Episode 23 – Star Trek: the Next Generation

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Space…the final frontier…

Mike and Casey reserve a table in Ten Forward and share a pot of “tea, early grey, hot” with Greg Hatcher of Comic Book Resources’ Comics Should Be Good! blog and game designer Ryan Chaddock. Our continuing mission: to launch a class-5 probe into the Neutral Zone, and to discuss the classic science fiction series, Star Trek: the Next Generation.

We discuss how it added to the Trek mythos, the tug of war over the show’s themes and writing, and how the classic series stands the test of times as a piece of optimistic science fiction in a current age of popular dystopias and the “grim and gritty” storytelling in genre film and television.

Make it so!

Music: 
“End Credits” from Star Trek: First Contact by Jerry Goldsmith

Previously titled: “Oh, God. Not Another Troi Episode!”

Podcasta la Vista, Baby! Episode 1 – The Running Man

Running-Man“A game nobody survives. But Schwarzenegger has yet to play.”

It’s the premiere episode of Podcasta la Vista, Baby!

Mike and Casey are proud to be joined by Greg Hatcher of Comic Book Resources’ Comics Should Be Good! blog, to talk about a 1987 science fiction classic from the height of Arnold’s cinematic career: The Running Man.

The year is 2019. American is governed by a fascist dictatorship that uses television to keep the populace docile. The most popular game show is “the Running Man,” where criminals and dissidents are forced to flee from murderous, costumed gladiators to win their freedom — and their lives. Its newest contestant is a certain Austrian man-mountain, framed for a crime he didn’t commit.

These guys are totally fucked.

Episode 18.5 – Somebody Destroyed One of Roger Moore’s Horcruxes

Bond moore

In our latest collections of panel outtakes and off-topic discussion, Mike and Casey are joined by Greg Hatcher and Ryan Chaddock for a chat about the Logan’s Run television show and the formulaic nature of 1970s science fiction.

We compare the various Bond actors on their ability to dispense post-murder puns, and the pros and cons of grit versus camp. We try to get to the bottom of why Roger Moore continued to play 007 into his senior years, why bleeding heart liberals like us enjoy violent right-leaning vigilante fiction, and why the hell the spinoff Baywatch Nights even existed.

Episode 18 – James Bond

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 “No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!”

Mike and Casey are shaking (but not stirring) their martinis and hoping a plane to Montenegro to sit at the baccarat table and trade barbs with Greg Hatcher of Comic Book Resources’ Comics Should Be Good! blog and game designer Ryan Chaddock. Our mission: to discuss the origins, movies and the cultural phenomenon that is James Bond.

We dig into the nature of 007’s morality, celebrate his penchant for battling outlandish supervillains, and we delve into why this super spy never seems to go out of style.

Music: 
“James Bond Theme” from Dr. No  by John Barry

Previously titled: “Sex, Sadism, and Snobbery”

Help the Hatchers!

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A member of the Radio vs. the Martians! family needs your help!

Greg and Julie Hatcher are two of our favorite people.

They don’t have a lot of money, but are heroically generous with their time and work. Greg has been an invaluable panelist and a wonderful columnist for Comic Book Resources. And his wife Julie is truly one of the nicest people we’ve ever met.

For a long time now, Greg has worked as a part-time writer and part-time Middle School art teacher, and Julie was recently laid off from her job, which provided their health insurance.

The good news is that even on unemployment, she could still get health insurance and they still kept their heads above water. And even better, Julie recently got two job offers. She accepted the best one, and had to turn down the second.

And then, the company that hired her — but hadn’t committed the job offer to paper — decided that they didn’t want to hire someone after all. And the second job that she’d turned down had already been filled.

Julie, who is physically incapable of lying, told this to the unemployment office — that she’d had to turn down a job. So her unemployment benefits have been dropped. They can no longer afford Julie’s medication and are in a lot of trouble.

The unemployment office is going to sort it out. But it’ll take a few weeks.

The problem is that real life isn’t going to wait for a few weeks. Greg and Julie have to pay for food and ultilities and medicine. And that simply cannot wait.

So, Greg and Julie need your help. Fellow CBR veteran Jim MacQuarrie has set up a GoFundMe site for Greg and Julie, and we’d like to ask you to help out.

They’re going to be auctioning off some really cool books and comics for donors, but either way, drop them a few bucks.

On our show, Greg has continued to share his time and experiences and stories as a panelist for free. And he needs your help.

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Episode 12 – Conan the Barbarian

2595372-savage_sword_of_conan_047_01fcTravel back, O Listener, to an age undreamed of!

Hither came Mike and Casey, swords in hand, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under sandaled feet with Greg Hatcher of Comics Should Be Good! and our friend Pól Rua of Mike and Pól Save the Universe!

That’s right. This month, the panel is talking about Robert E. Howard’s legendary fantasy anti-hero, Conan the Barbarian! From his pulp magazine beginnings in 1932 to the character’s explosion into comic books, newspaper strips, cartoons, and feature films. Conan’s impact on modern fantasy fiction — and popular culture itself — is deep and often unsung. Join us in a discussion of jocks versus nerds, power fantasies and the infectious “fuck yeah!” moment.

So heft your weeping red broadsword, and whisper a prayer to Crom, because we’re telling you of the days of high adventure!

[CORRECTION: Greg writes new pulp adventures for Airship 27. My apologies.]

Music: 
The Battle of the Mounds from Conan the Barbarian” by Basil Poledouris

Previously titled: “A Jock’s Wet Dream”

Episode 10 – Planet of the Apes

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It’s a madhouse! A MADHOUSE!

Mike and Casey invade the Forbidden Zone with our theme song’s composer Todd Maxfield-Matsumoto and Comics Should Be Good!‘s Greg Hatcher. This month we’re talking about the classic film franchise: the Planet of the Apes!

We talk about the film’s long-lived popularity, its relevance as socially-aware science fiction, its totally insane comic book adaptations in the 1970s, and its subsequent reboots.

We also try to wrap our minds around how an ostensibly family-friendly adventure series includes bloody religious imagery, nudity, babies shot with handguns, and total nuclear devastation.

Music: 
The Hunt from the Planet of the Apes” by Jerry Goldsmith

Previously titled: “Two-Fisted Misanthrope”