Prodigious Saps

By Chad Smalley & Brendan Jones

Chad Smalley and Brendan Jones (friends for more than 30 years) reflect on movies, TV, music and comics… with a special focus on their shared love of Superman.... more

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FAQs about Prodigious Saps:

How many episodes does Prodigious Saps have?

The podcast currently has 68 episodes available.

Prodigious Saps episodes:

January 21, 2024 Episode 38: AQUABRO
Brendan's disappointment in Aquaman II prompts a discussion of why it's often a problem when studios wind up "bending the character around the actor". Also look back at the failed DCEU and the incoming DCU. Also: the Doctor Who Christmas Special, Slow Horses Season 3, Batman... and more!
Our Patreon has an uncut version of this episode containing 20 minutes of extra material, including Netflix's "Cunk on Earth", season 2 of Marvel's "What If?", and the recent news about Marvel embracing Netflix's Daredevil continuity: https://www.patreon.com/posts/prodigious-saps-96203780
00:00:26 — AQUAMAN 2 and Why the DCEU failed
00:18:51 — Solo: A Star Wars Story
00:22:23 — Doctor Who
00:33:51 — Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor
00:35:19 — Batman
00:41:12 — Superman (David Corenswet geeking out to Star Wars)
00:43:28 — SLOW HORSES Season 3
00:45:58 — Jack Lowden is the new Harrison Ford
00:48:59 — SuperFriends
Prodigious Saps: profusive nerdery from Chad Smalley of Blaggards and Brendan Jones of Tesla City Stories.
https://linktr.ee/prodigioussaps
RELATED LINKS:
Blaggards
https://blaggards.com/
SlapperCast: a weekly podcast/road diary from Blaggards:
https://linktr.ee/slappercast
Tesla City Stories
https://www.teslacitystories.com
Breakfast of the Gods
https://www.indyplanet.com/breakfast-of-the-gods
Campbell & Jones Meet the Monsters
https://meetthemonsters.podbean.com/
...more
53min
January 16, 2024 Episode 37: Maybe He Just Never Puts on Pants
In this one we talk about the 60th Anniversary DOCTOR WHO specials featuring the return of David Tennant and show runner Russell T. Davies, and the introduction of Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor.
ALSO: SUPERMAN: LEGACY casting news, GODZILLA: MINUS ONE, AQUAMAN, and BLUE BEETLE.
Available on Patreon NOW: our review of Ncuti Gatwa's first full episode as the Doctor, the Christmas special "The Church on Ruby Road":
https://www.patreon.com/posts/prodigious-saps-96203780
00:00:00 — Intro
00:00:51 — SUPERMAN: LEGACY casting
00:03:28 — "MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios"
00:04:32 — BLUE EYE SAMURAI
00:05:04 — GODZILLA MINUS ONE and MONARCH
00:15:46 — More on SUPERMAN: LEGACY
00:19:44 — AQUAMAN (1st movie)
00:28:22 — BLUE BEETLE
00:36:16 — DOCTOR WHO (David Tennant Specials)
Prodigious Saps: profusive nerdery from Chad Smalley of Blaggards and Brendan Jones of Tesla City Stories.
https://linktr.ee/prodigioussaps
RELATED LINKS:
Blaggards
https://blaggards.com/
SlapperCast: a weekly podcast/road diary from Blaggards:
https://linktr.ee/slappercast
Tesla City Stories
https://www.teslacitystories.com
Breakfast of the Gods
https://www.indyplanet.com/breakfast-of-the-gods
Campbell & Jones Meet the Monsters
https://meetthemonsters.podbean.com/
...more
1h 27min
November 24, 2023 Episode 36: THE MARVELS and LOKI Season 2
As promised last week, in this episode we dig deep into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We review THE MARVELS and LOKI Season 2, and talk about the recent wild news about the upcoming Disney Plus series DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN.
Also discussed: Madame Web, Spider-Man, Juggernaut, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and a few vintage selections from Chad's comic book collection.
Beyond Marvel, we talk about recent trailers for AQUAMAN II and GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE... the latter prompting a belated review of 2021's GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE.
Prodigious Saps: profusive nerdery from Chad Smalley of Blaggards and Brendan Jones of Tesla City Stories.
https://linktr.ee/prodigioussaps
RELATED LINKS:
Blaggards
https://blaggards.com/
SlapperCast: a weekly podcast/road diary from Blaggards:
https://linktr.ee/slappercast
Tesla City Stories
https://www.teslacitystories.com
Breakfast of the Gods
https://www.indyplanet.com/breakfast-of-the-gods
Campbell & Jones Meet the Monsters
https://meetthemonsters.podbean.com/
...more
1h 33min
November 16, 2023Episode 35: The Beatles "Now and Then"
P-Saps No. 35: ""This Little Portal to an Alternate Universe"
We are both huge Beatles fans, so with the recent release of their new single "Now and Then" (advertised as "the last Beatles song"), we decided to do a whole episode about the Beatles.
Among the topics discussed:
what the Beatles mean to us
how we first were introduced to the Beatles as kids,
memories of the two of us geeking out over them in our early 20s,
why they're so important historically, and of course...
what we think of the new song.
Also, towards the end we touch on some of the recent Marvel (MCU) news, but decide to put in a pin in that for a future episode.
00:00:00 — Intro
00:00:14 — Why we're talking about the Beatles
00:03:57 — Why the Beatles are important to us
00:28:31 — A Hard Day's Night & HELP!
00:30:06 — Magical Mystery Tour
00:33:03 — Beatles vs Rolling Stones
00:34:59 — Why the Beatles are uniquely eclectic
00:37:32 — Now and Then
00:38:30 — Peter Jackson's video for "Now and Then"
00:44:31 — How important "Now and Then" is to Paul
00:46:16 — Now and Then compared to original demo
00:47:10 — How it sounds like John and Paul collaborating again
00:54:37 — Paul's aging voice
00:56:02 — This is essentially Paul producing John
00:57:05 — Free as a Bird and Real Love
01:00:24 — Is it really the last Beatles song?
01:02:58 — It's like a song fell out of an alternate universe
01:04:10 — The Rutles
01:07:07 — The Marvels and the state of the MCU
01:12:27 — DCEU movies
Prodigious Saps: profusive nerdery from Chad Smalley of Blaggards and Brendan Jones of Tesla City Stories.
https://linktr.ee/prodigioussaps
RELATED LINKS:
Blaggards
https://blaggards.com/
SlapperCast: a weekly podcast/road diary from Blaggards:
https://linktr.ee/slappercast
Tesla City Stories
https://www.teslacitystories.com
Breakfast of the Gods
https://www.indyplanet.com/breakfast-of-the-gods
Campbell & Jones Meet the Monsters
https://meetthemonsters.podbean.com/
...more
1h 16min
October 28, 2023Episode 34: Into the Fonzie-Verse
This week we weave an odd but surprisingly coherent path from Happy Days and Mork & Mindy through to Jerry Lewis, Walter Matthau, Jerry Reed and Jackie Gleason... eventually winding up talking about the Marx Brothers again, because OF COURSE.
The highlight of this episode, though, is Brendan's passionate solo vocal performance that followed Chad's computer suddenly shutting off (the full performance and more bonus material is available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ProdigiousSaps).
00:00:00 — The Fonzie-Verse
00:01:27 — Out of the Blue
00:02:35 — Love: American Style
00:05:05 — AfterMASH
00:06:06 — More on OUT OF THE BLUE
00:07:11 — MORK & MINDY
00:12:35 — HAPPY DAYS
00:15:50 — BOB ROBERTS
00:17:48 — VISIT TO A SMALL PLANET (1960)
00:25:07 — Movies based on Kurt Vonnegut novels
00:28:38 — THE SURVIVORS (1983)
00:32:56 — The Marx Brothers and their supporting cast
00:48:53 — DOCTOR STRANGELOVE (1964)
00:49:55 — LOONEY TUNES
Find the audio-only podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Pocket Casts, etc.
https://slappercast.fireside.fm
Blaggards main channel
https://www.youtube.com/blaggards
Join our MAILING LIST
https://blaggards.com/mailinglist/
Show dates
https://blaggards.com/shows/
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...more
1h 4min
September 25, 2023 Episode 33: The Sculler (Kolchak: the original Sculley & Mulder)
Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/1eO2ufT4Vuo
This week we welcome our very first guest JOHN CAMPBELL, Brendan's fellow cast member of Tesla City Stories and also a very prolific podcaster himself. Among many other shows, John does two podcasts with Brendan: the ongoing "Campbell & Jones Meet the Monsters" and the patron-exclusive "Nights Talking" about the cult classic 1970s tv show KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER, which was famoustly a direct influence on THE X-FILES.
We talk about KOLCHAK quite a bit, and also do a rundown of all the major summer "blockbusters" of 2023, while also talking about upcoming things like James Gunn's SUPERMAN: LEGACY. Check the chapter markers for full list of topics.
It was GREAT fun having John on and we'll definitely be doing this again.
Punch Up Entertainment:
https://www.instagram.com/punchupen
https://twitter.com/punchupen
https://meetthemonsters.podbean.com/
https://panelsonpanels.podbean.com/
https://actionshelf.podbean.com/
Tesla City Stories
https://www.teslacitystories.com
00:00:00 — Funny moment from THE NIGHT STALKER
00:00:28 — Meet John Campbell
00:02:07 — The legacy of KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER
00:12:00 — "Gill Man" (CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON)
00:12:46 — More on KOLCHAK
00:20:45 — ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (1952–58)
00:22:21 — HOLLYWOODLAND (2006)
00:24:44 — SPEECHLESS (1994)
00:25:25 — THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES (1980)
00:32:00 — THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN (comics)
00:36:28 — Kim Newman (novelist)
00:37:10 — Kim Newman's ANGEL OF MUSIC
00:38:26 — Kim Newman's ANNO DRACULA
00:39:44 — Kim Newman's SOMETHING MORE THAN NIGHT
00:42:00 — 2023 Summer Movies
00:42:27 — INDY 5
00:47:15 — A diversion into STAR TREK
00:53:21 — MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING PT 1
00:57:56 — GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3
01:04:19 — OPPENHEIMER
01:09:42 — GARY OLDMAN
01:10:08 — SLOW HORSES
01:10:46 — COLUMBO
01:11:24 — BARBIE
01:15:03 — BREAKFAST OF THE GODS (Brendan's graphic novel)
01:16:12 — More on BARBIE
01:18:20 — THE FLASH
01:19:22 — BLUE BEETLE
01:25:09 — SUPERMAN: LEGACY
01:32:46 — Plugs, wrap-up and THANK YOU!
–––
Prodigious Saps: profusive nerdery from Chad Smalley of Blaggards and Brendan Jones of Tesla City Stories.
https://linktr.ee/prodigioussaps
RELATED LINKS:
Blaggards
https://blaggards.com/
SlapperCast: a weekly podcast/road diary from Blaggards:
https://linktr.ee/slappercast
Tesla City Stories
https://www.teslacitystories.com
Breakfast of the Gods
https://www.indyplanet.com/breakfast-of-the-gods
Campbell & Jones Meet the Monsters
https://meetthemonsters.podbean.com/
...more
1h 38min
September 13, 2023Episode 32: David Byrne Stepping on Jabba the Hut's Tail
On the docket this week:
Chad's rant about the remixed soundtrack of STOP MAKING SENSE (the legendary Talking Heads concert film directed by Jonathan Demme) with comparisons to the original 1984 mix and how it reminds him of George Lucas's revisions to his original Star Wars trilogy.
Brendan's discovery of a deeply weird and hilarious SUPERMAN comic strip in his copy of SUPERMAN: THE SILVER AGE DAILIES, 1959–1961
Chad's review of THE CENTER SEAT: 55 YEARS OF STAR TREK, a really engaging documentary series currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/vJyB9_CMReU?si=gpYH8O9tkCxzTJRs
00:00:00 — Preview
00:00:30 — Chad's rant on STOP MAKING SENSE 2023 remix
00:07:26 — Lucas vs Spielberg on "Special Editions"
00:10:36 — Frank Frazetta and the problem of endless revisions
00:14:15 — Lucas vs. Spielberg on revisionism
00:17:44 — Harmy's De-specialized Editions of Star Wars
00:19:29 — Summer movies we have or haven't seen
00:20:42 — Blue Beetle
00:22:54 — 2023 summer blockbuster bombs
00:27:28 — Superman Silver Age Dailies
00:37:26 — Golden & Silver Age Comics and baldness
00:40:12 — How we've outgrown he old timey stigma of baldness
00:48:14 — Brendan's favorite Lex Luthor origin stories
00:55:56 — THE CENTER SEAT: Star Trek Documentary series
00:58:47 — THE FIFTY YEAR MISSION: book series on the history of Star Trek
01:11:52 — Strange New Worlds Season 2
01:12:59 — The Kirk retcon problem on Strange New Worlds
01:15:48 — Wrap-up
Also a side note, I've been having fun with our TikTok account lately: https://www.tiktok.com/@prodigioussaps
Join us Patreon for early releases and additional content:
https://www.patreon.com/ProdigiousSaps
Cheers y'all! And as always THANK YOU SO MUCH for your support.
Prodigious Saps: profusive nerdery from Chad Smalley of Blaggards and Brendan Jones of Tesla City Stories.
https://linktr.ee/prodigioussaps
RELATED LINKS:
Blaggards
https://blaggards.com/
SlapperCast: a weekly podcast/road diary from Blaggards:
https://linktr.ee/slappercast
Tesla City Stories
https://www.teslacitystories.com
Breakfast of the Gods
https://www.indyplanet.com/breakfast-of-the-gods
Campbell & Jones Meet the Monsters
https://meetthemonsters.podbean.com/
...more
1h 18min
August 25, 2023Episode 31: Buck Henry's QUARK (1977)
SUBSCRIBE on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@prodigioussaps?sub_confirmation=1
PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/ProdigiousSaps
An extended, unedited version of this episode is available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/prodigious-saps-87922804
In this episode:
QUARK, the short-lived 1977 sci-fi comedy series starring Richard Benjamin, created by Buck Henry
DARK STAR, John Carpenter's cult classic 1974 sci-fi comedy film
Our favorite war films (thank you Manasven for the question!)
Jerry Lewis's THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED
The Marx Brothers
00:00:00 — Intro
00:00:22 — QUARK
00:16:42 — DARK STAR & HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
00:19:02 — MEMOIRS OF AN INVISIBLE MAN
00:22:09 — More on QUARK
00:25:20 — PLANETFALL & STARSHIP TITANIC
00:27:40 — BILL THE GALACTIC HERO
00:29:40 — Favorite war films
00:32:31 — DR. STRANGELOVE
00:33:53 — WARGAMES (1983)
00:35:15 — THE DAY AFTER and SPECIAL BULLETIN (1983)
00:36:40 — More on WARGAMES and QUARK
00:41:20 — LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL (1997)
00:43:20 — THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED
00:47:28 — JERRY LEWIS
00:48:47 — THE LADIES MAN (1961)
00:53:14 — THE MARX BROTHERS
00:54:55 — Visible gaffes in ELECTRA WOMAN & DYNA GIRL
00:56:58 — Wrap up
Prodigious Saps: profusive nerdery from Chad Smalley of Blaggards and Brendan Jones of Tesla City Stories.
https://linktr.ee/prodigioussaps
RELATED LINKS:
Blaggards
https://blaggards.com/
SlapperCast: a weekly podcast/road diary from Blaggards:
https://linktr.ee/slappercast
Tesla City Stories
https://www.teslacitystories.com
Breakfast of the Gods
https://www.indyplanet.com/breakfast-of-the-gods
Campbell & Jones Meet the Monsters
https://meetthemonsters.podbean.com/
...more
59min
August 16, 2023Episode 30: She-Wee Hulkwoman
This week we celebrate the life of our recently departed hero of comedy: PAUL REUBENS (a.k.a. Pee Wee Herman), and pay our respects to and the late great ALAN ARKIN.
ALSO:
Marvel's Secret Invasion and the status of the MCU in general right now
Superman II and "the Donner Cut"
Our favorite superhero origin story movies
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/UNqAA91Ui30
An extended version of this episode is available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ProdigiousSaps
00:00:00 — Intro
00:00:15 — Paul Reubens
00:16:28 — Alan Arkin
00:22:40 — Other heroes we don't want to lose
00:23:59 — Marvel's SECRET INVASION
00:34:36 — LOKI Season 2 and the Jonathan Majors issue
00:35:55 — Is the MCU "dying"?
00:37:08 — Why do the last episodes of all the Disney Plus shows feel rushed?
00:39:10 — When are fan expectations reasonable?
00:39:48 — Problems with SHE-HULK series
00:42:53 — SUPERMAN II and "the Donner Cut"
00:51:13 — SUPERMAN & LOIS - what it does well
00:53:23 — SMALLVILLE - where it went wrong
00:54:41 — SUPERMAN & LOIS - where it's gone wrong
00:56:08 — Great MCU origin stories: IRON MAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, and THE HULK
Prodigious Saps: profusive nerdery from Chad Smalley of Blaggards and Brendan Jones of Tesla City Stories.
https://linktr.ee/prodigioussaps
RELATED LINKS:
Blaggards
https://blaggards.com/
SlapperCast: a weekly podcast/road diary from Blaggards:
https://linktr.ee/slappercast
Tesla City Stories
https://www.teslacitystories.com
Breakfast of the Gods
https://www.indyplanet.com/breakfast-of-the-gods
Campbell & Jones Meet the Monsters
https://meetthemonsters.podbean.com/
...more
1h 4min
August 09, 2023Episode 29: Dr. Goddamn Jones
Join us on PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/ProdigiousSaps
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/nuvrqwbpjMA
FINALLY! Brendan has seen INDIANA JONES & THE DIAL OF DESTINY, so we spend most of this episode talking spoilers from the film (which we both LOVED), while trying to figure out why critics have reacted so weirdly to it.
Also in this episode:
UNCLE CROC'S BLOCK, Charles Nelson Reilly's short-lived kids TV show
Chad's brief review of OPPENHEIMER
Problems shared by THE DARK KNIGHT RISES and THE LAST JEDI
Similarities between THE TIME MACHINE, PLANET OF THE APES and ZARDOZ
Discussed:
📺 Indiana Jones (all movies) — https://amzn.to/3pMif25
📺 The Dark Knight Rises — https://amzn.to/3qsouIv
📺 The Last Jedi — https://amzn.to/3KD0md1
📺 The Time Machine (1960) — https://amzn.to/46ShiWu
📺 Planet Of The Apes (1968) — https://amzn.to/450LwFu
📺 Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) — https://amzn.to/3DQtvOi
📺 Zardoz (1974) — https://amzn.to/47m72pD
📺 The Artifice Girl (2023) — https://amzn.to/3Ky3zL2
📕 Breakfast of the Gods — https://www.indyplanet.com/breakfast-of-the-gods
00:00:00 — Indy 5 Spoiler Review
00:52:09 — Uncle Croc's Block and Robert Ridgely
01:00:16 — OPPENHEIMER
01:00:53 — The problem with THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
01:05:12 — The problem with THE LAST JEDI
01:10:45 — Similarites between THE TIME MACHINE and PLANET OF THE APES
01:13:06 — ZARDOZ (1974)
01:15:28 — RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES trilogy (2011)
01:18:47 — The problem with ALIEN 3
01:21:01 — Lance Henriksen in ARTIFICE GIRL
01:22:29 — Classic Looney Tunes sound effects
01:26:07 — Brendan's graphic novel BREAKFAST OF THE GODS
01:27:08 — BoTG Foreword (and some artwork) by Jon Schnepp
01:28:46 — INDIANA JONES theme lyrics
01:29:53 — Final thoughts on INDY 5 and earlier films
01:32:42 — Wrap up
Prodigious Saps: profusive nerdery from Chad Smalley of Blaggards and Brendan Jones of Tesla City Stories.
https://linktr.ee/prodigioussaps
RELATED LINKS:
Blaggards
https://blaggards.com/
SlapperCast: a weekly podcast/road diary from Blaggards:
https://linktr.ee/slappercast
Tesla City Stories
https://www.teslacitystories.com
Breakfast of the Gods
https://www.indyplanet.com/breakfast-of-the-gods
Campbell & Jones Meet the Monsters
https://meetthemonsters.podbean.com/
Prodigious Saps: profusive nerdery from Chad Smalley of Blaggards and Brendan Jones of Tesla City Stories.
https://linktr.ee/prodigioussaps
RELATED LINKS:
Blaggards
https://blaggards.com/
SlapperCast: a weekly podcast/road diary from Blaggards:
https://linktr.ee/slappercast
Tesla City Stories
https://www.teslacitystories.com
Breakfast of the Gods
https://www.indyplanet.com/breakfast-of-the-gods
Campbell & Jones Meet the Monsters
https://meetthemonsters.podbean.com/
...more
1h 34min

FAQs about Prodigious Saps:

How many episodes does Prodigious Saps have?

The podcast currently has 68 episodes available.