Episode 44: The Transformers

The Optimus Prime puppet from the so-called "Season 5"

"Are Kup and Hot Rod gonna be alright, Uncle Prime?" "Kup and Hot Rod are gonna be just fine, Li'l Tommy."

How has it taken 44 episodes to get to this?! Ben and I sit down with TFG1 Mike and JT from Saskatoon to talk about robots that turn into cars, planes, and boomboxes. Yes, it’s The Transformers. At last, this day has come!

I know that it’s not great storytelling. Heck, the show can barely go an episode without contradicting itself. But when it comes to creating iconic characters by the seat of its pants, nothing… I mean, NOTHING tops G1 Transformers. Optimus Prime, Megatron, Hot Rod, Starscream, Jazz, Soundwave, Grimlock, Ironhide, Cyclonus, Kup, and many, many more.

Today, we make fun of G1 a lot, but it’s all out of love.

Topics Discussed
GET THAT CRAP OUT OF MY ROBOT SHOW!!!
Optimus Prime: Death and Resurrection
The immaculate conception of Spike Witwicky
Robots with souls
Gay love Autobots
Of Mice And Dinobots
“No one’s ever really disabled as long as they have COURAGE!”
“Don’t sneak up on me, Tommy!”
Daniel cries like a baby
Rodimus listens to old Cure albums and cuts himself
The birth of AKOM
Toy-accurate Ultra Magnus makes us cry
Targetmaster contortionists
Ninja consultants
A life support system that you wear into battle
Putting dead giant robots into wooden caskets
The F*@!ING CYBERNETIC SPACE CUBE!!!
The Go-Bots movie SUCKS!!!!!!!!!1111oneoneone

Grimlock! Shhh!

Proof that Rodimus is a terrible leader. Optimus would NEVER have taken Grimlock along on a spy mission.

Daniel jumps down Arcee's empty neck!!

And Mike Blanchard wants an explanation for why I think that this is a terrible episode. Isn't it obvious?!??!

The dying and rising Optimus Prime

Here's the guy I pray to every Sunday!


Episode 32: X-Men vs X-men Evolution – Side by Side

Sentinels at their absolute stupidest!

"It appears to be the Ace of Spades!"

This week, we’re joined by Geekcast creator and Evolution-denier, TFG1 Blanchard. We compare the original X-Men animated series to the more modern X-Men Evolution. We challenge our guest to make an argument in favor of the 1992 series.

Here’s a game for our listeners. Take a drink for every time Blanchard appeals to his nostalgia instead of the actual quality of the shows. You will be passed out before the show ends.

Episode Topics
“And that’s great, but…”
Only 267 awesome moments out of 52 episodes!
Not punching someone makes you a douche bag.
Having awesome horsemen is like Carly talking to Megatron. (WHAT?!)
“The name’s Bishop. Remember it.”
Giant robots in purple underwear
X-Men on a boat that can’t stop. Worst episode ever.
Shockingly, not a single creationism joke from Neil.
The only card you need is the Ace of Spades! The Ace of Spades!

Episode 27 – Animation 101

AKOM

AKOM - Made from the worst shit on Earth!

In this week’s almost-but-not-quite-epic-length episode, we’re joined by Pablo Praino to talk about the animation industry as a whole. We talk about the techniques, the terminology, and the evolution of the medium as a whole. Legendary icons are discussed. Bruce Timm, Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, John Kricfalusi, Walt Disney, Lou Scheimer, Chuck Jones, and more.

We also crack a lot of jokes and riff on Rodimus Prime a bit more.

Discussed in this episode:
Good animation is like a fine wine
You can get sued for being a good impersonator
GoAnimate: The Family Guy generator
Feet are sexy
Don’t listen to that Murakami kid
AKOM sucks

We also invaded This Week In Geek again to talk about The Green Lantern!

Animation 101

The faces of animation over the decades.

Episode 24 – Batman

Batman

For a generation, this was the sign that the bad ass was about to start.

Tanya Higgins of Webcast Beacon and Tom Revor of Crossworlds join us this week to discuss the action cartoon that put action cartoons back on the map in the early 90s. You know it. You love it. It’s Batman.

For nearly two hours, we wade through the origins of the Timm-Verse and all of Bruce Timm’s innovations that have since been smuggled back into the comics during a time when the face of animation was changing. You won’t want to miss this, the first in our DCAU series. Batman!

This episode is about…
Firing Tim Currey
Firing AKOM
Girls wearing men’s shirts as pajamas
Reinventing the relationship between comics and animation
Escaping Tiny Toons
Robin laid an egg
Timmitators
Hornswoggle!
Winning!

Harley and Ivy

Awwwww YEAH!!! That's what I'm talkin' about!

Episode 23 – The DC Animated Universe!

The DCAU

The DCAU

Tonight, we are talking about the DC Animated Universe as a whole.  We give Bruce Timm the kudos he deserves.  Oh, we bash the Marvel animated universe a bit more too… but they DESERVE it.

This is just an introductory episode, so it’s just a nice, cool 30 minutes this week, folks.  Next week, we’ll dive in head-first into Batman.

 

Topics we talk about:
Bruce Timm; he’s a hero
Marvel doesn’t understand continuity.
Sending stuff back to Korea
Fucking BONE CLAWS! (How do they work?!)
Dion died on camera
The Dreamworks face
Neil drops an Animation Runner Kuromi reference
The etymology of AKOM
The Apocrypha of the DC Animated Universe