The Flopcast

Longtime Flopcast listeners (those poor souls) know that every 100 episodes, we celebrate V66, Boston's own music video TV channel of the mid-80s. This time, however, we have a special guest: Eric Green, director of the V66 documentary, Life on the V! And because this is episode 666, we're looking at the heavy metal and hard rock bands and videos of the V66 era. It was a time when catchy melodies and goofy visuals helped acts like Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister score huge Top 40 hits. The Kiss guys lost the makeup, Van Halen switched from Dave to Sammy, Aerosmith made their (rap-assisted) comeback, Mötley Crüe freaked everybody out, and Bon Jovi opened the floodgates for a cacophony of hair metal. Meanwhile on the local scene, V66 promoted a video filmed at a Boston-area high school by an unknown hard rock band called Extreme. And as the New England Patriots prepared for Super Bowl 1986, V66 was there with a couple of low budget quickie music videos, including the goofy metal tune "Skin the Bears." (Spoiler: The Patriots absolutely did not skin the Bears.) Also: Kevin finds V66 VJ David O'Leary at a Taylor Dayne show! Eric traces the history of Nirvana in Boston! Tom Bergeron gets in touch with the kids on Rap Around! And if you're in the Boston area, you can join us for a special screening of Life on the V at the Somerville Theatre on February 27th! Kids, it's the 40th anniversary of V66. You deserve a night out, surrounded by Junior Mint-chomping 80s nerds who know how to neutron dance.

Life on the V!

Green's Party!

And our regular links...

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Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts!

Email: [email protected]

Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

This week's promo: Earth Station Who!

It's time for another Top 4 1/2 List, and it's a dumb one! The subject is "Ace." We're just listing characters (from cartoons, movies, TV, etc.) named Ace. And we probably missed your favorite Ace, so let us know! (Unless your favorite is Ace the Bat-Hound. We assure you, we did not forget Ace the Bat-Hound.)

The MarsCon 2025 Comedy Music Track and Fund Raiser Album!

And our regular links...

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

The Flopcast on Bluesky!

The Flopcast on Mastadon!

Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts!

Email: [email protected]

Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

This week's promo: Monster Attack!

Normally we save our "Too Many Comics" reviews for the ESO Network's Patreon supporters. But this one is for everybody, as Kevin and the Mayor flip through the oldest comic book we have here at the studio. And oh yes, it features a chicken. Published by Quality Comics way back in 1946, it's Egbert #4. In the lead story, Egbert the chicken and his fox buddy The Count enter a pie-eating contest. Try to contain your excitement. And because comic books were much larger back in the Golden Age, we also have stories with Nero Owl, Rollo Raccoon, Picklefoot Pig, the Bunny Boys, Beany Bear, and more. (All this for a dime!) Plus: Weird ads for Pepsi, cap guns, and electric football games. Now according to an online price guide, our Egbert comic is virtually worthless. (And you'll find out why!) But come on, it's a chicken comic from 80 years ago, and you can't put a price on this kind of silliness.

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

The Flopcast on Bluesky!

The Flopcast on Mastadon!

Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts!

Email: [email protected]

Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

This week's promo: The 42cast!

This week's other promo: MarsCon 2025!

As we enter the horrifying year of 2025, we thought we'd roll back half a century and look at the music of 1975. We're perusing Billboard's Top 100 song list for the year, and as you'd expect, it's a weird list. The hippie acts were winding down, disco was ramping up, easy listening schlock was at its zenith, and everybody -- literally everybody -- was kung fu fighting. It was probably also not a bad year to avoid Chevy vans, and that's all right with us. Anyway, break out your Linda Ronstadt 8-tracks, slip into your Captain and Tennille costumes, and enjoy.

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

The Flopcast on Bluesky!

The Flopcast on Mastadon!

Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts!

Email: [email protected]

Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

This week's promo: Earth Station Boo!

If your New Year's Resolution was to strengthen your vocabulary with the help of some DC Comics superheroes, we've got you covered. Yes, we're turning back to The Super Dictionary, that bizarre book of words and definitions for the kids of 1978. Our latest batch of Super Dictionary entries features: Supergirl catching flies, Wonder Woman staggering about in a fog, Black Canary vs. a giant owl, Krypto the Super Dog gobbling like a turkey, Penguin being creepy and weird, and Atom's tiny handkerchief. We also learn a bit too much about Comet the Super Horse, and we review the most notorious entry in the whole book. Yes, it's time to discuss Luthor and his forty stolen cakes. Also: Chickens in the News! Want to stay at a massive rooster-shaped hotel in the Philippines? Yeah, we thought so.

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

The Flopcast on Bluesky!

The Flopcast on Mastadon!

Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts!

Email: [email protected]

Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

This week's promo: Earth Station Trek!

We're wrapping up our annual two-part memorial show, covering people we lost in the second half of 2024 from TV (Linda Lavin, John Amos, Bob Newhart), movies (Teri Garr, Shelley Duvall, James Earl Jones), music (Quincy Jones, John Mayall, Kris Kristofferson), and more. (Richard Simmons, Dr. Ruth, Famous Amos, the "You've got mail!" guy... our list has a lot of range.) The egg nog is flowing freely here at Chickentown Studios. Select a huge festive beverage for yourself and join us.

And our regular links...

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

The Flopcast on Bluesky!

The Flopcast on Mastadon!

Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts!

Email: [email protected]

Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

This week's promo: Cosmic Pizza!

In Part 1 of our two-part memorial show, we look back on people from pop culture (and beyond) who died in the first half of 2024. It's a long list, so it's a long show. Including: People from movies (Cindy Morgan, Carl Weathers, Louis Gossett Jr., Dabney Coleman, Donald Sutherland), comedy (Richard Lewis, Joe Flaherty, Martin Mull), television (Joyce Randolph, Kevin Brophy, David Soul), music (Melanie, Mojo Nixon, Eric Carmen), comic books (José Delbo, Ramona Fradon, Trina Robbins), and many more. (The inventor of Pop-Tarts? But of course.) Next week: Memorial Show Part 2. Meanwhile this week, we also reveal our New Year's Resolution, which you will never guess.

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

The Flopcast on Bluesky!

The Flopcast on Mastadon!

Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts!

Email: [email protected]

Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

This week's promo: Monkeeing Around!

Welcome to the Flopcast holiday variety spectacular, in which we sip egg nog and nothing happens. But we do pack quite a few festive subjects into this quick little show, including: Weird 1970s Christmas cartoons! (The Fourth King is an obscure one we'd never seen before. And our favorite, A Cosmic Christmas, is now available from RiffTrax!) A Joan Osborne concert! The Air Supply Christmas album! The Figgy Pudding Pages! Drive-in movie theaters! Weird singing bird decorations! And the opening of a glitter bomb Christmas card, ensuring that Chickentown Studios will be nice and sparkly all year. Okay, get out there and be merry or bright (but not both). It's time for our big holiday nap.

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

The Flopcast on Bluesky!

The Flopcast on Mastadon!

Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts!

Email: [email protected]

Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

This week's promo: The 42cast!

This week's promo: Modern Musicology!

Spinning out of last week's review of The Year Without a Santa Claus, this week we're looking at another classic Rankin/Bass Christmas cartoon that debuted fifty years ago: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas! It's set in the bizarre little town of Junctionville, where humans and mice coexist in a way we can't quite figure out. There we meet a humble clockmaker, a nerdy mouse, a clueless wacky mayor, an egomaniacal vindictive Santa, and a selfish materialistic populace dreaming of a huge Christmas payday, if only their giant musical clock doesn't explode. It's magnificent. We also discuss the whole voice cast, including Jennifer Grey's father, Amanda Plummer's mother, one of the Bad News Bears, Franken Berry, Twinkie the Kid, and (according to Wikipedia) an "owl-faced, portly character actor." So knock back an egg nog or six, let up a little on the wonder why, and give this podcast a try.

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

The Flopcast on Bluesky!

The Flopcast on Mastadon!

Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts!

Email: [email protected]

Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

This week's promo: Earth Station DCU!

The Mayor of Chickentown is here to help us celebrate the 50th anniversary of a Rankin/Bass animated classic, The Year Without a Santa Claus. It's best remembered for Snow Miser and Heat Miser, of course, but we're here to break down the whole thing. We discuss the goofy plot, the goofier characters, the actors behind those characters, the book that inspired the cartoon, the live action remake, the animated sequel, and more. And while everyone knows that Heat and Snow Miser's mother is Mother Nature, we're going to reveal who their fathers are. (This holiday season, we're trying to be more like a trashy daytime talk show, and we could use your support.)

And our regular links...

The Flopcast website!

The ESO Network!

The Flopcast on Facebook!

The Flopcast on Instagram!

The Flopcast on Mastadon!

Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts!

Email: [email protected]

Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

This week's promo: EnterpriseSplaining!