Flopcast 732: Happy Days Are Weird Again

Flopcast 733: Angry Green Elephants

Our ongoing series of Wizard of Oz adaptation reviews reaches Journey Back to Oz, an animated movie that Filmation started producing in 1962. However, they ran out of money, and the movie sat around unfinished for a full decade, until Filmation had some cash rolling in from their cheapo Saturday morning cartoons. Was Journey Back to Oz worth the wait? Yeah, sort of. It boasts an all-star cast led by Liza Minnelli as Dorothy, the role her mom played in the classic 1939 movie. Also in the cast: Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch back in 1939, now playing Aunt Em), Ethel Merman, Danny Thomas, Mickey Rooney, Larry Storch, Mel Blanc, Milton Berle... and Paul Lynde. (Yikes, with Paul on board, they could have skipped the movie and just played a round of Hollywood Squares.) And yes, Journey Back to Oz also features a talking signpost, a wooden horse, Jack Pumpkinhead, evil trees, gay trees, and plenty of chickens. Watch it just once, and inside your brain, the angry green elephants will never stop screaming. Plus: Kevin is on another American Sci-Fi Classics online panel all about Supergirl, just in time for the new movie! (But we still love the old movie.) The Amercian Sci-Fi Classics Supergirl panel! [https://www.youtube.com/live/-VqGyJs7vYA?si=VYckcdgvborZKeJC] And our regular links... The Flopcast website! [https://flopcast.net/index.html] The ESO Network! [https://esonetwork.com/] The Flopcast on Facebook! [https://www.facebook.com/Flopcast] The Flopcast on Instagram! [https://www.instagram.com/the_flopcast/] The Flopcast on Bluesky! [https://bsky.app/profile/flopcast.bsky.social] The Flopcast on Mastadon! [https://universeodon.com/@flopcast] Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-flopcast/id526877428] Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! [http://spongeawareness.com/] This week's promo: Modern Musicology! [https://esonetwork.com/category/modern-musicology/]

Flopcast 732: Happy Days Are Weird Again

Inspired by last week's Happy Days cast reunion event (which we attended as part of our court-ordered community service), we're finally taking a deep dive into this classic goofy sitcom of the 70s and 80s. Including: How Happy Days and American Graffiti sort of created each other! The Happy Days pilot episode of Love, American Style! Tom Bosley on Wait Till Your Father Gets Home! The mystery of Chuck Cunningham! The dreaded arrival of Ted McGinley! Those wacky Tuscadero sisters, Pinky and Leather! A visit from The Amazing Randi! Potsie sings "Pump Your Blood"! Ralph Malph vs. Captain America! Fonzie vs. Karate Tom Hanks! Fonzie dates a nun! Joanie dates Steve Trevor! Marcia Brady dates Kaptain Kool! And some other stuff that's too ridiculous to mention! And yikes, we're not even done yet. A follow-up episode (exploring all those Happy Days spin-off shows) is coming soon. Meanwhile, to hear this episode, just walk up to any jukebox and give it a good whack. The Flopcast website! [https://flopcast.net/index.html] The ESO Network! [https://esonetwork.com/] The Flopcast on Facebook! [https://www.facebook.com/Flopcast] The Flopcast on Instagram! [https://www.instagram.com/the_flopcast/] The Flopcast on Bluesky! [https://bsky.app/profile/flopcast.bsky.social] The Flopcast on Mastadon! [https://universeodon.com/@flopcast] Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-flopcast/id526877428] Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! [http://spongeawareness.com/] This week's promo: Luke Ski's Animation & Stuff Podcast! [https://esonetwork.com/category/luke-ski/]

Flopcast 731: Holding Out for a Tractor Fight

We actually left the studio a few times this week, so this show is just a quick recap of our various silly activities. Including: Beloved folk singer-songwriter Dar Williams live in concert! The Footloose musical live from New Hampshire! Losing at trivia to Britney Spears's lower back tattoo! And a live Happy Days cast reunion with Henry Winkler, Anson Williams, and Donny Most! This is The Flopcast's big chance to jump the shark, and we shall not disappoint. And our regular links... The Flopcast website! [https://flopcast.net/index.html] The ESO Network! [https://esonetwork.com/] The Flopcast on Facebook! [https://www.facebook.com/Flopcast] The Flopcast on Instagram! [https://www.instagram.com/the_flopcast/] The Flopcast on Bluesky! [https://bsky.app/profile/flopcast.bsky.social] The Flopcast on Mastadon! [https://universeodon.com/@flopcast] Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-flopcast/id526877428] Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! [http://spongeawareness.com/] This week's promo: Earth Station Who! [https://esonetwork.com/category/earth-station-who/]

Flopcast 730: Dream of the Nineties

The Flopcast Book Club is back in session as we discuss Even the Good Girls Will Cry, the new memoir from Melissa Auf der Maur. Melissa was just a young photography student in Montreal when she was recruited to play bass in Courtney Love's band Hole, and suddenly found herself in the eye of the 90s alt-rock storm. And yikes, she has stories. We'll learn about life on the road with Hole (yeah, it was as crazy as you think), Lollapalooza bus trips with Sinéad O'Connor, haunted houses on fire in New Orleans, tea with Ozzy Osbourne, leaving Hole and joining Smashing Pumpkins, going solo, and finally walking away from it all. And we even recall the time we met Melissa a few years back, which shockingly is not covered in the book. (Gotta leave something for the sequel, right?) Also: Kevin joins Joe and Gary for another online American Sci-Fi Classics panel! And this time we're discussing the world of Sid and Marty Krofft! Slip into a Sleestak costume and join us. American Sci-Fi Classics Sid and Marty Krofft video! [https://www.youtube.com/live/C0Pzvc1NqF4?si=2s7zKIktJ4GDMeug] And our regular links... The Flopcast website! [https://flopcast.net/index.html] The ESO Network! [https://esonetwork.com/] The Flopcast on Facebook! [https://www.facebook.com/Flopcast] The Flopcast on Instagram! [https://www.instagram.com/the_flopcast/] The Flopcast on Bluesky! [https://bsky.app/profile/flopcast.bsky.social] The Flopcast on Mastadon! [https://universeodon.com/@flopcast] Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-flopcast/id526877428] Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! [http://spongeawareness.com/] This week's promo: Earth Station Trek! [https://esonetwork.com/category/earth-station-trek/]

Flopcast 729: Rusty and Dandy

A few months before the debut of their classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer cartoon, Rankin/Bass produced their very first prime time animated TV special. And it was very, very different. So this week we're looking at yet another Wizard of Oz adaptation: 1964's Return to Oz. The animation was simple, but a little of that classic Rankin/Bass weirdness was already present. Including: Munchkins who look like turnips, a mayor with a top hat, some of the same voice actors from Rudolph, flying crocodiles to complement the flying monkeys, and a chicken. It's goofy fun and it's waiting for you on YouTube right now. Also: How to cross the street during the Boston Marathon. (It's complicated.) The Flopcast website! [https://flopcast.net/index.html] The ESO Network! [https://esonetwork.com/] The Flopcast on Facebook! [https://www.facebook.com/Flopcast] The Flopcast on Instagram! [https://www.instagram.com/the_flopcast/] The Flopcast on Bluesky! [https://bsky.app/profile/flopcast.bsky.social] The Flopcast on Mastadon! [https://universeodon.com/@flopcast] Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-flopcast/id526877428] Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! [http://spongeawareness.com/] This week's promo: The 42cast! [https://esonetwork.com/category/42cast/] This week's promo: Monkeeing Around! [https://esonetwork.com/category/monkeeing_around/]