Episode 123 - It's Full of Stars

It was a Starfield wedding and the old folks wished them well.

I’m excited to welcome back Jason Plays (@jasonplaysNMS) to the show to discuss a variety of topics.

First up, Starfield has been out for about a month now and we were both super looking forward to it. How has Jason found the game so far, his likes and dislikes, comparing it to both past Bethesda games and space operas like Mass Effect. I’ve been slow playing, where Jason is on his fourth playthrough, so while there are discussions of characters and missions, a lot of the big spoilers are not discussed, since I haven’t gotten to them yet.

Then, of course, we talk about No Man’s Sky, which dropped an update and expedition right before Starfield’s launch. How did Jason cope with trying to consume and play both at the same time? We discuss the most recent expedition and how it feels like Hello Games just might be making adventures to put a burr in the saddle of speedrunners.

We also chat about the upcoming Metal Gear Solid remastered releases. Jason was a huge Solid Snake fan in the day, so we talk about our memories of the games both good and bad (Raiden, I’m looking at you).

Then we shift gears for a long chat about the James Bond franchise. We discuss our favorite Bond actors and films, the out-of-continuity movies, serious spy films vs funny/campy pictures, other favorite spy properties and more. There’s also a lot of random popular culture chat, including (again) the greatness of Green Acres, the early years of having a VCR, life as a video game streamer and attracing an audience and other stuff.

I want to thank Jason for his time for doing a long episode, especially since we started late, thanks to a seemingly interminable traffic jam on my way home from work, which pushed back the recording time.

Episode 122 - Hotscakes

The Cary Grant of Pigs, Arnold Ziffel. (c) 2023 MGM.

We’re happy to welcome Daniel Budnik (@dannyslacks1) to the podcast to discuss an underrated comic great of the 1960s, Green Acres. Daniel wrote “From Beverly Hills to Hooterville,” an episode guide and analysis of the three shows created by Paul Henning in the 1960s: The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction and Green Aces.

We talk about the show’s origin and how Jay Sommers based on the show on “Granby’s Green Acres,” a radio show with a similar premise back in the 1950. There’s a lot of talk on the show about Sommers and writing partner Chevillat, who scripted almost all of the show’s 170 episodes over six seasons.

There’s lots of talk about the cast, headed by Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor and the various folks that inhabit Hooterville, including handyman Ed (Tom Lester) shifty salesman Mr. Haney (Pat Buttram) and of course, the breakout star of the show at the time, Arnold Ziffel (Arnold the Pig).

We discuss the surreal and absurdist comedy found on the show, which probably goes back to the careers of Sommers and Chevillat, who worked with people in vaudeville, film and radio like the Marx Brothers, Burns and Allen and Laurel & Hardy.

There’s lots of talk about our favorite and/or memorable episodes and bits, including Lisa’s cooking, Oliver’s empassioned speeches about farming and all the metatext in the show.

This was a very fun show to record and discuss such a television classic. We hope to have Daniel back on the show to talk about some of his other areas of research he has done in his books and podcasts, including Supertrain and Time Express, that’s the Vincent Price “Fantasy Island on a train” show whose name we couldn’t remember.