Socially Distanced

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Socially Distanced celebrates the beginning of the holiday season with a present -- the return of Al Mannarino! Al joins Bill Bodkin, Amanda Rivas and Ben Murchison to talk about the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and the first season of Andor.

Drax, Mantis and Kevin Bacon are on everyone's minds when discussing the excellent Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday special. The gang discusses the original music from The Old 97's, Nebula's dance moves, connections to Guardians 3 and will we actually see another special from the Guardians.

Is Andor the best piece of Star Wars IP that Disney has produced? The group discusses that and just why you need to be watching this criminally underrated and under-watched series.

Socially Distanced heads back to the MCU to discuss the latest record-breaking Marvel Studios film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever starring Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta, Angela Bassett, Lupita N'Yongo and Danai Gurrira. Host Bill Bodkin is joined by Pop Break wrestling editor and senior writer Murjani Rawls (also the lead film and TV writer for Substream Magazine) and Nynoshka Vazquez Suaro -- a brand new writer for The Pop Break who is appearing on her first podcasr ever in her promising young career.

In the episode, they discuss the impact of Chadwick Boseman's loss on the film and the greater MCU, Ryan Coogler and company's decision to not recast T'Challa, Letitia Wright and Tenoch Huerta's star-making performances, the future of Namor in the MCU, the sheer emotion of the opening and closing scenes, Shuri's emotional journey, and more!

James Gunn and Peter Zafran are the new heads of DC Studios, so the crew at Socially Distanced Podcast are discussing the future of the DC Extended Universe. Hosts Amanda Rivas and Bill Bodkin are joined by Dan Cohen -- a former Pop Break film editor, the current host of the Batman by the Numbers Podcast and the author of the Bold Box Office Predictions column.

In the episode they discuss the current perception of the DCEU, the hiring of Gunn as the DC Studios head, future projects they'd love to see Gunn tackle, the potential addition of Lobo and how Jason Momoa figures into it, what DC can take from Marvel to help improve, what they should avoid to doing in the future and of course talks about his undying love for Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Are you ready for some football? Good! The NFC East (now BEAST) Group Therapy Session has reconvened and we're excited to talk about all things football. Hosts Bill Bodkin and Amanda Rivas are joined by "The #1 Commander in Our Hearts" Ben Murchison, "The Voice of God" Marshall Stevenson (of Blerd Life with My Wife & Blerd Watchers) and Lucas "Picks Terribly in Fantasy" Jones. 

In the episode they discuss the potential sale of the Washington Commanders, the trades from this past week, if the San Francisco 49ers & Miami Dolphins improved with their trades, what's happening with Russell Wilson, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. They also discuss the future of their respective teams -- The Eagles, Giants, Cowboys and Commanders.

It's time to re-enter the House Pop Break as we're talking all things about the Game of Thrones Universe. Hosts Bill Bodkin (third of his name) and Amanda Rivas (Queen of Dragonstone) are joined by Ben Murchison (The #1 Commander of The Kingsguard) to discuss Season 1 of HBO's House of the Dragon. 

Prior to HOTD talk, they discuss Doctor Who moving to Disney+ and the reveal of the new (interim) Doctor as well as their thoughts on the trailers for Ant-Man: Quantumania and the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.

They then head to Westeros to discuss the time jumps, Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke's performances, the confusion Targaryen children, the skeletal nature of Viserys, the season finale, what they hated about the first season, why the foot fetish guy is the most unredeemable character, a character change from the books that Amanda has an issue with, the treatment of female characters on the show and what has caused the exponential increase in viewership for the series week after week.

Welcome to the spookiest episode of The Socially Distanced Podcast! This week host Bill Bodkin is joined by venerable panel of horror aficionados -- Pop Break staff writer Tommy Tracey, the #1 Commander of our Hearts Ben Murchison (admirably filling in for Ann Hale - get well soon!) and the absolute ace, Kelly McGovern to discuss Halloween Ends. They gruesome foursome talk about the highly divisive conclusion to the David Gordon Green & Danny McBride trilogy -- including the focus on Corey as the main character, Michael Myers showing his age, the larger allegoric aspects of the film series, the iconic Jamie Lee Curtis and if this is truly the end of the Halloween films. They also recommend their all-time favorite scary movies and newer horror films released in 2022 that you should be checking out.

The Socially Distanced Podcast dives deep into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a review of Werewolf by Night and the entire first season of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Hosts Bill Bodkin and Amanda Rivas are joined by Matt Kelly -- host of Nando v. Movies, The Nando Cut and The Mostly Nitpicking Podcast (as well as the guy behind the name "The Pop Break" and the current design of the site). In the episode they discuss the success of Werewolf by Night and how this could potentially shape the future of Marvel's Disney+ footprint as well as where Jack Russell, Man-Thing and Elsa Bloodstone could end up in the MCU and if it's okay if they are just in this one story. They also discuss the future of monsters in the Marvel world and if this could lead to the introduction of Ghost Rider or Midnight Suns. They then shift the conversation to She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. They discuss the criticisms hurled at the show, the misogyny of these criticisms, She-Hulk's depiction of issues women face on a daily basis, the relatability of Jen Walters,  that absolutely off the wall finale and the potentially fruitful future of Jen Walters and She-Hulk in the world of Marvel.

Hello you lucky people, you! Socially Distanced heads to 23 Meteor Street in Northern London (metaphorically speaking) to discuss the brilliant British sitcom -- SPACED. The series air in 1999 and 2001 on Channel 4 in the UK and starred Simon Pegg, Jessica Stephenson, Nick Frost, Mark Heap, Katy Carmichael and Julia Deakin and was directed by Edgar Wright. Hosts Bill Bodkin and Al Mannarino (in his last episode before paternity leave) are joined by comedian and SPACED aficionado Melissa Jouben. They discuss how they discussed this slice of fried gold back in 2007, how it's been there favorite show to share with friends, Bill nearing breaking Simon Pegg's nose, Melissa's deep knowledge of the failed America remake, their favorite songs from the series, the best episodes and of course all the beauty and creativity imbued into the series by its writers, director and cast.

Socially Distanced returns to a galaxy far, far away as we're talking about the first four episodes of the new Star Wars Disney+ series, Andor. Hosts Al Mannarino and Bill Bodkin are joined by resident Star Wars walking encyclopedia Amanda Rivas and Pop Break staff writer Ben Murchison to discuss the Rogue One prequel series. Before they jump into the Star Wars Universe, the gang talks about the announcement made by Ryan Reynolds on Twitter that Deadpool 3 is coming and Hugh Jackman will be reprising his role as Wolverine. Finally, Bill talks about the 13 year anniversary of Pop Break.

Sea.Hear.Now 2022 is in the books and there's lots to talk about. Hosts Bill Bodkin and Al Mannarino are joined by their least favorite person Ryan DeMarco to discuss the annual music fest that takes place on the Asbury Park Beachfront. Ryan, Bill and Al discuss this year's lineup as opposed years prior, the evolution of the festival, the change in vibe of the festival, improvements that could be made, the reflection of the changes in the Asbury scene and more. They discuss how IDLES was a game changer, the joy of The Little Mermen, what artists blew them away and of course who they'd like to see headline next year.