Our final episode for this double-feature Movie May special takes us back into one of my favorite comedy subgenres: the spoof!

Yeah baby! We are looking at the movie that reinvented what movie spoofs would look like for the next 3+ decades with the ZAZ classic, Airplane!

Then we are off to posh, 1930s England to view a send-up of British period pieces, Fackham Hall.

Will Airplane! Hold up to another rewatch? Will Fackham Hall charm someone who has never seen Downton Abbey? But more importantly: Have you ever been to a Turkish Prison?

Our next double feature for Movie May finds us tackling a horror movie that feels decades ahead of its time and its sequel that somehow manages to balance a whole bunch of stylistic spinning plates. 

First, we hammer down on The Shining. The movie that beat the "Trauma = Horror" trend by about 30 years and remains a polarizing film for fans and critics alike.

Then we take on The Shining's lega-sequel, set nearly 40 years after the original, Doctor Sleep. A movie that tries to tie together three separate storytelling styles while honoring a modern classic.

Our first review of Movie May is now live!

We tackle the "Dark Blockbuster" with a look at the second installment of the Star Wars franchise, The Empire Strikes Back. Somewhat controversial in its own time, it set the standard for how to create a blockbuster that was downbeat and saw our heroes lose and lose big. 

Much more controversial in more recent times is its franchise mirror, The Last Jedi. A purposeful upending of some tropes and storytelling beats that was roundly punished by toxic fandom.

Let's take a closer look at these two middle, darker chapters of the Star Wars mega-franchise. 

New month! You know what that means...new theme and a new year to cover!

For Movie May, we are jumping into the blockbuster films of 1980. A truly great year for film.

HOWEVA — We need to make a detour through the late 1970s to see exactly how films, marketing, technology, and even the business model changed in just a few short years. 

Once again, we are using the spatial anomaly that has taken up residence in my house to explore the future. This time, we are getting what appears to be a series of previews for the Summer slate of programming on the newly formed mega-network, SkyMount Universal on Verscovery Bros+.

We are getting a rare glimpse at a new Yellowstone spinoff, and it looks like a grittier reboot of Star Trek.

How exciting! Let's see what this media conglomerate is offering us in just a few years.

Our final TV in 73 episode for Boob Tube April finds us doing a mini-review for the gritty, visceral, macho cop show, Police Story.

Abandoning escapist storylines for something more real and borderline cynical, Police Story broke new ground in the early 1970s with a true-to-life approach to the criminals and cops that make up the Los Angeles crime world.

There are few happy endings in Joseph Wambaugh's vision of policing in LA.

Let's get to it!

Boob Tube April rolls on!

Our next episode of TV in 73 explores how the shift from escapist, light-hearted entertainment changed drastically over a few years. It was perhaps best exemplified by the massive popularity of the Watergate Hearings, where the American people watched in droves and in real time as all goodwill between them and the institutions they had come to trust evaporated over 47 days.

Plus, bonus coverage of one of the greatest docuseries of all time (The World At War) that digs into the atrocities of WWII and how easily an entire country was turned over to a madman and his desires for power and vengeance.

Serious Television, indeed!

Our first breakdown for Boob Tube April finds us taking a deep dive into the seminal docuseries An American Family. A first-of-its-kind show that followed the everyday lives of the Loud Family of Santa Barbara, CA, and put all of their strengths, weaknesses, triumphs, troubles, and turmoil on display for millions of Americans every night.

A controversial and groundbreaking series, the show is widely credited as the first reality TV show.

Depending on who you ask, of course.

If you haven't already, let's meet the Louds!

Our first episode of April has us examining the TV landscape in the year 1973.

A turning point for emerging TV technology, the Golden Age of the Sitcom, and some landmark programming that marked the first steps toward shows recognizable even today.

Television...That's what makes America great, buddy.

Once again, we are tapping into the astronomical anomaly in my house to peer into the future. This time, a much nearer future as we hear some of the big headlines from March 31st, 2028.