Now We Know

Crash, boom, bang! It's the third installment of Now We Know's ballyhooed Commercials of the 80's and 90's series! This time Kevin brings forth a bevy of exciting, confusing, controversial, and memorable TV ads from his youth, some of which Chris remembers, and some of which are brand new. Time to fire up your cathode ray tubes gang, we're goin' back!

Kevin and Chris enter the video zone in this inaugural installment of Video Games of the 80's and 90's. Fate calls upon Kevin to run a gauntlet of 11 video games across the NES and SNES — all of them "Chris classics," though some, perhaps, not actual classics. Also, a devout Indiana Jones fan calls the Now We Know hotline, and he's got a bone to pick.

With a Tony Scott-less sequel right around the corner, Kevin and Chris revisit 1986 high-octane thrill ride (and military recruitment propaganda vehicle) Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise and Tom Skerritt — the Toms. Also featuring Anthony Edwards, Val Kilmer, Kelly McGillis, and three gallons of artificial sweat. Prepare to enter the danger zone!

Kevin and Chris return to a mystical jungle of their youths, complete with familial wolves, scolding panthers, smooth layabout bears, swingin' monkeys, and aristocratic, homicidal tigers. That's right, it's 1967 Disney animated film The Jungle Book, based on the 1894 Rudyard Kipling tome of the same name. Oh, there are also some vultures who kinda sorta seem they were going for a Beatles thing.

What time is it? Muppet time once more! This episode Kevin revisits the 1981 follow-up to the classic subject of a prior episode, The Muppet Movie ― it's The Great Muppet Caper, featuring the whole gang plus Charles Grodin, Diana Rigg, and a host of familiar faces in cameo roles. But does it live up to the first film's lofty standards?

This time, Chris takes the wheel for a look back at a renowned classic of children's television, Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock. Join the guys for this trip down memory lane, alongside Gobo, Red, Mokey, Boober, Wembley, Doc, Sprocket, Convincing John, the adorable Doozers, and the ignoble Gorgs.

With a brand new motion picture reboot upon us, Kevin looks back at the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie, the blood-soaked fighting game's first adaptation for the silver screen. All your favorites are here! Kano, Liu Kang, Raiden, Johnny Cage, Scorpion, Sonya, MORTALLLL KOMBAAAAT!

Once upon a time, as little eight-year-old Chris languished in a bed at Marin General Hospital with an inflamed appendix, he by happenstance caught an episode of the 1990's Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon series on a small TV in the upper left corner of the room. Will this video game adaptation bring him as much comfort now as it did back then? There's only one way to find out.

Avast ye sea dogs, Captain Kev is here with a tale of piracy, alien worlds, treasure hunting, and foul creatures known as "monkeybirds." This time it's early 90's Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Pirates of Dark Water, which ran for three seasons, and boasts a robust voice acting cast featuring, well, the same 20 people who basically do every cartoon.

This time Kevin and Chris revisit one of the all-time feel-good shows in radio history—and public radio, to boot. It's Car Talk, hosted by the irrepressably upbeat Tom and Ray Maggliozi for a staggering 35 years. Whether you give a damn about cars or not, the men known to NPR listeners as Click and Clack are sure to bring a smile to your face.

Don't worry, listener, Kevin and Chris aren't the ones who need help—but Rock n' Roll Hall of Famer Ringo Starr is another story! This time the guys revisit the 1965 Beatles film Help!, starring Starr, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, amid a globetrotting series of failed, mischievous attempts on the former's life. Also stars the decidedly white Briton Leo McKern as an Indian cult...

For the final episode of Season Three, Kevin and Chris tackle a hyper-challenging video game from the latter's youth — Zombies Ate My Neighbors for the Super Nintendo, 48 grueling levels of B-movie horror schlock. Strap on your water gun, your weed-whacker, a few cans of soda, some popsicles, a martian ray gun, and maybe some footballs, and join in the fight. BYOT (bring your own theremin).

Kevin revisits Connections, a 1978 ten-episode miniseries created and hosted by British science historian James Burke, which examines the sinew between history, technology, and human understanding. He and Chris watched and discussed three episodes this time around — "The Trigger Effect," "Eat, Drink, And Be Merry," and "Yesterday, Tomorrow, And You."

Returning guest Brian joins Kevin and Chris to ring in the new year with 1994's video game film adaptation Double Dragon. Join your favorite hosts as they dish on Jimmy and Billy Lee, Alyssa Milano as leader of the Power Corps vigilantes, Robert Patrick as industrialist ghoul Koga Shuko, and the inimitable Bo Abobo. Also: Viennetta is coming back! We did it guys! You can put 2021 on ice!

Now We Know tickles your ears with some new bonus content! This time, the guys played through Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure, the 1989 LucasArts point-and-click PC game with which little Chris spent many an hour. If you decide to play along, be careful — it is surprisingly easy to "choose poorly" in this one.

Cozy up with Kevin and Chris with a look back and one of their shared childhood loves, 1979's The Muppet Movie. From the music to the journey to the yuks along the way, Kermit and company have you covered.

Kevin and Chris execute their first remote podcast of a long summer season, and are joined by a returning guest, Kevin's sister Colleen! This time it's The Mask of Zorro, a movie that was pretty significant for Colleen, not least of all thanks to Anthony Hopkins snuffing out candles with some cracks of his whip. 

This time we're looking back at something both of them loved as adventure-hungry kids — The Adventures of Tintin, the classic comic series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé which was adapted into an animated series in the early 90's. This episode covers the animated versions of three Tintin adventures: The Crab With the Golden Claws, The Shooting Star, and Tintin in America.

Woooooould youuuuuuuu... like to swing on a star? This question and more are daringly posed by Out of This World, a late 80's sitcom featuring a half-alien teenage girl, her mysterious alien powers, her scenery-chewing uncle Beano, celebrity mayor Doug McClure, and regular drop-ins from the disembodied voice of Burt Reynolds.

The year is 1993. The reign of Family Double Dare, the inheritor of classic Double Dare's legacy for the previous three years, is coming to an end. And so, Nickelodeon brings forth a new competitive game show, equal part genius and horrifying in design: Legends of the Hidden Temple. This show was a well-oiled disappointment machine, with about 3/4ths of its 120 episodes ending with the failure of...

Kevin takes the reins for a look back at the 80's cartoon classic G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, a show which to some people's surprise (Chris) does not feature an individual character named Joe! There's a bunch of them apparently, and they're ready to face off against the nefarious warlord and subliminal messaging expert Cobra Commander.

Kevin and Chris return for part two of their deluxe Final Fantasy 7 retrospective, with the shiny new PS4 remake right around the corner. Will Cloud unify the fractured corners of his mind? Will Sephiroth be stopped? And will we ever truly comprehend the infinite mystery of Pandora's Box? 

With perhaps the most hotly anticipated video game remake ever about to drop, Chris decided it was time for Kevin to finally take a journey he never had before: Final Fantasy 7, the iconic 1997 RPG that enchanted, thrilled, and devastated millions of gamers. Cloud, Tifa, Aeris, Sephiroth, all of them! The whole gang's here. And this one's a deluxe two-parter.

Three-time returning guest Miranda joins Kevin and Chris for a look back at a film all three of them saw as wee ones ― Darby O'Gill and the Little People, a tale of leprechauns, drunken revelry, warmly lit Irish whimsy, generous pension programs, and a young Sean Connery brawling with a guy named Pony. Just watch out for the death coach.

On your marks, get set, go! It's time for Double Dare, the classic Nickelodeon game show that made Marc Summers a household name. Join Chris and Kevin as they revisit a trio of episodes: Swatches vs. Headrooms (1986), Out of the Blue vs. The Vulcans (1988), and an episode of Family Double Dare, The Whitehouse Crew vs. Gross Gladiators (1990).