Sun, 8 February 2026
It's been over a year, but we're finally returning to The Super Dictionary, that bizarre book from the 70s that taught vocabulary to the children using DC Comics superheroes. This time we're learning (sort of) about words starting with H, I, and J. But because this book is so weird, we're really learning that Batgirl is fascinated by geese, whales love Wonder Woman's shoes, Atom rides hummingbirds, Supergirl irons her cape, Catwoman's house is filthy, and Comet the Super Horse hates chickens. Yikes, we've learned so much, and we're not even halfway through The Super Dictionary. But we're trying to pace ourselves, lest our heads explode with too much very important information. (Is Aquaman secretly a kangaroo? We'll find out soon, when we get to the K section.) 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! This week's other promo: the MarsCon Comedy Music Track!
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Sun, 1 February 2026
Were you listening to the radio half a century ago? And was it ridiculous? We're looking at a list of the Top 100 songs of 1976, and it sure seems that way. But it's a fun mix of classic rock, disco, easy listening, disco, novelty songs, and a little more disco. There's even a TV theme song on the list, and it just might involve a Sweathog or two. If you remember when the Bay City Rollers ruled the charts, this will take you back. Slip into your Starland Vocal Band concert t-shirt and enjoy. 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: Luke Ski's Animation & Stuff Podcast!
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Sun, 25 January 2026
This is a short one, because here in Chickentown, we're all a bit under the weather. (And the weather is not good. A massive snowstorm approaches, and we may be trapped in the studio until June. Please send coffee.) But we do have a quick concert report on The Monkee Men, an excellent Monkees tribute band we learned about from our friends at the Monkeeing Around podcast. This leads to a discussion of tribute bands in general, and we also announce the formation of Toy Soldiers, our new Martika tribute band. But that might be the medication talking. 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, 18 January 2026
With the Mayor away on special assignment, it's a quick solo show with Kevin just yammering about comic books from 1976. Our collection of goofy 50-year-old comics includes: An evil space cowboy riding Superman, Harvey Pekar on the streets of Cleveland, the Joker and his pet hyena, Alfred E. Neuman as George Washington, Ronald McDonald in the Olympics, super heroes battling super gorillas, Andy Panda's tricky pal Charlie Chicken, and much more. Half a century ago, comic books cost thirty cents. But this podcast is free. All we ask is that you waste your time giggling about Aquaman with 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: EnterpriseSplaining!
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Sun, 11 January 2026
Here's the second half of our memorial show, celebrating those we lost in 2025 from the world of pop culture and beyond. And yes, this week's list includes both actresses who played Flo, the sassy waitress at Mel's Diner, in the movie and TV versions of Alice. We also cover the mom from Lost in Space, the receptionist at WKRP, the sarcastic little sister on What's Happening!!, a Phantom Zone villain, a Spinal Tap keyboardist, a ghost-busting gorilla, a Cricket, a Turtle, a Spaceman, heavy metal's Prince of Darkness, and Buck Rogers. Plus many more. So get a beverage, get comfortable, and get a few Tom Lehrer songs stuck in your head. 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, 4 January 2026
We do this every year - time to look back and remember the people we lost in 2025 from the world of pop culture and beyond. This week's list includes favorites from music (Roberta Flack, Brian Wilson, Sly Stone), television (Ruth Buzzi, Loretta Swit, George Wendt), movies (Gene Hackman, David Lynch, Val Kilmer), comics (Peter David, Jules Feiffer, Jim Shooter), and many more. And we're not done, so come back for Part 2 next week. As always, bring plenty of beverages. 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, 28 December 2025
For our final show of 2025, we're just relaxing and reflecting on another year of this, the most popular podcast in the world (if you don't count every other podcast). So we're looking back at Flopcast subjects, segments, and guests, as well as concerts, conventions, and whatever other weird junk kept up occupied all year. We also reveal our New Year's Resolution. It will shock you. 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, 21 December 2025
It's our annual holiday spectacular! And once again we're talking about old Christmas cartoons, because that's all we care about. But this time, we're looking at a couple of cartoons we've never discussed on the show before, and they're both based on classic comic strips. (They're also both on YouTube, if you want to play along.) From 1979, A Family Circus Christmas features a ghost Santa, a candy cane farm in the clouds, a busty mom, and plenty of crazy jazz flute. And from 1982, Ziggy's Gift features the scrawny tree from Charlie Brown Christmas, the Irish cop from Frosty the Snowman, a creepy gray guy, and a million screaming turkeys. Both are magnificent. Also: A glitter bomb Christmas card from Panda! A Manos: The Hands of Fate Christmas card from Jacob! A lost Ziggy pencil sharpener! A lost TV show described as "Mission Impossible meets The Love Boat"! And the Mighty Morphin Figgy Pudding Pages! So please throw up the sash, turn with a jerk, and enjoy. 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, 14 December 2025
It's the stupid holidays, so 'tis the season for a Top 4 1/2 List of our favorite holiday dogs! Of course our list includes dogs from Christmas cartoons (compliments of Charlie Brown, the Grinch, the Simpsons, and more), as well as Christmas books and even a goofy Christmas song. If we missed your favorite holiday dog, let us know! Or just keep it to yourself! That works too. Also: An evening with the stars of Stand By Me (they brought along plenty of cherry flavored Pez), and a holiday show with a Carpenters tribute band in Woonsocket, Rhode Island! It's all just so festive that we can't stand it. 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, 7 December 2025
Every year, dozens of ridiculous identical holiday movies are unleashed by Hallmark, Lifetime, Netflix, and the like. (They're so cookie-cutter that many of them literally involve cutting cookies.) And every year, we try to fix them by making them weirder. So we've selected a few new Christmas movies, and we're discussing their plots (featuring time travel, glassblowing, and pickleball) and casts (featuring, as always, Lacey Chabert). Then we're randomly inserting some strange new element (a camel with wings, perhaps) into each movie so it meets our strict weirdness standards. There, we just saved Christmas. Pass the figgy pudding. 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 Boo!
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Sun, 30 November 2025
Before we plunge into weeks of holiday silliness, here's something different for you! Five years ago, our friend Amanda decided to run at least one mile in each of the 351 towns and cities that make up Massachusetts. A month ago, she finished. And she's here to tell us all about the whole project. Including: Covered bridges, waterfalls, murder roads, World War II bunkers, Jaws filming sites, an alleged UFO encounter site, Myles Standish's legs, a chicken with a backpack, sweaty women on a bus, and much more. It all wrapped up in the geographic center of the state with dozens of friends, special Running Massachusetts t-shirts, and beer. But even if you weren't there, you can still help Amanda support Voices Against Violence; we'll have a link for you. Next week we'll be back to our usual festive shenanigans. Please bring eight gallons of egg nog. Amanda's Worcester Magazine story about her running project! The Mayor is talking Doctor Who on The 42cast! Kevin is talking Mad Magazing on The Best Stuff in the World! 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 Who!
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Sun, 23 November 2025
As we creep into the holidays, once again we're looking back at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades of the past. (Debbie Gibson is scheduled to perform at this year's parade, so you should all be road-tripping to Manhattan RIGHT NOW.) We start with the 2015 parade (featuring that top-hatted honey-roasted freak, Mr. Peanut), then keep jumping back ten years at a time, all the way to the premiere of the Underdog balloon in 1965. (Underdog has been watching us from above ever since, and he is most displeased.) Along the way, we'll meet some of our favorite pop culture stars (even Alice from The Brady Bunch shows up), and we'll pay our respects to the giant balloon characters that were torn apart by trees and lamp posts. (Now we know why Kermit the Frog and Pink Panther hate Thanksgiving.) So fix yourself a festive plate of popcorn, jelly beans, pretzels, and toast, and enjoy. The Mayor on The Doctor's Beard 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: Earth Station Trek!
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Sun, 16 November 2025
When our favorite 1980s soft rock band comes to the town where we spent the 1980s, you know we'll be there. And so Kevin has a report from the sold out Air Supply concert at the Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket, Rhode Island! (We were front row center. Close enough to catch an official Air Supply guitar pick? You bet.) Also: The Mayor of Chickentown joins the Early Birds Club! Kevin accidentally runs a half marathon! And Finnish nannies sing Badfinger! Next week we'll have some holiday stuff. This week we're just being goofy. 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: Cosmic Pizza!
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Sun, 9 November 2025
We're back with our full report on the city of Seattle, which turned out to be way over on the other side of the continent. (Probably should have packed a bag or something...) How many weird and silly activities could we squish into just a few days out west? Let's find out. Including: Retro-futuristic fun at the Space Needle! A robot on the monorail! Angry otters at the aquarium! A massive collection of nerd stuff at the Museum of Pop Culture! Giant trolls! A visit to Archie McPhee's Rubber Chicken Museum! A visit to filming locations from Twin Peaks and Northern Exposure! A fortune-telling psychic chicken! And yikes, even more. Why, we'll even teach you the proper way to pronounce "Seattle," if you believe everything from The Brady Bunch. And we do. 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: Monkeeing Around!
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Sun, 2 November 2025
It's been about a year since we killed a whole episode flipping through an issue of Dynamite, that classic magazine for kids of the 70s and 80s, so let's do it. We have an issue from 1976 (compliments of Chris from Sci Fi Explosion!) and on the cover are America's favorite toothy Mormons, Donny and Marie Osmond! Also in this issue: Fashion tips direct from Medford, Massachusetts; an Elton John pinball machine; a remarkable new gadget called the Betamax; the adventures of the Dynamite Duo and their new superhero pal, Jive Turkey; Magic Wanda in her painter's pants; a visit to Marvel Comics to learn about Spider-Man; weird nicknames for Ron Howard; how to start your own sky-writing business; how to cook ping pong balls; a sad trombone player; Dynamite Bummers; and much more. It's fantastic. So when your teacher hands out this month's school book club order form... you know what to do. The Mayor on The Doctor's Beard 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: EnterpriseSplaining!
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Sun, 26 October 2025
For our Halloween episode, we're revisiting a favorite subject: the cheapo department store Halloween costumes produced for decades by the Ben Cooper company. Kids loved slipping into their uncomfortable plastic masks and weird vinyl smocks for an evening of begging the neighbors for Twix bars. We look at superhero costumes (including some odd ones like Web Woman), Krofft costumes (you could be a Sleestak, a Bugaloo, or even Dr. Shrinker), and lots more, including the infamous Fonzie "He-e-y!" costume. Also: The classic Universal monster movies! A brilliant new monster t-shirt from cartoonist Kerry Callen! And the new Muppet-style versions of Franken Berry, Boo Berry, and Count Chocula! So have a festive Halloween, kids. We recommend shivering in a pumpkin patch all night until your angry sister drags you inside. Jason Young's Oldtimes Digest books! The 1980 Ben Cooper catalog on plaidstallions.com! 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: Luke Ski's Animation & Stuff Podcast!
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Sun, 19 October 2025
We're back from a quick visit to Albany, New York, where Kevin ran a half marathon (finishing in 309th place, probably not qualifying for the Olympics) and learned the shocking truth about Alice from The Brady Bunch. Now here in Chickentown, we're looking at an odd 1959 comic book called Weather-Bird. It stars a chicken and a goat, and the whole thing is a promotional gimmick to sell children's shoes. We love it. And we were reminded of some other weird comic book shoe ads. Several 1970s ads star a shoe-themed superhero called the AAU Shuperstar. One of his enemies is called Missile-Toe. And we can't stop thinking about them. We might have a problem. 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, 12 October 2025
It's no secret that we're rather obsessed with the 80s around here, so this week we're chatting with author Debby Meltzer Quick. Debby's first novel (the first of several!) is May I Have Your Attention Please, a mid-80s high school romance set in Eastboro, Massachusetts. Kevin and Debby discuss the novel itself, how much pop culture nostalgia to include in a story, how to draw from one's own life without getting too autobiographical, and much more. Including: 80s movies both well-remembered (The Breakfast Club) and largely forgotten (Give My Regards to Broad Street); going to the Worcester Centrum to see Van Halen, Ratt, and U2 (but alas, not Journey); getting up early for Underdog cartoons; working at the cookie shop at the mall; the weirdness of Orange Julius; early video game systems; bad coffee; new Coke; and the dining room carpet Debby has not been allowed to walk on for forty years and counting. We really enjoyed this conversation, and you will too. And if you can find Eastboro, Massachusetts on a map, please let us know. The Mayor of Chickentown discussing Travelers on The 42cast! 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: The Watch-A-Thon of Rassilon!
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Sun, 5 October 2025
We didn't make any big plans for our big 700th episode, because that would have required effort, which is frowned upon around here. Instead we have a hastily assembled pile of random stuff, just for you. Including: Our ongoing cluelessness about Buc-ee's! An update on our favorite Bugaloo from Dragon Con! The 700th biggest song of the 1980s (according to our Ranking the 80s book)! The 700th biggest movie of all time (according to some list we found)! The upcoming Jukebox Thrillers anthology of 80s music-inspired short stories! And a Chickens in the News segment about Nike the rescued rooster! Hope you enjoy it. Hey, give us another 700 episodes, and maybe we'll start to get our act together. 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, 28 September 2025
Our Dragon Con review finally concludes, just in time for us to get ready for next year's Dragon Con. We're looking at the last two days of the convention, including: Muppet talk with Muppet performers/designers Bill Barretta, Kevin Clash, Bonnie Erickson, and Dave Goelz! Actual trick-or-treating in the American Sci-Fi Classics Track room at Halloween Con! The science of Severance (it seems like a good idea)! Our British New Wave panel (with nary a Duran in sight, alas)! Our Hollywood Hits the Arcade panel (during which Joy Sticks was finally recognized as a cinematic masterpiece)! The Agatha All Along panel! Another wonderful Sci-Fi Explosion presentation, featuring Sico the Robot and drunk Ewoks! Another Roll-a-Panel, featuring the spectacular failure of our Ghost singalong! The Peacemaker panel! And our annual Dragon Con costume review, with Jaws costumes, Devo costumes, Caddyshack costumes, a Labyrinth Firey, a Bugaloo (!!!), and a whole lot of chickens. It was magnificent. See you next year, weird people! 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 DCU!
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Sun, 21 September 2025
Our coverage of Dragon Con (Atlanta's massive Labor Day weekend nerd convention) continues! Thrill to every single weird thing we did on Friday and Saturday! Including: The Geek Girls Run! The Muppet Mayhem tournament! The return of the Music Video Book Club (during which Carly Simon hooked up with Sico the Robot)! Fantastic Four cartoons with Chris from Sci-Fi Explosion! The return of Classic Sci-Fi Court (during which Kevin defended a lost Justice League TV pilot)! ESO's Misfits of Science Fiction TV 1985 presentation (basically an excuse to make Courteney Cox badge ribbons)! The Mayor's Severance panel! Remy's Jaws panel! Kevin's Creature Commandos panel! Dave's Batman Forever panel! Even more panels with the casts of The Magicians, Arrow, and the Muppets! A late night show by nerd-funk band Raspberry Pie! And, of course, much more. And we're still not done! But next week we'll wrap up the whole silly weekend. Hopefully. 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, 14 September 2025
Here we go with the first of three (yikes, let's hope it's just three) episodes reviewing everything we did at Dragon Con, the ultimate gathering of geeks over Labor Day weekend in Atlanta. Including: A visit to the Center for Puppetry Arts, where we found members of Emmet Otter's Jug Band and the Riverbottom Nightmare Band! Turtles and Muscovy ducks at Piedmont Park! All our weird friends from the American Sci-Fi Classics Track! Our guided tour for new Dragon Con attendees, during which we were secretly recorded for nefarious purposes! Dangerous fake Oreos! Classic arcade games and Geek Singalongs with Kate from Strange Animals Podcast! And some Molly Ringwald-style antics at the 80s Prom and the 120 Minutes dance party! Okay, that sounds exhausting enough, and we're just getting started. Come back next week as the silliness continues... 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, 7 September 2025
It's the shocking conclusion of our second Saturday Night Live character FlopFight tournament, and Dragon Con American Sci-Fi Classics Track co-director Joe Crowe is still here providing expert commentary. Our competitors may include a pair of insecure bodybuilders, a simple caveman, a lady with a less-than-positive attitude, and perhaps even the devil himself. It all leads to a showdown with last week's winner, and we shall determine the ultimate SNL character champion. (Spoiler: It's not Massive Head Wound Harry. Probably should have been.) 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, 31 August 2025
A few months back, to celebrate Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary, we did a whole FlopFight tournament of SNL characters. But since so many classic characters didn't get to play, we thought we'd just do it again. And since this is Dragon Con weekend, we thought we'd bring in a special guest: Dragon Con American Sci-Fi Classics Track co-director Joe Crowe! Joe will help us sort through this new field of goofy competitors, which just might include a visit to Fernando's Hideaway, a terrifying ride with a driving cat, and the man known only as... Johnny Canal. So join us and learn which SNL weirdo is advancing to next week's final round. Meanwhile if your doorbell rings, go ahead and answer it. It's probably just a candygram. 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 Who!
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Sun, 24 August 2025
We're just days away from Dragon Con, Atlanta's massive annual gathering of the geeks! And the full schedule of all eight zillion Dragon Con events has been released. So this week, after a quick guest update (Simon Pegg is in! Tom Wilson is out!), we're looking at our individual schedules, so you'll know how to find us or (more likely) avoid us. Including: The Dragon Con walking tours; the Geek Girls Run; the Sci-Fi Music Video Book Club; Classic Sci-Fi Court; a tournament of Muppets; panels about Severance, Peacemaker, Creature Commandos, new wave music, video game movies; and more! We'll even have weird badge ribbons for you. So hop on a midnight train to Georgia and get ready to party like you're the biggest nerd in the world. Who knows, perhaps you are... 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 Boo!
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Sun, 17 August 2025
Our Dragon Con coverage officially begins, and it might never end! Dragon Con is our favorite nerd event of the year, it's almost here, and this week we're looking through the guest list. Among those tentatively scheduled to appear are stars from Back to the Future, Daredevil, Buck Rogers, Star Trek, The Magicians... and even some actual Muppet performers. Also appearing will be many fine writers, artists, musicians, scientists, and humble podcasters, including a bunch of maniacs from right here on the ESO Network. Also: The 120 Minutes dance party! The return of Sci-Fi Explosion! The debut of HalloweenCon! And our weird idea for a gym teacher panel! Next week: More thrilling Dragon Con preview action! You might want to get to Atlanta and start standing in lines right now. 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, 10 August 2025
With a free week before we start like eight months of nonstop Dragon Con coverage, Kevin and the Mayor are trying something new: We're recording the show from outside Chickentown Studios, in the great and filthy outdoors. Hopefully this will provide a more festive summertime atmosphere, until the mosquitoes and bats and angry villagers show up. So with nothing better to do until a search party arrives, we offer a couple of new movie reviews (Superman and Fantastic Four), recommend a TV show or two, and plug Kevin's recent guest appearance on the EnterpriseSplaining podcast. And that's it! Next week, we'll have our first Dragon Con preview show. And we'll probably be back inside. It's scary out here. Kevin was a guest on EnterpriseSplaining episode 46! 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: Cosmic Pizza!
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Sun, 3 August 2025
If you've just been waiting all summer long for The Flopcast's annual robot-themed Top 4 1/2 List... well, first, what's wrong with you? Go to the beach or something. But also... here it is! Our theme this year is "recycled robots." Sometimes a robot would be designed for some movie or TV show, and then later repurposed for some other movie or TV show. Forbidden Planet's Robby the Robot is the prime example. Robby had a decades-long career popping up in one project after another. A few oddball robots even started making appearances in the real world, so you could meet them at nightclubs or shopping malls. We'll look at a few of these jobbing journeyman robots (four and a half of them, to be exact), and we have a special guest to show us the way. Our old pal Chris Cummins, host of Sci-Fi Explosion and expert on all manner of bizarro pop culture, is back! Chris knows a thing or two about weird robots. And now you will too. Ex Astris Scientia, our source for recycled Star Trek robots! 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: Monkeeing Around!
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Sun, 27 July 2025
We're packing all our summer concert reports into one big show! First it's Aimee Mann in New Hampshire with her regular opener (and no stranger to the nerd world) Jonathan Coulton. (As longtime Aimee fans, we're still a little grumpy about missing the recent 'Til Tuesday reunion show...) Then we have two shows from the same exhausting weekend! First up is "Weird Al" Yankovic, who brought his Bigger and Weirder Tour (with weird opening act Puddles Pity Party) to a giant casino in Connecticut. Then the very next night, there was REO Speedwagon (sort of) and Styx, with opener Don Felder of the Eagles, at Great Woods back here in Massachusetts. (Mr. Roboto, we've missed you.) It was a fine bunch of super-fun nostalgic shows (including some random meetups with old friends of the Flopcast), and now we're ready to flop over and relax until Dragon Con. But do you still have any summer concerts coming up? If you're planning to Wang Chung tonight, do please let us know. 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!
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Sun, 20 July 2025
After ten long silly weeks, we've arrived at the end of our 1980s-themed episodes. And 1989 was a huge year at the movies, so we thought we'd play one more round of our Movie Recasting Movie Character Movie Game. That means we're pulling characters from randomly-selected 1989 movies, and then inserting them into other movies. This usually results in much weirder movies. (Speaking of weird, a certain comedy musician starred in a 1989 movie...) Who gets to play this time? Batman? Indiana Jones? A Ghostbuster? A Heather or two? Harry and/or Sally? So many possibilities. And to help us sort it all out, please welcome returning Flopcast guest Blasted Bill! 1989 was a big year for Bill, and not just because he is constantly mistaken for Young Einstein. Blasted Bill's NEW TikTok account! 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, 13 July 2025
We're using our 1988 episode to finally wrap up our Backs of Life series, in which we review every backdoor pilot episode of classic 80s sitcom The Facts of Life. And this final two-part backdoor pilot from April 1988 is actually the end of the whole show! (Farewell, Tootie...) We start with a fleeting glimpse of the regular cast (which by this point also includes Australian moppet Pippa), but soon we're solidly in backdoor pilot territory. Eastland, the girls' old school, is in danger of closing, so Blair buys the place, and welcomes boys to enroll as well as girls. Then we see a whole new crop of young Eastland students, including some future stars: Juliette Lewis, Mayim Bialik, and Seth Green! Did this backdoor pilot lead to another beloved long-running series? Of course not. But does it end with the girls meeting a giant chicken? Well, kids, sometimes the world really seems to be living up to our dreams. 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, 6 July 2025
1987 was a transitional year in comic books. DC successfully relaunched Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Justice League in their new post-Crisis universe. Marvel started a new universe too, which they called, uh, "New Universe." Also at Marvel, Spider-Man got married, an event so big that an actual wedding ceremony was held at a baseball stadium. Meanwhile, Alan Moore wrapped up his brilliant run on Swamp Thing, American Splendor's Harvey Pekar appeared on Late Night with David Letterman, Max Headroom made the cover of Mad Magazine... and Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham met the nefarious Dr. Chickenstein. And hey, our pal Kevin Cafferty (from Gleaming the Tube and The Best Stuff in the World) is here to help us figure it all out! Because it's been 38 years, and comic book nerds like us are still waiting for the next issue of Sonic Disruptors... 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: Luke Ski's Animation & Stuff Podcast!
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Sun, 29 June 2025
Returning to the Flopcast after a full decade away, it's our old pal (and comedy musician, podcaster, animator, storyboard artist, and voice actor) the great Luke Ski! Luke came up with the subject for this week's Top 4 1/2 List, and it's a long one: The Top 4 1/2 Songs Made For A Movie Where The Title Of The Song Is Also The Title Of The Movie And The Lyrics Of The Chorus Of The Song! Got that? And since this is our 1986 episode, all of Kevin's movies and songs are from 1986. Luke's choices are also mostly from the mid-80s, which seemed to be the peak of this very important cinematic trend that no one else has ever noticed. It's a wild list which just might involve aliens, nerds, and a certain duck. Enjoy! And watch for episode 5 of the new Luke Ski's Animation & Stuff Podcast, also out this week! Kevin is Luke's guest over there, and we do another Top 4 1/2 List that's even weirder than this one. Find links to ALL of Luke's stuff right here! 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!
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Sun, 22 June 2025
It's the 40th anniversary of Live Aid, and we have a guy who was there. Our friend Rich Wilhelm takes us on a deep dive through his long day at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia for the biggest charity concert in history. Including: General admission tickets at the shocking price of thirty-five dollars! Rich's mom carefully recording the whole show on VHS! The unknown kid who talked his way into opening the concert! Philadelphia hometown heroes like Hall & Oates, Patti LaBelle, and The Hooters! The globe-trotting antics of Phil Collins (and Cher)! Led Zeppelin reunited! Our favorite loverboy, Billy Ocean! Tina's wardrobe malfunction (with a little help from Mick)! And the surprise Lionel Richie finale! Plus Madonna, the Cars, REO Speedwagon, Rick Springfield, Tom Petty, Run-D.M.C., Duran Duran, and pretty much everyone else! Hey, if you're gonna be trapped in an overcrowded stadium for sixteen hours on a hot summer day, you could do worse. These days, you can find Rich writing about music for PopMatters.com. But on July 13, 1985, Rich was at Live Aid. And the line to be super-jealous of Rich starts right here. 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: The Watch-A-Thon of Rassilon!
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Sun, 15 June 2025
The Mayor finally gets a week off, because we have a special guest. Judy is one of Kevin's running buddies, and she teaches us all about ultramarathon running! (Have you ever run 100 miles in a day? Judy has. Don't you feel completely exhausted just reading that?) Then for some 1980s talk (which does happen occasionally around here), we explore the world of 80s fashion. Hopefully you still have your leg warmers and giant shoulder pads ready to go. And finally, since this is our 1984 episode, Judy shares her Top 4 1/2 List of favorite movies from that magical year. Is Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo at the top of her list? Probably not, but let's find out together... Follow Judy's running adventures on Intragram! The Best Stuff in the World covers Raiders of the Lost Ark! Gleaming the Tube covers Record City! 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, 8 June 2025
Flopcast episode 683! As our 1980s-themed episodes roll along, we return to the weird movie game we played a few weeks ago. But this time we're looking at the movies of 1983. So we're yanking characters from randomly-selected movies, shoving them into different movies, and seeing what happens. Our participants are characters from Return of the Jedi, National Lampoon's Vacation, Superman III, Flashdance, and many more. Including... D. C. Cab. So yeah, that means Mr. T might get involved. And he already pities all of us. 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: Dragon Con Report!
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Sun, 1 June 2025
It's another 80s-themed episode, and we're up to 1982. And to keep this one short and silly, we're just looking at the albums we bought from that year. It's a mix of goofy mainstream pop (Hall & Oates, Air Supply, REO Speedwagon), some slightly cooler stuff (Elvis Costello, Devo, Midnight Oil), and one very special record from Buckner and Garcia. Because this was the year we all had Pac-Man Fever. And some of us never fully recovered. 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: Tales From Hollywoodland!
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Sun, 25 May 2025
It's a simple plan this week: We're just looking at what was on television in late May of 1981. Including: A bizarre Happy Days musical, a horrifying Waltons episode, Mork in a bubble, skydiving Hulk, something called "Women Who Rate a 10," Bo Duke with amnesia, Daisy Duke on Enos, Batman on Fantasy Island, a Muppet on a medical drama, a dead parrot at Mel's Diner, and way too many variety shows (from Bob Hope, Steve Allen, Robert Klein, the Gatlin Brothers, and the Mandrell Sisters). It all sounds wonderful, doesn't it? You should probably cancel Netflix and invest in a time machine. The Mayor of Chickentown on The Doctor's Beard 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, 18 May 2025
As we kick off ten weeks of 80s-themed episodes, we're returning to a goofy little game we invented a couple of years ago. The idea is to pluck characters from randomly selected movies from the year 1980, insert them into other movies, and discuss the ramifications. Potential movies include Flash Gordon, Caddyshack, Popeye, Xanadu, The Empire Strikes Back, and many more. So grab a hideously overpriced tub of popcorn and get comfortable. In all likelihood, this is gonna get weird. 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 Who!
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Sun, 11 May 2025
It's the 13th anniversary of the Flopcast! We started this nonsense way back in 2012 (as court-ordered community service, but let's not get into that), and here we are today, as dizzy and confused as ever. And to celebrate, we're doing... not much of anything. Kevin and the Mayor just wander through a few quick little subjects, including: Running a half marathon in Maine; running a 5K in the rain; a visit to the Watch City Steampunk Festival, ruled by our friend Queen Jessica Mercy; the return of our favorite metal band, Anaria; an important ornithological discovery right here at the studio; the Columbo-style antics of Natasha Lyonne on Poker Face; and a pile of new "facsimile" comic books, which allow us to enjoy the first Aquaman story without spending eight zillion dollars. Now it's on to yet another year of Flopcasting. We promise to continue accomplishing nothing. 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 Boo!
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Sun, 4 May 2025
It's the conclusion of our FlopFight tournament of Saturday Night Live characters! We have miscellaneous freaks and weirdos competing from 50 years of SNL history. Will it be Wayne and Garth vs. Hans and Franz? Canteen Boy vs. Gap Girls? So many possibilities. But only one shall survive, and they shall look marvelous. 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, 27 April 2025
Let's celebrate 50 years of Saturday Night Live with a big silly tournament of SNL characters. Church Lady vs. Target Lady? Festrunk Brothers vs. Sweeney Sisters? Gilly vs. Gumby? So many weird possibilities, but only one shall survive and advance to next week's final round. Anything can happen, it will be ridiculous and stupid, and we promise not to provide you with any deep thoughts. 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: Cosmic Pizza!
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Sun, 20 April 2025
We're looking back at the comic book scene of forty years ago, and we've brought in a special guest to help: ESO Network Director (and longtime comic book fan) Mike Faber. The big story of 1985 was Crisis on Infinite Earths, but we cover much more, including: The New Teen Titans, Justice League Detroit, the trial of the Flash, Elvira's House of Mystery, Secret Wars II, Heroes for Hope, the silliness of Ambush Bug, the genius of Alan Moore (Swamp Thing, Miracleman), and the independent stuff too (Love and Rockets, Cerebus, DNAgents, Jon Sable Freelance, and those crazy Ninja Turtles). This podcast should be bagged, boarded, graded, slabbed, and thrown on eBay with a Buy It Now price of zero dollars. 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, 13 April 2025
Just a few quick subjects this week: We recommend the improv comedy of Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation's Jean-Ralphio!), we look at some Saturday Night Live-related comic books (including when Spider-Man met Belushi), and we take it to the streets. Not because we're Doobie Brothers, but because we're angry. 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!
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Sun, 6 April 2025
If you grew up in or around the bizarro state of Rhode Island, you might remember the Warwick Musical Theatre. For decades, this tent-style venue (with a rotating circular stage in the middle) hosted concerts, comedy, musicals, and even wrestling. (Guess how many times Liberace performed there. No, you're low. Guess again.) And back in the 80s, this is where some of us first saw Weird Al, the Monkees, and oh yeah, Air Supply. So let's take a look at the whole wild history of the Warwick tent, which alas, has been gone for about a quarter century. (These days a giant hardware store is there, in case you need 8,000 hammers.) But in our hearts, Laura Branigan and Billy Ocean are playing there RIGHT NOW. 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, 30 March 2025
Continuing our look back at 1975 (which was just about fifty years ago, according to most historians), let's see what was on television. Specifically we're looking at the prime time schedule for March 30, 1975, which just happened to be Easter night. So the three networks offered a mix of special programming (The Ten Commandments, The Wizard of Oz, and a horrifying holiday Waltons rerun) and typical mid-70s action shows (Six Million Dollar Man, McCloud). Watch closely for special guest stars like John Ritter (pre-Jack Tripper) and Gavan O'Herlihy (post-Chuck Cunningham). Was it the greatest night in television history? Absolutely not. But it was 1975, and it was all we had. 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, 23 March 2025
It's a simple enough show this week, kids. We're just looking at a bunch of movies from half a century ago. 1975 was a game-changing year in film. Early 70s trends like blaxploitation and dystopian sci-fi were about to be swept aside, as a certain giant Spielbergian shark ushered in the blockbuster era. But meanwhile, the year still offered some genuine classics (Dog Day Afternoon, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), some cult classics (Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Rocky Horror Picture Show), some Disney for the kids (Apple Dumpling Gang, Escape to Witch Mountain), giant spiders, crazy mamas, blazing stewardesses, switchblade sisters, and plenty of Pam Grier. So pop in a Glen Campbell 8-track and cruise over to your local ugly 1970s movie theater. And grab a big box of Raisinets, even though they're lousy. 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, 16 March 2025
As the title suggests, we have illnesses, we have injuries, and we have a quick little listener feedback episode. Including: Blip magazine, Pac-Man high scores, Activision patches, Dig Dug songs, Donkey Kong comics, Mardi Gras chickens, Sewer Sam, An Hour With Bob, Positronic Hypersonic, Sci Fi Journal, Luke Ski's Animation & Stuff Podcast, the Yummy Awards, and pizza pies for Pi Day. Enjoy, as we deal with our various aforementioned ailments. We're podcasting through the pain, just for you. Luke Ski's Animation & Stuff 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: Modern Musicology!
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Sun, 9 March 2025
We're just diving into the bizarre world of Rhode Island cable access television of the 80s and 90s. And our special returning guest is Kevin Cafferty! Kevin was there, and remembers it all. If you were anywhere near the Ocean State back in the day, you never knew what you'd find on local cable TV, but you knew it would freak you out. Including: awkward talk shows, befuddling children's shows, ultra-low-budget sketch comedy, backyard wrestling, high school dances, karaoke direct from Woonsocket, the intense legal drama of Providence traffic court, the Star Trek fan show we loved more than Star Trek, the Kiss fan show that was parodied on Family Guy... and the legend of Daphne's Madhouse. Why would you ever look at mainstream TV again? On cable access, your own neighbors were making the weirdest shows in the world. Kevin's podcasts: Gleaming the Tube and The Best Stuff in the World! 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: The Watch-A-Thon of Rassilon!
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Sun, 2 March 2025
We always enjoy perusing the annual list of nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, because it makes everybody angry. And this year we have a special guest: Michael Gordon, host of the Dragon Con Report, Earth Station Who, and BatChums podcasts! (Clearly Mike isn't podcasting enough. So glad we could help with that.) The nominees include 70s rock (Bad Company), 80s pop (our girl Cyndi!), 90s grunge (Soundgarden), and lots more, including some long overdue legends (Joe Cocker, Mariah Carey) and some oddball surprises. (Phish? Really?) And we somehow get through the whole list without complaining about the Rock Hall's continued snubbing of Air Supply. But we have not forgotten. And follow Michelle on Substack! 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: Dragon Con Report!
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Sun, 23 February 2025
In 1983, Marvel Comics launched a magazine about video games. This was not a comic book; it was a magazine. (Okay, it was a tiny comic book-sized magazine. Happy now?) It lasted just seven issues, utterly failing to make a blip, even though it was in fact called Blip. So today we're flipping through the first issue of Blip, trying to make sense of it all. On the cover is actor Matthew Laborteaux (Little House on the Prairie, Whiz Kids), looking very upset that we interrupted his game of Tron. Inside we learn the favorite video games of more Hollywood stars, assuming you define "star" as "someone who appeared on The Facts of Life once or twice." We also learn about Missile Command, Centipede, Dig Dug, Pitfall, and Bubble Yum. (That last one might just be an advertisement.) Sure, there were much bigger, much better video game magazines around in the early 80s. But only one was Stan Lee-approved. So stick with Blip, true believers. |
Sun, 16 February 2025
Recently we braved the lawless wilderness of New Hampshire to see a show called "Piano Men and Women," celebrating the music of Billy Joel, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Carole King, and more. (We were there because our old pal Mike is the guitarist in this show. Mike has come a LONG way since Sponge Awareness...) So now we're throwing all those classic pop stars into a silly FlopFight tournament of randomly selected competitions. Join us as we debate the merits of, say, Freddie Mercury and Barry Manilow in a snow-shoveling contest. Why, there's even a surprise wild card player who has no business in this FlopFight, but just might win the whole thing. Kids, prepare for some thrilling and ridiculous tournament action. The stakes could not be lower. 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, 9 February 2025
Longtime Flopcast listeners (those poor souls) know that every 100 episodes, we celebrate V66, Boston's own music video TV channel of the mid-80s. This time, however, we have a special guest: Eric Green, director of the V66 documentary, Life on the V! And because this is episode 666, we're looking at the heavy metal and hard rock bands and videos of the V66 era. It was a time when catchy melodies and goofy visuals helped acts like Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister score huge Top 40 hits. The Kiss guys lost the makeup, Van Halen switched from Dave to Sammy, Aerosmith made their (rap-assisted) comeback, Mötley Crüe freaked everybody out, and Bon Jovi opened the floodgates for a cacophony of hair metal. Meanwhile on the local scene, V66 promoted a video filmed at a Boston-area high school by an unknown hard rock band called Extreme. And as the New England Patriots prepared for Super Bowl 1986, V66 was there with a couple of low budget quickie music videos, including the goofy metal tune "Skin the Bears." (Spoiler: The Patriots absolutely did not skin the Bears.) Also: Kevin finds V66 VJ David O'Leary at a Taylor Dayne show! Eric traces the history of Nirvana in Boston! Tom Bergeron gets in touch with the kids on Rap Around! And if you're in the Boston area, you can join us for a special screening of Life on the V at the Somerville Theatre on February 27th! Kids, it's the 40th anniversary of V66. You deserve a night out, surrounded by Junior Mint-chomping 80s nerds who know how to neutron dance. 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 Who!
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Sun, 2 February 2025
It's time for another Top 4 1/2 List, and it's a dumb one! The subject is "Ace." We're just listing characters (from cartoons, movies, TV, etc.) named Ace. And we probably missed your favorite Ace, so let us know! (Unless your favorite is Ace the Bat-Hound. We assure you, we did not forget Ace the Bat-Hound.) The MarsCon 2025 Comedy Music Track and Fund Raiser Album! 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: Monster Attack!
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Sun, 26 January 2025
Normally we save our "Too Many Comics" reviews for the ESO Network's Patreon supporters. But this one is for everybody, as Kevin and the Mayor flip through the oldest comic book we have here at the studio. And oh yes, it features a chicken. Published by Quality Comics way back in 1946, it's Egbert #4. In the lead story, Egbert the chicken and his fox buddy The Count enter a pie-eating contest. Try to contain your excitement. And because comic books were much larger back in the Golden Age, we also have stories with Nero Owl, Rollo Raccoon, Picklefoot Pig, the Bunny Boys, Beany Bear, and more. (All this for a dime!) Plus: Weird ads for Pepsi, cap guns, and electric football games. Now according to an online price guide, our Egbert comic is virtually worthless. (And you'll find out why!) But come on, it's a chicken comic from 80 years ago, and you can't put a price on this kind of silliness. 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 other promo: MarsCon 2025!
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Sun, 19 January 2025
As we enter the horrifying year of 2025, we thought we'd roll back half a century and look at the music of 1975. We're perusing Billboard's Top 100 song list for the year, and as you'd expect, it's a weird list. The hippie acts were winding down, disco was ramping up, easy listening schlock was at its zenith, and everybody -- literally everybody -- was kung fu fighting. It was probably also not a bad year to avoid Chevy vans, and that's all right with us. Anyway, break out your Linda Ronstadt 8-tracks, slip into your Captain and Tennille costumes, and enjoy. 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 Boo!
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Sun, 12 January 2025
If your New Year's Resolution was to strengthen your vocabulary with the help of some DC Comics superheroes, we've got you covered. Yes, we're turning back to The Super Dictionary, that bizarre book of words and definitions for the kids of 1978. Our latest batch of Super Dictionary entries features: Supergirl catching flies, Wonder Woman staggering about in a fog, Black Canary vs. a giant owl, Krypto the Super Dog gobbling like a turkey, Penguin being creepy and weird, and Atom's tiny handkerchief. We also learn a bit too much about Comet the Super Horse, and we review the most notorious entry in the whole book. Yes, it's time to discuss Luthor and his forty stolen cakes. Also: Chickens in the News! Want to stay at a massive rooster-shaped hotel in the Philippines? Yeah, we thought so. 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, 5 January 2025
We're wrapping up our annual two-part memorial show, covering people we lost in the second half of 2024 from TV (Linda Lavin, John Amos, Bob Newhart), movies (Teri Garr, Shelley Duvall, James Earl Jones), music (Quincy Jones, John Mayall, Kris Kristofferson), and more. (Richard Simmons, Dr. Ruth, Famous Amos, the "You've got mail!" guy... our list has a lot of range.) The egg nog is flowing freely here at Chickentown Studios. Select a huge festive beverage for yourself and join us. 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: Cosmic Pizza!
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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 |
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