, it sure does. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 26 May 2024
Our first two installments of the New Wave Game ended in ties, because we were both quite clueless. This week we move even deeper into the Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the 80s CD series, as we attempt to guess each other's favorite songs on each volume. Among the weirder, more obscure stuff (any other fans of "I Eat Cannibals"?), we find plenty of new wave classics from Duran Duran, Thomas Dolby, The Tubes, The Fixx, Scandal, Dexy's Midnight Runners, and lots more. Can we possibly resist an oddity called "Chicken Outlaw"? Do we just wish we were in Tijuana eating barbecued iguana? Hop on the escalator of life with us to find out. The Best Stuff in the World podcast - Infocom text adventure games! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 19 May 2024
We're not quite sure why, but the subject of our latest Top 4 1/2 List is... Norway! So here's some of our favorite Norwegian stuff, as approved by the gods of Asgard. We have a silly Viking or two, an icy Justice League member, an 80s synthpop band (that was once trapped in a comic book), and lots more. In fact, Kornflake is revealed to be a superfan of Norwegian comedy, and would like you to know that Ylvis is everywhere. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 12 May 2024
Super-quick show this week, as we say Happy Birthday to masked and bucket-headed guitarist Buckethead, unveil our new Flopcast promo (which Kornflake both conceived and despises), and turn to the Pudding Pages to learn about the weird 1990s soda called Surge. (Fun fact: They still love Surge in Norway, where it goes by a slightly different name. Make your summer travel plans accordingly.) Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 5 May 2024
We're back for another round of our New Wave Game! The rules are simple, because the game is stupid. We're listening to the next three volumes in the Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the 80s CD series, and trying to guess each other's favorite songs. Volumes 4-6 include Flopcast favorites like the Go-Go's, Men at Work, Duran Duran, and Devo. There are also memorable one-or-two hit wonders like Soft Cell, A Flock of Seagulls, the Waitresses, and Bow Wow Wow. And then there are the acts who never really scored a hit, but still made an impression. (Yikes, Jim Carroll knew a lot of people who died...) In New Wave Game Part 1, we both failed miserably. Surely we'll do better this time, if we can only clear our brains of Toni Basil screeching about Mickey. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 28 April 2024
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2024 inductees have been announced, but instead of discussing them like normal humans, we're throwing them into a FlopFight tournament. Our competitors include Mary J. Blige, Foreigner, Frampton, and Ozzy. Our competitions involve cappuccino, penguins, and Smurfs. Anything can happen, and it will probably be ridiculous. Also: Happy Birthday to a Jersey boy who was inducted into the Rock Hall decades ago. Plus: Kevin (and Kevin!) are talking Watchmen on the Best Stuff in the World podcast. Hurm. Watchmen - The Best Stuff In The World podcast! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 21 April 2024
Inspired by a recent viewing of Saturday Night Fever, Kevin and the Mayor of Chickentown flip through some comic books from the late 70s, when DC and Marvel tried to cash in on the disco craze. While Dazzler would become Marvel's disco queen of the 80s, first Spider-Man crawled around the dance floor battling the Hypno-Hustler! Then Batman and Flash enjoyed some Bee Gees tunes at the Disco of Death! Even Superman caught disco fever, and Clark Kent's bizarre dance moves must not be missed. Did Peter Parker and Bruce Wayne wear identical white John Travolta suits? Let's find out. We also enjoy a few classic comic book ads for Sea Monkeys, Fruit Stripe gum, Spalding basketballs, Kryptonite rocks, the Micronauts Battle Cruiser, and (of course) Twinkies. And now we just want to see a disco-dancing Twinkie the Kid. We have a problem. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 14 April 2024
Kornflake is back, just in time for a new game! A new WAVE game, specifically! Thirty years ago, Rhino Records released a fifteen volume series of CDs called Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the 80s. We're looking at the first three of these fantastic compilation albums, and attempting to guess each other's favorite songs. There are some genuine classics (from The Buggles, The Knack, Blondie, Devo, and Squeeze), some bizarro oddities (like "Warm Leatherette" and "Too Young to Date"), a Tim Curry dance number, a surprise Monkees cover, and lots more super-fun but long-forgotten obscurities. (Any other fans of Martha & The Muffins out there?) Who shall emerge victorious from this deep dive into the craziest music of the early 80s? Squish into your old Ultravox t-shirt and join us. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 7 April 2024
Let's wrap up our review of The Krofft Supershow, a super-silly Saturday morning TV show from mad geniuses Sid and Marty Krofft. The second season brought us two weird new segments: Magic Mongo (in which a goofy genie crashes a bikini beach party) and Bigfoot and Wildboy (in which a Sasquatch and a kid with no pants battle aliens and Peter Brady). The show was still hosted by wacky rock band Kaptain Kool and the Kongs, and we also review their appearances on American Bandstand, Donny and Marie, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, and a Saturday Morning preview special with the Bay City Rollers. Of course our favorite Kaptain Kool and the Kongs member is Superchick, played by Debra Clinger, and we conclude our look at Debra's career beyond the Krofft world. Debra appeared on classic 70s/80s TV series like Barnaby Jones, The Hardy Boys, The Love Boat, and Hart to Hart. She starred in her own short-lived series The American Girls, alongside a future Three's Company star. She starred in the silly cult classic movie Midnight Madness, alongside a very young Michael J. Fox. And she even worked on a couple of our beloved Rankin/Bass Christmas specials. Also: 70s Hollywood power couple Lee and Farrah! Yogi Bear in space! Teen runaways and women in prison! The secret of the Dorse! A love connection on the set of Airwolf! Superchick meets the Snow Miser! Superchick meets Colonel Sanders! Krofft Supershow comic books! And the upcoming Super Megafest convention in Massachusetts, with some very special Krofft guests. So join us for more fun Krofft talk here on the Flopcast, where anything goes down, where most of what appears isn't true. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 31 March 2024
With Kornflake away on special assignment, Kevin and the Mayor of Chickentown are free to obsess over The Krofft Supershow, a wild 1970s Saturday morning TV anthology series from Sid and Marty Krofft. Specifically we're looking at the career of musician and actress Debra Clinger, who played Superchick in The Krofft Supershow's house band, Kaptain Kool and the Kongs. Pre-Superchick, Debra and her sisters formed the Clingers, one of the very first all-girl rock bands! She was also in the Rock Flowers, a music group created to tie in with a line of Mattel fashion dolls! So it was quite a path to becoming a Kong, and along the way our conversation covers the Osmonds, the Smothers Brothers, Dick Clark, Casey Kasem, Hanna Barbera's Catanooga Cats, and much more. We also run through the Krofft Supershow first season segments: Wonderbug, Dr. Shrinker, Lost Saucer, and (our favorite) Electra Woman and Dyna Girl. And we look at the other members of Kaptain Kool and the Kongs too. (One member became a sitcom star, one was in Three Dog Night, and one performed at Woodstock!) And we're only halfway through this Superchick deep dive; part two is coming soon. So take a trip with us today, and we will lead you through a land of dreams. Weird Krofft dreams. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 24 March 2024
We're diving back into the pages of Dynamite magazine, so we can pretend it's still 1979. (Give it a try. Set the mood with a Gloria Gaynor record.) This randomly selected issue has Erik Estrada on the cover, and inside we learn that the CHiPs star had a problem with chips. Also inside: How to ruin your lunch with weird Dynamite recipes, a bizarre sneak peek at Mrs. Doubtfire, Tony Danza back in the boxing ring, Kiss notebooks vs. Bambi notebooks, Dynamite vs. one of Charlie's Angels, the Dynamite Duo vs. themselves, a decapitated teddy bear, and much more. All we're missing is our free Bee Gees poster, which some kid must have ripped out of the magazine 45 years ago. It's a tragedy. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 17 March 2024
Short show this week! We're sleepy. But during a quick visit to Northeast Comic Con, we find old friends, fancy nerd dice, and members of The Go-Go's, The Cars, and the cast of Growing Pains. We also recommend Enterprisesplaining, a silly new Star Trek podcast that doesn't care if you've ever seen Star Trek. Also: Happy Birthday to Matthew Modine. (Were you more disturbed by Matthew in Full Metal Jacket, Stranger Things, or Private School? Let us know.) And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 10 March 2024
It's the second half of our look at every television series that debuted in the year 1999. And once again, we remember just a few of them, and only saw a couple. (Kornflake was a fan of Judging Amy, while for Kevin, this was the year of Freaks and Geeks.) But the list also includes dozens of obscure short-lived sitcoms, cartoons, talk shows, game shows, and at least one insane cannibalistic Canadian woman in the Amazon jungle. (Maybe it was just her way of preparing for Y2K.) Do you remember any of these shows? Are you still secretly hoping for a reboot of Get Real, Cold Feet, or Oh, Grow Up? Let us know. We'll make some calls. And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 3 March 2024
We're diving into television of the year 1999... which is quite recent by Flopcast standards, but yikes, it was a quarter century ago. We have a giant list of every TV show that debuted that year, and this week we only get halfway through the list. Several long-running cartoons started in 1999, including Family Guy, Futurama, and SpongeBob. But there were also cartoons we don't remember at all, starring ants, hippos, mutant babies, and more. We also don't remember a ton of 1999 sitcoms, dramas, game shows, and something with a lemur puppet. Look, we seem to be pretty clueless about almost everything that happened that year. (Aren't you glad we're here to be your guides?) Let's get through this together. Stay tuned for Part 2, when we'll get into all the 1999 fall season premieres. Meanwhile we can't help thinking that if we'd paid more attention back then, The Chimp Channel would still be on the air today. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 25 February 2024
Kevin and the Mayor of Chickentown are celebrating the career of comic book artist Ramona Fradon, who died this week at the age of 97. Ramona was one of the only women drawing comics way back in the early 60s, when she was the premier Aquaman artist for DC Comics, and co-created Aquaman's teen sidekick, Aqualad. Later in the 60s, she also co-created one of DC's oddest heroes, Metamorpho the Element Man. Ramona's 70s comics work included Freedom Fighters (with Doll Man, who wishes you'd stop giggling about his name), Plastic Man (Ramona's art was even seen on the Plastic Man cartoon series), and Super Friends (with your favorite space monkey, Gleek). She then jumped from comic books to comic strips with an impressive fifteen year run on Brenda Starr. And even in recent years, Ramona kept busy with convention appearances and commissions. So we spend the show flipping through a pile of old comics and admiring Ramona's art, but we're occasionally distracted by the ads for Hostess Fruit Pies, Mego action figures, Big Jim's P.A.C.K., ugly Barbie doll knock-offs, and Crazy Crabs. (Yes, back in the day, you could buy actual live crabs through mail order comic book ads. But what we really wanted was Aquaman's octopus pal, Topo...) Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 18 February 2024
It's time for our annual review of the nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame... which means we could start screaming "What about the Monkees?!" at any time. But there are some worthy and long overdue performers up for induction, such as Cher, Mariah, and (finally!) Kool & the Gang. Join us as we go through the whole list for you. (Spoiler: Still no Tiffany. COME ON.) And yeah, if you think Kornflake didn't somehow work a flying cow into the conversation... you don't really know us. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 11 February 2024
After a three year break, we're getting back to The Backs of Life! (As requested by absolutely no one! You're welcome!) Back in 2021, we started reviewing all the "backdoor pilot" episodes of classic 80s sitcom The Facts of Life. Now as we finally revive this very important project, we've brought in a special guest reviewer: friend of the Flopcast, Sci-Fi Explosion mastermind, and certified Factologist Chris Cummins! Kevin, Kornflake, and Chris are looking at the 1988 backdoor pilot episode "Big Apple Blues," in which Natalie moves to New York City to share an apartment with a pack of weirdos, including a pre-21 Jump Street Richard Grieco and a pre-SNL David Spade! Can Natalie make her dreams come true in the big city? Is a margarine spokesperson named King Toast somehow involved? And will it all lead to a successful long-running spinoff series? (Answers: Yes, yes, and absolutely not.) Meanwhile back in Peekskill with our regular cast, Blair has garage sale fever, Pippa might be a robot, and we get a brief but delightful glimpse of Tootie's old roller skates. It's magnificent. Kids, we still have one more Backs of Life episode to go, and we'll try to get to it before 2027. Watch Sci-Fi Explosion on Twitch! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 4 February 2024
It's another goofy random little show this week, including: Kornflake finds an Oompa Loompa at the Chocolate Expo; Kevin finds a rock star at the disco; the secret language of chickens is revealed; we're less than excited about Popcorn Day; and it's almost time to revive our Facts of Life review project, the Backs of Life. Just as Tootie prophesized. 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 January 2024
It's a surprisingly disco-themed episode, because Kevin, Kornflake, the Mayor of Chickentown, and Ed from Sponge Awareness Foundation all met in the middle of New Hampshire for a spectacular ABBA tribute show. We were there because our old pal (and occasional SAF guitarist) Mike was onstage in the band, delivering killer guitar solos like you never heard back in the disco era. We followed the show with a visit to the Red Arrow Diner, where we hadn't been since Kornflake's notorious tooth incident a decade ago. (Longtime Flopcast listeners remember what happened... oh yes, Mr. T was involved...) Also: A meeting with supercool vocalist Militia Vox, weird answering machine messages with Doornail, Plastic Man vs. the Disco Mummy, and Chickens in the News with the great Luke Ski! So slip into something sparkly and enjoy. You can dance, you can jive, having the podcast of your life. Dancing Queens is at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, NH through February 11! Luke Ski's new song "Chicken!" is available at The FuMP! 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: Earth Station Trek!
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Sun, 21 January 2024
Ready for more vocabulary lessons with the Justice League of America? We're diving back into The Super Dictionary, a 1978 book that attempted to mix learning with superheroes, and succeeded in being completely bizarre. This time we'll look at entries involving: walrus baseball with Aquaman, cleaning an invisible jet with Wonder Woman, nap time with the Man of Steel, people crashing when they try to fly like Hawkgirl, the Batmobile crashing because Robin can't drive, Supergirl weirdly watching kids sleep, Luthor weirdly watching people comb their hair, a stranger in the basement, naked aliens... and multiple entries about Green Lantern's curious obsession with ducks. Study hard, kids, and maybe we'll make you an honorary Wonder Twin. Also: Happy Birthday to Lost in Space's Will Robinson, Bill Mumy! Light a candle on a fish head for Bill. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 14 January 2024
National Whatever Day involves dancing like a cuckoo; our 2024 health and fitness plan is mostly lo mein-based; the Sid and Marty Krofft Saturday morning shows of the 1970s are now streaming (great news for Bay City Rollers fans like us); we somehow connect the Krofft shows to The Love Boat, the Snow Miser, and Chewbacca's creepy dad Itchy; and we finally share our New Year's Resolutions. Spoiler: They're a little stupid. 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: Monster Attack!
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Sun, 7 January 2024
Kornflake returns to join Kevin and The Mayor of Chickentown as we finish our look back at those we lost in 2023. Our coverage of the second half of the year includes: sitcom favorites (Chrissy from Three's Company, Bull from Night Court, Kraus from Benson, Chandler from Friends), cartoon favorites (the voices behind Harley Quinn, Solomon Grundy, and some School House Rock classics), musicians (members of The Eagles, Kool and the Gang, The Pogues, and The Association, as well as Tony Bennett and of course, Sinéad), a Smothers brother (who was also The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas), television's original Lois Lane, Lost in Space's original Major Don West, and many more. Then there are a couple of all-time Flopcast favorites who made unforgettable impacts on Saturday morning TV and beyond: Marty Krofft and Paul Reubens. And could the memorial show somehow include some relevant Chickens in the News? Well, sure. It's been a weird year. And it's a long show, because come on. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
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