A Very Special Episode

"For the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, the return of a prodigal podcast host!" 

That's right, we are kicking off our annual holiday coverage with a Very Special reunion, as Ryan Alexander-Tanner returns in order to reunite the Aluminum Four just in time to review the first episode of the brand new Saved by the Bell series! He joins Carolyn, Austin, and David as they discuss where the new show succeeds and fails at both tickling our nostalgia and doing something new, drop some knowledge about interdimensional wizard Max, and ponder whether this show is actually...good? 

So park your car in the best spot, then download and listen here, rate & review us on iTunes or listen via Podbean, Stitcher, Google Play and Spotify! You can follow the show on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and email us via [email protected]. 

Also, be sure to listen to Carolyn's spinoff podcast, Pitch Please!, here, and buy the game here!

 http://media.averyspecialepisodepodcast.com/AVerySpecialEpisode103.mp3

Gobble gobble everyone! Since Thanksgiving is all effed up this year anyway, we figured we'd lean into the curve and celebrate with a Very Special non-Thanksgiving episode from the annals of classic TV and dive into the seminal I Love Lucy for the very first time by discussing the episode in which Lucy has to tell Ricky she's pregnant without saying the word "pregnant" because the 1950s! Join Carolyn, David, and Austin as they get all horned up like Lucy and talk Communism, sandwiches, and raw doggin' it! 

So head on down to the club, then download and listen here, rate & review us on iTunes or listen via Podbean, Stitcher, Google Play and Spotify! You can follow the show on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and email us via [email protected]. 

Also, be sure to listen to Carolyn's spinoff podcast, Pitch Please!, here, and buy the game here!

http://media.averyspecialepisodepodcast.com/AVerySpecialEpisode102.mp3

Happy Halloween everyone! This year we are celebrating the holiday with a Very Special episode of Punky Brewster, you know, the infamous one in which Punky and the gang go camping and find themselves lost in a cave filled with horrific nightmare fuel that will take root in your brain and haunt you forever! Join Austin, Carolyn, and David as they join Punky for her trip of horrors and encounter dismembered gold prospectors, giant black light spiders, and a bedazzled disco demon of death, all in this two-part episode of a family sitcom airing in prime time! 

So unwrap a Caramelo bar, then download and listen here, rate & review us on iTunes or listen via Podbean, Stitcher, Google Play and Spotify! You can follow the show on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and email us via [email protected]. 

Also, be sure to listen to Carolyn's spinoff podcast, Pitch Please!, here, and buy the game here!

http://media.averyspecialepisodepodcast.com/AVerySpecialEpisode101.mp3

This week, we celebrate one hundred episodes of A Very Special Episode with a Very Special episode about one of our favorite subjects: TV theme songs! Listen in as Carolyn, David, and Austin rank their favorite theme songs from decades of TV, celebrate the 80s as the Golden Age of TV theme songs, and ruminate on the slow death of the theme song over the last twenty years. Also featuring some terrible singing! 
So get prepared to get songs stuck in your head, then download and listen here, rate & review us on iTunes or listen via Podbean, Stitcher, Google Play and Spotify! You can follow the show on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and email us via [email protected]. 

Also, be sure to listen to Carolyn's spinoff podcast, Pitch Please!, here, and buy the game here!

http://media.averyspecialepisodepodcast.com/AVerySpecialEpisode100.mp3

"Must See TV" summer concludes with a Very Special Thanksgiving episode of ER! Included on the holiday menu is turducken, French toast, and DEATH BY HELICOPTER. That's right, as much as this episode might seem like a Very Special episode about the fertility of HIV patients, or marijuana use, or PTSD, it's really about the cold, unceasing bloodlust of helicopters. Join Carolyn, Austin & David as we carve a bird in honor of Dr. Melty Guy, discuss the unending stream of "That Guys" who appear on the show, and discover David's intricate knowledge of Michael Crichton's autobiography.

So ignore that guy smushed under a helicopter, then download and listen here, rate & review us on iTunes or listen via Podbean, Stitcher, Google Play and Spotify! You can follow the show on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and email us via [email protected].

Also, be sure to listen to Carolyn's spinoff podcast, Pitch Please!, here, and buy the game here!

http://media.averyspecialepisodepodcast.com/AVerySpecialEpisode099.mp3

Our 2020 Must See TV marathon continues, as we tackle one of the most successful spinoffs of all time, Frasier, with an episode that sees Niles undergo open heart surgery and a hospital spill its guts! Join Carolyn, Austin and David as they rank iconic city skyline buildings, dig into some old candy bars, and discuss Dr. Bitz's tips for ripping off vending machines!

So toss a salad and scramble some eggs, then download and listen here, rate & review us on iTunes or listen via Podbean, Stitcher, Google Play and Spotify! You can follow the show on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and email us via [email protected].

Also, be sure to listen to Carolyn's spinoff podcast, Pitch Please!, here, and buy the game here!

http://media.averyspecialepisodepodcast.com/AVerySpecialEpisode098.mp3

Our 2020 Summer Theme marathon kicks off this week, as we begin reviews of episodes plucked from NBC's "Must See TV" lineup of the 90s! Things kick off with a Very Special episode of Mad About You, the Diet Coke of sitcoms, in which Paul & Jamie attempt to Ferberize their baby in one continuous shot. Join Carolyn, Austin, & David as they discuss parenthood, make some contributions to the great Red Vines vs. Twizzler War, and name the official pasta of the AVSE podcast!

So put down that copy of Architectural Digest, then download and listen here, rate & review us on iTunes or listen via Podbean, Stitcher, Google Play and Spotify! You can follow the show on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and email us via [email protected].

And you can follow Aaron on Twitter here!

Also, be sure to listen to Carolyn's spinoff podcast, Pitch Please!, here, and buy the game here!

http://media.averyspecialepisodepodcast.com/AVerySpecialEpisode097.mp3

In this week's sax-tastic episode, Carolyn & Austin are joined by Carolyn's husband & returning AVSE guest Aaron Walker to discuss an eerily prescient episode of Night Man, the superhero show you've never heard of but still technically counts as one of the earliest Marvel characters to get his own TV show, in which the titular hero has to battle an evil business magnate determined to win public office at any cost! Join us as we talk out-of-touch writers' ideas of the internet in 1998, the inexplicable limitations of Night Man's super suit, and a Nixon-themed version of the Joker!

So leave a hologram of yourself doing something productive in your place, then download and listen here, rate & review us on iTunes or listen via Podbean, Stitcher, Google Play and Spotify! You can follow the show on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and email us via [email protected].

And you can follow Aaron on Twitter here!

Also, be sure to listen to Carolyn's spinoff podcast, Pitch Please!, here, and buy the game here!

http://media.averyspecialepisodepodcast.com/AVerySpecialEpisode096.mp3

Pour yourself a big tall glass of Vanilla extract and warm up your clarinet, cuz it's time for another Very Special Episode. This week, Austin, David & Carolyn are tackling one of those standard-bearing VSEs, Family Ties' "Say Uncle", in which Tom Hanks rolls into the Keaton household and promptly drinks everything in sight. Join us as we discuss our favorite Tom Hanks' roles, the background sitcom tropes which annoy us the most, and booze, booze and more booze.

So grab some socks, then download and listen here, rate & review us on iTunes or listen via Podbean, Stitcher, Google Play and Spotify! You can follow the show on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and email us via [email protected].

Also, be sure to listen to Carolyn's spinoff podcast, Pitch Please!, here, and buy the game here!

http://media.averyspecialepisodepodcast.com/AVerySpecialEpisode095.mp3

Happy Pandemic everyone! We are back, and piggybacking on the zeitgeist, with a Very Special episode about the dangers of disease, asymptomatic carriers, and poor social distancing from The George Carlin Show, in which the sheer filth of George's apartment births a virus that soon causes everyone he comes into contact with to get sick. And if all that is hitting too close to home right now, don't worry: Carolyn, Austin, & David find plenty else to talk about, like dating in the 90s and the Madonna/Whore Complex (the Crack Research Team gets quite a workout in this one)!

So renew your subscription to Caboose magazine (Carolyn will thank you), then download and listen here, rate & review us on iTunes or listen via Podbean, Stitcher, Google Play and Spotify! You can follow the show on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and email us via [email protected].

Also, be sure to listen to Carolyn's spinoff podcast, Pitch Please!, here, and buy the game here!

http://media.averyspecialepisodepodcast.com/AVerySpecialEpisode094.mp3