Guys Of A Certain Age

Hello, and welcome to Hall G at the first annual GOCA-CON!  We can pipe dream, can’t we?  In the meantime, The Guys will live vicariously through those who were privileged to attend the 2024 version of what used to be a comic book convention, now the site of every major reveal in geek media.   The announcements were plenty: RDJr reappears with a different metal mask, Harrison Ford enters the MCU a...

At long last, The Guys talk about the biggest movie characters of all time.  Not box office dollars big, not IMDB page credits big, we’re talking literally big - titanic, even: Godzilla, Kong, and all their frenemies.   With the recent release of Godzilla Minus One on Netflix (the dubbed version) and Godzilla X Kong on Max, it seemed like a perfect time to talk about Mothra.  Or Monarch.  Or both....

The Brats are back! And if you’re keeping score, The Guys are not officially part of the Brat Pack.  But who is, really?  Andrew McCarthy’s fascinating documentary on Hulu attempts to answer that question through interesting camera work and a series of interviews with his old friends, a handful of writers, and a few Brat-Adjacents.  The Guys reminisce with them, with Jay telling a bit too much abo...

Too many cliche’s to choose from, so … let the games begin!  it’s all fun and games until The Guys show up in your earholes, but this time it’s different.   In this episode, it’s all about games - board games, to be specific - and it’s even more fun because one of the sons-of-the-podcast, Jacob Reed, came to the studio to share his knowledge and geekdom concerning all things board gaming.  Jacob n...

The “Get to Know The Guys” series comes to a spine-tingling conclusion in this episode.  And not just because of Robbie’s hard-hitting questions for Jay - spines just start tingling when you get to be a certain age.   But before they got to the details of “Jay Reed, this is your life,” there were Geeks of the Week.  It’s only a few months until the holidays commence, and in November, Red One hits...

At long last, Jay and Art - aka “The Dune Dudes” - abided at their respective houses in front of the telly long enough to watch Dune Part Two.  It had been harkonneng for a long time.  And in a strange twist, they didn’t just arrive at different opinions, they flipped from their opinions of part one.  But both agreed there was enough great action, great actors, and great sand-skiing scenes to keep...

Once a year, or whenever they get hungry for things with grill marks and smoky aromas, The Guys emerge from the basement and venture into the great backyard with grill-master and friend of the podcast Wes Shelton.  In fact, Wes is one of the rare repeat guests and may be the first ever to bring along his own Geek of the Week.   Keeping it on subject, Wes talks about the debunking of a common grill...

This week's episode takes a different turn as Robbie and Art welcome special guest Paige Hunt to talk about her favorite movie, Steel Magnolias. In an attempt to broaden the Guys' horizons, Paige explains why this movie is not only the best movie to come out in 1989 (an amazing year for movies) but of ALL time, despite there being nary a lightsaber nor blaster in sight. Paige also shares a list of...

In this exciting conclusion to Robbie’s interview with Jim Biddle, a genuine contestant on MTV’s early game show, Remote Control, the question is answered: did he win?  Well, of course … he answers the question.   And The Guys build that anticipation by answering the question: what are the geeks of the week?  This time Jay shares the celebration of life for one of Disney’s most prolific songwriter...

Somebody said, “I want my MTV!” so Robbie went out and got it, in the form of a two part interview with Jim Biddle, a bona fide contestant on MTV’s first game show, Remote Control.  In this first part (of two), follow the Hero's journey from the fields of Indiana to the sacred Halls of Syracuse to the Gotham battlefield of MTV's Remote Control. But before that excitement ensues, Jay and Art jump i...

What do Eudora Welty and Dan Fogelberg have in common?  They both got their start at WZZQ in Jackson, MS, of course.  Well, sort of.   Watch WZZQ The Movie on PBS, just like The Guys did, and get all the deets, man.  Though none of The Guys lived in the broadcast range of WZZQ, they still found their own personal connections to this iconic album rock radio station, a first of its kind in the state...

Once a year, on a late spring day when Art usually has something better to do, Jay and Robbie talk about their summer plans.  Welcome to summer.   Movie releases abound, but will they go to the theater or wait till the streaming begins and perhaps watch on Robbie’s new deck?  Will Jay get the hang of his fancy device that takes a lot of the stress out of smoking meats, and will his back porch be r...

I want my MTV!  And by “my”, The Guys find themselves reminiscing about the good old days of the iconic music video network that is not so much about music anymore.   These memories were invoked by the podcast “Who Killed the Video Star?” which traces the history and evolution of MTV.  They talk favorite videos, favorite shows that came after the videos, and what MTV is up to now.  And even though...

The Guys did not approach this episode tentatively - rather, it was Tennant-ively.  David Tennant, that is.   Robbie takes this opportunity to introduce the GGI, the GOCA Geek Index, which heretofore will be used to gauge the geek factor of major screen stars, and it appears that Mr. Tennant scores well.  Though he may be primarily known as the tenth (and the fourteenth) doctor in Robbie’s favorit...

The Guys watched a lot of movies in the 80’s and 90’s, and a lot of them exist thanks to writer/producer/director/collaborator/uncredited actor John Hughes.  Without Hughes, would we have the Brat Pack?  Would the pop culture references we know and love be absent from our vocabulary?  Would anyone who survived their teenage years during those two decades been able to recognize their angst?   You’l...

It’s time for an Art history lesson, podcast family and FOG’s (Friends of the Guys, of course.) But it’s not the kind you sleep through trying to get that one easy credit to graduate, it’s the kind where you learn all about our co-host, Art Shirley. Jay puts on his interrogator hat - er, it should be interviewer - and extricates all the details of Art’s life.  You’ll learn where he came from, wher...

With Jay out, Robbie and Art take a deep dive into the latest trends in producing digital and print content with software alternatives to challenge the tech behemoths currently monopolizing the industry. Do you really need to pay a high annual subscription to produce a professional-looking flyer or video? The Guys also remember an Oscar-winning actor, ponder what the Punisher's return could mean f...

Do you Sci-Fi?  The Guys Sci-Fi.  And in this episode they talk about the sci-fi books that influenced them - and more or less the world - in all kinds of crazy ways.   Art talks ERB and his Mars series, Robbie extols the virtues of Dune and more, and Jay riffs on the book he read sometime in 1982 that actually took place 2 years later.  Heroic quests, dystopias, and military might…oh my.  They co...

Robbie took out his Han Solo blaster and said, “We’ll be talking toys today.”  Or he would have, if he still had one.  That and many other toys that got away and are now virtual college funds on eBay are the subject of this episode’s discussion of regret.   (And it’s not even Jay’s regrettable segment, which is invisible this week, so to speak.)   Robbie and Art talk about the ultimate G.I. Joe ve...

There are three members of the Ghost Patrol, the feature of this week’s Jay’s Regrettable Segment, but only 2 Guys in the studio today.  Jay and Robbie were ghosted by Art.   But they mustered up the courage and the words to talk about Oscar and all his little statuettes.  Geekdom did fairly well this year- at least in the nominee category - with Indiana Jones, Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Spi...

It’s the first of a series if The Guys remember to finish: it’s time to  “Get to Know the Guys.”  Art is out this week taking care of his executive producer, so Jay takes a few minutes to interview Robbie. To figure out where he came from, how he got all his irons into all his fires, what makes him the vibrant media personality all listeners know and love.  Or it could be called, “What Robbie does...

It’s finally here, the year 10,091, and with it the science fiction movie of the moment - and probably little ol’ 2024: Dune Part 2.   obbie gets to see the movie, Jay gets the sandworm popcorn bucket (or he would, if his little ol’ hometown had an AMC theater.) Art’s interest to be named later.  But apparently Robbie thought highly enough of the epic film for all The Guys - he gave it a 3 Guys ra...

The Guys are definitely a certain age, thought not quite a gilded age.  But that didn’t stop them from going a little bit off-genre in this week’s episode as they discuss both seasons of The Gilded Age streaming series on Max.  Jokes were attempted about whether or not Art actually knew any of the characters portrayed, but even he is a youngster compared to the fine folks of society in 1880’s New...

It’s that time of year, when the best (or at least the most expensive) commercials are gathered for a showing, while some pretty good football players run around a grassy spot in Vegas to keep viewers occupied between commercials.  It’s the Super Bowl, and yet again, The Guys did not sponsor a commercial, as they were about $6,999,975 short of what they needed.  And they spent that $25 on lunch.  ...

There are movie franchises out in the ether that go a thousand different directions: some good, some less good.  Sometimes it’s the perspective of the fandom.  The Guys talk about this a lot when it comes to cinematic universes that involve space or superheroes.   This time it’s Alien, set for another reboot of sorts that may or may not ignore the origin story.  The Guys ponder creative control in...