The Pod Universe with Dylan & Dalton

It's the first Pod Universe MUSICAL EPISODE, and this time, Dalton's going full Disney with this script for an animated family feature. But, in the sort of twist you can only get from the Pod Universe, it's also a prequel to Dalton's blood-soaked sci-fi horror feature Vestigial. (Don't worry, new listeners, it's still totally self-contained.) This script reading comes complete with three fully-orchestrated Broadway-style bangers composed by Dalton and performed by resident composer/thespian Sarah Norcross.

Young backyard filmmaker Aurelia Gonzalez wants to make sci-fi movies, but who's got the budget for good alien effects? And more importantly, who needs it when your town is the alleged site of a UFO landing? Join Aurelia on her quest to catch a real-life E.T. on camera — not to change humanity's place in the cosmos, mind you, but for Cinema!

As always, you can support our show and the ridiculous lengths to which we go by joining our Patreon at Patreon.com/DylanAndDalton

CHAPTERS
00:00:00 - Cold Open
00:08:15 - Discussion
00:29:01 - Act One
00:32:42 - “Planet Hollywood”
00:36:53 - Discussion
00:49:11 - Act One Continued
01:07:40 - Discussion
01:16:44 - Act Two, Part One
01:31:11 - “Day Infinity”
01:33:56 - Discussion
01:39:56 - Act Two, Part One Continued
01:42:35 - Discussion

It’s her creation! Is it real? Novelist and fashion journalist Tyler McCall joins us in the studio to pitch revisit an unlikely obsession from her youth — John Hughes’ incredibly boyish 1985 teen comedy Weird Science! Just how problematic is Tyler’s problematic fave, and what plans has she devised for expanding it into a vast cinematic universe?

Check out Tyler’s upcoming novel, People Like You, due out in April 2027!

And thank you to our sponsor, Real Hero Shit: Harder Than It Looks, the new graphic novel by Kendra Wells.

CHAPTERS
00:00:00 - Opening
00:05:56 - Let's talk about Weird Science
00:07:50 - Tyler's history with Weird Science
00:11:29 - Breaking down the accidentally complex themes
00:38:09 - SPONSOR: Real Hero Shit!
00:44:26 - Tyler's Weird Science "Before" Trilogy
00:53:39 - Chet's War Crimes
00:58:28 - Biker Gang origin movie
01:03:23 - Hilly and Deb romantic road movie
01:06:00 - "Weird Vengeance:" the crossover
01:19:16 - Failed "Weird Science" reboots
01:29:59 - Tyler talks up her book!

It's TV time! Speed through an entire season of the imaginary television sequel to the imaginary blockbuster movie Last Flight of the Stone Hammer! Who killed Mother Beal? How can the Ley-to and Eridai avoid more bloodshed? What's Beepo up to? Enjoy this latest weird experiment from The Pod Universe!

This episode is brought to you by Genre Space, a sci-fi actual play podcast streaming now wherever you find us, or at https://feeds.transistor.fm/genre-space

Also be sure to support the Ritual Deck backerkit and enjoy J. Evan Parks' fantastic game and Dylan's first foray into the world of TTRPGs! https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/plus-one-exp/kingdoms-carved-the-7th-order-ritual-deck

CHAPTERS
00:00:00 - Opening
00:07:58 - Episode One - "Drop" (Recap)
00:13:48 - Dalton's predictions
00:16:19 - Sponsor: Genre Space
00:18:12 - Episode Two - "Forget It, Kitt"
00:33:43 - Episode Three - "Motherhood"
00:47:25 - Ritual Deck
00:50:19 - Episode Four - "The Inky Black of Space"
00:57:47 - Possible middle episodes
01:05:10 - Episode Five - "Hell is a Small Town"
01:13:00 - Episode Six - "Consensus!"
01:25:15 - Dalton's feedback
01:38:10 - Acknowledgements

PLOT TWIST! Dylan promised that Phase Two would include a sequel to his space sci-fi satire, Last Flight of the Stone Hammer. He's decided to fulfill the promise by giving you both more and less than you asked for. Instead of another feature film script, Dylan has plotted out an entire season of television called Tales of the Lost Shepherd, and written a complete script for the first episode. This week, Dylan, Dalton, and Sarah read through the script in our usual fashion. Next week, D&D will talk through Dylan's detailed plans for the rest of the season!

This episode features original art by Andie Newman, who designed and rendered a character model for the famous, insidious AI assistant Beepo! We've also put some merch on sale over at shop.thepoduniverse.com so check that out!

We're sponsored this week by Real Hero Shit: Harder Than It Looks, the new original graphic novel from Kendra Wells and Iron Circus Comics. Go check it out, it is so much fun!

CHAPTERS
00:00:00 - Cold Open
00:09:49 - Discussion, and How Plans Changed
00:19:46 - Fan Predictions and Expectations
00:36:06 - Back to Tales of the Lost Shepherd
00:53:52 - Discussion
00:56:57 - More Tales of the Lost Shepherd
01:07:09 - Let's talk about Real Hero Shit!
01:11:40 - The rest of Episode 1
01:21:24 - Discussion and Acknowledgements

Kasey Heisler and Patrick Porter of Brooklyn's punk sensation A Very Special Episode commit cinematic heresy when they pitch us an expanded shared universe of film and television spinning out of David Lynch's experimental masterpiece Eraserhead! Our first question? Why?! But, if we must, then how? The answers may shock, amaze, or gross you out!

By the way the Disney Channel movie we refer to is called The Stepsister from Planet Weird.

Check out their music at https://averyspecialepisode.bandcamp.com/

As always you can support our show and enjoy bonus materials when you join Patreon.com/DylanAndDalton, and buy cool show merch at shop.thepoduniverse.com

CHAPTERS
00:00:00 - Opening
00:02:48 - Introducing our guests
00:05:51 - Why Eraserhead? Dear God, why?
00:09:35 - Try summarizing Eraserhead
00:34:56 - Breaking down the original
00:44:02 - Expanding the EhCU
00:46:41 - Radiator Lady Monster's Inc
00:50:33 - Eraserhead High
00:56:40 - X Family Sitcom
01:01:43 - The Pencil Factory
01:03:56 - Eraserhead 2
01:08:58 - Fire Walk with Us
01:20:12 - Plugs and acknowledgements

Dalton's kickass space horror "Metroidvania" concludes! Will Linija regain her lost armor? Will we learn the fate of her surrogate father? And what's about [REDACTED]? What's her deal? These answers and a few new questions on this spectacular episode of The Pod Universe!

Don't forget to check out our cameos on Public Domain Cinematic Universe!

CHAPTERS
00:00:00 - Discussion
00:09:31 - Act Two, Part Two
00:38:57 - Discussion
00:47:08 - Act Three
01:12:57 - Mid-Credits Scene
01:15:17 - Discussion

In the deep reaches of outer space, Private Linija Tov of the planet Enoxua lands on an abandoned world with whose power plant is in a perpetual state of meltdown. Her mission: to shut down the generator before it erupts and turns her into a pool of blood and pus. Standing in her way is a hoard of violently insane scientists, and the vicious alien creature who drove them to madness.

Welcome to PHASE TWO of the Pod Universe, which begins with this standalone sci-fi horror tale inspired by the grim tone and unsettling body horror of Alien and the structure of one of its most treasured spiritual offspring — Metroid. How exactly can a movie be a "Metroidvania?" We'll show you.

This episode is brought to you by REAL HERO SHIT: HARDER THAN IT LOOKS, the new original graphic novel from Kendra Wells and Iron Circus Comics. Find it wherever books or ebooks are sold, and find Kendra's work via KendraWCanDraw.com.

Kendra is also the artist behind this episode's character designs! Check out our instagram @the_pod_universe or the YouTube version of this episode to check them out!

CHAPTERS
00:00:00 - Cold Open
00:06:37 - Discussion
00:27:10 - Act One
00:41:32 - Discussion
00:50:32 - Act Two, Part One
01:30:29 - Discussion

Writer, artist, and voice of Hunter Marin themselves Kendra Wells joins the Pod Universe to try and salvage a movie that Dylan hates with a fury we've never seen before! Can the author of Real Hero Shit: Harder Than It Looks make writing Insidious look easy? Let's find out!

PLUS: The trailer for the first script of Phase 2: Vestigial!

As a special note, thank you everyone for supporting us through 100 episodes! Here's to many more.

You can find Kendra's new book and all their other work at your local bookseller, or support them directly at Patreon.com/KendraWCanDraw.

CHAPTERS
00:00:00 - Opening
00:04:34 - Let's talk about Insidious
00:34:40 - The Insidious Franchise as it exists today
00:44:36 - Real Hero Shit: Harder Than It Looks
00:57:24 - Kendra's pitch
01:13:58 - Expanding the universe
01:42:24 - Vestigial trailer

Did Marvel's Hall H panel leave you disappointed? Are you still itching to learn about installments in an ongoing high concept sci-fi universe? Well buddy we've got some great news for you, because it's time for the POD UNIVERSE IMAGINARY COMIC-CON PANEL! Just like our movies, it's not real. But it's pretty close! Join us as we answer fan-submitted questions about Phase 1 of the Pod Universe and reveal our full slate of NINE scripts for the coming season!

This episode is brought to you by author Andrew Kass and his novel A Woman of Agency, available in print and ebook. You can watch a 20-minute conversation between Dylan and the author on our YouTube channel!

CHAPTERS
00:00:00 - Opening
00:04:14 - Reflecting back on War of the Worlds
00:13:08 - What we're NOT doing in Phase Two
00:18:08 - Fan questions!
00:42:13 - Sponsor: A Woman of Agency by Andrew Kass
00:45:23 - More fan questions!
01:00:35 - Slate reveal
01:22:26 - Patreon, the shop, etcetera

Get a closer look at Dylan & Dalton's writing process and listen to them work out the story of the first Pod Universe crossover. Be a fly on the wall as they break down characters, hash out a plot, and then throw all of that away and start over! Learn about the imaginary movie that we almost pretended to make!

As always, you can find more episodes as well as our lovely Discord community via our Patreon at Patreon.com/DylanAndDalton. Thanks for your support, and see you soon for the kickoff to Phase 2!

CHAPTERS
00:00:00 - Intro
00:05:53 - Who are our leads?
00:12:58 - Character relationship charts
00:17:53 - Differentiating our geniuses
00:30:18 - Getting the characters together
00:34:07 - The Beepo of it all
00:41:53 - Lost and found families
00:45:29 - Alano Bright and the Two Liams
00:54:55 - Let's write a plot!
01:02:29 - The threat and our villains
01:08:48 - Lasting impact on our world
01:14:36 - Plot beat ideas
01:31:27 - TAKE TWO, weeks later
01:35:43 - Rebuilding the story around Xaria
01:48:16 - The ensemble's new role