The Blob Show!

An amorphous Greek casserole becomes mutated after being mistakenly struck by a UFO beam.  Tony and Charley investigate the 1999 Blob parody THE ATTACK OF THE GIANT MOUSSAKA (d. Panos H. Koutras) while baking their own eggplant dish.

As we approach the one-year anniversary of The Blob Show— and my phone approaches insufficient storage— I thought I'd compile an olio of segments I couldn't bear to trash.  These are largely from the show's early development when Tony and Charley were trying to find their voice and Joey was, literally, trying to find her legs.   

Charley and Tony discuss three film adaptations of Frances Hodgson Burnett's THE SECRET GARDEN including those by Marc Munden (2020), Fred M. Wilcox (1949), and Agnieszka Holland (1993).  And death.

With the magic of editing, Tony usurps Charley's experimental maze cartography episode to discuss the dichotomy of maturity and nonsense in Jan Švankmajer's 1971 stop-motion adaptation of Lewis Carroll's JABBERWOCKY (with a little help from Ringo Starr).

Tony and Charley discuss highlights from MGM's Tom and Jerry shorts of the Fred Quimby, Hanna/Barbera era including: SPRINGTIME FOR THOMAS (1946), THE YANKEE DOODLE MOUSE (1943), MOUSE TROUBLE (1944), QUIET PLEASE! (1945), THE LITTLE ORPHAN (1949), THE TWO MOUSEKETEERS (1952), MOUSE IN MANHATTAN (1945), THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1941), THE CAT CONCERTO (1947), JOHANN MOUSE (1953), and PUSS GETS...

After months of trying to figure the game out, Tony and Charley finally finish the 1989 Nintendo puzzle adventure DAVID CRANE'S A BOY AND HIS BLOB: TROUBLE ON BLOBOLONIA.  This episode quickly devolves into an excuse to eat jellybeans and also has the strange coincidence of featuring an appearance by Daft Punk on the day they announced their breakup: further proof that The Blob Show will stop...

An homage to our Norwegian listeners, Charley unearths her first found-footage movie-- André Øvredal's TROLLHUNTER ( Trolljegeren )-- and grapples with the medium.  We also discuss the differences between being 4 and 5 years old, whether or not one can believe Valentine's Day, and the differences and similarities of TROLLHUNTER's Norwegian trolls and FROZEN's Norwegian trolls.

In the latest episode of Charley-on-Charlie, we celebrate a couple of birthdays: Charley turns five (as a reminder to change the show description) and Charlie Chaplin's THE KID turns 100!  

Charley introduces Tony to the Paul Rudish's shorts series MICKEY MOUSE and we discuss our favorite surrealist slapstick moments from season one.  We also walk through the Capcom/Hudson Soft release MICKEY MOUSECAPADE ( Mickey Mouse: Fushigi no Kuni no Daibouken; ミッキーマウス 不思議の国の大冒険 1987/1988) for the Nintendo Entertainment System and tease a future crossover episode discussing...

Charley and Tony count down their top ten films (+1) of 2020.  Spoilers in the remaining show-notes. Films mentioned: Shadowed (d. Lotta Losten and David F. Sandberg), The Haunted Swordsman (d. Kevin McTurk), Death Blood 4: Revenge of the Killer Nano-Robotic Blood Virus (d. Chris DePretis), Nomadland (d. Chloé Zhao), Sonic the Hedgehog (d. Jeff Fowler), Driveways (d. Andrew Ahn), Stargirl (d....

Tony gets emotional in the time of COVID-19 talking The Muppets with Charley who, despite Tony's protests, has shown little affection for the felt troupe.  We also make a triumphant return to the format discussing Muppet Babies in a Blob Bites segment of episode "Invasion of the Muppet Snackers."

In this latest installment of Charley-On-Charlie, we cover the the 1928 Chaplin film THE CIRCUS and its similarities to the 1984 Konami action arcade game CIRCUS CHARLIE (サーカスチャーリー, Sākasu Chārī ) as ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System (1986).  We haven't watched the kid one yet.

A special Charley-on-Charlie episode of The Blob Show in which Charley discusses Charlie Chaplin's 1925 film The Gold Rush and the potential of a Charlie Chaplin-themed birthday party next month.

Happy New Year from The Blob Show!  This week Charley and Tony give the full scoop on some of the important animated features of 2020.  We're talking Aardman; we're talking Pixar; we're talking WolfWalkers ; we're drafting Lupin's crew. Films discussed: A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (2019), Shaun the Sheep (2014), Soul (2020), Inside Out (2015), Onward (2020), Over the Moon (2020)...

On this sixth day of Christmas, Charley and Tony cover the 1926 Robert F. McGowan Our Gang short Good Cheer and NBC's animated The Little Rascals' Christmas Special directed by Charles Swenson and Fred Wolf in 1979.  This is followed, at Charley's suggestion, by a completely impromptu countdown of our six favorite Christmas films which turns out much smoother than expected.   Films discu...

From all of us to all of you

The Bird Show returns with a look at the 19th Century lithographs produced/commissioned by British ornithologist John Gould of birds featured in the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas". Pieces discussed include: · Mute Swan , Birds of Great Britain Pl. 289 by Joseph Wolf, 1862 · Red-breasted Goose , Birds of Europe Pl. 351 by Edward Lear, 1832-1837 · Black Ouzel, or Blackbird , Birds of...

Charley and Tony are joined by special guest and frequently-referenced member of the Blob Show family, Uncle Marky to discuss one of his childhood Yuletide fears: Joe Dante's GREMLINS.  This is a rare film that scratches every Blob Show itch: it is structured like THE BLOB, references THE WIZARD OF OZ, is full of practical effect creatures with a strong in-world mythology, and is seasonally a...

Charley gets introduced to the comedic power duo Laurel and Hardy through their 1934 Christmas feature BABES IN TOYLAND aka MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS.  Charley has some very strong feelings as to whether this qualifies as a Christmas film, and Tony waxes nostalgic for his introduction to Stan and Ollie at a young age.  We also draft nursery rhyme characters, sort of.

Charley and Tony cover the nearly-forgotten stop-motion animation films of Snap The Gingerbread Man created by John Burton at Kinex Studios for distribution to in-home subscribers to the Kodak Cinegraph service.  It's likely these pictures never screened theatrically or on television, but that can't snap the Blob Show from its comprehensive gingerbread coverage. Films covered in the program:...

Charley and Tony creep up on the holiday season with versions of Hansel and Gretel by three different masters of stop-motion animation.  We compare and contrast Ray Harryhausen's THE STORY OF 'HANSEL AND GRETEL' from 1951, Lotte Reiniger's HÄNSEL AND GRETEL from 1954, and Tim Burton's Disney Channel Halloween special HANSEL AND GRETEL from 1983.  

Charley kicks off the Christmas season with a telling of the classic folktale The Gingerbread Man.  Consider this a teaser for an episode about the much-maligned Robert Altman legal thriller that we'll hopefully cover in 2030.  We also discuss L. Frank Baum's JOHN DOUGH AND THE CHERUB and the different--now lost-- film iterations of the tale.  John Dough may be cinema's first Ginger...

Charley and Tony enjoy Thanksgiving weekend with some anthropomorphic houses.  We compare Vladimir Popov's animated short from 1976, GNOME LEFT HOME (O tom, kak gnom pokinul dom, О том, как гном покинул дом) with Gil Kenan's 2006 animated feature MONSTER HOUSE.  We also introduce a few new games to the world including family favorites STEP ON and GET OFF MY LAWN.

Charley and Tony are visited by very special guest and musical connoisseur Auntie Kara to discuss Tom Hooper's Andrew Lloyd Webber's T.S. Eliot's CATS.  Apropos of the subject matter, we apologize for being plagued by dogs during the recording. This movie stars Francesca Hayward, Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, James Corden, Jennifer Hudson, Jason Derulo, Rebel Wilson and...

Charley wanted to mix it up with some special coverage of the watercolor paintings of John James Audubon.  In this episode we discuss the following birds within plates 271-277, primarily water fowl. 271. Frigate Pelican, or Man-of-War 272. Richardson's Jager, or Parasitic Jager 273. Cayenne Tern, or Royal Tern 274. Semipalmated Snipe, or Willet 275. Noddy Tern 276. King Duck, or King Eider 27...