Franchisography

Paramount Pictures had a Star Trek problem. After the muted reception to The Final Frontier, the studio was unsure of what direction to take their still potentially lucrative franchise next. Longtime producer Harve Bennett suggested a Top Gun-like origin story for Kirk and crew, but when Paramount passed, Bennett decided to part ways with Trek altogether. In his place, the studio selected Wrath of Khan director Nicholas Meyer, who had a vision for a smaller, more Shakespearean adventure. It’s 1991’s STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY.

One generation ends as FRANCHISOGRAPHY closes out the first third of its Trek odyssey, with guest Mike O’Gorman (True Lies) joining Nick and Scott to discuss this taut and paranoid science fiction chamber room mystery!

FRANCHISE POTENTIAL: Galaxy Quest (1999) episode now available on PATREON!

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

After The Voyage Home hit big at the box office and scored four nominations at the 1987 Academy Awards, producer Harve Bennett and the whole Trek team felt unstoppable. But before heading into Trek 5, they had one commitment they could not get around: Star William Shatner wanted to direct, or he wouldn’t do it all.

Shatner went for a more-is-more attitude with STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER. More aliens, more sets, more action. Could the film recoup its ballooning budget for Paramount? What does God need with a starship?

Nick, Scott, and guest Kevin Miller uncover these secrets and more on a fiery and explosive FRANCHISOGRAPHY.

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

Sometimes everything works out and everyone is happy. Sometimes filming a movie is a breezy, enjoyable experience made up of energized creatives working in an environment built on mutual respect and singular vision. Sometimes that movie is the critical and commercial high point of an entire franchise.

Sometimes a movie is STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME.

Nick, Scott, and guest Jeremiah Sherman have an equally grand time diving into the behind-the-scenes stories of this delightful comedy about whales starring the crew of the starship Enterprise in the latest episode of FRANCHISOGRAPHY.

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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra

After the critical and fan acclaim won by The Wrath of Khan, Paramount’s new heading for the Trek franchise was clear: Harve Bennett was the captain now. Original Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had even less power than he did before, and a sequel to Kahn was quickly assembled, this time with actor Leonard Nimoy in the director’s chair, much to the chagrin of the franchise’s star, William Shatner.

Those Klingon bastards are at it again just as Kirk, Bones, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu and Chekhov embark on their most perilous journey yet; Stealing the starship Enterprise. It’s 1984’s STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK.

Nick and Scott reunite with old friend Norman Mitchell in a FRANCHISOGRAPHY about the limits of loyalty and the cost of leadership.

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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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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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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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Patreon Associate Producer: Matt Bennett & Mark Ybarra