The Pop Break

Welcome to TV Break, where Pop Break’s Podcasts Editor Alex Marcus is joined by editor-in-chief Bill Bodkin, and TV Columnist Josh Sarnecky to talk about the happenings in television.

Here’s the format of the show:

The Best Thing I Saw on TV Last Month – Alex, Bill, & Josh talk about a show/episode/event they liked from the last month including HBO’s House of the Dragon S2 & Fantasmas S1, Max’s My Adventure with Superman S2, and Netflix’s Blue Eye Samurai. 

News Break – Alex, Bill, and Josh breakdown all the details in the ⁠NBA’s landmark TV rights deal⁠ with Disney, NBCUniversal, and Amazon, as well as where things stand with Warner Bros. Discovery.

Streaming Wars – Alex, Bill, & Josh pick a streamer they think “won the month” based on new shows airing/upcoming shows announced etc. This time, all three agree Peacock won the month thanks to ⁠its extremely successful, wall to wall over of the Paris Olympics⁠, as well as the big role it will play in the future of the NBA after the aforementioned TV deal and some other notable pieces of content like WWE Summer Slam and Monkey Man hitting their app. 

New Series Spotlight – This month, they reviewed Amazon Prime Video’s ⁠Batman: Caped Crusader.⁠ The series was created by Bruce Timm, one of the creators of the iconic 1990s series Batman: The Animated Series, along with JJ Abrams, Matt Reeves, and comic legend Ed Brubaker as executive producers. The series stars Hamish Linklater as the dark knight himself, and takes place in a 1930s set Gotham, where Batman has just recently hit the scene. All 10 episodes of the first season are now available on Prime Video.

There’s arguably no superhero in existence that has been reimagined, redefined, or reinterpreted more than Batman.  No matter how many times he’s been rebooted, audiences are always willing to come back to Gotham City’s greatest defender.  With so much Bat content out there, there’s plenty to dissect, analyze, and of course, rank!  This podcast is dedicated to a surgical evaluation of Batman’s history, with a focus on ranking several topics in the world of Batman, among other classic Bat themes and characters.

Join host Daniel Cohen, Pop Break’s former Film Editor and Resident Bat-Maven, as he brings on several guests every month to share his passion for the one and only Dark Knight.  From Adam West to Robert Pattinson, no bat stone will be left unturned.  Bottom-line: If you’re a Batman fan, this is required listening.

It seems like only yesterday the Batman by the Numbers crew was arguing over which was better; Batman & Robin or BvS.  That was our very first episode, as we ranked all the Batman movies.  That was two years ago.  And just like the Batman franchise, we’re still going strong!

Welcome to our big TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY episode!  And boy, do we have a big one.  Even Two-Face would approve.  In the spirit of Fantasy Football draft season, Daniel wanted to combine his two favorite hobbies; Batman and Drafting.

That’s right.  We did the DEFINITIVE BATMAN DRAFT!  Daniel is joined by his first two co-hosts from the pilot episode, Podcast Director of the Pop Break, Alex Marcus, and Pop Break Editor-in-Chief Bill Bodkin to draft the Definitive Batman team.  But what fun is a draft with only three people??  Daniel moved some of the batmobiles, bat planes, and bat boats to make room in the Batcave for five other all-star guests!  Making a return to the podcast, we have Perry Constantine (from the Long Halloween episode), DJ Chapman (from the epic Nolan rankings episode and infamous Batman Trailer Rankings episode), and Aaron Sarnecky (The Dark Knight 15th Anniversary episode).

Also, making their Batman by the Numbers debuts, and throwing them right into the fire on this big episode, we have Randy Allain and Kris Ingersoll, both of the Media/Lit podcast!

So, what is the Definitive Batman Draft?  Well, we don’t want to give everything away, but the crew will essentially draft 10 categories; Film.  Batman Actor.  Comic Story.  TV Series.  Bat Family member.  Two villains.  Bat Song.  Best Scene from a Batman movie.  And…a wild card category!  What is the wild card category?  Well, you’ll have to listen to find out.

With all these eclectic categories, it’s no doubt this is the DEFINITIVE BATMAN DRAFT!  And if you’re worried it’s just going to be a flurry of Dark Knight picks, don’t worry – we’ve created some special rules for some of these categories to make the draft more challenging and interesting!

We thank you for listening to this podcast for two years, and we hope you have as much fun listening to this episode as we did recording it!

And if for nothing else, it’s worth listening to as Daniel gets a pick stolen from him towards the end of the draft and has an emotional breakdown, so there you go.

Welcome to “Not Couple Goals” where co-hosts Allie Nelson and Tyler McCarthy do a deep dive into a different ridiculous romantic thriller from the vantage point of their long-term relationship.

Allie, a TV writer/producer and actress, has an affinity for romantic thrillers, the more salacious the better. Tyler, an entertainment reporter and critic, often finds himself drawn in despite his better judgment. Join them as they explore all the ways it’s possible to love too hard… like WAY too hard.

In this episode, Allie and Tyler tackle the 2006 movie “Scoop” starring Scarlett Johansson, Hugh Jackman and, unfortunately, Woody Allen. Don’t worry, though, they have nothing but bad things to say about him. Join them as they unapologetically lambaste this underbaked monstrosity and do some pretty fantastic impressions. Will Allen’s career ever recover from their mockery? Let’s hope not. 

Special thanks to Mallory Johns for the introduction music.

To see more of our hosts, check out Tyler’s writing at USA Insider, SYFY and NBC Insider. Find Allie’s work at Parade and Business Insider!

And don't forget to follow us on social media —

Allie: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok

Tyler: Twitter

Not Couple Goals: Instagram and Twitter

Welcome back to another episode of our podcast all about the ABC reality series The Bachelor and its many spin-offs.

ThePopBreak.com's Michelle Coraci, who has been recapping all things Bachelor for The Pop Break for years, and co-host DJ Chapman, of Mostly Nitpicking, are back talking about the latest season of The Bachelorette!

This week The Bachelorette goes to Auckland, New Zealand! Michelle and DJ cover the continuing feud between Sam M and Devin as they go on their respective one-on-ones. They also talk about Sam N.'s (salmon's) interesting choice of attire on the group date. Then they cover with the cliffhanger of someone from Jen's past, what they think this means and if he'll stay around. They wrap up with their thoughts on Season 2 of the Mole on Netflix and what improvement, they think, can be made to the show.

If you have thoughts or suggestions for what you’d like Michelle and DJ to cover during the offseason or opinion about all things Bachelor & Bachelorette, be sure to reach out via twitter @Roses&Rejections!

Hello and welcome to Bill vs the MCU! Each month your hosts⁠⁠ Pop Break Podcasting Director Alex Marcus⁠⁠ and⁠⁠ Pop Break Editor in Chief Bill Bodkin⁠⁠ are taking another step into the wider Marvel Multiverse as the MCU dives deeper into their Multiverse Saga.

Bill & Alex spent all of 2022 rewatching the first four phases of the MCU, and they just spent 2023 covering the first phase of Netflix’s The Defenders Saga and the first four seasons of ABC’s Agents of SHIELD. This season, they spent the last six months journeying into Fox’s X-Verse with their X-Treme X-Watch. They watched everything from the original trilogy to New Mutants and everything in between. And now it is finally time to hear what they had to say about the Mutants’ MCU debut in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Listen along as Bill & Alex breakdown all the in-jokes, cameos, set pieces, and MCU connective tissue in this record breaking film. Find out if the guys felt like the film had the right balance of heart, humor, and spectacle to justify the return of Hugh Jackman and the Deadpool-ification of the MCU. They also include a detailed rundown of their X-Verse rankings.

Watch along with us! Next month's title is Luke Cage S2 (available to stream on⁠ ⁠Disney+⁠⁠).

In this special bonus episode of Bill vs. The MCU, your hosts Bill & Alex breakdown all the news that broke this weekend at the 2024 San Diego Comic Con. 

They get into a heated debate over the shocking news that Robert Downey Jr. will be returning to the franchise as Doctor Doom in the new film Avengers: Doomsday, before reviewing other highlights from the panel, including new footage and details on Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. 

They close out by looking ahead and speculating about when we might next hear about some of the other Marvel projects in our future, such as Daredevil: Born Again and Young Avengers.

Pour a tall, cold glass of apple blood and snuggle up with your favorite palisman, because Saturday Morning Adventures is back to wrap up their retrospective on Disney’s The Owl House.

Pop Break writer and podcaster Randy Allain is joined by his Media/Lit co-host Kris Ingersoll and Pop Break television editor Avani Goswami to bid farewell to Dana Terrace’s unique and groundbreaking fantasy series about a young girl escaping her conventional life to become a witch. 

After taking a closer look at the flash forward montage from the end of season three, the hosts dig into some of the most important talking points they didn’t cover in the first three episodes, craft their own palismen, and celebrate the most popular “ships” in the Owl House fandom. Additionally, each host discusses their dream vision for a hypothetical new season or spinoff.

Please tune in for more Saturday Morning Adventures in a couple of weeks, when Amanda Rivas kicks off a two-week reflection on 80’s classic Jem and the Holograms!

Pop Break Pro Wrestling returns as Bill Bodkin hops on the Ring of Honor Media Call with Tony Khan to discuss the promotions upcoming Death Before Dishonor PPV. On the call Tony Khan goes in on WWE PR, remembers the late Jay Briscoe, discusses television rights deals for AEW and potentially ROH, praises the Arlington, TX fans and previews the entire card.

Aaron and Josh Sarnecky are here to talk about A Hard Day’s Night for its 60th anniversary.

A Hard Day’s Night is a musical comedy film directed by Richard Lester. It shares the name of the song and album by The Beatles. It opened in theaters in the United Kingdom on July 10, 1964. It debuted in the United States on August 12. 

In the film, Paul, John, George, and Ringo fool off when they should be rehearsing for a television performance. Accompanying them in London is Paul’s mischievous grandfather (Wilfrid Brambell). Chaperoning the Fab Four are their managers Norm (Norman Rossington) and Shake (John Junkin).

A Hard Day’s Night released during the beginning of Beatlemania in the U.S. It was nominated at the Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Score. Today, it is considered one of the greatest British films over all time.

Aaron and Josh talk about their familiarity with The Beatles and classic rock before going into the movie’s plot, characters, humor, and songs. They also discuss The Beatles’ legacy and director Sam Mendes’ upcoming movie series based on the band.

For another a classic musical, you can listen to Josh and Aaron’s podcast about Singin’ in the Rain.

A Hard Day’s Night is available on Max and Prime Video

Welcome back to another episode of our podcast all about the ABC reality series The Bachelor and its many spin-offs.

ThePopBreak.com's Michelle Coraci, who has been recapping all things Bachelor for The Pop Break for years, and co-host DJ Chapman, of Mostly Nitpicking, are back talking about the latest season of The Bachelorette!

This week Michelle and DJ are treated to some Thunder from Down Under. They cover all of the drama between Devin and Sam M, as well as the Sam N antics. They wrap up with some predictions including who has the best shot at winning.

If you have thoughts or suggestions for what you’d like Michelle and DJ to cover during the offseason or opinion about all things Bachelor & Bachelorette, be sure to reach out via twitter @Roses&Rejections!