Riverdale: "The Witching Hour(s)"

Cassie Proffitt (of Distant Echoes) joins to unravel the madness of Riverdale's parallel universe Rivervale arc, and this standout episode that borrows the structure of the film The Hours to tell a surprisingly poignant centuries-spanning queer story about three Blossom women (kind of) involving witches, curses, body swaps, and an appearance from Sabrina Spellman.

Find more from Cassie:

Distant Echoes: A Star Wars Podcast: ⁠anchor.fm/distant-echoes⁠ | Distant Echoes on Instagram: @distantechoessw and Twitter: ⁠⁠@DistantEchoesSW⁠⁠ | Cassie on Instagram: @cassiethulhu⁠ and Twitter: ⁠@cassiethulhu

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Contact Gimmicks:

Email: [email protected] | Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠@gimmickspod⁠⁠⁠ | Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@gimmickspod⁠⁠⁠ | Derek on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠@DerekBGayle⁠⁠⁠

Theme song:⁠ ⁠⁠"Disco Tears" by Raven⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠Creative Commons Attribution 3.0⁠⁠⁠

Episode Sources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Decider | E! News | Riverdale Wiki

Mythic Quest: "Quarantine"

Remember the "Imagine video" era of the pandemic? David Arnold joins for this rube-goldbergian technical marvel of an episode that was filmed at the early height of COVID-19 in 2020, taking place entirely over Zoom meetings and tackling how the Mythic Quest characters deal with lockdown, both comedically and emotionally. Whether or not this very timely episode will hold up in the future, one thing's for sure: Craig Mazin is a total snack.

David on Twitter: @dmuma22⁠

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Contact Gimmicks:

Email: [email protected] | Twitter: ⁠⁠@gimmickspod⁠⁠ | Instagram: ⁠⁠@gimmickspod⁠⁠ | Derek on Twitter: ⁠⁠@DerekBGayle⁠⁠

Theme song:⁠ ⁠"Disco Tears" by Raven⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠Creative Commons Attribution 3.0⁠⁠

Episode Sources: ⁠⁠⁠

THR Oral History | Vulture Oral History | THR on Charity | Variety on COVID outbreak

Power Rangers Lost Galaxy: "The Rescue Mission"

Doug Fink goes galactic for this dark and un-Power Rangers-y space alien horror -- a direct homage to both Alien and Aliens helmed by Steve Wang, a creature-maker who's worked on Predator, Godzilla '98, Gremlins 2, and directed the Guyver films. And it includes corpses, jump scares, no Japanese source material, and barely any actual Power Rangers!

Find more from Doug:

Doug on Twitter: ⁠@ickybooley⁠ | Victory Road: ⁠foureyedradio.com/category/vr⁠ | Novel Gaming: ⁠anchor.fm/novel-gaming-podcast⁠ | Walloping Websnappers: ⁠wallopingwebsnappers.com

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Contact Gimmicks:

Email: [email protected] | Twitter: ⁠⁠@gimmickspod⁠⁠ | Instagram: ⁠⁠@gimmickspod⁠⁠ | Derek on Twitter: ⁠⁠@DerekBGayle⁠⁠

Theme song:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠"Disco Tears" by Raven⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠Creative Commons Attribution 3.0⁠⁠

Closing song: "Aliens - Main Theme [Remix]" by Erlnite Music & Gaming

Episode Sources:

Power Rangers: The Ultimate Visual History | Steve Wang's Instagram | Steve Wang's MySpace | Morphylogeny by SirStack | RangerWiki

Moonlighting: "Atomic Shakespeare"

Kevin Cafferty of the Gleaming the Tube podcast cometh to discuss the most famous (and expensive) episode of the classic 80s fourth-wall-breaking romcom starring Cybill Shepard and Bruce Willis -- their ambitious, cartoonish Elizabethan parody of The Taming of the Shrew done fully in iambic pentameter! We also talk about this show's highly influential and innovative place in television history, and why it's often forgotten in TV conversations despite having been a phenomenon.

Find more from Kevin:

Gleaming the Tube | Moonlighting Podcast | Kevin on Twitter: ⁠@kevshindig⁠

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Contact Gimmicks:

Email: [email protected] | Twitter: ⁠@gimmickspod⁠ | Instagram: ⁠@gimmickspod⁠ | Derek on Twitter: ⁠@DerekBGayle⁠

Theme song:⁠ "Disco Tears" by Raven⁠ | ⁠Creative Commons Attribution 3.0⁠

Episode Sources: ⁠

Moonlighting: An Oral History by Scott Ryan | Variety's excerpt from the oral history

The Last of Us: "Long, Long Time"

Katie and Doug from Novel Gaming bring their queer and gaming chops to this unexpected gay love story, which turns minor video game characters into protagonists of their own decades-spanning epic. We dig into all the context and discourse around this episode, Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett's performances, and why an episode criticized as "filler" actually establishes the thesis statement of the show and is arguably the most important episode of the season.

Find more from Novel Gaming:

Novel Gaming Podcast: http://bit.ly/40BhmGn | Novel Gaming YouTube: ⁠@NovelGamingPodcast⁠ | Novel Gaming Twitter: ⁠⁠@NovelGamingPod⁠⁠ | Doug on Twitter: ⁠@ickybooley

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Contact Gimmicks: Email: [email protected] | Twitter: ⁠@gimmickspod⁠ | Instagram: ⁠@gimmickspod⁠ | Derek on Twitter: ⁠@DerekBGayle⁠

Theme song:⁠ "Disco Tears" by Raven⁠ | ⁠Creative Commons Attribution 3.0⁠

Episode Sources: The Last of Us Wiki | Nerdist

The Simpsons: "22 Short Films About Springfield"

Tommy Proffitt of Distant Echoes returns for a classic Simpsons episode packed with short vignettes about two dozen secondary Springfieldian characters... including Pulp Fiction parodies and the origin of the now legendary "Steamed Hams" segment. 

Find more from Tommy:

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Theme song: "Disco Tears" by Raven | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Episode Sources:

Arrested Development: "S.O.B.s"

Writer and podcaster Joel Arnold joins for an episode that throws out every hacky ratings gimmick imaginable -- from celebrity cameos to 3D to live segments -- all while playfully parodying fan campaigns and grappling with the show's uncertain future.

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Theme song: "Swift Electric" by Cyberbear | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Sources:

Dead End: Paranormal Park: "Phantom of the Theme Park"

Doug Fink joins for one of the best television musicals in years! The very queer animated adaptation of Hamish Steele's DeadEndia comics presents its penultimate episode as an inspired rock opera, with music by Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump and influences from Little Shop of Horrors, Phantom of the Opera, and renaissance Disney.

Find more from Doug:

Dead End demos:

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Theme song: "Swift Electric" by Cyberbear | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Sources:

We talked a whole bunch more about Supernatural than what you hear in the final cut of our "Changing Channels" episode, and that extra content is here for the Supernatural and Gimmicks die-hards! We talk more about shipping Gabriel and Sam, pre- and post-season 5 stories, Ruby, Bela, and Bobby, and more. Plus, a surprise Pixar conversation?!

Supernatural: "Changing Channels"  

Merrilee O'Neil returns for this hilarious reality-bending jaunt through parodies of Grey's Anatomy, CSI, Knight Rider, Miller-Boyett sitcoms, and more -- all while still playing deeply into Supernatural's dark apocalyptic storyline. 

Look out for Merrilee's upcoming Criminal Minds podcast, Overkill! Give it an early follow on Twitter: @OverkillPod

Find Merrilee on Twitter: @papillonvoleur

Contact Gimmicks: Email: [email protected] | Twitter: @gimmickspod | Instagram: @gimmickspod | Derek on Twitter: @DerekBGayle

Theme song: "Swift Electric" by Cyberbear | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Closing song: "Knight Rider Theme (Remix)" by STEALTH

Sources