Planet 8 Podcast

This episode we're coming to you with a film that people seem to either love or hate: it's John Boorman's psychotronic masterpiece, 1974's Zardoz. If you've never seen Zardoz, it's difficult to provide a description that captures the sheer audacity of this film. Set in a dystopian future with Sean Connery as a killer named Zed  memorable for his red banana-hammock outfit, there are a number of science fiction tropes vying for the viewer's attention, but they are frequently overwhelmed by the sheer absurdity of it all. After all, you have to get past a giant stone head called Zardoz floating through the sky, shouting things like , "The gun is good! The penis is evil!"

The Planet 8 crew is once again joined by our friend Lord Blood-Rah (aka the fourth crew member), and we're essentially split down the middle on this film. Lord Blood-Rah and Recon Officer Karen love it; Commander Larry and Chief Engineer Bob...hate is too strong a word, but let's just say they weren't thrilled with it! But as always, we have a civil and fun discussion of the film, what we find appealing, some of the story behind how the film came to be made, and all the usual hijinks.

We hope you'll give Zardoz a try and decide for yourself what you think of it. Then be sure to tell us!

On our Sensor Sweep, Lord Blood-Rah shares the latest happenings on his many different platforms- his YouTube channel, TV program, Captain Paxar's Star Cadet Hour - he's got a lot of plates spinning! You can learn about it all by going to lordbloodrah.com. 

Did you know Karen started a YouTube channel to talk about books? That's right, books. Science fiction, fantasy, and horror books, with maybe a few surprises thrown in. It's called Echoes from the Satellite, and you can find it here. 

Bob is still getting things ready for Godzillafest, booking the films that will be shown. Convention tickets are now on sale. You can go to Godzillafest.com to buy tickets and get more information. Bob also shared a new book, a Photo Archive of space giants!

Finally, Larry was inspired by Karen's YouTube episode on Marvel's sci fi magazines of the 70s, and got a Planet of the Apes magazine from eBay! He also shared a Galactus HeroClix poster from years gone by. 

We hope you enjoyed our look at Zardoz. Let us know your thoughts! You know where to find us!

Go forth and kill!

This episode, we take a trip in the wayback machine to experience "The Devil's Rain!" Part of the wave of Devil/Satanic films in the 1970s, this has an amazing cast, including William Shatner, Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, Tom Skerritt, Ida Lupino, and a very young John Travolta! A true battle of good vs. evil, featuring a devil-worshipping cult after a special book that will allow them to ...release the Devil's Rain? The plot is a bit dodgy, but the real pleasure here is watching an incredibly menacing Borgnine go up against Shatner and company. It's also got plenty of slimy, melting cultists to keep you entertained. The Planet 8 crew, plus guest Lord Blood-Rah, will discuss all the details of this beloved 70s classic.

As we turn on the old Sensor Sweep, we remind you to check out Lord Blood-Rah's site, lordbloodrah.com, to see all the things he's up to (including showing a 3D movie!).  Karen plugs her new YouTube channel, Echoes from the Satellite, where she talks about sci-fi and fantasy books. Bob is still working on getting Godzillafest off the ground. be sure to get your tickets soon! Larry shares one of the first Planet 8 logo designs (check it on YouTube). And Lord Blood-Rah has his honorary Planet 8 member certificate! It's so fun seeing these pieces of history.

Thanks for listening! Let us know what you think of the Devil's Rain. Did you see this in the 70s? Is it a cult favorite of yours? 

You can reach us in so many ways:

Blasphemer! Blasphemer!

We're back with another ape-tacular show! Sadly, this may be our last visit to the Planet of the Apes for a while, as we have now reviewed every single Planet of the Apes film! But the POTA universe being as vast as it is, we still have another area to cover, and that is the realm of TV! And the Apes appeared not only in a live-action show, but in a Saturday morning cartoon as well. With our special guest Lord Blood-Rah, who has been with us for every single POTA show (!), we'll discuss what we loved, liked, and maybe didn't enjoy about these two 70s ape adventures.

The TV show premiered in September 1974, and only lasted 13 episodes. Starring Roddy McDowall as Galen, a young chimpanzee (of course), and Ron Harper and James Naughton as two luckless astronauts, the show was highly formulaic. The trio would wander from village to village, solving a problem each week and then heading on, with seemingly no goals or objectives. We all felt so much more could have been done with the show.

The animated series, Return to the Planet of the Apes, arrived the following year. It was set in a version of the original film, with Zira, Cornelius, Dr. Zaius all present. A new trio of astronauts - Jeff, Bill, and Judy - crash on the planet and do their best to survive. But unlike their live-action counterparts, these astronauts have goals: they help the mute "humanoids" move to a new refuge and build a fort for them. They work with Cornelius and Zira to hide an ancient book. There are storylines that are carried on in later episodes. But like its predecessor, it only lasted 13 episodes.

Although these shows had their issues, we enjoyed revisiting them. There was a lot of 'what if' in this discussion! We hope you enjoy it.

For our Sensor Sweep, our friend Lord Blood-Rah is busy! He's hosting a movie serial right now, called The Fighting Devil Dogs, which features a villain called The Lightning, who supposedly is the inspiration for Darth Vader! You can find this, and so much more, at his site, Lordbloodrah.com. 

Engineer Bob is busy working on Godzillafest! Guests are being lined up and things are getting exciting! Tickets are now available -go to Godzillafest.com for more info!

Karen shares the latest news about her new BookTube channel on YouTube, Echoes from the Satellite. She's only got about four episodes up but if you're into sci fi and fantasy books (those things you read), please check it out.

And finally, our fearless Mission Commander Larry share his newest acquisition: the Godzilla Tower from X-Plus! You really need to go to our YouTube channel to see this crazy thing!

Thanks once again for listening to the episode. Please share your thoughts on the TV versions of Planet of the Apes. Did you love them? Did you hate them? Did you even care? Let us know!

Get the Astro-Nots!!

According to Star Trek lore, April 5, 2063 is First Contact Day, the date when humans first encountered an alien race, the Vulcans. From that encounter, eventually the Federation would arise. But throughout science fiction, there have been many tales of first contact between humanity and alien species, and the end results have not always been so harmonious. In this episode, your Planet 8 crew discusses the many film and TV encounters and all the different ways humans and aliens have met over the decades.

For our Sensor Sweep, we share news and discuss what films we are looking forward to this summer, and what we're watching now. Chief Engineer Bob is already busy with plans for two, count 'em, two Godzillafest events this year! In July, the annual film festival will be held at the Balboa Theater in San Francisco. Then in September, the incredible GodzillaFest convention will be held, with guests, a dealer's room, game room, and so much more! Be sure to go to Godzillafest.com for all the latest information!

Recon Officer Karen has some news: She just started a YouTube page to discuss science fiction, fantasy, and horror books! It's called "Echoes from the Satellite" and she'll be reviewing books, talking about authors, comparing books vs. films, and looking at just about anything related to books. Click here to see her channel. 

All three of our crew have been watching Daredevil: Born Again, and they have different opinions on it. There's also a ton of films coming out this summer, and we chat about what we're looking forward to, including Thunderbolts, Superman, Fantastic Four, Mission Impossible, 28 Years Later, and Jurassic World Rebirth.  Finally, Mission Commander Larry has some framed comics to share, as well as a Super 7 Frankenstein on a trike!

That's all for us this time around. Let us know what your favorite first contact is! You can find us here:

We come in peace!

There is nothing wrong with Planet 8 podcast. Do not attempt to adjust the episode. Unfortunately, life has caught up with the Planet 8 crew and we are unable to produce a brand new episode. But we hope you will enjoy this encore presentation of one of our most popular episodes, a fond look at the classic 60s sci fi series, The Outer Limits.

We'll be back on April 8 with a deep dive into the Planet of the Apes TV show and cartoon series, with our guest Lord Blood-Rah!

Send us your thoughts, bon mots, and takes that are hot -

We now return control of your device to you

Cap's back! And once again, your Planet 8 crew dutifully trudged into the theater to check out this latest entry in the MCU. We'll give you our honest, spoiler-filled opinions on the film. And since it has so many connections to past Marvel films and shows, we'll talk a bit about The Incredible Hulk (2008) and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (2021) and how we feel about them, years later.

It's inevitable when discussing a new Marvel offering that speculation about upcoming features occur, and Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Thunderbolts, and more also enter our discussion. 

It's amazing to think that this all started with Iron Man (2008) 17 years ago! The MCU has had its ups and downs lately, but it still draws us back over and over again. Let us know how you felt about this new Captain America film, and what MCU project you're looking forward to.

Our Sensor Sweep this time was all over the map. Bob shared a new book on The Mighty Heroes -raise your hand if you remember them! He also had a new Iron Giant figure from Super 7 that has removeable plates that let you see the inner workings of this giant robot. Karen recently appeared on our friend BillyD's great podcast, Magazines and Monsters, discussing the Star Trek episode Balance of Terror! You can find Magazines and Monsters on your favorite podcast ap, or follow this link to go straight to the episode. She had a fantastic time talking about her favorite Trek episode with Billy.

Finally, our Mission Commander Larry is back from Australia and shares some stories about his trip, including a visit to Minotaur Comics in Melbourne! It was an impressive shop.

That's it for us. Thanks for tuning in!

Excelsior!

This episode, join your Planet 8 crew, as well as our guest Lord Blood-Rah, as we journey to the final frontier, to explore the first season of Star Trek. We each select two episodes to discuss. Considering what a phenomenal season that first season was, picking just two is not easy! But the eight we've chosen are a solid representation of Trek at its finest. That first year gave us all the themes that would become associated with Trek - the need for communication and understanding, choosing peace over war, and values like loyalty, friendship, and compassion. It seems like these episodes only get better as time goes by - or perhaps we just grow fonder of them.

For our Sensor Sweep, Lord Blood-Rah shares his latest news. You can find Lord Blood-Rah's Nerve Wrackin' Theatre, Captain Paxar's Star Cadet Hour, and so much more,  at lordbloodrah.com !

We had a lot of fun talking Trek! But we know that we will have left out some folks' favorite episodes. Go ahead, send us your favorite first season Star Trek episodes! Here's where you can find us:

Warp factor 4, Mr. Sulu!

We're back, with the next entry in a continuing series of episodes looking at what we think are the best science fiction films of each decade. Last time we looked at the 1950s. This time we turn our gaze to the swinging 1960s. The era of the race to the moon, the British Invasion, the civil rights struggle, and so much more, how would the times shape the sci fi produced?

Each of your Planet 8 crew has selected 3 films - well, actually, Larry and Karen share one film - and they run quite the gamut, from adaptations of classic novels, to fantastic adventures, to terrifying invasions. We hope you enjoy our selections, and reach out to us with some of your own.

Our Sensor Sweep is not so unusual. Larry and Bob both have figures to share, and Karen...does not. Karen is going ape over the recent Kickstarter for the Planet of the Apes role playing game from Magnetic Press Play. At Christmas, all backers received a PDF of the core rulebook, and it is beautiful. Karen shared a number of pages of the book (go see the video on YouTube!). Bob has a very cool Godzilla figure from Mondo designed by James Groman, that can be reconfigured to show battle damage. It might still be available! Larry keeps with the Planet of the Ape theme and shows off his Lawgiver collectible from Sideshow. It's a good 2 feet tall!

That's all for this show. Be sure to let us know your picks for the best of the 60s.

Yeah, baby, yeah!

The year 2024 is now in the rearview mirror, but before we bid it a final farewell, your Planet 8 crew revisits some of their favorite sci-fi, fantasy, and horror TV shows and films that came out last year. Maybe some of them were your favorites too? Listen, and let us know what you liked and what we missed.

For the Sensor Sweep, we have a couple of Kickstarters. Larry shares his Kolchak the Nightstalker graphic novel , and all the great accessories that came with it. Shout out to James Aquilone for getting Larry a replacement copy after his was lost in the fire. Larry also shares the book Star Trek: Open A Channel, by Nana Visitor. Bob has his own Kickstarter find, from Titanic Productions. It's Yongary! Bob got not only the figure, but a whole playset, with bridges, oil tanks, and more. And Karen shares a non-kickstarter, the Mighty Marvel Calendar book! It collects the great Marvel calendars from the 70s and early 80s. If you loved those calendars, you need this book!

Let us know what you enjoyed in 2024, and what you're looking forward to in this new year!

Happy New Year!

Happy holidays to all! It's that time of year for gift-giving, overindulging in treats, and, of course, watching holiday-themed movies and shows. To celebrate our 150th episode, and since it just happens to coincide with the holidays, we decided to take a look at those beloved Rankin-Bass holiday specials. To help us with this prodigious task, we asked our friend Mr. Lobo, to join us!

We'll review the history of Rankin-Bass, how the studio came to be, a little about the backgrounds of Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass, and how they made the films. Then we'll dig into the films, particularly 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," "The Year Without a Santa Claus," and more. These shows definitely had an impact on us as kids, and we bet they did with you too.

And if holiday specials aren't your thing, never fear - we also talk about Rankin-Bass's work on the King Kong cartoon, the King Kong Escapes film, Mad Monster Party, and more!

In our Sensor Sweep, Mr. Lobo leads off, and he has all sorts of genre movie goodness to share! You can find him hosting Cinema Insomnia -now heading into its 23rd year - and he livestreams on Twitch, Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. He is on 52 broadcast stations with Cinema Insomnia. And there's a Roku channel called OSI 74 that has Cinema Insomnia and other horror hosts and their shows, cartoons, and all sorts of programming. There's another version on Amazon Fire TV too (for a small fee).  Mr. Lobo is also going to be in Sacramento, California January 25th to host the Sacramento Horror Film Festival. Just look for him on the internet, and remember, they're not bad movies, they're just misunderstood.

Bob took a trip to the Stanford Theater to see the Wizard of Oz with his friend Stan Wong, and got a nice surprise: a terrific bust of the Creature from the Black Lagoon! Stan painted it, it was sculpted by friend of the show Jeff Wehenkel, and released by Michael Reagan.

Larry shares an episode-appropriate ornament of Snow Miser and another of Heat Miser. He also has a Laurel and Hardy book of collectibles.

The episode wraps up as the crew discusses Skeleton Crew, Dune Prophecy, Superman and Lois, 28 Years Later, and more.

Many thanks to our pal Mr. Lobo for joining us this time around!

Please let us know your memories of watching Rankin-Bass specials!

Have a holly jolly Christmas!