Pop Culture Historians

This week, we return to the world of capes and cowls with 2006’s MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND! What happens when your crazy ex-girlfriend ends up having superpowers? Well, we watched this Uma Thurman-Luke Wilson rom-com to find out. Turns out…nothing all that funny?

This week, as we tinker away at our upcoming season, we emerge from the depths to cover the recent Doctor Who news. Let’s take a few minutes to review the recovered Episodes 1 and 3 of THE DALEKS’ MASTER PLAN! How is the viewing experience now? What’s it like dipping back into the Hartnell era? Is there any hope for more found episodes? Listen along and find out!

This week, let’s take a final look back at Classic Doctor Who Season 7 and 8! We hand out some awards to the nine serials that made up the first two years of the Jon Pertwee era. Best Guest Star! Best Episode! MVP! Worst Special Effect! All are up for grabs this week!

This week, the Pop Culture Historians battle THE DAEMONS! The Master has come to town to conjure the evil daemon Azal, and the only ones who can stop him are the Doctor, Jo and the Brigadier’s UNIT team! Celebrate May Day with us!

This week, the Pop Culture Historians break exile to go to the COLONY IN SPACE! This six-part serial has it all: the TARDIS interior in color, a sinister mining company, a weird robot, and an insane looking guy named The Primitive! You simply can’t miss this one!

This week, the Pop Culture Historians get caught in THE CLAWS OF AXOS! As a mysterious alien race arrives on Earth with an offer, the Doctor and Zoe must uncover the truth behind Axonite. Oh, and the Master’s back. Will the Doctor make the ultimate betrayal to gain his freedom? Listen along to find out!

This week, the Pop Culture Historians go to prison with THE MIND OF EVIL! As they explore this six-part Third Doctor serial, many questions arise. What is the Master’s plan here, exactly? What other classic Doctor Who villains should the Keller Machine have made the Doctor see? Most importantly, how does this story rank among the Jon Pertwee era thus far?

This week, we roll right into Year Two of the Jon Pertwee era with the four part Season Eight serial TERROR OF THE AUTONS! We meet the Master and Jo Grant! We get the return of the Autons! We also…discuss whether the phrase is “close to the chest” or “close to the vest”!

This week, we close out our coverage of Classic Doctor Who Season 7 with the seven-part parallel universe story INFERNO! The world is in danger of ending! The Brig has a eyepatch! The Doctor might just have the TARDIS working again! All this, plus…project management issues! This story has it all!

This week, our journey through Classic Doctor Who Season 7 continues as we meet THE AMBASSADORS OF DEATH! Missing astronauts! Liz hanging off a bridge! British guys in rubber suits with goofy voices! This seven-part Jon Pertwee-led serial has it all!

This week, our travels through Classic Doctor Who Season 7 continues with the oddly-titled DOCTOR WHO AND THE SILURIANS! This fantastic seven-part serial brings the Third Doctor at odds with a subterranean race, another Doctor and, eventually, the Brigadier himself. How it will all end? Listen and find out!

We’re back traveling through space and time! Classic Doctor Who Season 7 coverage begins this week, as we begin the color era AND the Third Doctor Era! How does new lead Jon Pertwee assert himself in this four-part serial? How cool is it to have the Brig back as a major character? What exactly is the Spearhead in Space? All this is discussed and more!

This week, the Pop Culture Historians dive back into the World of Abbott and Costello! Just in time for Halloween, let’s explore their meetings with Universal monsters The Invisible Man and The Mummy. Topics include: favorite jokes, an insane INVISIBLE MAN ending, what constitutes a character actor and…would A&C newcomer Jimmy dive into their work again?

This week, the Pop Culture Historians dive into the world of Abbott and Costello. First, they tackle perhaps the most famous of their films, where the comedy duo MEET FRANKENSTEIN! Is..is this the best Universal monster crossover ever made? Then, A&C move on to meet THE KILLER, BORIS KARLOFF! Is Boris Karloff the killer? You’ll just have to listen and find out

This week, the Pop Culture Historians take a haunted house tour with a special guest! Felicia Maroni from the Seeing Faces in Movies podcast joins us to help break down 1944’s HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and 1945’s HOUSE OF DRACULA! All your favorite monsters are here, even if they’re maybe not all here at the same time (or, if you’re Frankenstein, barely there at all). Will Boris Karloff be enough to c...

This week, we unwrap two more installments in the original Mummy movie franchise! Lon Chaney’s final turns as the titular Mummy feels like a missed opportunity, but he’s easily the best thing about these quick, uninspired horror flicks that should have stayed in their graves.

We have returned from the dead to continue our look at the spooky world of Universal Monsters! We begin with a pair of Jon Hall vehicles. First up, the Invisible Man fights the Nazis in INVISIBLE AGENT, a movie that also stars Peter Lorre as an agent of an Axis power (it may not be the one you think!). Next, the Invisible Man gets his revenge in….well, THE INVISIBLE MAN’S REVENGE! Hopefully, after...

This week, a quick bonus episode reviewing the recent animation of the missing Classic Doctor Who serial THE SAVAGES! What did we think of the animation quality? How was this story the second time around? Which missing serial do we want to see animated next? All this and more will be discussed!

This week, it’s awards time again as we take a look back at our latest season of superhero flicks from 2004-06! What was the most dated moment from the ten movies we looked at this past season? Who were our best and worst villains? Best and worst actors? Finally, who was our MVP? Find out in another thrilling edition of the Blinkie Awards!

This week, we conclude another round of chronological superhero film retrospectives with the original Superman reboot, 2006’s SUPERMAN RETURNS! Topics include: Jon Peters, the long road to this movie getting made, Jon Peters, the unfortunate excellence of Kevin Spacey, and Jon Peters.

This week, the (then) final battle for the X-Men commences! The Pop Culture Historians break down 2006’s X-MEN: THE LAST STAND, and it’s a doozy. Can its two half-stories coalesce into a whole? Just how many directors were attached to this thing, anyway? Hey, remember that Juggernaut YouTube video? All this and more in this week’s episode!

This week, the Pop Culture Historians go back to school with SKY HIGH, a Disney superhero adventure that features cover of classic 80s tunes, a winning Kurt Russell performance and a cavalcade of stars! Bruce Campbell, Lynda Carter, and Dave Foley to name just a few. Did we give this movie a passing grade, or did it make us want to cut class?

This week, it’s time to clobber 2005’s FANTASTIC FOUR! Just in time for their MCU relaunch in a few weeks, let’s go back twenty years when Chris Evans was Johnny Storm instead of Captain America, and TV stars filled the cast list (Michael Chilklis! Julian McMahon!). Is this movie as bad as its reputation? How misguided is that “Sue Storm in her underwear” scene? Will Ryan determine how to pronounc...

This week, a new day dawns for a certain caped crusader. We’ve reached BATMAN BEGINS, Christopher Nolan’s initial foray into the superhero genre. The influence it’s had in the twenty years since speaks for itself, but does it still have the same impact now as it did then? Listen along and remember a time when a “gritty superhero movie” was a novel concept!

This week, we go back twenty years to catch some bad-time religion with CONSTANTINE! This Keanu Reeves/starring superhero action era was an international success, and has snagged a cult following, but…what is its real legacy? Will this be heaven or hell? Listen along and find out!