It’s Just A Show

By Chris Piuma and Charlotte Wells (and Adam Clarke and Beth Martin)

A friendly conversation about the cult tv show Mystery Science Theater 3000, and about its weird movies and diverse cultural references.... more

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FAQs about It’s Just A Show:

How many episodes does It’s Just A Show have?

The podcast currently has 208 episodes available.

It’s Just A Show episodes:

August 29, 2023 138. This Is Not A Secret! [MST3K 1308. The Batwoman.]
The Batwoman (La mujer murciélago) swims towards the good ship It’s Just A
Show, where Chris and Charlotte are talking about Mexican resorts, Mexican
cosmopolitanism, Mexican movies, Mexican luchadoras, and menstrual products.
Show Notes.
The Batwoman: MST3K
Wiki.
IMDb.
Trailer.
Support us on Patreon if you want to
listen to Charlotte talking about this and that on Mug Up!
Jaime Loftus: Raw Dog.
You can listen to us on
YouTube. You can also watch
the drawing of the SoL float by, if that soothes you.
The Elvis Comeback
Special did not
feature Sonny West.
Our episode on The Wild Wild World of
Batwoman and our report on
MST3Kon.
Acapulco in its heyday.
The graphic design of Mexico
’68.
Spectacle Every Day: The Many Seasons of Mexican Popular
Cinema on
MUBI. The companion book of
essays.
The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales (El esquelito de la señora
Morales) (Rogelio A. González,
1960).
Streetwalker (Trotacalles) (Matilde
Landeta, 1951).
The Witch’s Mirror (El espejo de la
bruja) (Chano Urueta, 1962).
Our episodes on Santo and the Treasure of
Dracula and Santa
Claus.
Against the Ropes (Contra las
cuerdas).
An article about luchadoras.
La dama enmascarada.
“Transgressive femininity”.
Doctor of Doom (Las luchadoras contra el médico
asesino) (René Cardona, 1963).
Our episodes on The Robot vs. the Aztec
Mummy, The Leech
Woman, and Revenge of the
Creature.
Chris talks about various Frankenstein films in a bonus episode of The
Spouter-Inn.
Esther Williams in Million Dollar
Mermaid.
Splash!
Support It’s Just A Show on Patreon and
help us make the show — and listen to a bonus bit about Turning Red.
...more
59min
August 09, 2023 137. People Working Together. [MST3K 209. The Hellcats.]
The Hellcats play tug-of-war with Chris and Charlotte as they try to
discuss women bikers, gay bikers, (sorta) helpful bikers, speed chess, and
cheesecake.
Content warning: There’s a mention of homophobic violence in a movie. We
warn you when it’s coming, and we don’t go into graphic details. If you want
to skip it, use the chapter markers or skip ahead to 28:20 when we mention
it.
Show Notes.
The Hellcats: MST3K
Wiki.
IMDb.
Trailer.
Our episodes on the other biker movies: The
Sidehackers. Wild
Rebels.
Jeeter (not a sponsor).
Kief.
The Traveling Wilburys: Tweeter and the Monkey
Man.
Our episode on Catalina Caper.
She Devils on Wheels.
The Mini-Skirt Mob.
Bury Me an Angel. (Additional
content warning: incest.)
The Black Angels.
Werewolves on Wheels.
The Pink Angels.
Chris and Charlotte and friends report on seeing
Barbie.
Then Came Bronson.
Change of Habit.
Bigfoot.
No Substitute for Victory.
The Incredible 2-Headed
Transplant.
The Thing with Two Heads.
International Sign
Language.
Davy Jones and the Dolphins:
Hellcats.
David John and the Comstock Cowboys.
Mae West: Way Out
West.
Dice chess.
Our episodes on The Crawling Hand
and Rocketship X-M.
A taxonomy of clip shows.
Keychain photo viewers.
Support It’s Just A Show on Patreon and
help us make the show — and listen to bonus bits, and join us on a friendly
Discord!
...more
1h
July 20, 2023 136b. Touched by a Joel. [MST3Kon!]
Chris and Charlotte went to Blobfest and MST3Kon! And so now they’re going
to tell you all about meeting Joel, meeting Jonah, meeting Emily, meeting the
Blob, and meeting oppressive amounts of humidity.
Show Notes.
MST3Kon.
The Blob (1958) and The
Blob (1988).
The Colonial Theatre.
We met Joel and Jonah and
Emily!
Our episodes on The Wild Wild World of
Batwoman, Santa
Claus, Beyond
Atlantis, and Demon
Squad.
On AI and the SAG-AFTRA strike.
More on AI and the SAG-AFTRA
strike.
Danny Gonzalez on Ratatoing.
We didn’t mention it, but the other big announcement from the event is that
MST3K is now on TikTok, if that’s
your thing.
And there’s a mailing
list
for MSTies who live near Philadelphia.
Support It’s Just A Show on Patreon and
hang out with us in a friendly Discord!
...more
36min
July 14, 2023 136. What Do They Do in Florida? [MST3K 207. Wild Rebels.]
Wild Rebels are crunchy and punchy, but Chris and Charlotte are in to talk
about symbols that were popular in Germany in the late 30s/early 40s, Florida
film scenes, sad boy singers, pretty boy bikers, and driving around Florida
for kicks.
Show Notes.
Wild Rebels: MST3K
Wiki.
IMDb.
Trailer.
See you at MST3Kon!
Welcome, Waystar Corncob!
The critic Chris mentions is Peter Stanfield in his book Hoodlum Movies:
Seriality and the Outlaw Biker Film Cycle,
1966-1972, which was useful reading for these
episodes.
Wikipedia has pretty informative articles about the history of the
swastika and using it for shock
value, and about one-percenters.
An article on bikers and this kind of
iconography, and another on why punks used
it.
The Santa Claus scene.
She-Man.
The Naked Zoo.
A recent interview with director William
Grefé.
Steve Alaimo: Every Day I Have To
Cry.
The Wham! documentary.
Joan Didion on bike
movies.
The Wild One.
The late Kenneth Anger’s Scorpio
Rising.
Why the Hell’s Angels Make Out with Fellow Male
Bikers.
The Wild Angels.
Easy Rider.
Obligatory link to Todd in the Shadows on Toni
Basil.
An interview with Channel J’s
Tracey.
Genesis:
Abacab.
The Birdwatchers: I’m Gonna Love You
Anyway.
Shane Fenton & the Fentones: Cindy’s
Birthday.
Alvin Stardust: My Coo Ca Choo.
The Spahn Ranch and its filmography.
New Christy Minstrels: Green,
Green.
Up with People at the
Superbowl.
Museo della Merda.
Scenic A1A.
The interactive
map.
The Jupiter Inlet
Lighthouse (is not our lighthouse).
The Cape Florida Light in
Key Biscayne (is our lighthouse). An older
photo.
Follow Chris on Bluesky.
Support us on Patreon and listen to
superfan bonus bits!
...more
1h
June 26, 2023 135. A Way to Be a Bad Guy Biker. [MST3K 202. The Sidehackers.]
The Sidehackers (or is it The Side Hackers?) revs its engines real loud
and makes it hard for Chris and Charlotte to talk about sexual violence,
friendly bikers, unfriendly bikers, sidehacking, and Rommel’s book.
cw: This is a heavy episode, and we talk about sexual violence (including a
discussion about the notorious scene that was edited out of the movie) as well
as other histories of violence.
Show Notes.
The Sidehackers: MST3K
Wiki.
IMDb.
MST3Kon is July 16,
as part of Blobfest!
Our episode on Cave Dwellers.
The Hollister Riot.
Women at the Hollister
Riot.
Other female
bikers!
Frank Rooney: Cyclists’ Raid. [Subscription required to get it from the official source.]
The Wild One.
The Quebec Biker War.
A Timeline of the Hells
Angels (as of 2013).
On bikers and other counterculture groups.
Veterans and bikers.
The Altamont Speedway Free
Concert.
Then Came Bronson.
The Southern California Side Hack
Association.
A 1972 article about
sidehacking.
Why are sidecars called “hacks”?
Sidecar Racers Association
(of Canada).
The Rommel thing in Europe.
Watch it on YouTube.
The New Life Sings The
Sidehackers. [cw: At least one
song title is, uh, problematic.]
The Mini-Skirt Mob.
A supercut of all the scenes you care about from a 1975 Ross Hagen film with
a fun name.
Budd Friedman.
Smallpox vaccination scars.
Erwin Rommel: Infantry
Attacks and Tank
Attacks.
Patton.
Support It’s Just A Show on Patreon, if
you can and want to. Thanks!
...more
1h
June 12, 2023 134. To Live Amongst The Bees. [MST3K 905. The Deadly Bees.]
The Deadly Bees are swarming around Chris and Charlotte, distracting them
as they try to talk about timelines, mysteries, nuisances, knees, and spices.
Show Notes.
The Deadly Bees: MST3K
Wiki.
IMDb.
Trailer.
We don’t mention it on the show, but we’ve got a limited edition Pride
t-shirt featuring our network’s mascot, Curtis the Dinoplant, showing
some colours. We first mentioned Curtis way back in episode 4 on Future
War.
Our episode on The She-Creature.
And our episodes on The Projected
Man and The Killer
Shrews.
Blind Melon: No Rain.
We talk about Amicus in our episode on At The Earth’s
Core.
And of course, our episode on Gamera vs.
Jiger.
H.F. Heard: A Taste for Honey.
A website devoted to H.F. Heard.
H.F. Heard: The Five Ages of Man is now published as The Five Ages of
Humanity, which, fair enough.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s novel.
Chris talks about Moby-Dick elsewhere…
Bees are coming!
Pacifica’s Fogfest.
Son of Dracula.
The Straight Story.
Paradise, Hawaiian Style.
Shaft in Africa.
Ronnie Wood on The Birds and The
Byrds.
Hee Haw vs
Gunsmoke.
Anthony Newley: Goldfinger.
Manfred Mann: The Mighty Quinn.
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band: Blinded by the
Light.
Jewel: The National Anthem.
Lulu: Boom Bang a Bang.
Bees, in fact, have knees.
Isaac Watts: How doth the little busy bee…
Mae Murray.
The Buzzfeed quiz in question.
Support It’s Just A Show on Patreon and
get all sorts of rewards! And thank you.
...more
1h
May 30, 2023 133. My Sense of the Sublime. [MST3K 407. The Killer Shrews.]
The Killer Shrews are gnawing at Chris and Charlotte to talk about shrews,
rats, dogs, cows, and college kids.
Also features the short, Junior Rodeo Daredevils!
Show Notes.
The Killer Shrews: MST3K
Wiki.
IMDb.
Trailer
Junior Rodeo Daredevils: IMDb.
Kate DeMillo: The Tale of Despereaux.
Brian Jacques: Redwall.
A venemous shrew.
National Geographic presents Psycho Shrew vs.
Scorpion.
Bonus BBC shrew fights.
The Green Berets.
Moonrunners.
LBJ and his dogs.
Frau Blucher.
The USS Merrimack.
Dharma Farms. Berkeley
Farms. Bar None Ranches.
The Pacifica Historical Society newsletter with an article on the local
rodeo.
Pacifica Fog Fest.
What to do during a hurricane.
Hurricanes Andrew,
Gloria, and (I believe)
Bob are the hurricanes Chris
has been in.
Support It’s Just A Show on Patreon and
hang out with us in a nice Discord and hear all sorts of bonus content.
...more
56min
May 12, 2023 132. Misogynist Jerkpants. [MST3K 1302. Robot Wars.]
Robot Wars avoids war with any other robots by peacefully transporting
Chris and Charlotte as they talk about Barbara Crampton, Lisa Rinna, Barb,
Star, and a punching bag.
Show Notes.
Robot Wars: MST3K
Wiki.
IMDb.
Trailer.
The video from our live show,
as well as video for all the live shows recorded that
day,
is now available!
Bonus bits cut from each episode for time are available for people who support
us on Patreon.
Barbara Crampton on Barbara
Crampton.
Re-animator. Castle
Freak. Chopping
Mall. Jakob’s
Wife.
Our episode on Alien from L.A.
DMP vs. James
Staley.
Harley Davidson and the Marlboro
Man.
An Illinois Bell commercial from the late
70s.
The Lisa Rinna Rinnaissance.
Danny Kamekona and Yuji Okumoto, together
again.
Pritchard is played by Sam Scarber,
whose name we should have mentioned.
Passages from James Joyce’s Finnegans
Wake.
Our episode on The Day Time Ended.
David Arkenstone: Music Inspired by Middle
Earth [sic]. And a
review.
Battlepug, and Battlepug: The
Compugdium.
They Might Be Giants: Spider.
(Patreon supporters have access to the original Pie Palindrome Pie
episode that we recorded
as a technical test run before our first It’s Just A Show.)
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del
Mar.
Sing along with Chong and the Nomads, from Avatar: The Last
Airbender.
The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional
Usage.
Shout out to a legend, TV’s Spatch.
Support us on Patreon, it’s nice.
...more
1h
April 25, 2023 131b. Bicyclists Were There for Us. [MST3K Short of the Month Club, part 2.]
Chris and Charlotte were live in Portland, Oregon, to look at two recently
riffed shorts on a topic that is dear to all Portlanders’ hearts: bicycle
safety! The Bicycle Driver and Bicycling Visual Skills both want to
teach us about how to share the road with cars safely. [And yes, Chris gets
the name of one of the shorts wrong the first time.]
Show Notes.
Bicycling Visual Skills: Not on IMDb?! Not yet on the MST3K Wiki, even, though
it should end up
here.
But, update: It’s from
1983!
The Bicycle Driver: Also not on IMDb?! MST3K
Wiki.
UnMSTed.
Passages Bookshop was a gracious host,
and is well worth a visit if you’re in Portland.
A/V Geeks have lots of educational shorts to enjoy.
A/V Geeks’ upcoming event in
Portland, in tribute to the
late great Dennis Nyback of the
Clinton Street Theatre.
Janelle Showalter?
P.J. O’Rourke’s notorious essay on
bicycling.
A guide to Portland’s green
zones.
Toronto cycling map vs. Portland
cycling
map.
Kintsugi.
Florence Lawrence.
The Good Roads Movement
and the League of American
Wheelmen.
Support us on Patreon and maybe we’ll get
to do this again!
...more
32min
April 18, 2023 131. The Immenseness of That Power. [MST3K 901. The Projected Man.]
The Projected Man beams itself into Chris and Charlotte’s life, and so
they talk about 4D Man, Lee Meriwether, Ralph Carmichael, Bert from Sesame
Street, and Andrei Tarkovsky.
Show Notes.
The Projected Man: MST3K
Wiki.
IMDb.
Trailer.
RIP, Mark
Russell.
We talked more about Mark Russell in our episode on Gamera vs.
Guiron.
(EDIT: There used to be a link to our live event in Portland here, but that was long ago.)
Our fine range of t-shirts.
Island of Terror.
4D Man.
Ralph Carmichael: 4D Man main
theme.
An overview of Ralph Carmichael’s work with Nat King
Cole.
The Blob.
My Mother The Car.
Ralph Carmichael’s religious
music.
A documentary about The Falklands
Play.
Our episode on Cosmic Princess.
That photo of Tori Amos.
Petula Clark: Downtown.
[UPDATE: Which is from 1964, not 1963. Sorry, Petulaheads!]
Plastic Ono Band: Give Peace a
Chance. [Keep an eye out for the
woman with the beauty mark at 4:30]
Calvin Trillin, Deadline Poet. [Musk Takes Over
Twitter.]
Calvin Trillin: Messages from My Father.
Lionel Trilling: The Liberal Imagination.
Rose Mary Woods.
How Eyebrows Became
Everything.
Eyebrow through history.
Vogue on eyebrows.
Korean Straight Eyebrows.
100 Years of Brows.
Stalker.
Janus Films.
Support It’s Just A Show on Patreon.
Thanks!
...more
1h

FAQs about It’s Just A Show:

How many episodes does It’s Just A Show have?

The podcast currently has 208 episodes available.

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