What Did We Miss?

Tony dusts off his PlayStation because somebody's never played Metal Gear Solid. The guys take it back to 1998's critically-acclaimed slice of stealth espionage action, which is full of sneaking around, wild boss battles, and lots and lots and lots of talking.

Matt and Tony talk a bit about the games they've been playing recently and some of the games they liked when they were younger, Tony fills in Matt about why Metal Gear was such a special game when it came out and how some of its crazier gameplay elements blew his teenage mind, and they both share what they look for in games now.

It's hard to imagine a world without The Wizard of Oz, but before 1900 that's exactly what it was. This week, Matt and Tony follow the Yellow Brick Road back to L. Frank Baum's original novel to explore the humble origins of one of America's most enduring pieces of myth-making. They'll discuss the book, the differences between it and MGM's 1939 adaptation, its legacy, and their own relationships with this iconic story.

It's a special bonus mini episode! And it's full of spoilers!*

Matt and Tony ride those sweet, sweet superhero coattails and use the release of Avengers: Endgame to finally read Marvel's 1991 event comic, The Infinity Gauntlet, which serves as one of the key inspirations for the 20-plus movie, 11 years in the making saga that built towards last year's Avengers: Infinity War and culminated last week with Avengers: Endgame.

*It's not FULL of spoilers (we're not monsters) but it is spoilery. You've been warned. A few times. And will be during the episode.

This week, Matt and Tony hail a cab back to the late '70s to talk about the classic sitcom that launched some amazing careers: Taxi.

Given Taxi's amazing cast of characters, it only makes sense to discuss the series through exploring the wannabes and nobodies who made the Sunshine Cab Company such a fun place to hang out at week after week, as well as how some of of the characters and themes have aged in the decades since.

Everyone knows Queen. From their huge radio hits, to soundtracks, to hockey arenas everywhere (stomp stomp clap! stomp stomp clap!) there is no escaping them. Which made this second episode a bit of a challenge in the sense that, due to their ubiquity, Queen is a tough sell as a blindspot.

This week's What Did We Miss? takes a deep dive beyond the hits to into the albums Sheer Heart Attack (1974), A Night at the Opera (1975), News of the World (1977), and Hot Space (1982), and finds evidence of a band even wilder, weirder, and sexier than even their most eclectic singles suggest.

Welcome to What Did We Miss?

In their very first episode, Tony Pacitti and Matt Ferrara begin resolving their pop culture blindspots with 1971's dystopian THX 1138, the feature-length directorial debut of George Lucas.