Newcomers: Sports, with Nicole Byer and Lauren Lapkus

Lauren and Nicole are joined by the voice of Hayley Smith herself, Rachael MacFarlane, to discuss the American Dad parody episode, Return of the Bling.

Listen in as the they lament bad coronavirus jokes, take pleasure in finally understanding all these LOTR references, and scratch their heads at the absurdity of having to ask to use the bathroom in school.

Like the show? Rate Newcomers 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts and let us know what LOTR media you'd like the series to cover.

Sources for this episode:

Article on Ian McKellen's Vaccine Comments

Trivia from AmericanDad.Fandom.com

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Lauren and Nicole are joined by comedian, writer and actor Jake Hurwitz (If I Were You, Not Another D&D Podcast) to dig into some Lord of the Rings fan theories!

All the most important questions are asked, and answers of varying credibility are provided... Why didn't they just fly the eagles to Mordor? Would it have been a terrible idea in the first place? Is LOTR just WW1 + magic? And who exactly is this mysterious Tom Bombadil character? Is he Tolkien? Is he YOU??

Like the show? Rate Newcomers 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts and let us know what LOTR media you'd like the series to cover.

Sources for this episode:

Article on Dungeons and Dragons Movie

Original Eagles theory by VulcanDeathGrip

An article summarizing the Eagles theory

Film Theory video on why you SHOULDN'T fly to Mordor

Video on Gollum's Identity

All about Tom Bombadil

Article by Tolkien's grandson on LOTR/WW1 similarities

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Lauren and Nicole go on their very first Dungeons and Dragons campaign, Lord of the Rings style!

Joined by Dungeon Master Brennan Lee Mulligan (CollegeHumor’s Dimension 20 series), Darkwin the Elf and Samwise Parkington the Hobbit are on a quest to meet with their good friend Gandy, but not without running into some trouble along the way...

Like the show? Rate Newcomers 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts and let us know what LOTR media you'd like the series to cover.

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Lauren and Nicole are back to discuss the popular 2014 video game, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, with the voice actor of the hero Talion himself, Troy Baker! Troy takes Lauren and Nicole on a deep behind-the-scenes look into the production of this runaway hit game, offering insight into the bizarre sensations of filming on a performance capture stage, the tightrope walk of carefully (and legally) expanding the lore of The Lord of the Rings franchise, and much more.

Along the way, the fellow actors reflect on what life's been like working in entertainment during the pandemic, Troy's short-lived but intense experience doing stand up comedy, and an anecdote on dedication involving an actor giving a role-winning audition in the middle of a movie theater lobby!

Like the show? Rate Newcomers 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts and let us know what LOTR media you'd like the series to cover.

Sources for this episode:

Movie version of Shadow of Mordor

Article on the new Tolkien book

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Lauren and Nicole are joined by actress and comedian Jessica McKenna (Off Book: The Improvised Musical) for some more Lord of the Rings memes and parodies!

The three take a peek at Aragorn's text messages, compare Saruman to a shampoo bottle, and watch Orlando Bloom himself imitate a popular song entirely based around a single Legolas line from the films.

Like the show? Rate Newcomers 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts and let us know what LOTR media you'd like the series to cover.

Sources for this episode:

The voting is over. It's done.

Warner Bros. padding out the Hobbit films

Are you on your phone while Théoden mourns?

Saruman the shampoo bottle

Aragorn's DMs

Trilogy Recap Rap

They're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard

"Hobbits to Isengard" but it's Orlando

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It's about that time again! In Part 2 of Lord of the Rings fanfiction, Lauren and Nicole are joined by graphic novelist and writer, Molly Ostertag, to get weird, goofy, creepy, and super cute with a fresh batch of fics.

This round of fanfics truly runs the gamut of genres and moods. From the antics of Peepee the small stupid hobbit, to Lady Gollum's pursuit of rings and love, to (of course) some Sam and Frodo slash, there's sure to be a little something for everyone here.

Like the show? Rate Newcomers 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts and let us know what LOTR media you'd like the series to cover.

Sources for this episode:

The LOTR-themed military spy satellite

Fan Fics:

The Very Secret Diary of Gandalf the Grey

The Mellon Chronicles Excerpt

A Royal Wedding Night

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Now that they're out of the woods of the challenging and bizarre Lord of the Rings animation trilogy, Lauren and Nicole suddenly find themselves... in more woods. Fan-made woods, that is! Joined by writer Eva Anderson (Comedy Bang! Bang!, You're The Worst), the three take a detour into the popular 2009 Lord of the Rings fan film, The Hunt for Gollum.

Eva holds nothing back as she tells the tale of her break in at a magical, now defunct place known as Hobbiton, USA, and even reveals a certain precious someone she has tattooed on her. The three ponder what film and TV universes they would make their own fan films about, Nicole dishes out a hot take comparing fan-made Arwen with the Peter Jackson version, and Lauren just wants to get to the bottom of who is in the bag when Gollum is captured and wriggling around in it. "Internet, tell us who's in that bag!"

Like the show? Rate Newcomers 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts and let us know what LOTR media you'd like the series to cover.

Sources for this episode:

Watch The Hunt For Gollum here

Sean Connery could have been Gandalf

Article about Hobbiton, USA

Witness the Gollum diorama in Hobbiton

Trivia from IMDb

Trivia from Fandom.com

Trivia from Wikipedia

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The third and final pillar of the Lord of the Rings "animation trilogy" has been vanquished by Lauren and Nicole, with the aid of fellow Headgum podcaster, comedian and musician Miel Bredouw (Punch Up the Jam, Camp Unplug).

The trio dive deep into this 1980 musical television film version of The Return of the King and decry the ugliness of all the characters (except Éowyn, who is super hot), note the ableism against Frodo masked under an awful folk tune, and ponder what it is about this franchise that keeps fans returning to these films time and time again. Okay, maybe not returning to this one specifically, but, yeah... Also, it finally happened, Lauren tells us how she recently dropped her first Lord of the Rings reference in real life! Are you happy now? She's very upset about this.

Like the show? Rate Newcomers 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts and let us know what LOTR media you'd like the series to cover.

Sources for this episode:

The Gollum fish

Trivia from IMDb

Trivia from TvTropes.org

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Trudging ever onward through the deep cuts of the LOTR franchise, Lauren and Nicole bring along comedian and talk show host Michelle Collins (The Michelle Collins Show, Midnight Snack with Michelle Collins) to experience and help piece together the trippy and sometimes terrifying Ralph Bakshi animated film from 1978, simply known as The Lord of the Rings.

The three begin on common ground, airing out their mixed opinions about this film and fawning over Gandy and how much of his, um, Gandy-ness could fill his wizard cap. But then a tussle breaks out as Nicole throws more shade on Gollum, and Michelle comes to his aid! In the end, they all put aside their differences and try to decipher where Peter Jackson is from. He's Australian, right? Or... British or something?

Like the show? Rate Newcomers 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts and let us know what LOTR media you'd like the series to cover.

Sources for this episode:

Sean Astin announces 4K HD release of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogies

Mick Jagger seriously wanted to play Frodo

More news on the nudity/sex rumors in the Amazon series

Trivia from Fandom.com

Trivia from MovieMistakes

Trivia from ScreenRant

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Actor and comedian Oscar Montoya (Spanish Aqui Presents, Inside The Disney Vault) joins Lauren and Nicole to begin the hosts' first foray into the world of animated Lord of the Rings content, starting with the American musical television special from 1977, The Hobbit.

Oscar brings his obsession for animation along with him to explain his love for this movie, draw comparisons between this film's style with Disney's, and whether he thinks this story warrants more than the 77 minutes this animated version of The Hobbit offers (looking at you, 9 hour live-action versions...). The three break down the differences between this version and the Peter Jackson trilogy, and suss out which one comes out on top!

Like the show? Rate Newcomers 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts and let us know what LOTR media you'd like the series to cover.

Sources for this episode:

Article on Amazon series nudity rumors

Trivia from IMDb

Trivia from Fandom.com

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.