Tag: sci-fi

123 – Apple TV+

Apple TV+

Tim and Jen shred a selection of programs from awful neolib also-ran streaming service, Apple TV+!

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50+ bonus episodes!

Have you seen…Tim’s website?

Jen alludes at one point to the “Unicorn Killer,” Ira Einhorn. He claimed to have helped found Earth Day, but his account has been disputed. Conservatives still love to evoke him as emblematic of leftist depravity. He died in prison in 2020.

Jen also touched on the much-muddied concept of “emotional labor,” as originally described by sociologist Arlie Hochschild. Read Sharmin Tunguz’s article on how the term has been misappropriated.

When emotional labor has left the professional sphere and has entered the domestic realm; when it is used to describe a household list of domestic chores, whether or not those chores are done happily or grumpily, it has become diluted to the point of being in danger of losing its meaning. Yes, women do tend to shoulder more emotional labor in the workplace, and more attention on its health and professional repercussions means more attempts to alleviate it. But when contexts morph, and meanings change, are we still talking about the same thing?

Sharmin Tunguz via Psychology Today

Don’t miss our Nothing But Trouble episode with Matt Christman, by the way!

113 – The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.

Bruce Campbell as Brisco County Jr. with one of the horses who played Comet
wonder which “Comet” that is

Jen and Tim revisit the greatest unfairly-cancelled single-season sci-fi western TV series of all time: The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.! If you thought we were going to say “Firefly” you have obviously never listened to our show before. Also Jen is finally able to air her feelings about Dixie for a mass audience. Spicy!

Drake meme with Firefly in the "no" position and Brisco County Jr. in the "yes" position
sorry, we’re correct


Check DVDTalk for information on the complete series on home media.

Whether you lived through it or not, you can peruse the 1993-94 prime-time television lineup for yourself.

For more cult TV, try our episode on Hammer House of Horror!

109 – M.A.N.T.I.S.

Newspaper ad for broadcast of the TV movie M.A.N.T.I.S.

What if Black Panther had been the pilot for a TV show, but when they went to series they took out Wakanda and most of the black people? You’d have M.A.N.T.I.S.! HYST superfan mugrimm joins Tim and Jen to talk about what was lost when the Sam Raimi/Sam Hamm/Rob Tapert pilot became a politically toothless show with white sidekicks.

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

The documentary Jen couldn’t remember the name of is Call Me Lucky, and it was directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. It’s an account of the life of satirist and activist Barry Crimmins.

Want to hear about a more inept superhero telefilm? Why not listen to our episode about Captain America with MST3k and Rifftrax alum Bill Corbett?

107 – Krull

Ken Marshall wields the Glaive in Krull (1983)
literally who cares what this thing is called shut the hell up

Mike Rosen returns to fight Tim on the merits (or lack thereof) of cult 80s sci-fantasy film Krull! Jen moderates to the best of her ability!

Krull hit screens in 1983 and failed to make its money back, although it is beloved by the kind of people who liked Ready Player One.

For exhaustive contemporary coverage of Krull, visit the Internet Archive’s scanned copy of Starlog issue 76, from November 1983.

Special effects makeup artist Nick Maley seemed to enjoy making the film, judging by his reminisces.

One valiant effort to market the movie: Krull-themed weddings! To our knowledge, none of the brides or grooms have come forward to admit to their participation. But it’s hard to see how the movie missed with marketing concepts this good:

One [marketing gimmick] suggests approaching the local bakery about creating special pastries in the shape of the Glaive and dubbing them the punny ‘Krullers’. “Everyone knows what a cruller is…a tasty glazed donut. Now comes the Kruller…a tasty Glaived donut.

Tim Kirk via The Moving Arts Film Journal

For another fantasy misfire and more of guest Mike Rosen, try our episode on Ron Howard and George Lucas’s Willow!

106 – Planet of Storms

Still frame from Pavel Klushantsev's Planet of Storms (1962)

Tim and Jen return to Soviet filmmaker Pavel Klushantsev’s optimistic world of space exploration for 1962’s Planet of Storms! Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

The original film is available on YouTube with English subtitles. If you’re curious about the 1955 Disney short Man in Space, you can watch it here, but you won’t actually learn much about the historical origins of rocketry.

See photos of the actual Venusian surface captured by some of the unfortunate Soviet probes we mentioned.

If you missed our Road to the Stars episode, listen to it here!

ERRATA: Jen speculates in the episode about the reason for the lack of cultural impact the film made in the United States. It turns out there’s a good reason. Planet of Storms didn’t arrive in the US in official, unadulterated home video form until some time in the 90s. As we mentioned, the film was cannibalized for two different American productions. One was Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet, with new footage directed by eventual New Queer Cinema trailblazer Curtis Harrington. The other, as we mentioned in the episode, was Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women. They both suck.

103 – Road to the Stars/Pavel Klushantsev

Road to the Stars poster

Tim attempts to convey the charm and innovative spirit of Soviet filmmaker Pavel Klushantsev to his lazy, lazy cohost! Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

We mentioned the Klushantsev documentary The Star Dreamer, but don’t miss the original films! We loved the dog in a spacesuit in Mars.

Dog and hooman on the Martian surface, from Pavel Klushantsev's Mars (1968)
“I thought James Cameron was gonna meet us here.”

For the exact opposite of Klushantsev’s optimistic vision, check out our episode on Paul W.S. Anderson’s space-based nightmare, Event Horizon!

088 – The Lawnmower Man

Pierce Brosnan and Jeff Fahey in Lawnmower Man (1992)
😐

Tim holds forth excitedly about “the most accurate depiction of virtual reality as a profound concept that is silly in its execution.” Based on the Stephen King lawsuit!

GenXers may remember Nintendo’s failed “virtual reality” console, the Virtual Boy. If you’re unfamiliar and were wondering what the heck we were talking about, you can’t go wrong with the Angry Video Game Nerd’s very funny and profane video on the topic.

“The Sixth Finger” is an Outer Limits episode that appears to share some plot inspiration with Lawnmower Man.

Here’s that Tom the Dancing Bug comic Tim didn’t get a chance to summarize (it parodies “Flowers for Algernon”).

Peter Gabriel’s “Kiss That Frog,” video directed by Brett Leonard

078 – The Doomsday Machine

You know how sometimes a movie just sucks and is lazy and stupid and sexist? That’s The Doomsday Machine, all right! Mike Rosen joins us to discuss!

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

You can watch The Doomsday Machine in its entirety on YouTube, but why would you? Try the very funny Cinematic Titanic version instead!

This is actually the second movie starring Bobby Van (a favorite actor of Jen’s) we’ve covered on the show. The first was lumbering musical Lost Horizon—listen to our episode about it here.