Tag Archives: star trek deep space nine

Fun Size Episode 77 – A Plague of Ricks

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This month, we’re upturning the rocks of our childhoods and looking at all the bugs and worms, like the uncomfortable fact that serial bully and sexist Rick Berman still has any relationship to Star Trek media anymore, and how growing up sometimes means having our love of franchise media becomes more complicated.

Plus, a quick rundown of the history of professional wrestlers owning (and not owning) the rights to their own names — and that one time that Vince McMahon tried to “recast” a couple of names he owned with new wrestlers.

And why are all the worst people named Rick?

And lots more unhinged leftist rantings! We drop the mask and chat about the evils we’re all complicit in by living under capitalism. You know, because we’re a pop culture podcast!

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Fun Size Episode 69 – Two Degrees From Luke Skywalker

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This month, we’re back with Sam Mulvey to get nerdier than we have for a while.

Mike takes the rough draft of his new “Bechdel Test”-esque thought experiment about media worldbuilding for a spin and tries to punch holes in it.  Are our large shared universe worlds really as large and expansive as they appear to be, or is that just an illusion to hide something much smaller and more insular?

And in probably more depth and exhaustive detail than necessary, Mike talks about his love and fascination with J.R.R. Tolkien and his Middle-earth legendarium, and Sam gets the opportunity to talk more about Frank Herbert’s Dune than he’s ever done before on the show.

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Fun Size Episode 44 – Walking With Dom

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We sit down with the notoriously Trek-skeptical Sam Mulvey to give our first reactions to the first episode of Star Trek: Picard. Is it what we wanted, and have modern iterations of Trek changed so much — or have become so rigid — that they’re just not for us anymore?

We talk about fake click-bait pop culture new sites, the trend that the lead-ups to movie releases are now even longer than the Presidential election, and wonder why so many fans are seemingly unable or unwilling to see the humanity of robotic and android fictional characters.

Also, Mike makes a desperate attempt to convince Sam that the Fast and the Furious franchise is something he might enjoy.

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Fun Size Episode 39 – How Could We Forget Odo?

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In the aftermath of our Deep Space Nine panel, we rejoin Michael Warbington and Siskoid to talk a little about the stuff we wish we had gotten a chance to mention.

We talk holographic club owner, Vic Fontaine. Is he the greatest creation of artificial intelligence in the Trek universe, topping even Data? How did the show tackle thorny topics like racism? And has the show been excluded from the recent wave of 1990s nostalgia?

Plus, we look ahead with a pair of Trek fans at the fact that both Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard are going somewhere that excites us: The future. Well, their future.

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Episode 41 – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

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At the edge of the Final Frontier, the Universe’s greatest mystery is about to unfold!

This month, we’re strolling the promenade and enjoying a hasperat with camp director for Camp Quest NorthWest, Michael Warbington, and Michel “Siskoid” Albert of the Gimme That Star Trek podcast to delve into the beloved franchise spin-off, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine!

Widowed Starfleet commander, Benjamin Sisko, is assigned to a derelict space station orbiting a remote planet devastated by decades of military occupation. He expects a thankless humanitarian effort and a poor environment to raise his son alone. But, after a stable wormhole to the other side of the galaxy is discovered in the system, Sisko finds himself and his station – renamed Deep Space Nine –  at the very center of galactic commerce, political conspiracies, religious prophecies, and eventually war.

With a talented and diverse cast, and groundbreaking writing, it redefined what a Star Trek television show could be.

Music: 
“Main Title/Farewell” from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine by Dennis McCarthy

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Episode 40 – Columbo: Murder By the Book

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“Just one more thing…”

In this month’s Single Serving Selection, we join Ask an Atheist‘s Sam Mulvey to snoop around the first episode of the beloved inverted-mystery series, starring Peter Falk’s rumbled detective: 1971’s Columbo: Murder By the Book.

When one half of an award-winning mystery writing team learns that his more-talented partner is leaving for a solo career, he sees his meal ticket slipping away. The only way to save his career and claim a sizeable insurance policy is to commit the perfect murder. The only hitch is that the crime is being investigated by a personable and seemingly-clownish police detective who just might have his number.

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Mike Makes a Guest Appearance on the Gimme That Star Trek Podcast!

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Pop the cork on a nice bottle of kanar and bring plenty of yamok sauce, because Mike makes an appearance on Michel “Siskoid” Albert‘s Gimme That Star Trek podcast, to talk about his favorite Trek alien species: the Cardassians!

From their first appearance in the fourth season of Star Trek: the Next Generation to their ongoing role as one of the chief antagonists of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, we dive into the characters and stories that made the Cardassians the most interesting and nuanced villains the franchise ever had.

Check it out!

Fun Size Episode 30 – That’s My Kind of Garbage!

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We’re back to dive into an overstuffed grab bag of off-topic nonsense with Roz Townsend, and we grapple with the important questions that keep us up at night.

Is Colonel Sanders the closest thing we have to an American Time Lord? What are our favorite fictional restaurants? Are self-published fan zines a lost art? Are skunks a form of Pokémon? Did Freddie Mercury go super saiyan in the ’80s? Are modern video game mechanics inaccessible to people who didn’t grow up with them?

Plus, Casey becomes annoyed at a group of small children not being as entranced by My Neighbor Totoro as he is, and we all betray our socialist leanings.

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Fun Size Episode 28 – The Wilhelm Scream of Star Wars Movies

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We continue our chat with Patrick Johnson, and finally give our mixed opinions on the latest Disney opus, Solo: A Star Wars Story. We go over the promise and the pitfalls of the prequel concept and ask ourselves what we really wanted from this movie.

We talk about a recent internet rabbit hole: a legendary and notorious New Jersey water park that many have called the most dangerous amusement park ever: Action Park. It had a cascade of bloody noses, a lax policy of selling alcohol to minors and a confirmed body count. So why do many of the people who grew up going there as kids, both openly admit its dangers while remembering it with such warm affection?

And what stupid thrills will a human being subject themselves to in the cause of ending boredom?

Plus, we can’t recommend the horror movie, A Quiet Place, more highly. Seriously, it’s really good.

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Black Ops Episode 5 – What is the Zombie Version of Deep Space Nine?

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In an episode, we continue to shake our canes at Hollywood blockbusters, spin offs, crossovers and shared universes, as Mike explains his rocky relationship with Fear the Walking Dead.

What motivates the creation of a spin-off? Are they doomed to be pale imitations? Is the massive blockbuster franchise bubble heading for a burst?

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Fun Size Episode 2 – The Future is Just…Brown

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BattlestarClassic

In the first of a pair of Fun Sized episodes this month, we sit down in the studio with Roslyn Townsend to get extra meta-topical. We talk about the phenomenon of “misdirected fandom.” Why do some fans not seem to understand or even deny that characters like Breaking Bad‘s Walter White or Watchmen‘s Rorschach have ever crossed any ethical lines?

Are all interpretations of fiction and art valid? Can a property’s fans’ behavior make it hard to enjoy? Can an artist’s views or behavior overshadow their work?

We also dig into the world of 1970s science fiction where everyone wears a cape, all hair is big, and everything is brown.

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