The Flopcast

At last we've arrived at the end of our ten-part look back at the most awesome decade ever! Now admittedly, 1989 was not our favorite part of the 80s... but come on, it had its moments. Top 40 radio had pretty much surrendered to rap, hair metal, and Milli Vanilli... but Elvis Costello somehow sneaked in there too. On TV we met a quantum-leaping doctor named Sam Beckett, and a 16-year-old doctor n...

Almost done, kids! The penultimate chapter in our ongoing 80s coverage brings us to 1988 (which most scientists agree was the peak year for Jon Lovitz's Michael Dukakis impression). At the movies we met Beetlejuice and Roger Rabbit, and tried to deny the very existence of a Caddyshack sequel. TV got weirder with the debut of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (and weirder still with a Saturday morning E...

Kevin and Kornflake wrap up the holidays with a New Year's resolution update, a visit with TV's Kyle, one more trip to see the lobster trap tree, and one more holiday gift. (Yes, it's a Lionel Richie-themed gift. You know us all too well.) Then we creep back into the 80s yet again, and this week we're looking at 1987! It was the year of Debbie Gibson and Tiffany, Data and Picard, Lost Boys and a P...

This week we're looking at 1986 -- a year that was so bright, we had to wear shades. (At least that's what Timbuk 3 told us, and we've learned to trust their judgment.) 'Twas the year Crocodile Dundee came to America, Mr. Miyagi went back to Okinawa, and Rodney Dangerfield went back to school. (And so did C. Thomas Howell, in a super-inappropriate way.) Meanwhile, we thought we'd save the world by...

You know how this works: It's episode 85, so Kevin and Kornflake have set Doc Brown's DeLorean for 1985! It was the year of USA For Africa and Live Aid... and more importantly, Mr. T at Wrestlemania. The Brat Pack was stuck in Saturday detention, Pee Wee's bike was stolen, and the Goonies were good enough. Yikes, what a year -- the only thing missing was a basketball-playing werewolf. (Oh, wait!)...

Yes, we're in the middle of the holidays, but more importantly, we're in the middle of the 1980s. This week our ongoing 80s coverage brings us to 1984 -- the year of Footloose, The Karate Kid, Ghostbusters, and Footloose. (Footloose is very important, people.) But our focus is Saturday morning, as we present a Top 4 1/2 List of 1984 Saturday morning TV shows. Expect plenty of Muppet Babies and Sup...

We're up to 1983 in our ten-part look back at the 1980s, and we have something special for you crazy kids. Back at DragonCon, Kevin participated in a panel called "1983 Geek-a-Mania in TV and Movies" -- and this week, we're sharing that panel with you! (Seemed like a better option than doing a whole new show, which would have involved time, and effort, and other such unpleasantries...) Kevin is jo...

This week we're looking back at 1982! Time Magazine said the "Man of the Year" was a computer -- and it was, thanks to Tron. 1982 was also the year we learned about Stupid Pet Tricks, vegemite sandwiches, and, uh, the Weather Channel. Most importantly, we learned how to "Do the Donkey Kong" -- but we never did. Also: Kevin and Kornflake are back from Super Megafest, where we met Balki, Chicken Joe...

Kevin and Kornflake look back on 1981, the year that brought us MTV, Indiana Jones, and a seemingly endless supply of goofy soft rock. Our Top 4 1/2 List of songs from 1981 is indeed dominated by the likes of Christopher Cross, REO Speedwagon, and yes, of course, Air Supply. And you'll learn which hit song of 1981 was later covered by Sponge Awareness Foundation, but with alternate chicken-themed...

Hang on, kids -- starting this week, we're taking a TEN-episode trip back to the 80s! (Yeah, it's a radical departure from our usual topics...) Up first, of course, is 1980 -- the year that kicked off the 1980s, according to most scientists. Come along for our Top 4 1/2 List of movies from 1980, as we do battle with Ming the Merciless, Ursa, and a bunch of gopher puppets. Also: World Hello Day (fe...

The Mayor of Chickentown joins Kevin and Kornflake to discuss the upcoming holiday movie season -- we're looking for anything with hobbits, thunder gods, or time-traveling turkeys. (But mostly time-traveling turkeys.) Also: We reveal the existence of a secret (and possibly evil) Button Society, we start a crazy new rumor about Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson, and we learn which celebrity...

Kevin and Kornflake get ready for Marooned Without a Compass Day (we'll need a volleyball, a hidden immunity idol, and Mary Ann); Kornflake gets silly on The Pod of Destiny, stares at the clouds in Vermont, and prepares for Early Doornail Thanksgiving; the Pudding Pages teach us about scary 90s fashion (was there any other kind?); and we end with some "Chickens in the News" from a Moscow airport,...

It's Halloween in Chickentown once again, and we're celebrating with a "monster cereals" taste test! That's right, we're sampling Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry, as well as (available for the first time in decades!) Fruit Brute and Yummy Mummy. Is this stuff delicious, or disgusting, or (ideally) both? Let's find out together. Along the way we'll enjoy some classic monster cereal comm...

Kevin and Kornflake wrap up their School House Rock 40th anniversary celebration with some help from you, the Flopcast listeners! Our Top 4 1/2 List of America Rock cartoons is based on YOUR votes! How appropriately democratic. And you can probably guess which beloved School House Rock character is sitting on both Capitol Hill AND the top of our list. Also: Kornflake sees Weird Al, just in time fo...

Kevin and Kornflake are in Manchester, New Hampshire for the Granite State Comicon! Come along as we encounter Perhapanauts artist Craig Rousseau, Tiny Titans artist Art Baltazar, the Boston Ninja Turtle, Amy the Mermaid, classic arcade games from Funspot, Ghost Kitties and Action Cats, Snorks, a Snowpocalypse, and yes, our very favorite Mr. T cosplayer. And hang on, because this one gets weird, i...

More School House Rock 40th anniversary fun this week, as Kevin knocks out a Top 4 1/2 List of Science Rock cartoons! (Get ready for a shock, but we're huge fans of Interplanet Janet around here.) As a bonus, this leads to yet another bizarre tale from junior high school in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. (We'll never run out of these stories. It was a weird, weird place.) Also: Kornflake and Scott Baio...

Kornflake learns that no revenge is sweeter than a birthday cake in the face; Vodka Day is this week, which means we'd better keep an eye on our friend Vodka (we, uh, know a girl named Vodka); George Takei boldly chicken-dances where no chicken has danced before; and we end with a round of "What's in the Bag," compliments of Luke and Sara, who mailed us a mysterious (and yes, chicken-themed) packa...

Our celebration of the 40th anniversary of School House Rock continues, as the Mayor of Chickentown presents a Top 4 1/2 List of Multiplication Rock! Featuring weird zoo animals, twelve-toed aliens, a hero named Zero, and even more 1970s educational silliness. This is why we're all total math geniuses today. Also: The boozy truth about Johnny Appleseed; video evidence of Kornflake's latest zorbing...

Kevin is back from Atlanta with a full report on DragonCon, featuring 50,000 nerds and/or geeks, the Bionic Man and Woman, High Feather cosplayers, booze-serving robots, Canadian teen pop star Robin Sparkles, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Shatner, a steampunk owl catcher, Hulk cologne, and yes, Charles Nelson Reilly. Kind of a strange weekend, in retrospect. We also get in some music talk, and rec...

Kevin and Kornflake kick off the fall season by returning not to school, but to School House Rock! We're celebrating the 40th anniversary of these classic cartoons, starting with a Top 4 1/2 List of Grammar Rock. Of course that means a train ride through Conjunction Junction, a very crowded bus ride with Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla... and we might even unpack an adjective or two. Join us! Also: Defy...

Worry not, true believers -- before Kevin sneaked off to DragonCon, we recorded this quick little episode of miscellaneous silliness, just for you. This week: Shocking the world, Kevin returns to Woonsocket, Rhode Island for an actual high school reunion; Kornflake is covered in mosquito bites, talking like the kids of Degrassi, and dreaming of zorbing again; we discuss the mysterious connection b...

It's our second annual DragonCon preview show, as we prepare for the upcoming mega-gathering of the geeks in downtown Atlanta. Enjoy some hints and tips about how to survive the craziest four days on the nerd calendar. We also discuss some of the guests (Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner!), concerts (Paul and Storm!), and events (Rebecca Watson's Quiz-O-Tron 2000!) we're looking forward to, and run th...

Kornflake reports on this year's Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, a weekend of music, mud, Moxy Fruvous, and tie-dyed unmentionables. Meanwhile Kevin attends Boston Comic Con, serves as a lifeline in a zombie-themed round of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and brings back an exclusive Flopcast interview with Amy the Steampunk Mermaid! (And stick around at the end of the show to hear the guy we totally f...

Episode 66 means we're talking about V66, Boston's own MTV-style music video channel back in the mid-80s. (V66 wasn't around for long, but some of us never got over it.) Also: Kornflake joins the Snuggie Cult; we celebrate Thrift Shop Day and Siblingfest; and in our Chickens in the News segment, we look at some mysterious new statues in Annapolis, Maryland. Remember, kids -- it's August. You NEED...

Because we're just so dangerously obsessed with the 1980s, this week's Top 4 1/2 List features cover versions of 80s songs! (Needless to say, Cyndi Lauper is well represented.) Also: Gummy lobsters (a delicious choking hazard), Kornflake's Barenaked Ladies & Ben Folds Five concert report (we're starting a rumor that she parked her car onstage during the show), and National X-Files Day (which we ju...