Pop Culture Historians

This week, it’s Christmas in March as the Pop Culture Historians break down Tim Burton’s second and final Batman movie, 1992’s BATMAN RETURNS! Subjects include: why Burton ended up a victim of his own success, the sliding scale of why movies are considered “dark”, a very strange Sean Young TV appearance, and how Christmassy this summer blockbuster really is. This is one you definitely don’t want t...

This week, the Pop Culture Historians take to the skies as they break down 1991’s THE ROCKETEER! Listen as they marvel over the stellar cast (save for one crucial mistake at the top), join as they explore the history of the Rocketeer as a character, and tolerate as they take on tangents regarding Jamie Foxx and the chronological cut of LOST. The full movie is on Disney Plus, so watch along with us...

This week, the Pop Culture Historians break down their second Turtles movie in three weeks, as they seek to learn The Secret of the Ooze! Topics include: how this movie is actually sort of an improvement on the original, casting changes, Vanilla Ice, and the Manningcast (obviously). Go ninja, go!

This week, we dive deep into Sam Raimi’s first foray into the superhero genre, 1990’s DARKMAN! Questions explored include: why is this such a footnote in Raimi’s career? Is Liam Neeson putting in a great performance, or is it just the novelty of seeing him play such an over-the-top guy? Finally, what Seagal movie was “take you to the bank” from? All this and more on this week’s Pop Culture Histori...

This week, our chronological coverage of 90’s superhero movies begins in earnest with TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES! Dive in with us as we go through the history of the Turtles, break down how the movie came to be, then determine whether someone who has never seen it (i.e. Ryan) can still enjoy it as an adult, or if you just had to be there (like Jimmy). Cowabunga!

This week, it’s awards season! The Pop Culture Historians look back on Classic Doctor Who Season Three and select their favorite moment from each serial of this inconsistent year. They also identify the Best Guest Star, Worst Cliffhanger, and wrap things up with their vote for Season MVP. At the end, a little look at what’s to come for the show.

This week, it’s movie time! We return once again to the Peter Cushing movie Who universe with the second (and final) Hammer Dr. Who movie. Glory at the very strange title, revel at the Technicolor, then decide for yourself whether this was an improvement over either the original TV serial, or the first movie. As far as we’re concerned…well, it’s complicated. You can watch the movie on BritBox righ...

This week, Season Three of Classic Doctor Who winds down with a visit from THE WAR MACHINES. 60’s London! A cool AI villain! ANOTHER companion departure! What’s not to love (besides that last one)? The best part: it’s all available on BritBox! How does this season closer stack up to the rest of this up-and-down season? Listen along and find out with us!

This week, Doctor Who meets THE SAVAGES! In this completely missing four part serial, we say goodbye once again to a companion. How does this exit stack up against the increasing number of past departures? Also, how good is Frederick Jaeger’s impression of William Hartnell? All this and more on this week’s POP CULTURE HISTORIANS!

This week, the Pop Culture Historians go to the Old West to hang out with THE GUNFIGHTERS! Classic Doctor Who does its first American Western story and allows for William Hartnell to do a little broad comedy. However, do the bad accents and atrocious song do enough to hang the serial entirely? The entire serial can be found on BritBox!

This week, just in time for the day after Christmas….it’s THE CELESTIAL TOYMAKER! Michael Gough puts in a bravura performance as the titular villain, but does the behind-the-scenes turmoil compromise the story beyond all hope? Also, why are all the characters really annoying? Also, also, Ryan has beef with Dodo. All this and more is explored on this episode of POP CULTURE HISTORIANS!

This week, the Pop Culture Historians enter THE ARK! The good news: this serial has been completely preserved and is available on BritBox! The bad news: does this four-part story told in two parts fall apart halfway through? Listen as Ryan and Jimmy work their way through a serial that seems to suffer from behind-the-scenes chaos. We also formally introduce Dodo Chaplet as the Doctor’s new compani...

This week, Season Three of Classic Doctor Who goes even further into somber territory with THE MASSACRE! This austere four-part story features Steven basically on his own, and a dual role for William Hartnell. But is the fact that the episodes are completely missing mean something is lost in the translation? Find out for yourself this week with The Pop Culture Historians!

This week, we complete our mega-breakdown of the twelve-part serial THE DALEK’S MASTER PLAN! We first take a look back at Dennis Spooner’s contributions to early Doctor Who and rank his stories. We then break down episodes 7 through 12 of this ambitious storyline. Luckily, this includes DOCTOR WHO’S first Christmas episode! Enjoy as our characters take a break from the action to run around a movie...

This week…..it’s finally here! It’s THE DALEKS’ MASTER PLAN! A serial so huge it’s going to take us two weeks to go through the whole thing! This Monday, we’re giving our initial thoughts on this humongous twelve part story, then breaking down the first six episodes. Is this the best Dalek story of all time? Was it worth all the drama behind the scenes it caused? Was a surprise death secretly unde...

This week, the Pop Culture Historians take a break from the Daleks with the historical serial THE MYTH MAKERS! Is the Doctor for the creation of the Trojan horse? Is Vicki the first companion to have an unsatisfying departure? Is this four-part story still effective despite being completely missing? Listen this week to find out!

This week, a fairly brief episode as the Pop Culture Historians begin a MISSION TO THE UNKNOWN! We break down the reason for Doctor Who’s only “one-episode” serial, as well as discuss how well it sets up the upcoming mega-story THE DALEKS’ MASTER PLAN. As the episode is completely missing, we also discuss an amazing refilming done by the students of the University of Central Lancashire, which can...

This week, the Pop Culture Historians continue their watch-through of the William Hartnell era of Doctor Who with the four part (mostly missing) serial GALAXY 4! The story and quality may be the net average for this era of the show, but a recent animation of its three missing episodes may elevate the entire viewing experience overall. Also, we dive into the turmoil behind the scenes that is starti...

Happy Halloween! Why not celebrate with the Pop Culture Historians? Join as we wrap up our month-long tribute to the Universal Classic Monster Universe with the last two movies in the Essentials list. First up, 1943’s THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA! Does this decidedly non-horror Technicolor film deserve more credit after being overshadowed by the 1925 original and the 80’s musical juggernaut waiting in...

This week: two all-time classics for the Halloween season. First up: James Whale, Boris Karloff and Colin Clive return for the first Universal Monster sequel, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN! Does Elsa Lanchester steal the show in an insanely low amount of screen time? Does the movie as a whole live up to its “one of the greatest ever” reputation? Next, THE WOLF MAN presents us with a different kind of lead...

This week, the Pop Culture Historians continue their tribute to the Essential Universal Monster movies with another double feature! Is 1932’s THE MUMMY the first one of these to be bested by a subsequent remake? Also, we marvel at the special effects and the star performance at the center of 1933’s THE INVISIBLE MAN! Plus, a breakdown of our favorite Halloween tunes! All this and so much more. Ope...

This week, the Pop Culture Historians begin their tribute to the Essential Universal Monster movies! First up: 1931’s DRACULA. Bela Lugosi’s iconic performance holds up almost 100 years later, but does the rest of the film? Next, it’s 1931’s FRANKENSTEIN. How amazing is Boris Karloff, eh? And does it say anything about the time these movies were made that the horror derives from unnatural extensio...

This is it, the most important time of the year. Time for some awards and superlatives! This week, the Pop Culture Historians take a look back at the 11 movies they’ve covered this season and sort out the best from the worst? Who will be the Best Villain? Which movie was the very worst? And who will win the coveted MVP award? Tune in to find out! Bonus for sticking through to the end: learn what w...

This week, perhaps our biggest episode yet! It’s a feature-length breakdown of Tim Burton’s first BATMAN movie! How does Michael Keaton’s performance as Bruce Wayne hold up? Is Jack’s Joker under-appreciated in 2022? Why is Robert Wuhl in this? All of these questions and more will be authoritatively answered in this action-packed episode!

This week, the Pop Culture Historians’ journey through Superman concludes (for now!) with Cannon Films’ SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE. Debates include: whether this is the worst Superman movie ever made, the feasibility of Superman’s plan to chuck the world’s nuclear weapons into the sun, and whether or not the reported extra 45 minutes would have made this movie any better.