Mt. Rushmore Podcast

In Episode 55, we looked at the coolest characters ever. This week, we turn the tables and look at the Rushmore of Fictional Dorks. Some might say it's a topic the three of us were born to tackle. Those people are mean bullies who need to stop or else we're telling teacher.

So what is a dork? And how is that different than a geek, nerd, or dweeb? We get into that, along with our picks.

SHOW NOTES

Michael's Picks

Tina Belcher ("Bob's Burgers")

• 17 Reasons Tina Belcher Is the Best Role Model for Young Girls - BuzzFeed
• The 10 Best Tina Belcher Moments on "Bob's Burgers" - IndieWire

Seymour Krelbourn ("Little Shop of Horrors")

• 11 Bloodthirsty Facts About "Little Shop of Horrors" - Mental Floss
• "Suddenly Seymour" Is a Heart-Melting Ballad Made Possible By Killer Vegetation - AV Club

Gerry Fleck ("Best in Show")

• The 10 Best Characters from Christopher Guest Films - Paste Magazine
• Best in Show of "Best in Show" - Nitehawk Cinema

Milton Waddums ("Office Space")

• Top 10 Movie Wimps: Milton Waddams, "Office Space" - Time Magazine
• 20 Things You Might Not Know About "Office Space" - Mental Floss

Richard's Picks

Willow Rosenberg ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer")

• Willow Rosenberg: Geek, Interrupted - Bitch Flicks
• Developmental Analysis of Willow Rosenberg - The Odyssey Online

Eugene Felznic ("Grease") But Really Eddie Deezen

• A Few Things You May Not Know About the Movie "Grease" - Neatorama
• 10 Interesting Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Eddie Deezen - Today I Found Out

William Miller ("Almost Famous")

• 15 Secrets Revealed About Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous" on its 15th Anniversary - The Wrap
• 15 Golden Facts About "Almost Famous" - Mental Floss

Brian Johnson ("The Breakfast Club")

• Character Analysis: Brian Johnson - Asylum for Nerds
• Character Dynamics in "The Breakfast Club" - Seroworld

This week we take a look at the coolest cats around (and we're not talking about Heathcliff). It's our look at the most definitely and iconic cool guys from TV and film. Because when you are looking for experts on cool, look no further than three guys running a podcast out of a spare bedroom.

And make sure you stick around until the end for a shocking cliffhanger that will leave your cliff hung (again, not Heathcliff).

SHOW NOTES

Michael's Picks

Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli (Happy Days)

• 14 Nostalgic Facts About "Happy Days" - Mental Floss
• 11 Reasons Why Fonzie Was a Babe Magnet - Fox News

Buddy Love (The Nutty Professor)

• 11 Things You Didn't Know About "The Nutty Professor"" - Esquire
• Jerry Lewis' "The Nutty Professor" - Neatorama

Mike (The Young Ones)

• Mike Thecoolperson - The Young Ones Wiki
• The Young Ones - BBC2 British Comedy Guide

Spuds MacKenzie (Bud Light Spokesdog)

• The Life, Death and Resurrection of Spuds MacKenize, the Original Party Animal - Mental Floss
• Whatever Happened to Spuds MacKenzie? Brand Mascots Lose Their Cool - AOL

Richard's Picks

Winston "The Wolf" Wolfe (Pulp Fiction)

• Being Winston Wolfe: 9 Reasons Why "Pulp Fiction" is the Management Guide Every Indie Filmmaker Needs - IndieWire
• Mr. Wolfe's First Scene - PulpFiction.com

Chris Knight (Real Genius)

• 30 Years Later, "Real Genius" is Still the Geek Solidarity Film That Nerd Culture Deserves - Tor.com
• 5 Brilliant Things You Didn't Know About "Real Genius" - Film School Rejects

Danny Zuko (Grease)

• Tell Me About It Stud: 6 Times That Danny Zuko Was a F*ckboy - Unwritten
• Wait, Elvis Presley and the Fonz Almost Starred in "Grease"? - Cinema Blend

Wooderson (Dazed and Confused)

• "Dazed and Confused" 20th Anniversary: The Crazy But Real Life Story of Wooderson, Slater and "Pink Floyd" - Screen Crush
• Watch Matthew McConaughy's "Dazed and Confused" Audition - Rolling Stone

Ziggy Stardust! The Thin White Duke! Aladdin Sane! Dude singing with Bing Crosby! No matter what phase David Bowie went through in his career, they were never boring. Well, except for Tin Machine, but otherwise…

This week we take a look back at the career of rock and roll's great chameleon and choose the most iconic and interesting phases of his career. So let's dance and celebrate our favorite Star, man, and all of the changes he went through.

SHOW NOTES

Joint Choice

Ziggy Stardust

• "Ziggy Stardust": How Bowie Created the Alter Ego That Changed Rock - Rolling Stone
• The Day David Bowie Abruptly Retired Ziggy Stardust - Ultimate Classic Rock

Michael's Choices

Jareth the Goblin King (from "Labyrinth")

• "Labyrinth": A Goblin King and a Sexual Dream - Consequence of Sound
• We Love Villains: The Strange Appeal of Jareth from "Labyrinth" - Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Earthling (1990s era)

• David Bowie's "Earthling" is 20 Years Old Today - Salon
• David Bowie Albums from Worst to Best: "Earthling" - Stereogum

Blackstar

• These Are All of the Secrets David Bowie Fans Have Found in the "Blackstar" Artwork - Spin
• David Bowie's "Blackstar" Was Not Just a Final Album - It Was an Omen - Esquire

Richard's Choices

The Thin White Duke

• How David Bowie Brought the Thin White Duke to Life on Station to Station - Rolling Stone
• On Race, David Bowie Delved Deep Into the Darkness and Came Back Human - The Daily Beast

Mime (Ashes to Ashes era)

• When David Bowie Opened for T. Rex (As a Mime) - Mental Floss
• Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) - Bowie Golden Years

Guy in Tin Machine

• Inside David Bowie's Challenging, Noisy Side Project Tin Machine - Rolling Stone
• Tin Machine: When David Bowie Was Just the Singer in the Band - Dangerous Minds

How you doin'? If you love TV catchphrases, then come on down! And if you don't, you can sit on it, Potsie! One man who will not be kissing any grits is our friend Chapen, who suggested the topic and agreed to come on the show and make some choices against the team of Richard and Michael (aka Michard or Manfield).

We think you'll give Two Thumbs Up to this podcast. When it comes to great TV catchphrases, these are Dy-no-mite! (And if you don't think so, you can bite our shiny metal asses.)

SHOW NOTES

Joint Pick

"What'choo Talkin' 'Bout, Willis?" - Diff'rent Strokes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le6qeMe7-vM

Chapen's Picks

"Kiss my grits!" - Alice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN2cfA45mUI

"D'oh!" - The Simpsons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnaeIAEp2pU

"And knowing is half the battle!" - G.I. Joe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-z0ymeb9EQ

Michael & Richard's Picks

"Don't Have a Cow, Man" - The Simpsons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m78gYyTrG7Y

"That's What She Said" - Wayne's World/The Office

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqZci_8wuC0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd6dDVOdOq0

"Make It Work" - Project Runway

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4-I7UyxAY8

We're smart and sensible people who don't believe in wacky conspiracy theories. But then again, there are a few that make us think...maybe? This week, we tackle the subject of conspiracy theories we can't dismiss completely even if we don't actually believe them.

Unless, of course, that's what we WANT you to believe, and this whole podcast contains hidden messages to the Illuminati, the Elders of Zion and the Reverse Vampires secretly controlled by the Rand Corporation plotting our next stage of worldwide control. WAKE UP SHEEPLE!

PS - We didn't plan for Episode 51 to be about Conspiracy Theories (like Area 51). It just kind of happened. OR DID IT?

SHOW NOTES

Joint Choice:

JFK Assassination Theories

• Who Killed JFK? - The Week
• Killing Conspiracy - Slate

Michael's Choices:

Area 51

• How Area 51 Works - How Stuff Works
• Area 51 - Dark Government

James Comey/Hillary Clinton Letter

• The Domestic Conspiracy That Gave Trump the Election Is In Plain Sight - Huffington Post
• The NSA Has Blackmailed the FBI's Comey - Reddit Conspiracies

New Coke

• New Coke 25 Years Later: Was It All Just a Brilliant Conspiracy? - Beg to Differ
• Coke Conspiracies: Capitalism At Its Finest - Conspiracies.net

Richard's Choices:

Patrick Ewing NBA Draft "Frozen Envelope"

• The Ewing Conspiracy - Sports Illustrated
• Links While Tossing Around Conspiracy Theories - ESPN.com

Harold Wilson Coup Plot

• Enough of This Cover Up: The Wilson Plot Was Our Watergate - The Guardian
• Wilson "Plot": The Secret Tapes - BBC

Stevie Wonder Isn't Blind

• Stevie Wonder Is Not Blind: The Truthers' Case - Deadspin
• So Is Stevie Wonder Blind Or What? - Jezebel

We've hit the big 50 and to celebrate we're getting super-hyper-mega-meta. The whole concept of our podcast revolves around the iconic nature of Mt. Rushmore. Just say the name and you automatically understand what it looks like and what it stands for. So it's little wonder why it has served as a backdrop and been spoofed in so many different places.

Join Michael, Richard and Jeff as they check out some fictional uses of Mt. Rushmore before chiselling one of their own.

SHOW NOTES

Joint Choices

The Chase Scene from "North by Northwest"

• Hitchcock's "North by Northwest" - PBS.org
• 13 Monumental Facts About "North by Northwest" - Mental Floss'

"Superman II"

• Overlooked Movies: "Superman II" The Lester Cut - Scene Stealers

"Team America World Police"

• Mount Rushmore - Team America World Police Wikia

Michael's Choice

The Washington Nationals Presidents' Race

• Racing Presidents - Nationals.com
• Presidents' Race Standings - Let Teddy Win

Richard's Choice

Mt. Richmore from "Richie Rich"

• Mount Richmore Minature for Macauley Culkins' "Richie Rich" - ComicBookMovie.com

Remember back when we spent every waking moment worried that the Soviet Union would invade the United States or decide to launch a nuclear attack since those dirty Commies couldn't handle being on the same planet with BLAZING AMERICAN FREEDOM? Man, it sure is good that we don't have to worry about THAT anymore!

We look back at the past - or prepare for the future - by remembering some pieces of pop culture that showed just how frightened or confused we were about the Soviets through the 1980s. So slam some vodka, put on a fuzzy hat and get ready for a pre-Perestroika madness.

And remember: in Russia podcast downloads YOU!

SHOW NOTES

Joint Pick

Ivan Drago, "Rocky IV"

Michael's Picks

Yakov Smirnoff

• Can Yakov Smirnoff, the King of the Cold War Comedy, Make a Comeback? - The Guardian

"Worker and Parasite" cartoon from "The Simpsons"

Superman: Red Son

• The Soviet Superman: Red Son - Today I Found Out

Richard's Picks

"Russians" by Sting

• Sting: "Russians" - The Pop History Dig

WWF Wrestler Nikolai Volkoff (or any "Russian" wrestler in the 1980s)

• Where Are They Now? WWF Superstars - Mental Floss

"Ninotchka"

• Ninotchka (1939) - AMC Filmsite

Jeff's Pick

The Russian Imposter on "Gilligan's Island"

Once in a Blue Moon we get an idea for an episode that gets us All Shook Up. That's the case this week as It's Now Or Never for us to take a look at Fake Elvises (Elvii?) - whether they are impersonators, fictional portrayals or something else entirely. Elvis is pop culture and the different types of faux Elvises amplify the many different ways he can be viewed. Jeff, as always, is the King of this episode, as he chooses from Richard and Michael's picks. So Don't Be Cruel - give this episode a listen.

Michael's Choices

Andy Kaufman as the Foreign Man as Elvis

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r59AWfhwpPg

El Vez

• My LA to Z: El Vez - Los Angeles Magazine
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knin4CLq4us

Elvis Trooper

• Elvis Has Left the Death Star - SWBookZone.com

Elvis Herselvis

• The Weirdest Elvis Impersonator: All Hail the Drag King... - Elvis Presley Talk
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5JVIliB5AI

Richard's Choices

Thai Elvis

• Best Thai Elvis - LA Weekly
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uUmR_7A6Nk

Bruce Campbell in "Bubba Ho-Tep"

• Bubba Ho-Tep Review - Roger Ebert
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa9331xmvhg

The Red Elvises

• The Soviet Surf Punk of Igor and the Red Elvises - Phoenix New Times
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3spW3kn7L4

Val Kilmer in "True Romance"

• 18 So Cool Facts About "True Romance" - Mental Floss
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYvQMDLZZk

An article of clothing can define a person - and that's definitely true when it comes to jackets. Some of the most iconic looks in pop culture history are closely tied to the jacket a person is wearing. Think about Marlon Brando in "The Wild Ones" or Joey Ramone on every Ramones album cover ever and you think about their leather jacket.

It's a very broad topic, which is evident as Michael and Richard take very difference approaches with their choices. Will Jeff be able to wade through it all to decide a winner and who has to wear the Jacket of Shame? (Note: not a real thing.)

SHOW NOTES

Michael's Choices

Michael Jackson's Red "Beat It" Jacket

The Bride's Yellow Motorcycle Jacket from "Kill Bill Vol. 1"

Fonzie's Leather Jacket from "Happy Days"

Members' Only burgundy jacket

Richard's Choices

Leather Jacket

Jean Jacket

Letterman Jacket

Starter Jacket

Jeff's "Host" Choice

James Dean's red jacket from "Rebel Without a Cause"

Hollywood releases roughly 248,000 movies every year, and about 10 of them are any good. It might seem that literally any movie will be released as soon as the first scene is shot, but that isn't the case at all. Many movies are planned - or even start filming - yet never make their way to America's multiplexes.

So let's celebrate the cinematic masterpieces/disasters that never saw the light of day. Michael, Richard and Jeff are ready to roll action, and we're hoping the studio isn't asking for major rewrites.

JOINT PICK

"The Man Who Killed Don Quixote"

• "Terry Gilliam's 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote' Delayed Again" - Slash Film

MICHAEL'S PICKS

Jodorowsky's "Dune"

• "Inside the Greatest Sci-Fi Movie Never Made" - The Verge

"Beetlejuice 2: Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian"

• "'Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian: The Sequel That Almost Was" - Blumhouse.com

"Superman Lives"

"10 Things We Learned From the 'Death of Superman Lives' Q&A" - Paste

RICHARD'S PICKS

"The Day the Clown Cried"

• "'The Day the Clown Cried": Behind the Scenes of the Infamous Jerry Lewis Movie' - Dangerous Minds

"Crusade"

• "Best Films Never Made #18: Paul Verhoeven's 'Crusade'" - One Room With a View

"ET 2: Nocturnal Fears"

• "'ET 2: Nocturnal Fears'" - Genius.com
• "The Real Reasons Fans Never Got to See an E.T. Movie" - Looper