Ain’t gonna be no rematch? We’ll see about that… 

After its immense success, the writer and star of Rocky found himself dealing with sudden celebrity status and knew just where to take his Italian American hero on his next adventure. But the rematch of the century would lead to Stallone betting on himself yet again in an effort to add another credit to his resume as director. The eventual sequel would be 1979’s ROCKY II, a film with just as much heart as its predecessor, but would establish the familiar tropes that audiences would come to expect in every entry going forward. 

Nick & Scott give you their best as they’re joined by Bethany Carelli (Scott’s wife!) to discuss the very personal connection this sequel has to their relationship.

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Crack some raw eggs into a glass and start your morning run because thanks to our listeners FRANCHISOGRAPHY is getting into the ring to go the distance with the most successful sports movie franchise of all time, starting with the classic underdog story and Best Picture winner, 1976’s ROCKY.

Throughout the 1970s, Sylvester Stallone was a struggling actor just trying to make ends meet when a boxing match would inspire him to write a script in 4 days about an amateur boxer being given a shot at the title. But while Hollywood was very interested in Stallone’s story, offering him more money than he’d ever seen for the script, they wanted to make the movie without the unknown actor in the titular role. Stallone would need to put it all on the line and bet on himself to get the movie made on a budget of less than $1 million, a decision that would change his life forever.

Join Nick & Scott as they go all fifteen rounds with returning guest Niall McGowan to discuss everything that makes the Italian Stallion worth a shot.

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett

It’s a Betweenisode!

Join Nick & Scott as they discuss the conclusion of the Evil Dead mini-series, speculate about next year’s Evil Dead Rise, and discuss the start of the listener-chosen Rocky mini-series beginning next week.

FRANCHISE POTENTIAL: Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) episode now available on PATREON!

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Patreon Associate Producers: Matt Bennett & Michael McKendry

The body might stay the same, but the laughs are few and far between in the film that might have invented the modern “elevated horror” genre:

Don’t say it, don’t write it, don’t hear it, it’s 2013’s EVIL DEAD.

Between Platinum Dunes and Japanese imports, the mid-2000s were lousy with horror remakes and most of them were… well, pretty lousy! So when up-and-coming filmmaker Fede Alvarez was handpicked to direct a remake of the 1981 classic, no one thought it would be a good idea. Little did we know, however, that by returning the franchise to its grueling horror roots and adding a healthy dose of thematic allegory, Alvarez would end up making one of the greatest horror remakes of all time, largely embraced by fans and critics alike.

Another FRANCHISOGRAPHY mini-series comes to a close (for now) as Nick & Scott are joined by returning guest Billy McCartney to gush about a lead performance that rivals the best horror heroines in history. 

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We’re falling through time to pay off a cliffhanger as Ash Williams goes up against the Medival Dead in 1992’s ARMY OF DARKNESS.

After the success of DARKMAN, Sam Raimi was ready to turn EVIL DEAD into a studio picture, and Universal Pictures was more than happy to oblige. What they wanted was a PG-13 adventure film, but what they got was a barely R-rated horror comedy that was notoriously difficult to market and ultimately flopped at the box office. However, the film would go on to become an instant cable classic and to this day, remains the only feature film from a major studio featuring Bruce Campbell in a lead role. 

Film critic Jeremiah Sherman has his boomstick at the ready as he joins Nick & Scott to explode as many skeletons on screen as possible in this deadite-lite episode of FRANCHISOGRAPHY.

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Strap on your chainsaw and hop in the Classic because we’re headed back to the cabin for 1987’s EVIL DEAD 2: DEAD BY DAWN.

After his sophomore effort proved to be a financial flop and creative misfire, Sam Raimi was ready to reopen the Necronomicon. But there would be no need to beg dentists for money this time around! Legendary Italian film producer Dino De Laurentiis gives the greenlight on Raimi and co.’s horror sequel and manages to make it profitable before they had even begun shooting, allowing for more blood, more gore, and more campy hijinx than ever before. 

Groovy horror aficionado Pat Driscol joins Scott & Nick to swallow the soul of this splat-stick horror masterpiece on an all-new (except for that reshot recap) FRANCHISOGRAPHY.

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Fire up that reel-to-reel tape recorder and stay out of the woods because FRANCHISOGRAPHY is back with the ultimate mini-series of grueling terror, and it all begins with 1981’s THE EVIL DEAD.

In the winter of 1979, a group of young friends from Michigan, went to a cabin in the woods of Tennesee to make a movie on a shoestring budget. What followed was a miserable experience for everyone involved; a shoot held together with duct tape, 2x4s, and determination. But the result? A horror film unlike anything that anyone had ever seen, that would launch the careers of its director, a barely 20-year-old Sam Raimi, and star, the boyishly handsome Bruce Campbell.

Joining Nick & Scott is writer Anya Crittenton to decipher the text of this horror classic and decide if there’s more to it than corn syrup and reusable hard contacts.

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It’s a Betweenisode!

Join Nick & Scott as they discuss the conclusion of the Jurassic Park mini-series, take a look at the Extended Cut of Jurassic World: Dominion, and prepare to ring in the spooky season with the start of the Evil Dead mini-series next week.

FRANCHISE POTENTIAL: Twister (1996) episode now available on PATREON!

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In the summer of 2022, the Jurassic franchise finally came to a close with nearly a billion dollars at the worldwide box office and even more negative reviews. Fresh off of being unexpectedly outed from the director’s chair on Star Wars Episode 9, somehow director Colin Trevorrow has returned. And his mandate on JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION would not be dissimilar from the Star Wars movie that replaced his own: create a satisfying finale not just to one trilogy, but the ones that came before, all while keeping things open-ended enough for more sequels in years to come.

The world has changed. Genetically engineered dinosaurs and humanity struggle to share the planet together. In the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Claire Dearing, Owen Grady, Maisie Lockwood, and Blue the Velociraptor are struggling to co-exist in their own new environment when Blue’s offspring is suddenly captured by Dino-poachers. Meanwhile, survivors of the original Jurassic Park disaster are drawn into a new plot involving corporate greed and the hubris of man.

Is there more to this big, dumb movie about locusts than meets the eye? Join Scott and Nick as they race to find out in this explosive and exciting episode of FRANCHISOGRAPHY.

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JURASSIC WORLD was a massive success at the box office, but critical and fan reaction was divided, to say the least. For the second part of their legacy trilogy, Universal would sign on celebrated Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona to take things in a much darker direction with 2018’s JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM.

Claire Dearing is on a quest for redemption. After the disaster at Jurassic World, Claire spends her days fighting for the rights of the very genetically engineered creatures she once lorded over. When an active volcano on Isla Nublar threatens all life on the island, Claire and all of mankind must reckon with the place dinosaurs have in our modern world.

Join Scott, Nick, and guest Hunter Canedy on a spooky haunted house adventure featuring a sneaky little stinker named the Indoraptor on a wild episode of FRANCHISOGRAPHY.

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Patreon Associate Producers: Matt Bennett & Michael McKendry