Episode 57 - TINY TOON ADVENTURES

They were tiny, they were toony, and--rumor has it--each of them were at least a little loony. More than just a remix of classic Looney Tunes characters and humor, Tiny Toon Adventures was a colorful comedic world unto itself and helped launch a golden age of Warner Bros. animated television series.

In this episode, special guest Sam Stovold contributes to our survey of all things Tiny Toons, from the pilot originally broadcast by CBS in prime time, to fondly-remembered segments from the TV show, to the feature-length VHS favorite Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation. Come and join the fun! (And now this post is done.)

Tiny Toon Adventures (1990-1995)
Created by Tom Ruegger
Executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall, and Kathleen Kennedy
Starring Charlie Adler, Tress MacNeille, Joe Alaskey, Don Messick, Cree Summer, Danny Cooksey, Kath Soucie, Maurice LaMarche, Gail Matthuis, Rob Paulsen, Candi Milo, and Frank Welker

Episodes/segments featured in this podcast:
"The Looney Beginning" (aired 9/14/1990)
Istanbul and Particle Man from "Tiny Toon Music Television" (aired 2/1/1991)
The Potty Years from "Henny Youngman Day" (aired 11/22/1991)
Going Up from "What Makes Toons Tick" (aired 9/17/1992)



Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation (1992)
Directed by Rich Arons, Ken Boyer, Kent Butterworth, Barry Caldwell, Alfred Gimeno, Art Leonardi, and Byron Vaughns

Produced by Tom Ruegger
Written by Paul Dini, Nicholas Hollander, Tom Ruegger, and Sherri Stoner
Starring the voice talents of Tiny Toon Adventures plus Jonathan Winters, Edie McClurg, and Sorrell Booke



Hear more of Sam Stovold on his Star Trek: Deep Space Nine podcast "Reopening the Wormhole"!

Episode 56 - TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (1987)

From satirical underground comic book characters to alpha reptiles of the late '80s and early '90s, the ascension of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a quintessential pop culture success story. TV, movies, music, books, toys (my god, the toys)--there wasn't a marketing opportunity missed by the Turtles brain trust.

As the wellspring from whence all consumer goods came, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon occupies a special place in the hearts of TMNT fans. We delve into the mythology, the minutae, and the merchandise in an especially sentimental discussion. This episode doesn't ask if the beloved series was crassly commercial (it most certainly was), but invites us to find within the profit motive and the artistic impulse a symbiotic entertainment entity that enthralled a generation.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987-1996)
Created by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, and Fred Wolf
Based on the comic series by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird
Starring Cam Clarke, Barry Gordon, Rob Paulsen, Townsend Coleman, Peter Renaday, Renae Jacobs, James Avery, and Pat Fraley

Episodes featured in this podcast:
"Shredder & Splintered" (aired 1/1/1988)
"The Case of the Killer Pizzas" (aired 11/5/1988)
"Casey Jones: Outlaw Hero" (aired 11/7/1989)
"The Making of Metalhead" (aired 11/27/1989)
"Night of the Rogues" (aired 11/20/1993)

Cowabunga! Check out more of our TMNT tributes:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
Raph Punk

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