The Flopcast

Let's wrap up the weird tournament we started last week: Our latest FlopFight, featuring maids and butlers from sitcoms, cartoons, and beyond. We have TV characters from the 60s like Lurch (The Addams Family), Mr. French (Family Affair), and Rosie the Robot (The Jetsons). From the 80s we have Mr. Belvedere (from, you know, Mr. Belvedere), Nell (Gimme a Break), and even more maids from Diff'rent St...

We grew up in a world where seemingly every sitcom included a maid or a butler. Even middle class TV households somehow afforded live-in servants. And this week all those maids and butlers shall do battle in a good old fashioned FlopFight! What would happen if Benson (from Soap) and Florence (from The Jeffersons) were stranded on an island? How about hula-dancing Alice (The Brady Bunch) versus Bat...

Another quick and silly Flopcast, including: Way too much Scotch tape trivia from Kornflake; this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees (and how they ranked in the 80s); Dolly Parton's new star-studded rock album (hey, where's Tiffany?); Bernie Taupin vs. REO Speedwagon; the Love Boat musical; and a "Chickens in the News" story from Mexico, where there are chickens in the trees and on the su...

It's a quick Sunday brunch edition of The Flopcast! Except we forgot to have brunch! Anyway, Kevin has tales from the cold and rainy Margarita Half Marathon (with margaritas and shiny blankets), and the hot and grueling Providence Marathon (with Mickey Mouse hands and Jeff Goldblum heads). We also have some comic book recommendations: the new Shazam and Peacemaker series from DC Comics, and the ne...

For just the second time in three horrifying years, Kevin and Kornflake are together in the same place for the Flopcast! And that place is... a hotel room in New Hampshire! (This is Kornflake's home state, and that explains A LOT.) To celebrate, we're learning some weird New Hampshire facts involving UFOs, old libraries, state songs, and a shopping mall where Kornflake may have gone to college. We...

It's another concert report, as we leave the house and creep down to Rhode Island to see Flopcast favorite Joan Osborne! And since Joan's big hit album (and that song - you know the one) came out way back in 1995, we're looking at the other albums we bought that year. There were lots of 1995 records from the women of the Boston rock scene (Juliana Hatfield, Mary Lou Lord, Belly, Letters to Cleo),...

We're just sipping Green Day coffee and yipping through a few miscellaneous subjects. Including: A reunion of Slipnutz (one of the greatest bands ever to specialize in slipping on nuts); Disney animator Ron Clements (we're looking forward to his version of DC's goofy robot team the Metal Men); a concert report on the last Monkee standing, Micky Dolenz; a look at the debut albums of 1967 (including...

1978's The Super Dictionary attempted to teach kids vocabulary using DC Comics superheroes. We don't know if it succeeded as a learning tool, but it sure succeeded in being super weird. (If you've ever seen that silly image of Lex Luthor stealing forty cakes, it comes from this very book.) This week we're examining a few Super Dictionary entries, which involve Wonder Woman sneezing, a banana for A...

We haven't reviewed a weird school book club magazine from the 80s since... oh wait, it was three weeks ago. Thanks for your patience. This time we're looking at a 1984 issue of Maniac, a short-lived Dynamite-type magazine aimed at a slightly older audience, with an added twist of Mad-style humor. This issue includes: Maniac holiday stickers; caricatures of Brooke Shields, Boy George, Mr. T, and S...

A quick springtime mixed bag of weirdness: April has arrived, and Kornflake is celebrating with a sugary holiday of her own making, Maple Fools Day. Speaking of sugar, National Whatever Day finds us wishing a Happy Birthday to the writer of The Archies' greatest hit. Our impromptu Funko Pop game is so shocking that you won't believe your cold dead black vinyl eyes. Kevin races through Salem, Massa...

As suggested/threatened last week, we're doing a Top 4 1/2 List of 1980s dogs. (Kornflake is obsessed with dogs, Kevin is obsessed with the 80s... this had to happen.) Including: Several cartoon dogs, a Muppet dog, a WWF wrestling dog, a rock star dog, a certain beer-chugging dog who did NOT know when to say when, and much more. Yes, we've gone to the dogs, but for our show, that's probably an upg...

It's about time for another Dynamite magazine review, but to mix things up, we're looking at a different (but eerily similar) magazine called Winner. A single issue of Winner was sold through school book clubs in 1982, and it's essentially a sports-themed version of Dynamite. Our discussion includes: John McEnroe's hair; Chris Evert on SNL; KangaROOS, the sneakers with pockets; how Kevin learned t...

It's another Flopcast tribute to V66, Boston's music video TV channel of the mid-80s! (We do this every one hundred episodes. It's all we have.) This time we thought we'd look at Billboard's Top 66 songs of 1986, an amazing list of absolutely classic 80s pop. (Flopcast favorite Billy Ocean made the list twice, and no, that's not nearly enough Billy Ocean.) And Kornflake has even pared the Top 66 l...

The Flopcast Book Club is finally back in session, and we're discussing Bill Mumy's new memoir Danger, Will Robinson: The Full Mumy. Best known for Lost in Space and The Twilight Zone, Bill was one of the busiest child actors of the 1960s, and has stayed busy with television, film, and music projects ever since. We cover Bill's Disney movies co-starring seals and raccoons; his experiences on The M...

It's a rather random 1980s-themed show, as a coin toss leads to our celebrating the birthday of 80s one hit (or maybe two hit) wonder Eddy Grant. Then we flip to a random page in our Ranking the 80s book and discuss a song about (possibly inappropriate) touching. (Yes, we know we just described every song.) Finally we break out a book that just arrived here at the studio: Single Season Sitcoms of...

After a quick break for a couple of less weird episodes, it's time to wrap up The Weird Al Game, in which Kevin and Kornflake try to guess each other's favorite "Weird Al" Yankovic songs. (Hey, who comes up with better games than us? Please don't answer that.) This time we're covering Al's records from 1993 through 2014, so get ready for a cavalcade of giant TVs, phony calls, word crimes, Canadian...

Kornflake has the week off, but we have a special guest in Chickentown to fill in: It's our big podcasting bossman, ESO Network Director Mike Faber! And we're talking music again. Mike has been to more concerts than Kevin and Kornflake combined, and has prepared a Top 4 1/2 List of his favorite concerts ever! Some of Mike's picks, while impressive, will not shock you. (REM in 1983! Springsteen in...

We're taking a break from our Weird Al game, because it's time to review this year's list of nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Kate Bush is back on the list, perhaps due to her Stranger Things-fueled resurgence. A couple of Kornflake's favorites are newly eligible nominees: Missy Elliott and the White Stripes. Since Dolly kicked in the door last year, another country legend is in the ru...

We've had "Weird Al" Yankovic on our minds lately, probably because Kevin just participated in an American Sci-Fi Classics panel all about Al. (Check it out! We have a YouTube link just for you.) So we just invented The Weird Al Game, in which Kevin and Kornflake try to guess each other's favorite Weird Al songs. This week we're covering Al's first seven albums. Does Kornflake want a new duck? Wil...

We are back from Arisia, Boston's annual convention of science fiction, fantasy, and general geekery. So here's our full report, including Kevin's comic book panels (on comic book memoirs and the history of Image Comics), the Mayor of Chickentown's Age and Fandom panel, and our pal Kevin Cafferty's Year in TV and Year in Star Wars panels! Also: The Post Meridian Radio Players with another fine gen...

This weekend we are at Arisia, one of our favorite local fantasy and science fiction conventions. If you drop everything and run screaming towards Boston RIGHT NOW, you may be able to catch Kevin moderating a panel about Image Comics. (Bring your mint condition CGC-slabbed Walking Dead #1. We'll sign it and ruin it.) And yes, we have goofy badge ribbons for you. Watch for our full report on Arisia...

Let's wrap up our annual two-part memorial show, because we just can't take it anymore. This week's list includes: a couple of animation legends (Jules Bass and Paul Coker Jr.), a couple more 80s comedy stars (Judy Tenuta and Gallagher), beloved television actors (Nichelle Nichols and Tony Dow), beloved singers (Olivia Newton John and Irene Cara), another Goodfellas star, another Sesame Street sta...

Our annual two-part memorial show begins here, as we recall the pop culture legends we lost in the first half of 2022. Including: actors (Sidney Poitier, Sally Kellerman, William Hurt, Ray Liotta), musicians (Ronnie Spector, Meat Loaf, Vangelis), comedians (Bob Saget, Louie Anderson, Gilbert Gottfried), artists (Neal Adams, George Pérez), a Gorgeous Lady of Wrestling, the moms from Seinfeld, the g...

Last show of the year! So it's a quick one, as we look back on another goofy year of Flopcasting, including our 2022 Flopcast guests (all four of them), our strict cupcake and lobster roll diet program, and our ongoing obsession with Canadian PSAs. Plus: Happy Birthday to Ted Danson! Part 2 of our holiday podcast crossover with But First, Let's Talk Nerdy! (Warning: May contain Sponge Awareness mu...

Lots of weird holiday mirth and/or merriment this week! First we celebrate National Hard Candy Day with a True Tale of Ribbon Candy. Then Kornflake's annual pilgrimage to the Trap Tree yields startling results. Kornflake also has a new favorite holiday special, and of course the star of Footloose is involved. We also flip through Holly Jolly, a wonderful book of pop culture Christmas history, and...