Flopcast Archives - The ESO Network

Flopcast episode 704! 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.

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Flopcast episode 703! 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.

Episode 703 complete show notes and links at www.flopcast.net!

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Flopcast episode 702! 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.

Episode 702 complete show notes and links at www.flopcast.net!

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Flopcast episode 701! 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.

Episode 701 complete show notes and links at www.flopcast.net!

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Flopcast episode 700! 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.

Episode 700 complete show notes and links at www.flopcast.net!

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Flopcast episode 699! 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!

Episode 699 complete show notes and links at www.flopcast.net!

The post Flopcast 699: Dragon Con Review Part 3 – Chicken Grease appeared first on The ESO Network.

Flopcast episode 698! 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.

Episode 698 complete show notes and links at www.flopcast.net!

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Flopcast episode 697! 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…

Episode 697 complete show notes and links at www.flopcast.net!

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Flopcast episode 696! 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.)

Episode 696 complete show notes and links at www.flopcast.net!

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Flopcast episode 695! A few months back, to celebrate Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary, we did a whole FlopFight tournament of SNL characters. (If you’re keeping score, the winner was Will Forte’s Falconer. Of course.) 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 a showdown with the man they call… 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.

Episode 695 complete show notes and links at www.flopcast.net!

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