The Flopcast

Kornflake is named as a juror in this year's Logan Awards for excellence in comedy music (so if the big winner is a kazoo-playing lobster, you know what happened); Kevin recommends a Queen cover band, and even admits to buying Queen albums on 8-track; we wander all the way to Connecticut to check out "The Clowns," a new rock opera, because why not; and, as requested by no one, we count down our Top 4 1/2 favorite angry things. If this episode were any angrier, it would live in a van down by the river.

Kevin and Kornflake have been issued a bizarre challenge by the Pod of Destiny, and without giving it nearly enough thought, we accept. Also: We vow to keep the “o” in “Amoeba”; our latest “Chickens in the News” segment features weird Chinese potato chips; our latest “What’s in the Bag?” segment features perhaps the most wonderful Flopcast item ever; we prepare for some upcoming geeky conventions; and we reveal our New Year’s resolutions, all of which directly impact the future of the Flopcast. Stick with us for 2013, kids -- it’ll be silly and awesome. Mostly silly.

Armed with their new Christmas gifts (a Big Bang Theory shirt and an inflatable beard of bees), Kevin and Kornflake are ready to make bold fashion statements in the new year. Also discussed: Archie McPhee, V66, the Boston Band Crush Holiday Spectacular (with Freezepop, of course), the very disappointing Mayan apocalypse, and the best way to spend New Year's Eve. (That would be staying home and doing nothing. Try it!) The show ends with another electrifying round of "What's in the Bag?", and that's it for Flopcast 2012. Next year we'll try to lighten things up and stop taking ourselves so seriously.

A couple of weeks back, the Mayor of Chickentown joined Kevin and Kornflake to count down the Top 4 1/2 Christmas specials produced by Rankin/Bass. This week the Mayor returns, and we're counting down the Top 4 1/2 Christmas specials NOT produced by Rankin/Bass! The usual suspects are here -- including the Grinch, Charlie Brown, and miscellaneous Muppets -- but we cover quite a few lesser known shows too. (Does anyone besides Kevin remember "A Cosmic Christmas"?) We're also joined once again by a weird annoying singing bird, because why not. And through it all, we enjoy big hot mugs of Joe Chickenhead's Angry Glogg -- a beverage guaranteed to keep you nice and crazy through the whole stupid holiday season.

Kornflake keeps getting touched by strangers, only some of whom look exactly like Dave Grohl; our holiday party stories involve giving bad directions to our dates and lying to magicians; Kevin recommends Christmas music from Air Supply (not chicken-themed) and Steve Foster (very, very chicken-themed); Steven Wright is a national treasure; Grant's Advent Calendar is back in business; and our friend Rich has a brilliant idea for a holiday special called, yes, "Murray Christmas."

As you may suspect, we're dangerously obsessed with the classic animated holiday specials produced by Rankin/Bass. Starting with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1964, Rankin/Bass cranked out one amazing cartoon after another right through the mid-80s. This week the Mayor of Chickentown joins Kevin and Kornflake for a very festive Top 4 1/2 List of our favorite Rankin/Bass holiday shows. We discuss Rudolph and Frosty, Santa and Mrs. Claus, the Heat Miser and Snow Miser, Yukon Cornelius and Hermey, and all their weird little pals. Hey, are these wholesome heartwarming shows for the whole family? Or, if you spend a few decades over-analyzing them (as perhaps we have) do any dark and disturbing themes emerge? Happily, the answer to both questions is an enthusiastic yes, and we all win.

Our Chickentown studio halls have been decked, and there is now a festive Flying Spaghetti Monster creepily staring down from the top of our tree; Kornflake rescues a dog named after one of the kids from Fame; Kevin reports on his road trip to Buffalo, in which he encountered Monkees, squouses, and even a Skepchick; we mourn the death of Hostess, but at least it's an excuse to share more weird junior high stories; and we wrap up with a heartwarming holiday edition of Chickens in the News. This show is really the audio equivalent of figgy pudding, in more ways than we'd care to explain.

Kornflake attends a Wazzumhog party (not sure of the spelling on that - and AutoCorrect did NOT help); Kevin and a bunch of other comic book geeks invade the Norman Rockwell Museum for an Alex Ross exhibition; Kornflake prepares for Bad Movie Night, which hopefully will feature Mindy Cohn; we are freaked out by Pinchy the Split Lobster; and we present a Top 4 1/2 List of our favorite giants. (Why didn't Paul Bunyan make the list? Maybe because in reality, he stood just five feet tall. It's true. Check Snopes.)

The Mayor of Chickentown presides over another electrifying round of "What's in the Bag?"; Kevin reports from the Rhode Island Comic Con, where he meets costumed characters, horror hosts, giant snakes, and Holly from Land of the Lost; Kornflake meets an oddly chatty toll booth attendant, and plans a proper Thanksgiving dinner featuring toast and jelly beans; Kevin has one more story about juggling Spam on TV (this time it was on the streets of New York, on Thanksgiving Day, with Jennifer Grey); and in our most awesome "Chickens in the News" segment ever, a brave little rubber chicken is heading for outer space. So it's a pretty festive Thanksgiving show. We're like the giant Underdog balloon of podcasts.

It's episode 27, and that means Kevin and Kornflake are talking about "Weird Al" Yankovic! (If you're a Weird Al fan, you know why.) We discuss Al's songs, videos, and concerts, as well as his movie, his Saturday morning TV series, and yes, his mustache. Also, a tree fell on Kornflake's house! Some blame the hurricane. We blame Harvey the Wonder Hamster.