Sun, 28 February 2021
"The Backs of Life" is our stupid new project for the stupid new year! The plan is to examine each "backdoor pilot" episode of The Facts of Life in excruciating detail. (You know backdoor pilots. It's when an episode of an existing TV show is used to introduce a potential new spin-off show. This happened on The Facts of Life... a lot.) But we're starting with a 1979 episode of Diff'rent Strokes (season 1, episode 24, "The Girls School"), because The Facts of Life itself started there as a backdoor pilot. Thrill to Mrs. Garrett making the move from housekeeper (for a rich dude) to housemother (for a bunch of crazy girls). We meet some future Facts of Life regulars (Blair with a cigarette! Tootie on rollerskates! MOLLY RINGWALD!), some girls we'd never see again (Jennifer? Laura?), and a headmaster played by the cranky guy from The Bob Newhart Show. We also get generic disco music, a frog named Leon, Dana Plato as a ballerina (sort of), Gary Coleman in a donkey costume, and another mysterious Fake Brady Girl connection. Also: More TV talk with ESO Board Silly, more Rock and Roll Hall of Fame talk with Pop Culture Cosmos, Happy 100th Episode to The 42cast, and Happy Birthday to a Cobra Kai sensei. Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! |
Sun, 21 February 2021
Inspired by the discovery of some ancient Sponge Awareness Foundation music, we're flashing back to the very early 90s - specifically, this week in February 1990. Top 40 radio was dominated by pop/R&B ladies like Janet Jackson, Expose, and (along with our hero MC Skat Kat) Paula Abdul. At the movies, your options ranged all the way from Clive Barker horror to a Disney mermaid. And a weird week of television included a Love Boat reunion movie (with Rowdy Roddy Piper!), a very special Saturday Night Live (Wayne and Garth meet Aerosmith!), episode six of The Simpsons (introducing Bleeding Gums Murphy!), and a bizarre Brady Bunch revival (with Martha Quinn and Fake Marcia!). Our beloved 1980s were just a few weeks behind us, but there was no turning back. Before long, we'd settle into a steady diet of Crystal Pepsi and Zima, and hope for the best. Also: We unveil a Flopcast project that starts next week and includes a homework assignment for you. (Most homework assignments do not involve goofy old sitcoms, but this one totally does.) Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
Sun, 14 February 2021
Longtime Flopcast listeners (those poor souls) know that every year we examine the new list of nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, even though it's stupid. But this year's list is surprisingly strong and diverse, and includes some Flopcast favorites. (Our beloved Go-Go's are way overdue for induction. And as society collapses right on schedule, we must acknowledge Devo. They warned us.) And hey, Tina Turner had better make the final cut, or we'll see you in the Thunderdome. Also: William Katt has a greatest American birthday, the Mayor of Chickentown returns to Oz, and the retro video game-style Flopcast t-shirt is suddenly a thing that exists. The American Sci-Fi Classics Return to Oz panel, with the Mayor of Chickentown! The ESO Network TeePublic store has a new Flopcast t-shirt! And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! |
Sun, 7 February 2021
Let's wrap up our Facts of Life FlopFight, the tournament that somehow captures all the excitement of a girls' school and/or a gourmet food shop. Our combatants include the classic four Facts of Life girls (Blair, Jo, Natalie, Tootie), the lesser known Facts of Life girls (if you can possibly consider Molly Ringwald "lesser known"), and even a couple of Facts of Life guys (one of whom may have become a huge movie star). Only one shall survive; for the rest, the world never seems to be living up to their dreams. And because it's a FlopFight, this tournament involves chicken suits, submarines, candlepin bowling, ducks, and other perfectly normal competitions. Also: Happy Birthday to a Canadian pop star, Kornflake makes her DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track panel debut, and we say farewell to the legendary Cloris Leachman. And our regular links... Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net |
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