Just Another Friday Night

What is an “acolyte”? Websters says “one who assists a member of the clergy in a liturgical service by performing minor duties: one who attends or assists a leader”. An interesting first thought on the new Disney+ Star Wars series THE ACOLYTE. Starring Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae as Master Sol, Amandla Stenberg as Mae/Osha, Dafne Keen as Padawan Jecki Lon, and Charlie Barnett as Yorn Fandar. While the story is still unraveling we decided we wanted to look at these 1st four episodes with you The Friday Night Faithful. The series has not been without its share of controversy amongst fans and non-fans alike some going as far as to say it’s the herald to the death of Star Wars. What do we think? Well you’ll have to just come along for the ride! 100 years in the before The Phantom Menace!

Recently made available for streaming on Max 2023 gave us THE IRON CLAW. A tale of Texas wrestlings’ most celebrated family The Von Erich’s. With the patriarch Fritz leading the charge his sons followed his footsteps into the squared circle. Not since 2008’s The Wrestler starring Mickey Rourke has a wrestling film been so captivating. The Iron Claw stars Zac Efron as Kevin Von Erich and traces the family through triumph and even more tragedy. Tonight we discuss the film and our resident wrestling guru Double A helps us detail what was real and what was more for the film. Prepare to have your skull crushed in the vice-like grip of THE IRON CLAW!

Comic Books! You know we love them, but what is the state of the industry today? AA had some thoughts on the matter and suggested we bring back a guest for the topic! All the way back from season 7 episode 151 - the founder of Comic Arts - San Antonio Mr. Nas Rodriguez! He’s got a comic-centric show coming up and some serious thoughts on the state of the biz himself! What do YOU - The Friday Nighters of The Friday Night Faithful think? Comic books have come a long way from an inexpensive source of disposable reading material to a mega-BILLION dollar industry touching nearly every facet of the social fabric! Some fans love it - other purists hate it! We can’t promise answers but we can promise a fun, engaging, and entertaining conversation at the very least! Slide out the long boxes, some bags and boards and let’s flip through our thoughts and yours!

Previously on Just Another Friday Night…episode 200 to be exact Double A & CM Chuck reviewed the first 6 episodes of the new X-Men ‘97 series on Disney+. Normally we wait for a series to conclude before covering it, however this one was just too damn good to wait! And now the season has concluded and there’s a great big hole right in the middle of us. These final 4 gave us everything we could want and more with a season finale truly worthy of the episodes that preceded it! If you were ever even remotely into the original you HAVE to watch this series! It’s truly lives up to and surpasses the hype! SPOILERS are coming, so be ready! We’re hopping in the Blackbird and headed up to Asteroid M! To Us Our JAFN-Men!

Fire up those Pip-Boys and crack open a nice cold Nuka Cola! We’ve got the big THUMBS UP from Vault Boy himself to dive into the series debut of FALLOUT! Based on the wildly popular video game series now Prime Video has delivered us an 8-episode series streaming with them. Fans of the video game were no doubt eagerly anticipating the series since the recent uptick in video game franchises well - finally being done right. AA and CM we’re not followers of the game series but welcome those with knowledge to please join us in the comments! Our perspective will be that of the casual Prime Video viewer. But no matter what your background be it vault dweller, ghoul, or brother of steel we’re ready to re-enter the wasteland with you!

Listen Bud, he’s got radioactive blood. Can he swing from a thread? Take a look overhead. Hey there! There goes the Spider-Man! Back in the year of Our Lord 2002, Evil Dead director Sam Raimi and Sony gave us the feature length on-screen Spider-Man we’d waited since 1962 to see. Tobey Maguire donned the blue and red webbed suit and Marvel was never the same again. They’d had Blade, and they’d had the X-Men but now their flagship superhero was leading the charge. It solidified Tobey as Spider-Man at that time and made JK Simmons J. Jonah Jameson til this day. And it would happen for Raimi and Maguire two more times in 2004 and 2007. Completing the Raimi/Maguire trilogy to somewhat mixed reviews. On April 15, 2024 the Spider-Man movies returned to movie screens and presented a whole new audience an opportunity to see these films for their first time on the big screen! We’re going to talk to one of those audience members along with someone who saw them their first time in theater! Wealth and fame? He’s ignored - action is his reward! Look out here comes the Spider-Man!!!

INVINCIBLE! Season 2, Part 2, Episode 199!!! The long awaited final 4 episodes of Invincible S2 wrapped up last week and well worth the wait it was! We’ve brought back our guest host from our Invincible S2 P1 episode CM Kal to help us finish the story! When we last saw Mark he was on a distant planet with his father Nolan aka Omni-Man and he was in the wake of some startling news! Meanwhile the threats are mounting from the Martian hive mind to the Lizard League! Are The Guardians of the Globe going to be enough? With Invincible off-world we’re going to find out!! All that along with revelations for Debbie, Amber, and Donald! It’s been a wild 4 year ride to get to 199 but here we are, one away from 200! Proud to be YOUR premier pop culture podcast LIVE on Friday Nights (with pee breaks)! The Road to 200 ends here!!!

At long last the return of RICK GRIMES and MICHONNE!! This is the story every Walking Dead fan has been waiting to see come to its conclusion. Last we saw Rick he was blowing up a bridge and being airlifted by the lady with the worst haircuts on TV - Jadis. Then we had to wait. And wait and then wait some more. We saw The Walking Dead proper end. Fear the Walking Dead end. Tales of the Walking and a Daryl Dixon show. There may have been some we missed. All the while we wanted to see Rick and Michonne together again and hopefully reunited with Judith and RJ. Well all was answered in this 6 episode series. Where’s Rick been? What’s he been doing? How could Michonne possibly find him in a post-apocalyptic world? All this and more with our special guest and fellow TWD fan Untamable Amy!

“Marty! You’ve got to come back with me!” Where?? BACK TO THE FUTURE! That’s right Friday Nighters we’re taking you back in time to discuss one the most iconic film trilogies ever made. Doc Brown, Marty McFly and of course Biff Tannen. From Academy Award winner Stephen Spielberg and Academy Award winner Robert Zemeckis these beloved films have brought joy to audiences since the 80’s. They’re highly rewatchable, highly quotable and a truly iconic pop culture phenomenon. Back to the Future has inspired countless parodies, inventions, and creatives alike! Nike released the shoes from Part 2, Rick and Morty takes direct inspiration from BTTF and we’re all still dreaming of a real hoverboard and dehydrated pizza! Tell us your memories of these films and join the conversation cause where we’re going you don’t need roads!