Enjoy Stuff: A TechnoRetro Podcast

This week, a shocking season finale! You won't believe the cliffhangers! For the final season 1 episode of Enjoy Stuff, we look back at some memorable TV and movie cliffhangers of all time. Will everyone survive? Tune in next time...

We celebrate our season 1 finale by looking back on some other memorable finales and the origin of cliffhangers. Hang on for dear life as you Enjoy Stuff! 

News

Tom Hanks teams up with an old cast(away)mate to throw out the first pitch at the Cleveland Guardians game 

Netflix Releases Love, Death + Robots Season 3 Trailer

What we’re Enjoying

Jay is channeling his inner brick while playing the recently released LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. As always, this LEGO interpretation of the films is fun and extensive. Shua finally got around to watching the latest and final season of the Netflix series Lost in Space. It’s tons of fun and another good interpretation. 

Sci-Fi Saturdays/MCU Location Scout

Be sure to check out Jay’s articles on Retrozap.com. This week he skips the decidedly non-sci-fi Groundhogs Day to check out the obscure 1993 film Nemesis, so named because “the inescapable agent of someone’s or something’s downfall” was too long for theater marquees. 

Enjoy TV!

Cliffhangers! These days they make us want to binge entire seasons of shows. But as early as the 70’s they gave us something to talk about in the long months leading up to the next season premiere. 

According to Master Class, “A cliffhanger is a plot device in which part of a story ends unresolved, usually in a suspenseful or shocking way, in order to compel audiences to turn the page or return to the story in the next installment.” It began in 1873 in a Thomas Hardy novel called “A Pair of Blue Eyes”. 

But in 1978, the writers of the TV series “Soap” saw it as an opportunity for audiences to be so intrigued at the outcome, that they will wait on pins and needles for the next season. Voila! Instant underground hype!

Fast forward to 1980 and the writers of the nighttime soap “Dallas” shot the main antagonist of the show and made just about everyone a suspect. ‘Who Shot JR?’ was on everyone’s lips in 1980 and is still one of the most successful cliffhanger endings in history.

Over the years many shows have used this technique to keep fans returning and to build an even bigger fanbase with word-of-mouth. “The Good Place”, “Friends”, “Walking Dead”...Even people who don’t watch the show could probably tell you about a memorable cliffhanger. 

In 1990 a syndicated show used this in a way that had never really been done before. “Star Trek: The Next Generation” created a memorable cliffhanger that may have contributed to the continuing future success of the entire franchise with one word, “Fire!”

Movies can use this method too. “Back to the Future part II”, “Avengers: Infinity War”, and of course, “The Empire Strikes Back” gave us months or even years to speculate what solutions could possibly be created to satisfy us. 

What are some of your favorite cliffhangers? Do they make you want to come back for more? Did you read all the way to the bottom? First person that emails me with the subject line, “I shot JR” will get a special mention on the show.  Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

Celebrate the birthday of the one and only Jovial Jay by taking a trip to Califor-Ni-Ay! Jay remembers all the great places he would visit growing up in the Golden State. It's a celebration of another trip around the sun on Enjoy Stuff!

Come with us on a visit of Jay’s favorite places in California that helped make him the man he is today. It’s a birthday celebration!

News

Help wanted at Antarctica base to manage gift shop and count penguins

Robbers steal $22,000 worth of cheese, and that’s no gouda!

The new Netflix film Operation: Mincemeat looks good! I comes out May 11

A new, wicked trailer for Stranger Things season 4 looks amazing! 

What we’re Enjoying

Shua has been reading the latest fantasy novel from Antony Soehner called The Prince. An intriguing story about Prince Theo who has to deal with a wicked king. Check it out on antonysoehner.com. Jay checked out a new HBO Max series with Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi. It’s not what he expected, but he’s enjoying it so far. 

Sci-Fi Saturdays/MCU Location Scout

Be sure to check out Jay’s articles on Retrozap.com. This week he revisits the 1992 Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren action flick, Universal Soldier. It is a surprising film that attempts to blend action/sci-fi with a social conscience. Make sure you check his articles out each week!

Enjoy Life!

Today is Jay’s birthday! And what better way to celebrate than reminiscing about your childhood! It’s a TechnoRetro trip back to the state that made the man, California. 

First we find out if there could possibly be any other events of historical significance besides the birth of the Jovial one. I guess there might be a few things that happened. Then we see if any well known people go around bragging that they share a birthday with the famous Jay.

And then the fun begins. What were some movies that were released around his birthday throughout the years? Where did Jay like to go see these flicks?

Next we cover TV. CHiPs, Hulk, and Manimal were just a few that influenced him. But can HE turn into a variety of animals? We may find out.

And finally, how did the fair-haired comic book fan entertain himself during the 80s? Bowling, mini-golf, and video games were the catalyst for genius.

We are so lucky that the world gave us Jovial Jay. So let’s crank some tunes as we party the week away in celebration of the birthday boy!

Did you enjoy any of the things that Jay did growing up? Is it your birthday? Do you ever read all the way to the bottom of these write-ups to read these questions?  Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

Have you ever turned a song on the radio and instantly been transported back to a specific scene in a movie? We have. It's these songs that have been indelibly ingrained into our memory and associated with that movie forever. This week we look at some of our favorites and the movies that go along with them on Enjoy Stuff!

Quick! What does this song remind you of? Jay and Shua give each other clips of 10 songs and quiz each other to see if it makes them think of the same movie. 

News

Bruce Willis retires after almost 40 years of Film and Television due to aphasia.

Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind at Epcot opening date announced 

Cracker Jack Introduces a new Cracker Jill line

New cast for season 3 of Picard announced

What we’re Enjoying

Jay, along with millions of us, tuned into the newest Disney+ Marvel series ‘Moon Knight’. It’s a pretty unique and mind blowing story. But he’s also been digging into the comic book origins and inspirations too.  We recommend it. Shua has been killing random seconds of free time a day playing the ios app Mario Kart Tour. A fun distraction with a lot of fun, creative content and characters. 

Sci-Fi Saturdays/MCU Location Scout

Be sure to check out Jay’s articles on Retrozap.com. He may not be able to recommend the movie this week, but we can for sure recommend the Retrozap article on the 1992 movie Freejack. This forgettable film stars Emilio Estevez, Mick Jagger, and Anthony Hopkins and had an interesting premise, but a less than perfect execution. The latest Marvel series on Disney+ is here! Now go check out some great filming locations for Moon Knight on MCU Location Scout. 

Enjoy Movies!

Do you remember your high school science lessons on memory? We sure don’t. But we do know that memories are important for reminiscing about the great stuff we grew up with. All that school learning is something called ‘explicit’ memory. It’s memory that you can remember by thinking about it. Book learning. But the memory you get when you smell that pine and think of a special Christmas, or the song that takes you back to that first make out session is called ‘implicit’ memory. 

Implicit memory can be triggered by your senses. These outside stimuli trigger a thought back to another time that you might have been experiencing those senses. Strangely enough, the strongest time of a person’s life that is likely to have these memories is between 10 and 30 years old. Meaning all that nostalgia people have when they are in their 40s is actually a psychological norm. 

We love when a particular song triggers a memory of a movie. So Jay and Shua each put together a separate list of songs that take them back to a film. And they try to guess each other’s pick. Are they enough alike that they can match them all? 

Do you have songs that make you think of a movie? What kind of emotions do those trigger?  Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

What are you lookin' at butthead? We're looking at Back to the Future because it's always fun to look back at our favorite films, especially if they're about time travel. Join Jay and Shua on a journey to the past, present, and future to get a taste of nostalgia on Enjoy Stuff!

Time travel stories have been around for quite a while, but Back to the Future made it more popular than ever before. Let’s revisit Back to the Future!

News

A new Lego Back to the Future Delorean set is available now!

One of only two original prototypes for the home Pong console just sold for more than you’d probably pay for it

What is the new Pop Tarts flavor? Snickerdoodle!

What do you think of the new Top Gun: Maverick trailer?

What we’re Enjoying

Shua and his lovely wife decided to check out the new Sandra Bullock action comedy, ‘The Lost City’. They were pleasantly surprised how much fun it was. Jay has continued his western film viewings with a classic Sergio Leone spaghetti Western, ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’. A classic movies that set up a lot of details in movies that followed it. 

Sci-Fi Saturdays/MCU Location Scout

Be sure to check out Jay’s articles on Retrozap.com. Sci-Fi Saturdays has a great article on Terminator 2: Judgment Day.The latest Marvel series on Disney+ is here! Now go check out some great filming locations for Moon Knight on MCU Location Scout. 

Enjoy Movies!

Back in the early days of cinema, time travel movies were far and in between. In 1960 we got a cinematic interpretation of HG Wells’s classic story, “The Time Machine”. “Planet of the Apes” revealed itself to be a time travel movie in 1968. 

The 70’s and 80’s gave us some more modern day methods of riding a time wave with things like “Time After Time”, “Somewhere in Time”, and “Timerider”

But Time Travel became mainstream and common after a brand new idea in 1985 when Robert Zemeckis was finally able to bring his vision to screen in “Back to the Future”. 

We talk about why we enjoy this classic film, from the frenetic pace to the performances to the new rules of time travel, this story seemed to strike all the right notes.

November 22, 1989 brought us the first of two sequels that were filmed back to back. Part II took us to a future that was fun and cheesy, but actually a little accurate. It also took Marty back to the past in 1955 where he had to find a way to save Doc, who was even further back in the past in 1885.

Just a few months later on May 25, 1990 we got the conclusion where we see Hill Valley when it was just getting started in the old west. The finale focused more on Doc than Marty, and it raised the stakes of getting back to 1985. 

Jay and Shua remember times they saw it, even a trilogy marathon before the premiere of part III. Make sure you check out Jay’s write-ups on Retrozap.com about the whole trilogy!

Back to the Future

Back to the Future Part II

Back to the Future Part III

Are you a fan of Back to the Future?  Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

All the glitz and glamour of the Oscars, but with real Oscars!  Who will take home their very own Oscar in the kind of categories you would expect from Jovial Jay and Shua, on Enjoy Stuff!

Best cereal when soggy! Best wit in a parody movie! Everyone can get into Enjoy Stuff categories. Join Jay and Shua on the goofiest tribute to the Oscars you have ever heard!

News

Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai Series Details and Full Cast Announced

Pay-Doh is getting its very own movie!

Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed Video Game

Get a buddy a personalized video birthday greeting from Weird Al

Jared Leto Says ‘Tron 3’ Is ‘Getting Closer’...sure…

What we’re Enjoying

Jay was sporting a 10-20 gallon hat as he broke out some very classic westerns, such as John Ford’s ‘Stagecoach’ and Jimmy Stewart in ‘Winchester ‘73’. Get along l’il doggie! Shua went with a different Stewart this week as he has been enjoying Sir Patrick Stewart in ‘Picard’ season 2. Let’s make it so!

Sci-Fi Saturdays/MCU Location Scout

Be sure to check out Jay’s articles on Retrozap.com. Sci-Fi Saturdays has a great article on an 80’s version of giant robots in “Robot Jox”. Plus an odd sci-fi movie that even featured a post-Star Wars Mark Hamill in ‘The Guyver’. This week brings the latest Marvel series on Disney+, so you can look for some great filming location for Moon Knight on MCU Location Scout. 

Enjoy the Oscars!

Sunday, March 27 was the 94th Academy Awards. So this week we celebrate our very own version of the Oscars by looking at some TechnoRetro categories and giving the winner their very own Oscar. (But a real life, famous Oscar). Tune in for the winners! Here are the categories:

Food Nominees - Best Cereal even when soggy 

Cap’n Crunch

Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Lucky Charms

Froot Loops

Frosted Flakes

Winner gets Oscar Mayer

Comedy Nominees - Best Wit in a parody movie 

Leslie Nielsen

Mel Brooks

John Cleese

Gene Wilder

Simon Pegg

Winner gets Oscar Wilde

Fashion - Most ridiculous costumes in a film

Phantom Menace

Fifth Element

Tank Girl

Batman and Robin

Running Man

Winner gets Oscar de la Renta

Best Non-Standard Sports Film

Over the Top 1987

Baseketball 1998

Rollerball 1975

Cool Runnings 1993

Harry Potter 2001 

Winner gets Oscar de la Hoya

Music - Best Retro song that’s aged well

Power of Love

Don’t stop Believin’

Let’s Dance - David Bowie

Everybody wants to rule the world 

Winner gets Oscar Hammerstein

Cartoon - Best grumpy character on Saturday Mornings

Garfield

Grumpy Smurf

Squidward**

Skeletor

Fred Flintstone

Winner gets Oscar the Grouch

Movies - Best actor/actress that has played a superhero and sci-fi character

Mark Hamill - Star Wars/Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Chris Hemsworth - Star Trek/Thor….

Patrick Stewart - Star Trek/X-Men

Zoe Saldana - Star Trek/Guardians of the Galaxy

Natalie Portman - Star Wars/Thor: Love and Thunder

Scarlet Johansson - Lucy, Ghost in the Shell, The Island/Black Widow

Winner gets Oscar Isaac

Did your favorites win? What categories would you like to see next time? Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

Revisit 50 years of The Godfather as Enjoy Stuff looks back at one of the most iconic pieces of storytelling in cinematic history. Learn about the history and why it is considered such a masterpiece.

There are many ways to celebrate Pi Day on March 14. Whether you make a nice round birthday cake for Albert Einstein or share all kinds of round food with your friends, we think you’ll have fun watching 80’s TV shows about Private Investigators. Join us for a circular show of Magnum proportions on Enjoy Stuff!

News

Lucky Charms Charms Ice Cream Returns to Cold Stone Creamery for St. Patrick's Day

Super Nintendo World set to open at Universal Studios Hollywood next year

What we’re Enjoying

Shua spent almost a week enjoying musicals, including the broadway smash, ‘Hamilton’. But what really made an impact is watching his daughter in her High School musical ‘Newsies’. Her school presented a performance that was every bit as good as broadway.  Jay checked out the newest Ryan Reynolds movie ‘The Adam Project’. A fun romp with lots of nods to cool pop culture stuff for the whole family. 

Sci-Fi Saturdays/MCU Location Scout

Be sure to check out Jay’s articles on Retrozap.com. Sci-Fi Saturdays looks at a Dolph Lundgren classic called “I Come in Peace” and an 80’s giant robot popcorn flick called “Robot Jox”. And now that “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is streaming, check out some new locations from that film on MCU Location Scout. 

Enjoy Movies!

In the 60s, movies looked and felt quite a bit different due to Hollywood’s Hays Code. But as the 70’s neared and a rating system was established, filmmakers gained some freedom to explore the art of cinema. In 1972 Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo jumped at the opportunity to bring the vision of The Godfather to the world. 

Debuting on March 24, this mobster movie set the groundwork for this genre that few films have been able to capture to this day. The pacing, thematic elements, and complex character development flowed together in a new way.

This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the classic by looking at the whole trilogy and discussing how it came about, why it’s so respected, and new ways you can experience the world of the Corleones. 

Are you a fan of the Godfather movies? What do you think? Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

Enjoy Pi Day with Jovial Jay and Shua as they take the idea completely out of context and talk about Private Investigators of 80s TV. It's a great episode to listen to 3.14 times! 

There are many ways to celebrate Pi Day on March 14. Whether you make a nice round birthday cake for Albert Einstein or share all kinds of round food with your friends, we think you’ll have fun watching 80’s TV shows about Private Investigators. Join us for a circular show of Magnum proportions on Enjoy Stuff!

News

Get ready for Easter candy and breakfast fusion with the new Rice Krispies and Apple Jacks treats

And if that’s not enough sweet morning candy for you, try the Dunkin’ Iced Coffee Jelly Beans

The Muppets’ Electric Mayhem is getting their very own series on Disney+

There is an ‘I Am Legend’ sequel being worked on with Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan

The Quantum Leap reboot keeps getting new cast members. Raymond Lee will be the lead

What we’re Enjoying

Jay is getting ready for Easter by exploring a variety of rabbit holes. One is Michael J Fox movies. Early movies like Midnight Madness and Teen Wolf make for a fun revisit of the actor’s origins. Shua was surprised to enjoy The Batman as much as he did. It was an interesting take on the Dark Knight with a detective story and a surprising message of hope by the end.  

Enjoy TV!

What is Pi? A delicious dessert? A mathematical constant? Well, yeah. But to recognize this year’s March 14, with different kinds of P.I.s; private investigators of the 80’s. 

Magnum PI pushed Tom Selleck to the top of fame when he starred as Thomas Magnum, private investigator staying in the mansion of Robin Masters and tormenting the butler, Higgins. All this while solving crimes while driving around in a fancy car. 

1984’s Riptide starred Perry King as Cody Allen and solved mysteries with his friends Nick and Boz, while driving around in a fancy car. 

Simon and Simon were two brothers who, while opposite in a lot of ways, were great at solving mysteries and driving around in a variety of fancy cars. 

Hardcastle and McCormick premiered in 1983 and starred the legendary Brian Keith as Judge Hardcastle who is trying to catch a bunch of criminals who escaped conviction with the help of a car thief named McCormick, who drives around in a stolen fancy car. 

Hunter set the stage for overly-macho guys who carry big guns, but sometimes have a female partner. Rick Hunter and his partner DeeDee McCall help to save Los Angeles, but don’t always have the luxury of a fancy car. 

Spenser for Hire showed us that the great Robert Urich as Spenser, saving the day in Boston with his reliable and not yet Star Trekified Avery Brooks, while driving around in a fancy Mustang car. 

And this just scratches the surface. In our head cannon, they were all connected and worked for Angela Lansbury’s Jessica Fletcher. 

What else can you do on Pi Day? How about some Pi-kus? Or maybe have a Pi-arty? Serve some Pi-themed food like Pi-napple or Pi-stachios. Whatever you do, have 3.14 times the fun on this fun Monday!

Are you celebrating Pi Day? Do you have a crime that needs investigating? Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

When we last left our heroes, Rocky and Bullwinkle, they were desperately trying to foil the plans of those dastardly fiends Boris and Natasha. This week Jay and Shua look back at the classic Jay Ward creation The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. 

In 1959, Jay Ward productions created the first animated series for TV. Using a modern style of animation and very clever humor, they set up a crazy world that would inspire a kind of cartoon not found in the creations of giants like Disney or Warner Bros. This is Rocky and Bullwinkle!

News

A Weird Al pinball machine will only set you back about $8,000

Scientists discover that the answer to life, the universe, and everything really is 42 (well, sorta)

Indy 5 has wrapped filming! And Harrison Ford didn’t even have to go the hospital!

Beetlejuice 2 may actually happen!

What we’re Enjoying

Shua has been filling the silence of work time by listening to the offerings of classic Disneyland audio from a site called DisneyChris.com. It has just about any Disney audio you can think of from the parks, Disney storybook records, and even TV shows. Jay is getting ready for a season 6 return of Better Call Saul by rewatching the series. But which order should we watch this show? Listen to find out. 

Enjoy Cartoons!

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle debuted in 1959. It was the first time we had ever seen an animated series on TV, and it established a style that would become popular with cartoons, advertising, and design. A show about a moose and a squirrel constantly foiling the plans of Pottsylvanian spies Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale sounds pretty far out there. And it was!

And to add to the wackiness of the show, other cartoons filled the space between cliffhangers our heroes had to endure. One was Fractured Fairy Tales when we got a very unconventional style of classics. 

Peabody’s Improbable History introduced us to Mr. Peabody and his pet boy Sherman and all their time traveling adventures. 

Dudley Do Right taught us all about how brave (and sometimes dimwitted) those Canadian Mounties could be. But they always managed to save Nell from the mustache twirling Snidely Whiplash. 

Aesop and Son helped us learn valuable lessons from fables and then turned them into ridiculous puns.

Plus, these classic toons inspired live action movie versions. The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle from 2000 starred the likes of Jason Alexander, Rene Russo, and even Robert DeNiro!

Did you grow up experiencing Rocky and Bullwinkle? What lessons did you learn from this crazy pair? Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

Don't watch it, play it! In the late 1970s, Atari ushered in the gaming era! But throughout their history, the company had more turbulence than a game of Combat. This week we revisit their history and which games were the most influential on us. Live Pong and prosper!

What do Atari and Chuck E Cheese have to do with each other? What was the first standup Atari game, and why did it look like it belonged in The Sleeper house? These questions and more are answered as we look at the history of Atari. 

News

Stranger Things season 4 is coming, but we will see an end to the series after season 5

Berkeley Breathed’s Bloom County comic strip will be coming to Fox for an animated series

Make sure to check out Shua on the Saturday Matinee Podcast this week

What we’re Enjoying

Jay revisited a 1955 Spencer Tracy mystery movie called Bad Day at Black Rock. This intriguing tale of a one-armed stranger appearing in a small town with a secret is sure to give you a retro story to talk about. Shua has been trying to view all the best picture Oscar nominees before the broadcast of the awards on March 27. 

Enjoy Games!

In 1971, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney adapted a computer game called Spacewar, created in 1962 by Steve Russell. The new game, called Computer Space, may not have been the gigantic success that the men had hoped for, but it laid the groundwork for their new business, dubbed Atari. 

Computer Space led to Pong, which found it’s way across the country with eight to ten thousand machines sprinkled throughout bars and restaurants. 

Bushnell then took over the country and used their success to grow the company quickly (yet, with questionable business practices). One of his successes was the home console, which started appearing on shelves in the late 70s. 

Plus, Bushnell expanded his business ideas by purchasing Pizza Time Theater and began putting his arcade cabinets in Chuck E Cheeses across the country. It was a crazy idea that worked for quite a while.

Bushnell, now just Chairman of the Board after selling Atari to Warner Communications for $28 million, hired an interesting (and not very well liked) character named Steve Jobs. Jobs had some innovative ideas, but had some of them developed by his friend Steve Wozniak in some pretty underhanded scenarios. 

By the 1980s Atari had become the fastest-growing company in the history of our country. But the writing was on the wall; the video game industry, and especially Atari, was getting ready for a crash. In 1983, shortly after their disastrous release of the failed ET video game, Atari was posting huge losses and other companies quickly filled the void in the market. 

Jay and Shua have some good memories of Atari games though, both at home and in arcades. And collectors still try to acquire a wide variety of their creations. Despite their shortcomings, Atari helped to create classics and inspire future generations in programming, designing, artwork, technology, and more!

Did you have an Atari? What were some games that stood out to you? Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

It's Twosday! And to celebrate, Jay and Shua are taking a look at sequels. Not just movies, but TV, video games, music and more! Come have fun with us and Enjoy Stuff 2: Electric Boogaloo!

Today is February 22, 2022. Why is that important you ask? Well, if you are a numerophile then you might be really interested in the date 2-22-22. Especially at 2:22:22. For us, it means today is all about the number two! Specifically, sequels. Join us as we look into the the history and thought process behind making a continuation of a story.

News

A Futurama revival has been ordered for Hulu

RIP Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman

Are you ready for a new Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers movie? It’s coming to Disney+

Soon we will get to see how Ralphie raised his kids in a Christmas Story sequel

John Cena will be co-starring with the legendary stunt performer, Wile E. Coyote in Coyote vs Acme

What we’re Enjoying

Shua Received a very special retro gift from his lovely wife for Valentine’s Day. Two peanuts collections in paperback form from the 60s helped to spark tons of childhood memories. She used to read them endlessly and his drawing career began when he would copy the pictures from Books. Jay started a new series on Amazon Prime. Reacher tells the story of a muscular Stranger who wanders into town and gets accused of murder. Trust us, it’s better than we are making it sound.

Enjoy Movies! (and TV, Games, Music, and more!)

Sequels have been around almost as long as movies. But when did they start adding numbers to a title to indicate that it was a continuation of the plot? We found the first evidence of a Roman numeral in a title back in 1957 with a movie from England called Quatermass II. Roman numerals became really popular after 1974’s The Godfather part II. We got a plethora of sequels with those parallel little numbering systems with Superman II, Star Trek two, Rambo II, and of course the iconic weekend at Bernie’s II. They don’t all have Roman numerals but a sequel really means that someone liked the first story and wanted it to continue. Why do we like sequels? Is it just a cash grab from the studios? Or is it because we just don’t want the characters and story to end?

Sequels aren’t unique to movies either. Television shows sometimes have sequels, but usually they’re called spinoffs. The Jeffersons was a spinoff to All in the Family. Laverne and Shirley was a spinoff for Happy Days, as was Mork and Mindy. The title numbering may be different, but they are still sequels.

Video games jumped into the sequel world. Sometimes they would differentiate from the original by giving it a similar title like Donkey Kong Jr. or Ms. Pac-Man. Or sometimes they maintained their cinematic quality by giving them numbers like Streetfighter II or Mortal Kombat II.

Even the music industry got into the sequel numbering game. Some iconic albums were numbered with Roman numerals like Led Zeppelin II, McCartney II, Queen II, and Van Halen II. Plus tons of Greatest Hits compilations will throw numbers on their titles to let everyone know you need to collect the whole set. Now that’s what I call music!

Do you like sequels? Or do they annoy you that they may not be an original idea? Which one stands out to you?Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]