The box art for 1985’s Ultima IV computer game from Origin Systems.

In what might turn out to be Video Game Month, I’m happy to welcome the video game streamer/content creator Majuular (@majuular) to the show for some classic video game chat.

I first found his channel because of his video essay series on Origin Systems’ Ultima game series from the 1980s and 1990s. Ultima IV was one of my favorite games as a teenager, so really enjoyed his video on that game and Ultima V (which I also played back in the day).

We discuss how young Richard Garriot (aka Lord British) created his first game Akalabeth while still in high school, which was the precursor to the Ultima series and how Origin Systems came to be as a company. Although we discuss many of the games, we mainly talk about Ultima IV and V and how atypical they were for role playing games at the time, be they video game or table top, and probably still are to this day. We also discuss some of the later games and spin-offs, other games published by Origin, what you could call the “coaching tree” of people who started there who went on to make landmark games in the industry. There’s also talk about their complicated publishing history and is there any future for the Ultima brand with it being owned currently by Electronic Arts?

There’s other game chat, including Majuular’s recommendations for classic JRPGs, the greatness of Thief and the not-so-greatness of the games based on William Shatner’s TekWar books and TV show. There’s also talk about the art of reviewing “bad” pop culture, MST3K, punching up vs punching down and when does “so bad it’s good” factor into the equation?

There’s LOTS of other fun tangents and divergences in this show, including chatting about John Ford/John Wayne movies, Gene Autry’s progressive for 1949 film The Cowboys and the Indians (which we discussed years ago on the Plot Podcast), Tim Horton’s fast food chain somehow having an outlet on the East Coast and lots of other random topics.

It was fun having Majuular on the show. He’s also a James Bond guy, so maybe we can have him back once the new “James Bond Jr.” game comes out later this year. You can find his You Tube video essays at Majuular and his streaming channel at Majuularcade.

The 1947 French press kit for Casablanca.

Another show, another guest whose appearance was years in the making. I’m happy to welcome my former film professor at Indiana Barbara Klinger to the show to discuss her most recent book, Immortal Films, which is about the enduring legacy of Casablanca over the decades since its release in 1942.

We start with the film’s origins, design to encourage and support US involvement in WW II, its release timed to coincide with the Allies’ campaign in North Africa, which obviously includes Morocco, where Casablanca takes place.

There’s also talk about its popularity over the years since its release, including radio adaptations right after its release, its rotation for years on television, the burgeoning home video marker in the 1980s and how it became popular as a revival picture with audience participation years before the Rin ocky Horror Picture Show and sing along films in modern times. We even discuss the two failed attempts at making a Casablanca TV show, including the early 1980s version with David Soul as Rick, Scatman Crothers as Sam and a young Ray Liotta as the bartender.

As you might expect, there’s also plenty of talk about Casablanca and metatext, from the adoption of Bogart as an icon in the French New Wave, Woody Allen’s play and later film Play It Again, Sam and those famous scenes you know showing up in places like The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live or even young Gilbert Gottfried’s early stand-up where he did Jackie Gleason as Bogart at the end of the film: “You know that I know that you’re getting on that plane.”

There’s also some chat about various of film topics, including the perils of list making, the role of porn and wrestling in the advancement of new media formats, Alfred Hitchcock, the Harry Lime radio show, Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are Dead, Citizen Kane and more.

I probably haven’t talked to Barb in person for over 30 years so it was a great change to catch up and discuss her book, which you can find in all the usual places you get your reading material.

Also, if you go back in the Winter Palace archives, you can find my chat in episode 63 with my other film professor James Naremore, where we discuss Chimes at Midnight and other things Orson Welles.

Episode 6 - The Origin of Species

Episode 5 - Shocked ... Shocked