Planet 8 Podcast

This episode, we take a trip in the wayback machine to experience "The Devil's Rain!" Part of the wave of Devil/Satanic films in the 1970s, this has an amazing cast, including William Shatner, Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, Tom Skerritt, Ida Lupino, and a very young John Travolta! A true battle of good vs. evil, featuring a devil-worshipping cult after a special book that will allow them to ...rel...

We're back with another ape-tacular show! Sadly, this may be our last visit to the Planet of the Apes for a while, as we have now reviewed every single Planet of the Apes film! But the POTA universe being as vast as it is, we still have another area to cover, and that is the realm of TV! And the Apes appeared not only in a live-action show, but in a Saturday morning cartoon as well. With our speci...

According to Star Trek lore, April 5, 2063 is First Contact Day, the date when humans first encountered an alien race, the Vulcans. From that encounter, eventually the Federation would arise. But throughout science fiction, there have been many tales of first contact between humanity and alien species, and the end results have not always been so harmonious. In this episode, your Planet 8 crew disc...

There is nothing wrong with Planet 8 podcast. Do not attempt to adjust the episode. Unfortunately, life has caught up with the Planet 8 crew and we are unable to produce a brand new episode. But we hope you will enjoy this encore presentation of one of our most popular episodes, a fond look at the classic 60s sci fi series, The Outer Limits. We'll be back on April 8 with a deep dive into the Plane...

Cap's back! And once again, your Planet 8 crew dutifully trudged into the theater to check out this latest entry in the MCU. We'll give you our honest, spoiler-filled opinions on the film. And since it has so many connections to past Marvel films and shows, we'll talk a bit about The Incredible Hulk (2008) and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (2021) and how we feel about them, years later. It's i...

This episode, join your Planet 8 crew, as well as our guest Lord Blood-Rah, as we journey to the final frontier, to explore the first season of Star Trek. We each select two episodes to discuss. Considering what a phenomenal season that first season was, picking just two is not easy! But the eight we've chosen are a solid representation of Trek at its finest. That first year gave us all the themes...

We're back, with the next entry in a continuing series of episodes looking at what we think are the best science fiction films of each decade. Last time we looked at the 1950s. This time we turn our gaze to the swinging 1960s. The era of the race to the moon, the British Invasion, the civil rights struggle, and so much more, how would the times shape the sci fi produced? Each of your Planet 8 crew...

The year 2024 is now in the rearview mirror, but before we bid it a final farewell, your Planet 8 crew revisits some of their favorite sci-fi, fantasy, and horror TV shows and films that came out last year. Maybe some of them were your favorites too? Listen, and let us know what you liked and what we missed. For the Sensor Sweep, we have a couple of Kickstarters. Larry shares his Kolchak the Night...

Happy holidays to all! It's that time of year for gift-giving, overindulging in treats, and, of course, watching holiday-themed movies and shows. To celebrate our 150th episode, and since it just happens to coincide with the holidays, we decided to take a look at those beloved Rankin-Bass holiday specials. To help us with this prodigious task, we asked our friend Mr. Lobo, to join us! We'll review...

Although this isn't exactly what we planned for this particular episode, we're none the less pleased to be able to share with you this fun and engaging interview we did with actress Judith O'Dea, best known as "Barbara" from the original Night of the Living Dead! We had a fantastic time talking with Judith, and we think you'll enjoy this conversation, whether you're a big fan of NotLD or not! Next...

It is that time of the year when we reflect and express thanks for those things and people for which we are grateful. Here at Planet 8, we have given thanks for the MCU, for Star Trek, for Godzilla. This year, we are thankful for the Austrian Oak, the Governator, the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger.  We're obviously grateful for his many genre films, and we'll talk a bit about Conan, Terminator...

Welcome back to Planet 8! This time, we're taking a stroll through one of the greatest decades for science fiction films, the 1950s. The 50s had it all - blockbusters and classics, thrillers and chillers, and grade D flicks that are more notable today for making you laugh rather than filling you with awe. There are some noticeable themes that run through sci fi of this decade. Of course, this was...

We're mere days from Halloween, and that means we've been looking at tons of horror films! For this year's Halloween episode, your Planet 8 crew decided to focus on the spookiest of fiends, ghosts! We travel through a variety of films, from classics like The Haunting (1963) to obscurities like The Stone Tape (1972). We hope you'll enjoy our thoughts on these films and even share yours too. For our...

It's October! And that means it's time for Planet 8 to delve into the spookier side of the things. But this time around, we are enjoying our horror films with a touch (OK, more than a touch) of comedy. That's right, we're talking about that wonderful combination of scares and laughs. Your crew discusses nearly 20 classic, and perhaps not so classic, horror films that will make you break out into g...

Finally! You've heard us mention it time and again, but we've done it: we're going to discuss and dissect that classic 1960s show, The Invaders! What is it about The Invaders that makes it so memorable? It only had 43 episodes. It wasn't put into syndication. So how has it persisted as a sci fi icon? It's a fantastic story of one man's battle to reveal the truth, to save mankind from total destruc...

We're back, and yes, we're talking about Marvel again. We've skipped a few of the Marvel films and TV shows, because frankly, we haven't been all that enthused about them. But the latest MCU effort is different. Not only did this film bring Deadpool and Wolverine into the MCU, it was also a sort of love letter to the Marvel Fox films of the past. Don't listen to this episode unless you've seen the...

BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT! OK, maybe you didn't demand it, but it's here: our sequel to episode 13's Road to the Apocalypse, from all the way back in November 2018! This idea has been gestating in Commander Larry's mind for some time, and now it's here. We jump back on the strange tram that carries us through various apocalyptic films and face the challenges of surviving them. How would you handle a...

NOTE: This summer has become a very busy one for your Planet 8 crew, and unfortunately that means we must bring you another "Best Of" episode, but it's a fun one from July of three years ago, as we took a look back at 1978's Superman! We hope you enjoy it.   To our American listeners, a belated happy 4th of July! As we celebrate our country's independence, we thought it appropriate to celebrate th...

We've been doing this podcasting thing for over 5 years now, and we thought it might be fun to share a little bit about ourselves.  Reconnaissance Officer Karen has devised a questionnaire that will reveal the "inmost selves" of Mission Commander Larry and Chief Engineer Bob. But these questions are all focused on the stuff we all love - sci fi, horror, and fantasy films and TV shows! After we're...

Once again, we are joined by our friend and horror host extraordinaire, Lord Blood-Rah, this time to pay tribute to the late producer/director, Roger Corman. The legendary Corman passed away this last May 9th. He left behind an unparalleled portfolio of films over a huge range of genres, all made quickly, efficiently, and on the cheap! Corman had a system for getting a film made fast and getting e...

We just can't get enough of those apes! We've done retrospectives on all five of the original Planet of the Apes films, and now, we are finally looking at a brand new Apes movie! Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes has arrived to much hoopla - but how did your Planet 8 crew feel about the film? Listen and find out! We will say that we did not unanimously agree on the film.  But that's all right - di...

It's happened again: unfortunately, the real world has gotten in the way and we were unable to produce a new episode. But never fear, we are bringing you one of our favorite episodes from April 2019, "Something about the Thing," which explores the different films based off the John Campbell novella, Who Goes There?   We hope you enjoy it. Next time, we'll be back with a new episode looking at the...

You know what they say: it's a thin line between love and hate. And it seems like this is especially true in fandom. Nowadays, more often than not, fans of different long-standing franchises are taking to their keyboards to complain, in the strongest terms imaginable, about the things they supposedly love! Your Planet 8 crew dives into this phenomenon to try to understand what's going on.  We star...

It's a joy to make friends with fellow geeks, and even more wonderful when you discover that they have amazing talents. Some are artists, some make masks, some do make-up or create costumes, some are sculptors - and then there's Jeff Wehenkel, who does all of these and more! Jeff is a true renaissance geek! Heck, we even found out AFTER the podcast recording that he's done special effects on movie...

It's about time we revisited the legendary Ray Harryhausen and his amazing films. We previously focused on Harryhausen in episode 20 ! This time around, we specifically look at the first four films that Harryhausen created the effects entirely by himself. These films were also the only films he made in black and white. We'll discuss the films in chronological order, and then reveal which of the fo...