The ApeCast

This APE-ril, Siblings Day happens to fall very close to the Ape-th of the month, so Jack and Geoff celebrate the only way they know how: by kicking back, watching the classic 1962 kaiju flick King Kong vs. Godzilla, and calling in their siblings, returning champions Sam Stovold and Kong-spert Erin Clarke, to help! In this fun Kong-sized bonus extravaganza, they'll delve into such fascinating topics as the very different and electric (!) Japanese take on King Kong, suitmation vs. stopmotion, their love for ol' Godzilla himself, that classic 60s Japanese feel, giant octopi (tako), tacos (takosu) calluses (tako) and Section Chief Tako, the beloved Ernest film series, Bruce Greenwood's abs, and the huge differences between the original film and the American cut, among many other things. Grab your brothers and sisters, and prepare to get as charged up as King Kong biting into a power line!

This time on The ApeCast, Geoff and Jack are looking at another crazy comics crossover, this time between Planet of the Apes and Green Lantern! As your hosts are both complete Green Lantern noobs, they had to call in some help, and that's where Green Lantern expert and super fan Jason Butze steps in. He's here to help us make sense of this surprisingly complex story that delves deep into Lantern lore, but we also have a wide ranging discussion on the commonalities between the worlds of Apes and the Lanterns, Marvel and DC, Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, apes, comics and their creators in general, and for some reason, Judy Blume! In brightest day, in darkest night, this podcast will bring you Lantern/Apes insight!

In a very special episode, cohost Jack's other project, Star Trek: DS9 Podcast Reopening the Wormhole joins forces with The ApeCast (a podcast crossover!) to talk about a nutty comics crossover! That's right, two dream teams come together, as we finally delve into our hitherto endlessly teased episode about Star Trek / Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive! In more ways than one, two great flavors are coming together as Kirk and the Enterprise crew meet with Taylor, Zira, Cornelius and the rest of the Planet of the Apes! It's not all fun and games though, especially when Kor, the most devilish Klingon of them all, and treacherous gorilla General Marius have their sights set on world domination. (Apes) Jack and Geoff join (Trek) Jack, Sam and Kevin for a huge free-wheeling conversation about, among other things, comic art, what happens when apes and aliens meet, the differing approaches of Japanese and American comic storytelling, how Star Trek and Apes handle the aftermath of nuclear devastation, the appropriate level of fan service, the enduring appeal of kooky crossovers, and, most improbably, the relative merits of the works of Andrew Lloyd Webber! Beam up to this MADHOUSE to experience what is possibly the geekiest thing you will ever hear!

It's the 8th (or APEth) of the month, and you know what that means: time for another special APEisode of the ApeCast! Jack and Geoff are joined once again by Geoff's sister Erin to discuss the little-seen 1933 sequel Son of Kong. And they find the little guy to be quite the charmer! Amidst their lively discussion, our hosts also touch upon their affection for music performed by dressed-up monkeys, Little Kong's similarities to the Terminator, and the efficacy of trash-can disguises. Believe it or not, there's a podcast about Little Kong!

Jack and Geoff's expedition into the Forbidden Zone continues! In this episode they're covering four more Tales from this superlative collection: Kevin J. Anderson & Sam Knight's Of Monsters and Men, in which Dr. Zaius meets a dinosaur; Jim Beard's Silenced, a millennia-spanning story of a pair of dog tags and the women who encountered them; Milo's Tale by Ty Templeton, which explains exactly how a certain trio of enterprising chimps managed to escape from the planet of the apes; and Rich Handley's The King is Dead—Long Live the King, where ape ruler Caesar continues to pay the cost to be the boss. Amidst this minisode extravaganza, the boys also touch upon their appreciation of effective retconning, graphic dino-on-ape violence, and how they just can't quit Taylor. Check it out!

This time on The ApeCast, Geoff and Jack take a look at the excellent short story collection Tales From the Forbidden Zone, specifically four of the stories: Dan Abnett's Unfired, a tale of a mutant pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Nancy Collins' More Than Human, Less Than Ape, about a young Cornelius' shocking discovery in a far-off place, Bob Mayer's The Pacing Place, an alternate sequel to the first film about Taylor building a new human community, and John Jackson Miller's Murder's Row, a quirky tale of Zira and Cornelius' run-ins with TV executives in the 1970s. Throughout these four minisodes, they'll also touch on such subjects as mutant culture and religion, the fate of Long Island on the Planet of the Apes, show business in the 1970s, the twisted relationship between John Connor and Kyle Reese, Taylor's blood type and its implications, and so much more! Straight from the Forbidden Zone to your sweet primate ears it comes!

It's the Ape-th of February, and that means it's the first of our monthly bonus forays into the world of Ape cinema outside of Planet of the Apes! And what better place to start than with the most famous ape of them all? That's right, we're kicking it off with 1933's King Kong, and here to join us is Geoff's sister and classic cinema fan Erin Clarke! The three of them have a grand ol' time examining this old classic's still-amazing special effects, grizzled old misogynistic seamen, the exhausting day-to-day life of the ol' Kongster, the magic of Carl Denham and his real-life inspiration director Merian C. Cooper, how this movie compares to Peter Jackson's cinematic monster, how Jack Driscoll and Anne Darrow are the WORST, and just DINOSAUR after DINOSAUR after DINOSAUR. One listen to this podcast and you'll feel like you could scale the Empire State Building yourself!

Jack and Geoff take a moment to reflect on where they've been so far and where they're going by watching the 1998 television documentary Behind the Planet of the Apes. Hosted by Roddy McDowall, Behind is a treasure trove of behind the scenes footage, interviews, anecdotes and information about the history and production of the original Apes saga, from page to screen. Jack forgot just how cool it was, and Geoff had never seen it at all, so they cracked open a couple of brews and had a great afternoon watching and podcasting about it, and we hope that shines through! These guys sure love their apes! They touch on all their favorite new tidbits and moments from the doc and some things they didn't have a chance to say during previous episodes, read some more listener email, and talk about what they're hoping to encounter on their maiden voyage through a host of ancillary Apes media. Get your stinkin' hands on THIS podcast, you damn dirty apes!

For the final movie in the original film series, Geoff escapes to his native Canada and gathers a whole group of his old ape buddies to huddle up in the cold and hurl their verbal feces at Jack over Skype! In all seriousness, Andrew, Josh, Jackson and Reagan join your intrepid hosts to lovingly air their grievances over the weakest of the Ape sequels. It's a boisterous conversation about bestiality, school buses, mutants, Sheriff Lobo, Trouble with Tribbles writer David Gerrold, squirrels, the birth of the bomb cult, and most importantly, the ultimately futile quest to figure out just exactly when and where the hell this movie is set. This is one freak-filled madhouse you'll never want to leave!

Jack and Geoff are back to dive into a far-reaching discussion of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, both the film and its novelization. Perhaps the most provocative of all the Apes sequels, Conquest boldly and unabashedly tackles issues like racial politics, slavery, political revolution and the police state, not to mention the fates of poor Rover and Tabby (RIP)! We'll also be talking a lot about Armando, sexy chimps, the crazy life of MacDonald actor Hari Rhodes, Roddy McDowall's crowning achievement, emperor moths, the strength of John Jakes' novelization and some of our biggest Ape News yet. So grab some kerosene and a machine gun and let's get this revolution started!