In the wake of STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE’S divisive release, Paramount put the entire franchise on red alert. Their first step in assembling a crew for the sequel was selecting a new creative lead; Harve Bennett, a television producer on a historic hot streak who had never seen a single episode of Star Trek. How would Bennett’s strong opinions on the franchise affect the already strenuous working relationship between creator Gene Roddenberry and stars Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner?

Kahn Noonan Singh is a forgotten man on a forgotten world. But when an unexpected chance at revenge reveals itself, Kahn will go to extraordinary lengths to destroy the man who marooned him on his planet prison all those years ago: James T Kirk.

Join Nick and Scott as they prepare to dive deep and hang on to the nearest guard rails with New Republic archivist Tim Garcia, this is 1981’s STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KAHN.

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

Star Trek. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the podcast FRANCHISOGRAPHY. Their 13-film mission: to learn the history behind the Star Trek film franchise. To understand the complex and frustrating tug of war between creator Gene Roddenberry, director Robert Wise, and two iconic, very opinionated lead actors. This is 1979’s STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE.

Returning guest Chris O’Connor is back in his best space disco outfit for the first and most controversial entry in this sprawling franchise.

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

It’s a Betweenisode!

Join Nick & Scott as they discuss the conclusion of the Rocky/Creed mini-series, rank all 8 films, and discuss the start of the Star Trek mini-series beginning next week.

FRANCHISE POTENTIAL: Real Steel (2011) episode now available on PATREON!

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Patreon Associate Producers: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

Three years after his loss to “Pretty” Ricky Conlan, the world now knows Adonis Johnson Creed by a different name: The Champ. But his victory comes at a cost: Adonis’s sudden fame catches the attention of Ukrainian boxer Viktor Drago, son of Ivan Drago, disgraced champion of the fallen Soviet Union. Like Adonis, Viktor has his own legacy to grapple with, and defending his newly won title against this ferocious opponent will test Adonis’s strength in ways he never expected. One saga ends and another reaches new heights in 2018’s CREED II.

Much like Adonis, director Steven Caple Jr. had something to prove with his first challenge on a world stage. He wanted to continue the legacy of the Rocky series while honoring the work done by his film school brother-in-arms Ryan Coogler in the first Creed film. Will he succeed?

Join Nick and Scott for one last round as this sprawling, emotional series of FRANCHISOGRAPHY comes to a thrilling close.

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

In the early 2010s just as his promising film career was beginning to take off, an unexpected family crisis found writer-director Ryan Coogler’s dreams drifting to thoughts of a childhood cinematic hero, and an exciting way to continue his story while starting a new one. The result is a film both Nick and Scott agree to be the greatest legacy sequel of all time, it’s 2015’s CREED.

Adonis Johnson Creed wears his name uneasily. One half belongs to the mother he lost as a child, and the other to the father he never even knew. Desperate to settle his demons and prove his own worth to the world and himself, Adonis travels to the city of Philadelphia seeking tutelage from his father’s greatest adversary and most unlikely friend: Rocky Balboa.

This week’s emotional FRANCHISOGRAPHY digs deep into a modern classic that’s only getting better with age.”

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

Sixteen years after the failure of Rocky V and thirty years after his first round as the character, Stallone was ready to get back in the ring one more time for 2006’s ROCKY BALBOA. 

After letting the character rest through the 90s, Stallone wanted to give his underdog boxer another shot at a proper ending but was turned down by every major studio in town. It wouldn’t be until the fledgling Revolution Studios agreed to finance, that Stallone would get a second shot at finishing Rocky’s story. But as the movie was greenlit, the press treated the sixth Rocky film as a joke about an over-the-hill actor, desperately attempting to stay relevant with a character that should have been left in the 80s.

So, with a poorly received sequel, lack of studio support, and bad press, Rocky Balboa hit theaters as the one thing Rocky does best: as an underdog.

No guests this week as Scott and Nick discuss this underappreciated, overlooked, and overshadowed entry in the Rocky franchise.

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Five years after the most successful Rocky movie ever made, Stallone decided to write a bittersweet ending for his character that attempted to bring him back to his Philadelphia roots in 1990’s ROCKY V, this time with original director John Avildson returning. But with heavily criticized performances by a real non-actor boxer (Tommy Morrison) and his real son (Sage Stallone), Rocky as a trainer instead of a boxer, and a fight on the street instead of in the ring to end the movie, the fifth Rocky would become the least successful film in the franchise and the most controversial among fans.

Scott and Nick are joined by Bentley Michaels (Clerks: The Musical) to figure out what went wrong and if the “worst Rocky” is really as bad as everyone says.

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

After the immense success of Rocky III, Stallone looked to a real pair of boxing matches between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling for inspiration, updating the conflict with WWII Nazi Germany to Cold War Soviet Union. But to make it personal, Stallone would give Rocky more than just American pride to fight for.

In 1985’s ROCKY IV he would give him something to avenge: Apollo Creed.

Returning guest Chris O’Conner (Geek By Night) joins Scott and Nick to figure out if there’s more to this 80s guilty pleasure than birthday robots and endless musical montages, and discuss the changes Stallone recently made in his quarantine pet project, “Rocky Vs Drago” the Rocky IV re-edit.

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We pity the fool who skips this episode!

As Stallone puts it, Rocky made him famous, but Rocky II made him rich. And with this newfound success, he wanted to give his underdog boxer character a similar trajectory, turning him into the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. That is until an unknown boxer challenges his title, forcing Rocky to learn a new way of doing things through the forging of a new friendship with an old adversary. But does he have the eye of the tiger to see it through?

Scott and Nick are joined by podcaster Brad Mendenhall (Cosmic Gepetto) to discuss Philly pride, questionable boxing techniques, and the pop culture phenomenon of 1982’s ROCKY III.

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett

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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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett