Hola, Sneakers. Welcome to Episode 455 of the neverendingest podcast that never ended!
This week: professional; egg-sploded; fruit tomb; brown bananas; Miranda rights; universal translator; deep nerd; replacement heaven; Addams Family rules; Scoobie-Doo celebs; animated determinism; a potted history of bubblegum music; Scoobie-Doo knock-offs; French actors; Shmoo-plosion; solving mysteries in Hell; Shazam-ophiles; but which Elliot Maggin?; Fifties iconography; great villains; the Monster Sociey of Evil; Mary Marvel’s mix-up; Minimalist Mouse; inevitable blather; disaster!; creative destruction; Dave’s hubris; fire festival; a tour of the Okanagan; kidfeet; terrible American roads; unCanadian; cartoon eroticism; exorbitant pizza; new vegetables (and fruit); and, finally, go-to demon names.
Thanks for listening.
Demand of the week: Recommend an under-appreciated movie with a short blurb to convince people it’s worth seeing.
Question of the week: What’s your favourite TV theme song?
Sub-question of the week: Which of the many namesakes in the Marvel Family universe is your favourite?
Jonathan Bampton’s favourite bumper sticker:
Louise’s ichthys infographic:
That sexy Race Bannon with his homoerotic shirt:
Follow this link for a gay re-appraisal of Saturday morning cartoons – “Race Bannon Made Me Gay”.
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I’d like to point people toward Mythica: A Quest for Heroes on Amazon Prime. Marek, a slave girl with a bad leg who longs to be an adventuring wizard leads a motley bunch on a quest – a roguish elf, a former soldier and a priestess – to rescue said priestess’s sister. Appeals to anyone who enjoys D&D, RPGs, Hercules/Xena (Kevin Sorbo is in it). Mostly funded via Kickstarter so it’s not big budget but they stretch it far and it’s big hearted and fun. There’s 4 sequels but only the first three movies are on Amazon. Grr.
Also I love the updated Ducktales theme song. And the original Danger Mouse.
Favorite Marvel Family namesake: there was a Captain Marvel rip-off called “Captain Universe” (not the same as Marvel Comic’s Captain Universe). His magic word was “GALAP”, which stood for Galileo (“Master of the Galaxies”), Archimedes (“Master of Physics”), Leonardo da Vinci (“Master of Invention”), Aristotle (“Master of Philosophy), and Pythagoras (“Master of Geometry”). For some reason, this gave him the usual assortment of superpowers (flight, super strength, etc).
An under-appreciated movie: Wild Tales (2014). A darkly humorous Argentinian anthology film of six stories where people are pushed to the edge, usually with a twist ending. It’s sort of like The Twilight Zone without any sci-fi or fantasy elements. Last I checked, it was steaming on Amazon.
These days I rarely watch a new show’s opening credits more than once or twice, so my favourite TV theme songs pre-date the invention of the fast-forward or skip button. For drama, it’s Hawaii Five-0, with Mission: Impossible as a close second. For sit-com: The Jeffersons (“Movin’ On Up”) and The Mary Tyler Moore Show (“Love is All Around”). For an ‘80s improv audience warm-up singalong: Gilligan’s Island and The Brady Bunch. I also have a worst song for a sit-com: the theme from Taxi. It’s kind of a snooze-fest. And worst song for a sci-fi adventure: the theme from Star Trek. Yeah, I said it. It sounds like it’s from some weird lounge act.
Under-appreciated movie, you say? How about The Hudsucker Proxy?
This 1994 gem from the Coen Brothers (co-written with Sam Raimi) doesn’t seem to get the love it deserves. It’s part screwball comedy, part corporate satire, part magic realist fable, has a super-smart, very funny script, and moves along at a fantastic pace with some beautifully crafted set pieces.
The plot sees naive hick-in-the-city Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins) plucked from obscurity in the mailroom of Hudsucker Industries and instantly promoted to the very top of the corporation. Machiavellian vice-president Sydney Mussburger (Paul Newman, clearly relishing being cast as a complete SOB for once) convinces Norville he thinks the young man is a genius who can take the business to new heights.
But it’s all a con, of course – a fiendish plot to appoint an imbecile who’ll drive down the company’s stock value so the wicked board of directors can buy it back on the cheap.
Only, what if Norville really IS a genius?
Robbins is terrifically likeable, Newman hysterically deadpan, and Jennifer Jason Leigh goes full-on 1930s Katharine Hepburn as the reporter who smells a rat.
The critics were mostly lukewarm. Audiences stayed away. And, although it gained something of a following on video and DVD, it’s yet to be recognised as the classic it is.
Well, I love it anyway.
Give it a shot. You’ll never look at a hula hoop the same way again.
Oh, and favourite TV theme? The Rockford Files. Obviously.
Alright Chris, you stole my thunder with The Rockford Files theme. I vividly remember calling a radio station request line as a kid asking them to play it for me several times so I could record it off the radio. Then I bought one of those albums with all the TV Themes on it just for The Rockford Files theme…but it wasn’t the original! Just a cheap studio knock off along with all the other themes by the “Pop Singers and Orchestra”. Welcome Back Kotter, Baretta, M*A*S*H*…all fake.
Here’s the album cover here, I remember it well:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0e/d3/c0/0ed3c0a15b6cb8c3c6ecc652c10bfdd3.jpg
There’s a film from 2013 that I really thought I’d hate but my wife sold me on it after watching it. “Only Lovers Left Alive” directed by Jim Jarmusch stars Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton. The two play a vampire couple named Adam and Eve in current times trying to fit in after being alive and together for centuries. It’s dark in places and satirical in others as the two see the world in two completely different ways. Adam is bored and lives in Detroit with his music, Eve lives in Morocco and sees everything much more optimistically as she plans to visit Adam in Detroit…which is difficult to do by day if you’re a vampire. Other actors include the late John Hurt who is also a vampire and the late Anton Yelchin who befriends Adam not knowing he’s a vampire. The situation worsens when baby sister played by Mia Wasikowska shows up only to cause trouble.
I enjoyed it because it wasn’t what I expected and I’m not a huge vampire film fan. This film takes it a step further and shows us that even these immortals have problems just like we do. The film also features a great haunting indie soundtrack that’s moody and evocative. I give it four out of five stars for it’s satirically original story and cast.
Favorite TV Theme song by the GREAT John Williams would have to be “Lost in Space,” but NOT the one from seasons 1 and 2. The theme was changed to a much more dynamic jazzy theme for season 3 with the giant numbers counting down from 7 to 1. I can remember just waiting for that theme to intro the show with that countdown.
https://youtu.be/Tp1bEpmmGMs
A close second would have to be “The Wild, Wild West” by Dimitri Tiomkin, mainly because of the rough animated intro of the cowboy surrounded by danger. I loved that art style.
https://youtu.be/xuCuf5tvTqE
I could go on and on, I love TV Themes…
I’ll pass on the Captain Marvel question, I never was an avid fan of the comic. I guess if I were hard pressed, I’d say Mercury and then watch Marvel explain that shit to Barry Allen. I’m sure there’d be a race following soon after.
I used to ride the train into work every morning with a guy who was the spitting image of Race Bannon, perfect head of close coiffed white hair and all. Much like Vice President Mike Pence. Maybe out of boredom I just imagined my fellow passengers were real life versions of comic and cartoon characters because there was also a guy who looked exactly like Dr. Faustus. He scared the hell out of me.
Question of the week: What’s your favourite TV theme song?
I was poking at my old collection of digital music, and thought to myself: “Who’s Kevin Gillis?” Google says that he’s a TV producer, writer, singer-songwriter, and host of a fitness show. More importantly, he’s the creator of the 80s cartoon “The Raccoons”, and wrote its amazing end credits theme song. It’s some glorious 80s synth-rock, and forever burned into my brain.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEkSzcGIfW0&w=560&h=315%5D
The other theme song I want to mention is the end credits to Babar. It’s entirely instrumental, with the main melody played on piccolo, and a counterpoint melody played on a muted trumpet (I think; I googled, but couldn’t find any details). It made me realize I could listen to the different parts of a song, and appreciate how they relate to each other.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqVJJgEkDJw&w=560&h=315%5D
Cheers!
Hi,
First message, yeah !!! One day I would write something longer, I’m amaze (but should I) living in the old world, the one at the other side, that we’ve got nearly the same culture.
Errr, let’s say the same american culture but not only (add tintin and other few things).
I’ve a bad memory but a lot of time I though listning to you two rambling on (A LZ reference that’s 10 points) “Hey, I know that too”, I could go to relisten to all the shows to find all those little references, but my days have only 36 hours….
The only BIG difference that I never liked comics, too showy and messy (graphically). Prefer the franco belgian way. And I have some grunge about the vigilant culture.
I said I will “One Day” write something longer, so back to the questions at hand :
An underated film ? Here in France for sure, I’m wondering if I’m not the only one to have seen it. The Second Civil War, like The Wire but the funny way. It’s a political masterpiece truer now than ever.
The best TV theme song… humm song ? With lyrics? Anyway i’m french so I’m entitled to answer whatever I want. So Its Hawaii Five-O, the original one, the most uplifting theme I ever heared.
May I make some outrageous self promotion? No ? Ok (remember: french). I know you like cooking so I have for you my Instagram channel @prngraphies_alimentaires – all dishes are mine – (it’s food porn litterraly translated, I could elaborate on it if you want) and the equivalent on FB but I will spare it to you as there’s a lot of french in it (along with the pictures). I have a channel for my photos @regis208 and maybe if I find a way to upgrade my days to 40 hours @Stuffandfingz (FB, Insta and Youtube) is gonna be for all the DIY stuff.
Thanks for your podcasts, sidecasts and others thingycasts, I really love them. Nearly Every night I go to sleep listening to you guys…. I sleep after turning off the stream, naturlich, you’re all but soporific.
So pardon my french and to hear you next sunday 😉
Regis