After Lunch

Christian Nielsen and new guest Karen Flieger join Rob and Michael to talk about their favorite Christmas episodes of TV shows. In discussions of The Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, Friends, and Justice League, the Clampetts learn about the politics of gift-giving, the Stephens' help an orphan boy discover the spirit of the season, Ross tries to teach his son about Hanukkah after a lifetime of Santa, and Superman invites Martian Manhunter home for the holidays.

Featuring music by Straight No Chaser.

With Disney's recent announcement that there's a new Fantastic Four movie coming that will be part of the MCU, it's a great time to discover a lost podcast episode about the four FF films so far. From the no-longer-with-us Geek Fallout: The Comic Book Episodes, host Erik Johnson leads a discussion with Nerd Lunch/AfterLUNCH regulars Paxton Holley and Evan Hanson about Fantastic Four (2015), Fantastic Four (2005), Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), and The Fantastic Four (1994).

Mike Westfall and Michael DiGiovanni join Michael May and Rob Graham to create Rankin-Bass stop-motion Christmas specials that never existed, but should have. Lots of holiday spirit AND SINGING in this episode, so gather the family, get some hot chocolate, and enjoy!

In the first of hopefully many such discussions, Michael May, Rob Graham, and Evan Hanson have a very informal conversation about what they've been reading, watching, and thinking about lately.

Topics lead to unpredictable places, but include:

• Comics like X of Swords, Batman: Three Jokers, and The Orville.
• Novels like The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty, The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton, and Bonnie MacBird's Sherlock Holmes series.
• TV shows like The Good Wife, Dark Shadows, and Police Squad!.
• Movies like the Omen series, Tremors: Shrieker Island, and The Gumball Rally.
• And real talk on Getting Old, Biblical Apocrypha, and COVID and Thanksgiving.

On this very special episode, Rob talks with Vivian Lee, writer and executive story editor on Lost in Space (2018) about her behind-the-scene experiences helping to create the show.

Evan Hanson joins Rob and Michael to talk about the first season of the 2018 Lost in Space series streaming on Netflix. We don't all agree about the show, but we do love talking about it and we talk about everything. If you'd like to be unspoiled, be sure to watch the season before listening to this conversation. We bury ourselves in it like a Robinson buried in ice.

Remember Scooby's All Star Laff-A-Lympics where various Hanna Barbera characters crossed over to compete against each other in Olympics-style events? Even if you don't, it was really fun, so Amanda VanHiel, Shawn Robare, Rob Graham, and Michael May imagine what that would be like with characters from '80s TV shows and movies.

Kay returns to introduce Rob and Michael to the '90s cult classic Hocus Pocus starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, and Thora Birch.

Last October, we created an Expendables of Horror movie featuring only living actors. This year, Joanna from Bloody Popcorn, Evan Hanson, Rob Graham, and Michael May resurrect their favorite dead actors to create an all-star cast. They pick the actors, discuss the types of roles they'd play, and Evan writes a plot. Listen and imagine The Evil Hunters... IF YOU DARE!

Michael May, Rob Graham, Paxton Holley, and Jay Ryan have bats on the brain. Three months after the death of director Joel Schumacher, AfterLUNCH tries to solve the riddle of Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. What do they do well, what do they do poorly, and how do they compare to other versions of the character?