Gimmicks

The Good Place: "Janets"

You'd think "one actor in an empty space" would be a straightforward idea for an episode, but not for this forking ambitious show, which has D'Arcy Carden play every one of the human cast at the same time inside a huge white void. And it explores the philosophical concept of the self. And it has a game-changing plot twist. And it's one of the most complex and VFX heavy episodes of the show. So much for being a little bottle episode!

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Email: [email protected]⁠ | Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@gimmickspod⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@gimmickspod⁠⁠⁠⁠

Derek on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@DerekBGayle⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Instagram: ⁠@mr.darebear⁠

David on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠@dmuma22⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Instagram: ⁠@dmuma⁠

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

Sources:

AV Club | Vulture | EW

David has joined Derek as the new permanent co-host, and we're welcoming him with a special mailbag episode! Listeners sent in a bunch of Qs, and the two Ds have lots of As... including plenty of podcast lore, the most suggested episodes, works of art that have made the biggest impact on our lives, our wardrobe (hint: lots of cargo shorts), favorite and least favorite gimmicks, and much more!

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Contact Gimmicks:

Email: [email protected] | Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠@gimmickspod⁠⁠⁠ | Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@gimmickspod⁠⁠⁠ |

Derek on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠@DerekBGayle⁠⁠⁠ and Instagram: @mr.darebear

David on Twitter: ⁠⁠@dmuma22⁠⁠⁠ and Instagram: @dmuma

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

Quantum Leap: "Blood Moon"  

Gavin Mevius leaps from The Mixed Reviews and into a gothic horror homage from Quantum Leap's weird final season, where Dr. Sam Beckett seems to possibly leap into a classic vampire, maybe, definitely. And while dovetailing the sci-fi series with the supernatural is a fun idea, the tonal mishmash, deus ex butler/lightning, and odd references to a gender-swapped Countess Elizabeth Bathory make this a strangely boring misstep. Oh boy!

CONTENT WARNING: There is a discussion about animal violence in this episode between 01:07:00 and 01:09:00.

Find more from Gavin:

The Mixed Reviews Podcast: ⁠linktr.ee/TheMixedReviews⁠ | Mixed Reviews on Twitter: ⁠@TheMixedReviews⁠ and Instagram: @the_mixed_reviews | Gavin on Twitter: ⁠@FriendlessMean

Contact Gimmicks:

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

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

Ugly Betty: "Million Dollar Smile"  

Bridge from May the Power Protect You Podcast joins for this momentous episode that lets America Ferrera's Betty get out of the braces and into an It's a Wonderful Life-style alternate reality where she was born with perfect teeth... and became a vicious Miranda Priestly-like fashionista. And she's guided by guardian angel/tooth fairy Kathy Najimy!

Find more from Bridge:

May The Power Protect You Podcast: ⁠anchor.fm/may-the-power-pod⁠ | MTPPY Podcast on Twitter: ⁠@MayThePowerPod⁠ | Bridge on Twitter: ⁠@BridgeMT⁠

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

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

The Facts of Life: "Cruisin'"

Chris Cummins of Sci-Fi Explosion joins for a late-night cruise through town in this American Graffiti tribute and ultimate hangout episode! While the Facts girls aren't doing the gay type of cruising, it's still all very gay, thanks to plenty of ABBA, men in leather, daddies, Jo/Blair tension, and the great Mindy Cohn as a hilariously horny Natalie.

Find Chris:

Twitch: twitch.tv/scifiexplosion | Instagram: ⁠@scifiexplosion⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Twitter: ⁠@scifiexplosion

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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

Supernatural: "The French Mistake"

Manika Dulcio from the I've Been Meaning To Watch That podcast joins for one of TV's most meta episodes ever, where Sam and Dean Winchester are thrown out of their fictional reality and onto the set of their own show. We dive into all the inside jokes that poke fun at Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, commentary on the show's production (season six?!), references from Tumblr and Twitter fandom, and how it reflects the way this VERY long-running CW series evolved... and sometimes didn't.

Find Manika's podcast, I've Been Meaning To Watch That:

Anchor: anchor.fm/ivebeenmeaningtowatchthat⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Patreon: patreon.com/ivebeenmeaningtowatch | YouTube: @ivebeenmeaningtowatchthatp2316 | Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@ivebeenmeaning2

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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

Ultimate Spider-Man: "Exclusive"

Doug Fink is here for a Walloping Websnappers crossover! A Spidey vs. Hulk disaster is shown from the lens of Mary Jane's camera, leading to ambitious animation and incredibly creative storytelling choices. We discuss the challenges of animating in found footage style, the lack of cutaways, S.H.I.E.L.D. and cops as antagonists, and more! 

Find more from Doug:

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

More from Walloping Websnappers:

Official website: wallopingwebsnappers.com | Patreon | Discord

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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

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

Tip the show on Ko-Fi!⁠⁠⁠

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

⁠⁠Tip the show on Ko-Fi!⁠⁠

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