Pop Culture Tournaments

We welcome guest Daniel Schmidt (host of "Another Bourbon Show" podcast) to discuss the results of the "Greatest Board Game" tournament and preview the upcoming "Greatest Christmas/Holiday Movie" tournament. 

It wouldn't be a "Christmas Movie" discussion without wading into the topic "Is this really a Christmas movie?" and Slat passionately lays out the case against such classics as "Die Hard", "It's a Wonderful Life", and "While You Were Sleeping", which all show up on many lists of top Christmas movies. You cannot miss his rant. It's epic.

Do those three movies make our field? Will they vie for the title "Greatest Christmas/Holiday Movie"? We reveal the entire 64-movie bracket in this episode. 

What are your thoughts on these topics? Listen, join our Facebook group, comment on the polls, send us an email...however you do it, we'd love to hear it and you may hear your comment on our next episode when we recap the results of the "Greatest Christmas/Holiday Movie" tournament! 

We're proud to be joined by comedian, author, actor, screenwriter, and game designer Grant Lyon! Grant's new game, "Curmudgeon" just launched and can be found in game stores and on Amazon! We discuss our upcoming "Greatest Board Game" tournament and highlight many of the first-round matchups. 

We also review the "Greatest TV Family" tournament, which just concluded. The results were the Taylors from "Home Improvement" in 4th place, the Munster family from "The Munsters" in 3rd, and the Keatons from "Family Ties" coming in 2nd. Who was the champion? Listen and find out!

Patrick, Rob, and Slat welcome Butch Patrick as a guest to the show to discuss the entries of the upcoming "Greatest TV Family" tournament! A veteran of many television shows and movies, Butch also played Eddie Munster on the hit show "The Munsters". He shares stories of his days in television and helps us break down the brackets and match-ups of all 64 TV families in the tournament. 

We also review the shocking results of our "Greatest Sports Movie" tournament. 

Join the fun and vote on your favorite TV families at https://www.facebook.com/groups/popculturetournaments 

Voting starts Monday, November 16th!

Patrick, Rob, and Slat are joined by guest Alex Bacchetti to discuss the results of the "Greatest Halloween Treat" tournament and preview our next tournament: Greatest Sports Movie.

You'll hear great stories about thousands of Reggie! bars being thrown onto the field at Yankees Stadium, the movie that Slat hates (wait 'til you hear why!), Patrick managing to tie "Rudy" to the success of "The Mandalorian", as well as our "Staff Selections" of movies that are personal favorites but which did not make the field.

For the "Greatest Sports Movie" tournament, 176 movies were considered. Which movies made the field of 64?

Here are some hints:

Can you guess? Listen in to find out which movies made the cut and how the brackets shaped up!

We wrap up our 10-week, epic "Greatest Song of the '80s" tournament with a look at the upsets, early exits, colossal battles, finishes, and our champion. What an amazing, unpredictable, fun ride it was!

We also preview the "Greatest Halloween Treat" tournament. We absolutely could not stop talking about this. What is your favorite? Join the Pop Culture Tournaments group on Facebook to vote and comment! 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/popculturetournaments

Slat and Rob discuss the results of the 1988-89 tournament and preview the "Martha Quinn Greatest Song of the '80s" tournament! Three months of preparation, four qualifying tournaments, and two months of voting has produced a 64-song beast of an event. 

Join the Pop Culture Tournaments Facebook group to vote on your favorite '80s music! It starts Monday, October 5th! 

Our final field includes Billy Joel, Survivor, Tommy Tutone, Run DMC, Poison, Toto, Irene Cara, Queen, Eddie Money, Bryan Adams, U2, The Outfield, Beastie Boys, Bon Jovi, Prince, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Kenny Loggins, and Cyndi Lauper. Who else made the cut? Listen to find out! 

Patrick, Rob, Slat, and Todd review the recently-concluded 1985-87 tournament and take a look ahead at the 1988-89 tournament. We see a surge of rap and heavy metal in these two years compared to our first three tournaments. 

Speaking of metal, we are thrilled to welcome Don Jamieson to the podcast. The comedian, host of his own podcast, and co-host for 14 seasons of VH-1's "That Metal Show" talks about how "That Metal Show" came to be, how metal emerged and joined the mainstream in this particular era, weighs in on Greta Van Fleet, and gives us his personal "Final Four" metal albums of the '80s! 

Join us as we talk about '80s artists and groups such as Def Leppard, Living Colour, Milli Vanilli, Billy Joel, George Michael, Cheap Trick, Rick Astley, Billy Ocean, Technotronic, Guns N' Roses, Depeche Mode, Warrant, Madonna, Metallica, Tom Petty, Tone Loc, Poison, Skid Row, Young MC, and many more! 

Join our Facebook group to vote on your favorite '80s songs! www.facebook.com/groups/popculturetournaments

In this episode, we look back at the 1983-84 tournament and the wild ride that it was with 13 upsets and no #1 seeds making the Final Four. We discuss the first-round match-ups in the 1985-87 tournament, including one in which a band is playing against itself. 

Tune in as we discuss '80s hits from a-ha, Don Henley, Crowded House, Mr. Mister, Wham!, Foreigner, Berlin, The Outfield, Eddie Money, REO Speedwagon, Chicago, Bon Jovi, Tears for Fears, Madonna, Wang Chung, Pat Benatar, Prince, Bryan Adams, Katrina and the Waves, Lionel Richie, Dire Straits, Run DMC, and many more! 

Join our Facebook group to join in on the action! www.facebook.com/groups/popculturetournaments 

Rob, Patrick, and Slat welcome a guest seeder to the conversation this week: Todd McDillon! We review the recently-concluded 1980-82 portion of the tournament and take a look at the first-round matchups in the 1983-84 tournament, which kicks off Monday, August 17th. 

The hosts discuss the surprising run by a sixth-seeded Queen song, the love/hate relationship of the group with "Jack and Diane" and Journey, and announce the songs that are advancing out of the 1980-82 bracket into the Granddaddy Finale tournament to crown the "Best Song of the '80s". 

In the preview of the 1983-84 bracket, we talk about such groups and artists as Dexy's Midnight Runners, Corey Hart, Prince, Yes, Men Without Hats, Naked Eyes, Huey Lewis & the News, The Eurythmics, Night Ranger, Air Supply, The Tubes, Kenny Loggins, Michael Jackson, Toto, Duran Duran, and many, many more! 

Come vote for your favorite songs from 1983-84 at www.facebook.com/groups/popculturetournaments 

As we launch our epic "Best Song of the '80s" tournament in the Facebook group "Pop Culture Tournaments", we preview the first-round matchups from 1980-82. Rob and Patrick welcome Bruce "Slat" Veach as our third host! 

140 songs were considered. 64 made the cut. Listen as we discuss the merits of each song, how we think they will fare, and interesting trivia about many of the songs and artists. 

Some of the artists or groups that made our field: The J. Geils Band, Journey, Survivor, Toto, Blondie, The Human League, Rick Springfield, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Duran Duran, Pink Floyd, Billy Joel, and many more! 

Who else made the list? Here are some hints:

19 songs are by solo artists

13 songs were the only time the artist appeared in the US Top 40

13 songs feature female lead vocals

8 songs are from movie soundtracks

3 songs are duets or collaborations

2 songs never made the US Top 40

1 song is a TV theme

Tune in to hear all of the contestants in the "Best Song of the '80s" tournament, then come vote on your favorites at "Pop Culture Tournaments"!