Stephen Hackett has called us out and requests John’s ruling.

John Siracusa and Jason Snell

Hello nerds and welcome to our 21st episode! Join us as we fangirl over Cynthia Erivo, chatting about her tv specials, live performances, Harriet and, of course, Elphaba. We also discuss our current tv faves: Alien: Earth, Stranger Things 5, The Diplomat and expereince a shared flashback to The West Wing. And are you ready for Mouin Rouge “film to stage” compare and contrast? Let’s do this!

Cynthia Erivo, The Diplomat, and Moulin Rouge

Stacy Watnick and Heather Berberet with Chelsea Hackman

Live on stage at the Ohio Theatre in Madison, Indiana, it’s the Incomparable Radio Theater Live, with part three of the Adventures of Slim Skinner and the Cowhands of the Range!

Slim is blue, Charlie is gone, the band is yodeling, there’s some creative arithmetic, David takes a coffee break with more coffee, and we learn what makes the sun rise…it’s not astrophysics, it’s chemistry. Yeah, chemistry.

Why Do They Yodel?

David J. Loehr

Featuring Gregory Maupin, Abigail Bailey Maupin, Jeff Brautigam, Stephanie Hellmann, and David J. Loehr with the music of Suede Saddle, featuring J. Bryan Heath on lead vocals, guitar, and yodeling, Matthew Layson on harmony, Jamie Dixon on string bass and harmony, and Mike O’Bryan on accordion.

Today’s mission is long overdue. Our agents have been preparing for it for 4 long seasons. It’s time to go to France, even if we can’t speak a word of French and are actually pretty bad at our jobs. This is a mission of love and of hate and Emily in Paris. Join our Agents as they explore why they are always annoyed with Emily and yet are enamoured with all the other things about this show.

Emily in Paris (Seasons 1-4)

Annette Wierstra with Kirsten Goruk

We celebrate Fangsgiving with a visit to darkest Transylvania (and Germany) for the plague-stricken, rat-infested tale of “Nosferatu”, a legally questionable knock-off of “Dracula” more than a century old that surprisingly reinvigorates the classic lines of the Dracula story.

"Nosferatu" (2024)

Jason Snell with Steve Lutz, Annette Wierstra, Tiff Arment and Tony Sindelar

It’s the return of Eat or Be Eaten! Three years after its debut episode, here are some more questions that are all food or drink related. Let’s call this one “lunch”. You may become hungry while listening, or, like the contestants, you may just need a drink.

Eat Or Be Eaten 2

Shelly Brisbin and Kathy Campbell with Antony Johnston, Annette Wierstra, Sandra Wong and Tony Sindelar

The answer, my friend…is not a lyric in the any of the songs the McCoy Brothers discuss. For this annual drunk Thanksgiving Special, Rob, Dan, and John talk about Where Have All the Flowers Gone?, One Tin Soldier, and Alice’s Restaurant.

John McCoy with Rob McCoy and Dan McCoy

A companion essay for this episode on my blog about Thanksgiving specials and protest songs.

One of the most successful covers of this song, originally by Pete Seeger.

In the episode I don’t remember who wrote this song, but it was Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter.

Here it is in all its 18 1/2 minute glory.

Plummeting frogs, chaff owls, and seducin’ medusas - oh my! The party fights and reunites as their path through pixelated perdition continues!

Candlekeep - The Curious Tale of Wisteria Vale, Part 4

Tony Sindelar with Aleen Simms, James Thomson, Mikah Sargent, Monty Ashley and Tiff Arment

Edited by Warren Frey.

Ever wonder what happened to The Oneders? We celebrate Hanksgiving by discussing Tom Hanks’s love letter to ’60s pop that’s also a clear-eyed look at the machinery of the entertainment business, “That Thing You Do!” Powered by a legitimately classic pop song, a stunning cast (turns out, Tom Hanks knows some people), and scenes of joy, warmth, and kindness, this is a film that we find ourselves revisiting often. Happy Hanksgiving to all! And make it snappy!

"That Thing You Do!"

Jason Snell with Erika Ensign, Lex Friedman, Brian Warren, Kathy Campbell and Dan Moren

A pitched battle with forest-dwelling medusas, a rock gnome smitten with said medusas, and giant angry birds harassing our heroes as they plummet to certain death are mere morsels of excitement in this installment of our adventurers’ saga inside a painting inside a book inside a house? Confusing? Yes!

Candlekeep - The Curious Tale of Wisteria Vale, Part 3

Tony Sindelar with Aleen Simms, James Thomson, Mikah Sargent, Monty Ashley and Tiff Arment

Edited by Warren Frey.