Pop Culture Diner

The Bachelor Classic Seasons - Alex & Trista I'll be honest, this episode goes in directions I didn't expect. Like, talking about The Bachelor, speculation on why we all reacted so negatively to reality TV from the outset, and lots of ruminating on what has changed and what has stayed the same on the show after all these years (OK, that part was much more expected). You'll hear Sammi stan for...

Ice Scream Sunday Episode 2 - Hell Night Hell Night, released in 1981, is everything you would expect in a slasher movie - hot, young people trapped in one place who get picked off more or less one by one, with a small number of survivors (I'll keep the exact number off of here to avoid being more spoilery than I already have been). But also, it's got the haunted house themes and Greek life to con...

Ice Scream Sunday Episode 1 - Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day 2U Sammi here. I stupidly said "Ice Scream Social" at the beginning of the episode, so just bear with me, OK? I promise these will get more polished as we go along. Mandi and I have been wanting to do a series focused on horror movies for a while now. We called this "Ice Scream Sunday" because of the tie-in to Pop Culture Diner (ice...

The Bachelor Classic Seasons: Jojo It will become obvious to you when you listen to this recap that Jojo is one of Steve's all-time favorite Bachelorettes, if not his most favorite. And there's a good reason for that. Jojo is smart, beautiful, and fun. The love story of her season went off mostly without a hitch, and she's still with the guy she chose from the show. That's all great. But we're not...

The Bachelor Classic Seasons: Ben Higgins Oh, Ben Higgins. The last good Bachelor we can look back on and go, wow, we've really devolved, haven't we? We all know there's a special place in Sammi's heart for snack boi Colton, but Ben Higgins was a pretty stand-up, solid dude. Attractive, kind, and mostly together, with one tragic flaw: He believed he was unlovable. We recount Ben's season, the firs...

Classic Episodes: Kaitlyn Bristowe I have always felt like Kaitlyn didn't really get a fair shake with her time on The Bachelorette. First, she had to compete with Britt to even BE the Bachelorette. Then, all of her actions on the show came into question by overly judgmental and puritanical viewers, who decided to "slut shame" one of the loveliest Bachelorettes we've ever had. Kaitlyn has always b...

Bachelor Classic Episodes - Sean This is the kind of special programming that helps remind us what a garbage fire The Bachelor has become. The Bachelors, in particular, don't seem to be getting anywhere near how great Sean Lowe was, and we talk about why that might be. We also revisit some of our favorite contestants - Sarah, Lesley, and, of course, Tierra. Thrown in for fun is some extra Bachelor...

Rose Plate Special: What's Up With Bachelor Nation? An episode where we try to bring levity and a small break to our day and yours by sharing what Bachelor Nation has been up to in quarantine. Who adopted a dog? Who named their dog Peloton (spoiler: no one)? Who got together? Who broke up? Who had a baby? And who is still single? Learn all this and more on this honestly pretty dumb episode of Rose...

It's Not Okay, Andi: We Review Andi Dorfman's First Book It may have been several years since our no-nonsense, assistant DA queen Andi Dorfman has been a regular part of Bachelor Nation, but she has definitely stayed busy! Since her time on the show, Andi has written two New York Times Bestsellers, become a fitspiration, and...also sells merch! Music credit: Computer Music All-Stars: Where's My Je...

Where we talk about coping with COVID-19 in our current post-capitalist hellscape, we operate without the help of our notes, and we stan Barb and Hannah Ann, hard. Music credit: Computer Music All-Stars: Where's My Jetpack? And Albatross v2

Where the women tell some, we discuss the time period where Madison's mascara might make sense, and we have a very special portion of the episode. Music credit: Computer Music All-Stars: Where's My Jetpack? And Albatross v2

Where Peter FINALLY finds out Madison is a virgin, Hannah Ann makes the face America's making, and we lament about Victoria being "worth the fight." Music credit: Computer Music All-Stars: Where's My Jetpack? And Albatross v2

Where we finally get to hometowns, Charles Barkley haunts our dreams, we are supposed to believe wine production is instantaneous, and we receive an ominous message from a blurry ally. Music credit: Computer Music All-Stars: Where's My Jetpack? And Albatross v2

Is it even Week 7, who knows? Time is a construct. Sammi does a unpaid RocksBox plug, we find out the shocking truth about Madison, and we have a DRAMATIC […] Music credit: Computer Music All-Stars: Where's My Jetpack? And Albatross v2

Where we get tortured with 2 episodes in one week, Peter tries to get us to believe he likes hiking and can fight panthers, and we take sides on Tammy […] Music credit: Computer Music All-Stars: Where's My Jetpack? And Albatross v2

Where we discuss the validity of ending every controversy in -gate, we make bets on who's going to make it all the way to the end, and we discuss the […] Music credit: Computer Music All-Stars: Where's My Jetpack? And Albatross v2

Where we meet all of Peter's women, we make predictions on who we think has potential to make it to the final four, and Steve fully embraces the villain. Music credit: Computer Music All-Stars: Where's My Jetpack? And Albatross v2

Where we compare the finale and After Paradise to Derry, we see Hannah's dead lights, we weep for Katie, and we ship two couples particularly hard. Music credit: Computer Music All-Stars: Where's My Jetpack? And Albatross v2

Where we somehow have already made it to 20 episodes, some of our favorites are disserviced, and we are supposed to believe that any of these jokers are ready to […] Music credit: Computer Music All-Stars: Where's My Jetpack? And Albatross v2

Where the villain starts to become the hero yet again, we say yes to two of Sammi's favorites, and we find out puberty hits hard, man. Music credit: Computer Music All-Stars: Where's My Jetpack? And Albatross v2

Where we find it hard to stand behind our favorite man, Clay has a gosh darn conundrum on his hands, there's a wedding or whatever, and JPJ eats. the. food. Music credit: Computer Music All-Stars: Where's My Jetpack? And Albatross v2

Where we see true heroism(?), we ship one couple extra hard, and Sammi realizes she misnumbered episodes. Music credit: Computer Music All-Stars: Where's My Jetpack? And Albatross v2

Where Hannah continues to play games, Dean emerges on the scene, and toxic masculinity takes center stage. Music credit: Computer Music All-Stars: Where's My Jetpack? And Albatross v2

Where we meet the crazy kids taking this journey, Demi opens up about a special love interest, and we watch JPJ open up…sort of. Music credit: Computer Music All-Stars: Where's My Jetpack? And Albatross v2

Where we can finally put this finale behind us, we offer an update of what happened after the show aired, and we discuss the merits of getting a dog food […] Music credit: Computer Music All-Stars: Where's My Jetpack? And Albatross v2