Episode Eighty-Six - Kaos Theory

The high point of Star Trek Picard: the reunion with Riker, Picard and Troi.

With the Splendid Isolation mini-series ended, we are back to regular episodes. Thanks to those who listened while I tried to keep busy.

We welcome back John Champion (@dvdgeeks) from the Mission Log Podcast (@missionlogpod) to discuss the recently-completed Star Trek Picard season one. We chat about what we liked and what was problematic and where the show might go in future seasons. On the Trek front, we talk about the changes to Mission Log, with Ken Ray departing and Norman Lao arriving at the beginning of the year.

From there, it’s lots of spy talk, starting naturally with Get Smart (since it’s episode 86). From there, it’s a cornucopia of shows on the docket, including Mission: Impossible, the Man from UNCLE and more. With the passing of Robert Conrad, we of course discussed the Wild Wild West, including why the show was so fun. And with the recent death of Honor Blackman, we talk about the Cathy Gale version of The Avengers, as well as her role in Goldfinger.

To round up the show, it’s some other British programs to examine, including Danger Man, the Prisoner, Randal and Hopkirk Deceased (which John had not seen before) , Department S, Jason King and how the star of the last two shows had a connection to the Bronze Age X-Men comic books.

Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy the show.

Episode Eighty-Four - Splendid Isolation Number Three

They Buried The Cowboy Under the Russian Flag!

We’re back with an extra-special edition of the new Splendid Isolation podcast series, as we welcome back Mike Sempervive (@sempervive) from Wrestling Observer Live and the Mid Atlantic Championship Podcast (@midatlanticpod).

We kick if off with a long chat about Bill Watts and the UWF, discussing how hot the promotion began after the name change from Mid-South Wrestling and its expansion outside its home region into places like Baltimore, where young Mike and slightly older Mark watched it in the spring of 1986. We reminisce about the initial title switches, promoting the Jim Crockett Sr Memorial Cup and one of the greatest angles of all-time, one so good we named a spin-off magazine after it: Eddie Gilbert and the Russians burying Watts under the USSR flag. We bracket that with the UWF TV show after the promotion was bought by JCP and just how quickly the show changed.

One of the other big topics covered is Mike’s new Mid-Atlantic Championshop Podcast, which he co-hosts with Roman Gomez. We talk about how the show started, why they chose 1982 as a starting point, some of the main players in the territory at the time and plenty of other JCP topics, including the Final Conflict show in 1983 and play WHAT IF? with various wrestlers (What if Gino had come in 1986? What if Buddy Landell had shown up for that TV taping?).

There’s plenty of other chat for the rest of the podcast, not limited to: the state of the territories by the mid 1980s, the hidden gem that was Southeastern Wrestling, the greatness of Ron Fuller’s Studcast podcast, classic 1980s TV and a brief chat at the end about sports uniforms.

Mike is always a great guest, so big thanks for him for giving so much of his time. We have more shows planned for the future, branching out in topics, so keep an eye out for them. Thanks for listening.

Episode Seventy-One - Rock Me Salieri

Pep and Jose, the prequel

The podcast returns before the holiday season kicks in discussing the world of futbol and more with Ken Early (@kenearlys) from the Irish Times and the Second Captains podcast (@secondcaptains). 

We start with how Ireland is dealing with their elimination from the World Cup and what the future holds for coaches Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane. That segues into a discussion about why they and the Irish national team have such a poor relationship in recent years with Everton.

Then, it's onto a chat about the Champions League, which resumed with Match Day Five when this episode debuted. From there, we talk about two of Ken's favorite subjects: Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.  We examine the relationship between the two in Spain and now in the Premier League. To which historical rivals does Ken compare the two managers? And just how of The Special One's wrestling heel persona is a work?

Lastly, we talk about the Second Captains World Service podcast network, their move to becoming a paid subscription model earlier this year and the decision for Ken to a political podcast as one of their shows and the whole "stick to sports" opinion held by a segment of the sports fans around the world.

Note: The political chat starts around 34:30 and includes a number of current events.  If that's not your cup of tea, please feel free to give that section a pass. No offense taken.

You can join the Second Captains World Service at Patreon.  For US subscribers, it's (at current exchange rates) $5.35 a month for at least six podcasts a week. 

Episode Sixty-Nine - When First We Practice to Deceive

Martin Landau as Rollin Hand.

On the ever of Star Trek: Discovery debuting, we are pleased to be joined by John Champion (@dvdgeeks), co-host of the Mission Log Podcast, to talk Trek and more. 

We begin by going over the career of Martin Landau, who passed away in July 2017. Lots of Mission Impossible chat here, including some of his most memorable episodes and also some of his other guest star appearances as well as playing Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood. We also mention a number of connections between Mission Impossible and the 1960s Star Trek show, including the overlapping guest stars and address the rumor about Landau possibly being on the list of actors to play Mr. Spock.

This segues into our Trek talk, starting with Mission Log about to wrap up reviewing The Next Generation and moving on to the TNG movies and then Deep Space Nine. And we preview Star Trek: Discovery, starting next week on CBS before moving to CBS' streaming service.  What do we know so far based on the trailer and advanced information? John also lets us now how Mission Log is going to cover an on-going TV show. 

We end with a very nerdy chat about the 1967 Bond movie Casino Royale and why we both love it, despite being "a glorified mess." 

Mission Log Podcast (@missionlogpod), host by John and Ken Ray (@macosken) drops every Thursday wherever you get your podcasts. 

Episode Sixty-Six - Islands in the Stream

NBC's excellent EPL studio cast: host Rebecca Lowe, and analysts Kyle Martino, Robbie Earle and Robbie Mustoe. 

With some sports media news in the headlines, we are pleased to be joined again by Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) from Sports Illustrated.  We recorded on Operning Day for the English Premier League, so we chat about NBC's near-universal popular coverage as well as their paid app and whether people will purchase.  That seques into a discussion of The Athletic, the paid content sports writing site, their successes so far and would their model work in a city like New York. We talk about ESPN and how necessary they are for a fan whose favorite sports are undercovered (like hockey and soccer). We also discuss where ESPN fits in with Disney's new streaming strategy. We end with some brief wrestling chat, what Richard is enjoying with the current WWE product and being able to wrestling from around the world online. 

We are working lining up some guests to discuss the Premier League and the other European leagues starting up, but were not able to get them in time for today's podcast. Hopefully, they will be on the next episode. Thanks for listening. 

Episode Sixty-Four - The Mad Titan

From the Death of Captain Marvel. (c) 2017 Marvel Comics.

Just in time for San Diego Comic-Con, an over-stuffed episode about comics, movies, TV and video games. We welcome Craig from the Puzzle Warriors 3 podcast (@PuzzleWarriors3) to talk all that and more.

We start by going over what got Craig back into comics after a couple decades, what we are both enjoying right and looking forward to coming out soon. Plenty of good recommendations here. Also, why does Craig love Dazzler so mych?

From there, we talk about the just completed season of Doctor Who and what we could happen in the Xmas Special as well as thoughts on the new creative team and cast.

And lots of Marvel Puzzle Quest talk, including why he, Ian and Craig started the show, thoughts of some of the more powerful characters in the game, balancing PVE, PVP and DDQ, how much fun the special events have been of late and chat about the special plants for their 100th episode in two weeks time. 

Lots of random stuff at the end, including wrestling and hockey talk. We never got around to all the old TV show and cartoon talk that was on the docket, so hopefully Craig will be back in a future episode.

Note: We had a brief addition to the show for a mention of the passing of George A. Romero and Martlin Landau. As a huge Mission Impossible fan, I am working on lining up a special guest to talk about Landau's career. 

Episode Forty-Seven - Captain Caveman

He got a big ugly club and a head fulla hair Like great big lions and grizzly bears.

We welcome back Vandal Drummond (@vandaldrummond) from the Luchaworld podcast for a variety of subjects. We talk the Reyes de Aire match between Barbaro Cavernario and Volador Jr and its polarizing finish, what they have left for the rematch and Cavernario's main event future. We also talk about the recent CMLL legends show and how not all 50-+ year old wrestlers are like Negro Casas and Negro Navarro. Next, Vandal explains how he acquired some of the infamous Monsul's Powder, made famous by an angle with John Tolos and Freddie Blassie in 1971. We discuss other blinding angles and, based on the Last Battle of Atlanta footage, the importance of context when watching a match from the past cold.  Then we discuss the European vacation Vandal and his wife took this summer, including being in London right after Brexit and Paris right after the Nice attack following Euro 2016. He also mentions what city (home to a former podcast guest and friend of the show) they loved so much they inquired about retiring there. We end with talk of the next Luchaworld podcast with Alfredo Esparza (@therealfredo) and some of the other shows Vandal has done recently, including the 605 Superpodcast (@605pod). 

The dreaded Monsul's Powder.

Episode Forty-Three - Girls and Boys

You're my girl, Bleu. Blue Monday: The Kids are Alright  (C) 2106 Chynna Clugston Flores.

With Blue Monday finally back in print, we are thrilled to have Chynna Clugston Flores (@chynnasyndrome) on the podcast to talk about the series being reprinted at Image with colors by Jordie Bellaire (@whoajordie), the timetable for reprints and  new material, the return of Scooter Girl, writing the Gotham Academy/Lumberjanes cross-over book, working on DC kids books including the Mad Mod issue of Teen Titans Go, MTV Classics, use of music in Blue Monday, the cyclical nature of fads and culture, silent movies and more. 

Following that, we have a short list of podcast recommendations, including Monday Night Braw (@mondaynightbraw), Between the Sheets and Exile on Badstreet by Kris Zellner (@kriszellner) and David Bixenspan @davidbix), european football podcasts from the Guardian, the Times (of London), Second Captains (@secondcaptains) from the Irish Times,The Men in Blazers (@meninblazers), Talksport's European Football Show, the Jonah Keri Podcast (@jonahkeri) and the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by RIchard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) 

Episode Twenty-Six - Kaiju-Go-Go-Go

Our Author Theory series continues with the award-winning creator @zandercannon. We discuss his @onipress series Kaijumax, recently out in trade paperback, how he came up with the idea of a giant monster/prison drama mash-up, tropes of both genres, which analogues have and will eventually shpw up in the book, is his son the model for the kid in the comic and doing audio commentaries for each issue. We also discuss his past work including working with Alan Moore on Top Ten and Smax the Barbarian, doing licensed books involving Star Trek and Transformers, getting his start on the Tick spin-off series The Chainsaw Vigilante and will we every see more issues of The Replacement God. Also we discuss on industry issues like print vs digital, monthly issues vs the trade for reader, retailers and creators, process podcasts, and a story about how there was almost a dueling 24 hour comic showdown between Zander and @billwillingham that would have taken place at @captainbluehen comics in the late 1990s. 

Episode Twenty-Five - The Fickle Finger of Fate

Part three of our Author Theory series continues today with veteran comics and animation writer J.M. DeMatteis (@jmdematteis). We discuss the new DC Animated movie Batman: Bad Blood, which he scripted., as well as some of his other work in animation including Justice League Unlimited and The Brave and the Bold.  Following that, it's a long discussion about his comics work: scripting all-ages comics, artistic freedom in the late 1980s and a number of his past and current titles, including Doctor Fate, The Defenders, Greenberg the Vampire, Moonshadow, Mercy, Seekers into the Mystery, The Adventures of Augusta Wind, Captain America, Weird War Tales and Justice League 3000/3001. There is also some JLI talk sprinkled throughout the show.  We also talk about his upcoming work on both the new Scooby Doo comic and the new Be Cool, Scooby Doo cartoon.

(45:10) - Instead of reviews, some podcast recommendations, inclduing @mondaynightbraw by @fromthesublime and @garyrodger, Between the Sheets by @kriszellner and @davidbix, @luchaworld, Como Estas by @luchablog and @robviper, @housetoastonish by Al Kennedy and @ifdestroyed, @longboxheroes by @lfchikarason and @rowkerthejoker, @jeffmarek vs @wyshynski, Football Weekly from the Guardian, The Game Podcast by The Times (UK) and @meninblazers. 

Episode Twenty - Beside the Seaside

An extended vacation over the holidays means extra podcasts. Today, we're joined by Iain Hepburn, host of the From the Sublime (@fromthesublime) podcast to talk about (3:50) Partick Thistle Football Club and their potentially nightmare-inducing mascot Kingsley, (7:55) the NXT UK tour (he was at the Glasgow and Blackpool house shows), (17:13) contemporary comic book TV shows including Arrow, the upcoming Heroes of Tomorrow and the recently-released Jessice Jones. We also chat about classic British TV, both (24:02) British Sci-Fi and (35:55) British comedy and all the connections between the shows (Is there really an episode of Randall & Hopkirk, Deceased featuring Brian Blessed, Nick Courtney and Roger Delgado?) and (41:18) season 9 of Doctor Who.  There's even talk about Iain's former podcast, the gone-but=not-forgotten (47:40) Thumbcast  and the year-end episode of From the Sublime.

Episode Eight - Doomed is Your Soul

DOOM DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR REVIEWS

1:08 - Joe Gagne from Joe vs the World discusses wrestling podcasts, wrestling video games, Chikara, the New Japan G1 tournament and more.

23:22 - A round table discussion recorded live at Denny's to discuss the new Fantastic (in name only) Four movie, with Leonard and Todd from Longbox Heroes and Jason from Podvacacy. A few salty words get thrown in here, but can you blame us? 

Episode Two - Conspiracy by Proxy

Episode Two of the podcast. 

Special Guest Star - Greg Rucka talks Women's World Cup, the FIFA scandal, Stumptown, Lazarus, Cyclops, Lady Sabre, writing in the Star Wars universe and the status of the Lazarus and Queen & Country media projects.

TKD discusses the 30 May Cara Lucha show, Rush, Hechicero, Volador Jr, Flamita, ordering lucha libre from Black Terry Jr,  the 2015 CMLL En Busca de un Idolo tournament, Barbero Cavenario and more.