Retro Sleepover

  Halloween may be in the rearview mirror, but the autumn chill is still in the air! In this episode, host Ron Martin takes a deep dive into the lore, history, and hidden details of the all-time classic 1966 animated TV special, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown . From its roots in Charles Schulz's original comic strips to obscure TV broadcast pairings, character easter eggs, and forgotten Sat...

Let me transport you back to the late 1970s, where you sit in front of your television waiting for the next Halloween special.  You've got your bowl of candy corn and a glass bottle of cold Coca-Cola all ready to go. Here is the big moment -- you are suddenly inundated with monochrome characters trying to have fun on Halloween when the only non-monochrome character, a witch, tries to spoil the fun...

Get ready for a heavy dose of nostalgia, autumn wind, and old-school horror! In this very special late-night, lights-off Halloween episode of Retro Sleepover , the crew turns back the clock to 1988 . This week, we aren't talking streaming, DVDs, or VHS—we're diving straight into the unique experience of watching a network television broadcast of a horror classic right from your living room . Joini...

Welcome back! Open your bag up for me to drop in a treat in the form of a small discusssion about trick-o-treat bags of the past!  Fast Food pails? No thank you.  Pillowcases?  I admire your optimism, but put them aside.  Today, we are taking a fun-sized look at those icons of the past.  Whether you got them from the grocery store, a restaurant or a gas station, bright yellow or orange trick-or-tr...

Welcome back to another late-night, glow-in-the-dark edition of Retro Sleepover , where we're dimming the lights, popping a fresh VHS tape into the VCR, and cracking open a cold soda to soak in pure, uncut Halloween nostalgia . Tonight's episode wraps you entirely in that crisp, late-September evening air, setting the mood with the static hum of retro horror news, warm memories of midnight creatur...

Happy Halloween season!  My porch light light is on, so come and knock on my door, I have a treat for you!  Throughout the season we will be delivering these fun-sized episodes into your McBoo pail about little snippets of Halloween past for you to devour between our larger episodes.   In our first Trick or Treat of the season, we discuss Kooky Spooks - the Halloween costume/makeup fad from the la...

Happy 1-Year Anniversary to  Retro Sleepover ! To celebrate a full year on the air, host Ron Martin wraps up the summer series by diving deep into the ultimate childhood rite of passage: the sleepover . From the high-stakes ritual of claiming the best sleeping bag spot to late-night video store runs, off-brand soda, and staying up way past 2:00 AM, this episode explores why sleepovers were the one...

Remember when beating the summer heat meant hurling your body at top speed onto a three-millimeter sheet of yellow vinyl stretched over a bed of hidden rocks and pinecones? Welcome to the wild, largely unregulated era of 1970s, 80s, and 90s water lawn toys. In this episode, we dive headfirst into the chaotic history of suburban summer survival. We trace the slippery evolution of classic backyard s...

Grab your sleeping bag, crack open a soda, and tune into Retro Sleepover , your bi-weekly deep dive into all things 70s, 80s, and 90s nostalgia! In this episode, Ron sits down with special guest Jay of the Dead to revisit the groundbreaking 1984 animated series The Transformers (Generation 1, Season 1). Why did the original airing order feel so jumbled? The guys break down how licensing agreements...

  Pop open a can of Jolt Cola, lay down your best piece of cardboard, and dust off your high-tops. In this episode, we are diving deep into the holy trinity of mid-80s hip-hop and street culture cinema: Breakin' (1984), Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984), and the legendary Def Jam origin story, Krush Groove (1985). We explore how these low-budget, high-energy films took a regional New York and L...

Grab your flashlights and pass the snacks—we're having a horror sleepover! In this episode, we deep dive into the legendary 1970s run of the master of terror himself, Stephen King. From his explosive debut with Carrie to the nightmare-inducing short stories of Night Shift , we trace King's early biography and his meteoric rise to success. Joining the late-night chat is Darien Brock from The Padded...

Its 1994 and you walk into a crowded Blockbuster video on a Friday night.  It's the weekend and you have to gear up with movies to watch.  No new releases -- it's a madhouse over there.  Straight to the back, past comedies, past video game rentals.  Ah, horror -- just what the doctor ordered! Everyone says horror is dead - the new Jason and Freddy movies sucked. It looks like there might be some g...

In this episode of the podcast, we will be discussing some interesting things that happened in the 1970s -- from the breakup of rock n' roll royalty, the christening of theme park royalty, the do-over debut of beloved puppets and beans from south of the border that appeared to jump when exposed to heat.  The 1970s were a wild time transitioning from the politically volatile 1960s into the excess a...

Let's travel back to the early 90s when MTV was huge, grunge rock was taking over and supermodels were mainstream!  Let's revisit on the most famous editions of the MTV VMA awards, the 1992 version hosted by Dana Carvey.  On this episode, we will deep dive into the broadcast that including live performances from Nirvana, Guns N Roses, Pearl Jam, Elton John and Bryan Adams. Topics for discussion wi...

In the latest epsisode of Retro Sleepover, we discuss eight sitcoms that were very successful and popular in the 80s that are never talked about today.  For some reason, these sitcoms never reached the pop culture level of becoming part of the 80s pop conversation.  They are remembered fondly by those who watched them, but unlike shows such as Cheers, Roseanne, Family Ties and ALF they are never d...

In this episode, we finally finish up our holiday hangover episodes with that stape of a holiday gift -- board games!  We played three board games - one from the 70s, one from the 80s and one from the 90s.  Each board game is representative from the decade assigned.  How do they hold up?  How is gameplay?  If you love board games or just got some for Christmas as a kid, then this episode is for yo...

The year is 1992 -- on the back cover of the Parade magazine that came out of the Sunday paper there is a multi-page ad offering any 12 of these CDs for just a penny.  There is a catch, though!  Over the next three years you will be required to purchase three CDs at regular club prices.  That is of no concern to you as you flip through the ad and pick out which of these 12 CDs you wanted. Was it a...

The air is dry and cold.  The warm lights of Christmas have been put away for another year.  Days of treats and pleasantry have been replaced with resolutions and monotony.  You're having a holiday hangover.  The one shining star of the season is that you now have all your cool new toys to play with! In our first holiday hangover, we discuss the 1980s toyline, Mad Scientist with descriptions of ea...

Happy Holidays, one and all! Barely getting in before the last holiday bell, in this episode of the podcast we bring you 7 holiday promotions from the 70s, 80s and 90s including the likes of Hardees, Taco Bell, McDonalds, Arbys and beyond!  If you've ever bought Grinch socks from a McDonalds drive-thru, this is the episode for you!  As always, check us out  - RETRO SLEEPOVER on Facebook or email u...

Welcome to the holiday season!  In this bite-sized episode, a stocking stuffer, if you will, we will be looking at the origins and impact of various Christmas songs.  The first song we are going to look at is "Last Christmas" by WHAM!  Don't worry -- this pint sized podcast will not cause you to lose WHAMAGEDDON, but it will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about "Last Christmas."

There is no better record of pop culture for any given year than than the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It has been recording and producing relevant pop culture content for more than a hundred years. The 60th anniversary of the event was a truly iconic performance of the parade with nightmare inducing Chipettes, rogue Smurfs and a series of balloons with missing arms.  Join Ron Martin as he disc...

In the spirit of the season, we are looking bad 30 years at some pop culture turkeys to see if they have aged gracefully or still smell of rancid stuffing and grandma's famous canned cranberry sauce.  In today's episode, Ron Martin will revisit video games, movies, tv shows and music that didn't quite go over well in it's time to see if it would be embraced better 30 years later. Visit the show on...

In this episode of the podcast, Ron with special guest, Jay of the Dead, celebrate Halloween by going all the way back to the 80s to celebrate Halloween 80s style discussing the events, school, the Halloween specials and costumes of a 1980s Halloween! You can find Jay of the Dead at Jay of the Dead's New Horror Movies: https://www.newhorrormovies.com/ And at Horror Movie Weekly: https://horrormovi...

In the lates 70s and through the 80s into the 90s, educational film companies were contracted to teach kids how to survive Halloween. Latchkey Gen Xers would often roam the streets barely being able to see what where they were going spilling their bag of peanuts all over the sidewalk!  A moral panic rose up surrounding the poisoning of candy making it important for adults to check the stash before...

In the years 1999 - 2001, pop culture was trying to find itself.  Escaping the realism of the 90s into what would be fake reality of the 00s, a lot of projects were thrown at the wall to see what would stick.  Freakylinks was one of those projects.  The story of a paranormal invetigative team with a an accompanying website using the found footage genre as part of its draw was a new concept in 2000...