Episode 55 - ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND

It's hard to believe we haven't yet run up against Lewis Carroll's most sturdy creation, given the ubiquity of Alice and her Wonderland friends across all forms of media since their literary debut. In this special bonus episode, we finally step through the looking glass to reminisce about Adventures in Wonderland--a whimsical workhorse of Disney Channel original programming.

Those who prefer their life lessons served with a little song and dance will enjoy this special bonus episode where we discuss the enduring appeal of Alice, edutainment, and flashy '90s fashion.

Adventures in Wonderland (1992-1995)
Produced by Andi Copley and Stan Brodsky
Based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Starring Elisabeth Harnois, John Hoffman, Wesley Mann, Armelia McQueen, Patrick Richwood, Robert Barry Fleming, Harry Waters Jr., Reece Holland, Richard Kuhlman, and John Lovelady

Episodes featured in the podcast:
"Herstory in the Making" (aired 3/23/1992)
"Pie Noon" (aired 2/28/1994)

Episode 54 - X-MEN (1992)

A highly serialized superhero adventure that harbored surprisingly mature themes, the animated X-Men was both ahead of its time and a herald of things to come. Along with our resident X-pert, Kevin Gutierrez, we reconnect with the robust roster of mutants and ponder the plotlines that haven't yet made it into the popular live-action films.

This ain't your little brother's Saturday morning cartoon, so cue the kickass theme song and get ready for another X-hilarating, X-citing, and X-cellent episode of WWWW!

X-Men (1992-1997)
Created by Mark Edward Edens, Sidney Iwanter, and Eric Lewald
Based on the comic by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Episodes featured in this podcast:

"Night of the Sentinels, Part 1" (aired 10/31/1992)
"Come the Apocalypse" (aired 2/27/1993)
"A Rogue's Tale" (aired 1/8/1994)
"Phoenix Saga, Part 1 - Sacrifice" (aired 9/5/1994)
"Phoenix Saga, Part 5 - Child of Light" (aired 9/9/1994)

Episode 53 - TV MOMS

The fifth commandment tells us: "Honor thy father and thy mother." Since we already gave the dads their due for Father's Day last year, it's only fitting that we show the same courtesy to the moms.

This episode is dedicated to two of our favorite TV matriarchs - Marge Simpson of The Simpsons and Kitty Forman of That '70s Show - and the exploration of sitcom motherhood in all of its husband-tolerating, offspring-embarrassing, and family-bonding facets. We're ready to declare ourselves full-fledged mama's boys with this Mother's Day special!

The Simpsons (1989- )
Created by Matt Groening

"The Springfield Connection"
Directed by Mark Kirkland
Written by John Collier
Aired May 7, 1995

"Marge Be Not Proud"
Directed by Steven Dean Moore
Written by Mike Scully
Aired December 17, 1995


That '70s Show (1998-2006)
Created by Bonnie & Terry Turner and Mark Brazill


"Hyde Moves In"
Directed by David Trainer
Written by Mark Hudis
Aired July 19, 1999

"Kitty and Eric's Night Out"
Directed by David Trainer
Written by Linda Wallem
Aired February 28, 2000

Episode 52 - WILD WILD WEST

In this episode we go way, way back--not just back to an alternate-history version of the American West, but also back to the retrograde masculinity and offensive sophomoric humor of pop culture in...well, in almost any time, sadly.

An unholy alliance of ego-stroking and trend-chasing can explain much of Wild Wild West, the film that finally gave Jon Peters the giant spider he always wanted. But is the movie the right kind of dumb juvenile fun?

We peel back the layers of Wild Wild West's steampunk aesthetic and latent homoeroticism in a scintillating debate, including a bonus discussion of the music video for Will Smith's iconic contribution to the film's soundtrack. So swallow your pride, don't let your lip react, and enjoy this wild, wild What Were We Watching!

Wild Wild West (1999)
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
Produced by Jon Peters and Barry Sonnenfeld
Written by S.S. Wilson & Brent Maddock and Jeffrey Price & Peter S. Seaman
Based on "The Wild Wild West" created by Michael Garrison
Starring Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, Salma Hayek, M. Emmet Walsh, Bai Ling, and Ted Levine

Episode 51 - GALAXY QUEST

On Christmas Day in 1999, at the height of anxiety over the "Y2K Problem" in which technology might finally have been our undoing, Galaxy Quest was released in theaters to remind audiences of a more optimistic vision of the future worthy of Gene Roddenberry. Not only did the film parody Star Trek the franchise, but Star Trek the phenomenon, lovingly sending up every element from the real-life drama between cast members to the culture of fandom the series helped create.

Trekspert Charles Benimoff returns to the podcast to lend us some context and to argue why Galaxy Quest deserves to be an honorary part of the Star Trek canon, if only to keep that pesky even-odd curse firmly intact... By Grabthar's hammer, what an episode!

Galaxy Quest (1999)
Directed by Dean Parisot
Produced by Mark Johnson and Charles Newirth
Written by David Howard and Robert Gordon
Starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell, Enrico Colantoni, Missi Pyle, and Justin Long

Episode 50 - BATMAN

Perched at the precipice of the '90s, Tim Burton's Batman was one of the first modern blockbusters to emerge from the commercial chrysalis nurtured, perhaps unwittingly, by directors like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Both a familiar crowd-pleasing delight and a novel, eccentric re-imagining of the superhero archetype, Batman helped establish a new excitement around pre-existing properties--especially comics--while becoming one of the rare franchise tentpoles to successfully balance its agendas as a financial commodity and as a distinctive work of art.

Special guest (and number one guy) Gensho Tasaka also joins the podcast for some stellar Caped Crusader chat.  Holy 50th episode, Batman!

Batman (1989)
Directed by Tim Burton
Produced by Jon Peters and Peter Guber
Written by Sam Hamm and Warren Skaaren
Based on characters created by Bob Kane and DC Comics
Starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Gough, and Jack Palance

Check out all current episodes in our Batman series:
Batman
Batman Returns
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Batman Forever
Batman & Robin

Episode 49 - POCAHONTAS

One of the more melancholy entries in the Disney animated canon, Pocahontas had the thankless task of continuing the steady crescendo of hits in the studio's so-called renaissance of the late '80s/early '90s. But apart from the Alan Menken-penned score that contained a massive pop hit, the film deviates from its predecessors in style and mood, uniting American mythology, historical fact, and spiritual yearning on a heavily blue-and-green palette. More than two decades later, we find out if the wacky and wistful Pocahontas actually paints with all the colors of the wind.

Pocahontas (1995)
Directed by Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg
Produced by James Pentecost
Written by Carl Binder, Susannah Grant, and Philip LaZebnik
Starring Irene Bedard, Mel Gibson, David Ogden Stiers, Russell Means, Christian Bale, Billy Connolly, and Linda Hunt