The Pudgy Friends: A Mystery in Pop Culture Podcast

Buckle up, listeners! Things get wild this week as we return from hiatus and bring you double the podcast hosts. Our friends Katie (you might remember her from the Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island episode) and Alyssa sit down with us to talk about their Opinions™ on Clue, the 1985 movie based on the popular board game. We all unanimously agree that Miss Scarlet is a badass woman, rank the alternate endings, and go off on a few tangents, including a brief foray into other movies based on board games. (PS: We loved Jumanji!)

Follow us on Instagram or Twitter (@pudgyfriendspod) or shoot us an email ([email protected]).

Follow Katie and Alyssa on Twitter: @km_fairchild and @alyssalflynn

Intro music: Hip-Hop Loop {Mystery Loop}, PaynesBeats, freesound.org/s/257758/   

We're sorry. We're terrible, and we broke our promise. No Hardy Boys this week. BUT we're still bringing the fun, mysterious content you're here for: an episode on murder mystery dinners! We talk about Joy Swift, credited as the inventor of the interactive murder mystery, and her long-running Murder Weekend in the UK; recount some of our own interactions with murder mystery parties, including Julie's middle school experience and Alison's Savannah bachelorette trip; and throw in some references to The Office and Shakespeare in Love for good measure. 

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @pudgyfriendspod

Intro music: Hip-Hop Loop {Mystery Loop}, PaynesBeats, freesound.org/s/257758/   

This week, we're trash people so we didn't read the Hardy Boys book. Instead, we're bringing you an episode on The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries series from the '70s. We talk a little about the history of the sleuth brothers on television, dive in to their first episode (The Mystery of the Haunted House), and confirm that Alison is definitely a Frank while Julie is more of a Joe. 

We're well again and back to cover the history of The Hardy Boys franchise. We talk more about Edward Stratemeyer and his creepy Syndicate, meet Leslie McFarlane (the grumpy ghostwriter), and look at the series' evolution and its presence in pop culture.

Bonus: We also take a few minutes to dish on our feelings about the upcoming Nancy Drew movie. 

Unfortunately, Alison is sick this week so we won't be releasing a regular episode. Check out this announcement from Julie to see when we'll be back and learn about some of our exciting upcoming topics. 

Happy New Year! We're starting off with episode lucky No. 7 and the pinnacle of Alison's podcasting career—that's right, we're covering Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island! With the help of special guest Katie Fairchild, we talk about how this movie reinvigorated the Scooby franchise, queer coding of villains, and—wait for it—cat cults! 

Corrections: Female wild hogs do not have tusks, and actress Jaime King is not, in fact, from the South. 

Special thanks goes to Katie for making this a memorable episode. Follow her on Twitter @km_fairchild.

 Intro music: Hip-Hop Loop {Mystery Loop}, PaynesBeats, freesound.org/s/257758/  

In this special bonus episode, we're gifting you some holiday fun by chatting over two wintery Scooby-Doo episodes: "That's Snow Ghost" (from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!) and "A Scary Night with a Snow Beast Fright" (from The Scooby-Doo Show). Alison is here for the ghost cryptids and dinosaurs, while Julie reminds you all to lock your doors and windows!

Intro music: Hip-Hop Loop {Mystery Loop}, PaynesBeats, freesound.org/s/257758/ 

The Scooby-Doo train continues, as this week we cover the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! series (focusing in on three episodes, "What a Night for a Knight," "Nowhere to Hyde," and "Watch Out! The Williwaw!"). We also talk about a recent Bustle article exploring research that shows true crime and cooking shows tickle the same parts of our brains. (We hope the cannibals don't get any ideas.)

Intro music: Hip-Hop Loop {Mystery Loop}, PaynesBeats, freesound.org/s/257758/