Not to be mistaken for other Khans (Or Caans)... we are super jazzed to have the writer of the movie novelizations of Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Goonies, and Poltergeist I and II. In addition he writes his own original novels, records music, has written for and produced big time TV such as Star Trek: Voyager, Melrose Place, Xena: Warrior Princess, and all kinds of other stuff.
Did I mention he's also an Medical Doctor and is making his own movie? Wait.. what the hell is this guy doing talking to us? We're not sure, but tune in as Dana Hutcheson joins Pierre and I as we mega-nerd out on all things Star Wars, Trek, music, Hollywood, genetics, centaurs, cosplay, and even first-hand accounts of hanging out with Lucas and Spielberg.
Most importantly, we discuss his foray into self-produced, crowd-funded movie-making with the upcoming Production (based on one of his music albums): Wrongside Bob
The Indiegogo site for the project goes live on October 15, but in the meantime, please Like the info page on Facebook for updates and such:
https://www.facebook.com/wrongsidebob
Part of the crowd-fund proceeds will go to something amazingly cool; A project that 3D prints prosthetic hands for kids who need them. Check it here:
Check out all of James's past, present, and future projects here:
Music: "Khaaaan! Sparta Remix" by LordoftheJimmy, "Milkbone Underwear" by Ronny Cox, "Paperback Writer" by some British guys..
So... Letterman retired? Oh, they did not tell me.
Comedy Writer and host of The Midweek Minute Will Presti joins us as we talk Dave, late night, TV comedy in general and where it's headed, and some 90s Sega Genesis for good measure. Will actually wrote some of Dave's last jokes to air, so yea, this was kind of a big pull. Go us.
Also, ignore Travis's 4th of July hangover (see, he's patriotic) and the Skype audio issues because your complaints will only be met with laughter or indifference.
Check out Will's awesome Youtube show: The Midweek Minute with Will Presti
And Booking and stalker email and whatnot: https://willpresti.wordpress.com/
And that Twitter thing the kids are doing: https://twitter.com/MidweekMinute
Music: "The David Letterman Show Intro," "What's so funny 'bout peace love and understanding" by Elvis Costello, "Everlong" by The Foo Fighters
Josh from RedLetterMedia.com joins us from the sweltering wasteland that is Milwaukee while Pierre takes a break from his JadeHelm15 doomsday prep to gab about our favorite of all favorites, MST3K. Trav does his usual name-dropping of a cast member he knows and Josh reveals he's more up on his MST trivia than the hosts.
Josh also gives some cool behind the scenes info on RLM shows Best of the Worst and Wheel of the Worst, while Josh and Pierre lament how useless their years of college trying to break into media were.
Check out the Wizard's Wizardry here:
IfIHadAHiFi: http://thehifi.blogspot.
Info on the band's upcoming Chicago gig: http://www.electricalaudio.
Music blog: http://daysonanddaysoff.blogspot.com/
And of course: Redlettermedia.com
Episode Music: "Love Theme from Mstery Science Theater 3000," "Wild Rebels Cereal," "Idiot Control Now," "Mighty Science Theater" by Joel Hodgson, Charlie Erickson, Josh Weinstein, and Best Brains, Inc.
Of course, any self-respecting MSTie is also a fan of Rifftrax! The same great humor made for modern movies. Check out their website below - you'll hate yourself if you don't.
Supermodels were a really big deal in the 90s. So big they couldn't be contained on the runways or magazine covers. Why not the movies too? Well, we'll tell you why not..
Pierre and I wax nostalgic about the SI Swimsuit Editions and lament a few awful movies, while trying in vain to understand the plot of Cindy Crawford's only major motion picture before losing our minds completely and prattling incoherent nonsense. Or, maybe we were just summarizing the plot of Fair Game. Either way, can anyone tell me why Cindy never learned to walk like a human?
Music: "Supermodel" by RuPaul, "The Kathy Ireland Song" by MST3K cast
Another 2-parter. What is this.. an episode where Picard gets abducted by the Cardassians or the Borg? (that was a Star Trek joke) No.. but seriously.. we get long winded (again) talking about Nimoy, Spock, and the Star Trek franchise in general.
We're joined by Pierre's brother-in-law David Valadez who swears he's not a Trekkie, he just happens to know more Star Trek trivia than http://en.memory-alpha.org/
We focus on Nimoy's influence on the franchise in Pt 1, Pt. 2 will focus on the movies and sci-fi in general.
Musical Interludes: "Theme from Strar Trek" by Alexander Courage, "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" by Leonard Nimoy
This may come as a shock to you, but Pierre and I did play quite a lot of video games growing up. While Pierre never quite grew out of it, Travis grew to discover some other things, like women and sunshine.
All kidding aside, in this two part episode (since we couldn't shut up about the topic) we start here in Pt. I with the basics, from the old-school arcade to current consoles. And we also get a bit into "Gamergate," and the completely psychotic people who made that a thing.
Tune in to Pt. II, where we discuss what sounded like a good idea at the time, but more often than not really, really wasn't... that is turning video games into feature films.
Musical Interlude: "Video Game Song" by Nightcore
Like many other things, Pierre and I share fond memories of professional wrestling from our childhood. Specifically, The WWF (World Wrestling Federation, not the World Wildlife Fund) from the mid to late 80s. What many term "The Golden Age," this era offered a rare collection of talent and personalities. A far cry from today's generic wrestling that's more about sideshow, flashy intros, and out of the ring soap operas.
It just doesn't get better than this:
So reminisce with us as we take a fond look back at a time where giant steroid pumped, oiled-up men in speedos and boots smashed their bodies into each other for wholesome family entertainment. And Pierre introduces a new segment to see how many wrestlers from the 80s Travis thinks are dead.
Musical Interludes: "Land of 1000 Dances" by the WWF Wrestlers, "Captain Lou's History of Music/Captain Lou" by Captain Lou Albano, "Cara Mia" by Nikolai Volkoff.
Growing up as kid in the 80s had a unique undercurrent of knowing that at any moment nuclear Armageddon could be at hand, and there wasn't a damn thing anyone could do about it. By the time Pierre and I were in school they'd given up on the bogus "Duck and Cover" morale movies fom the 50s and 60s and pretty much everyone agreed that if shit goes down, we're all fucked, and if you're lucky you'll die instantly. Have a nice day.
To reinforce this fear and paranoia, two fantastic movies came out around the same time. One, an NRA-member's wet dream about armed-to-the-hilt rural high school kids completely fucking up the Commies' plans to take over 'Merica, and the other, intorudcing us to the internet, hacking, and the possibility that WWIII could start via computer glitch. Oops. Have a nice day!
Musical Interludes: "Hang me up to dry" by Cold War Kids, "Red Dawn Theme" from the movie, "History Lesson" by The Beepers, "Cold War" by Janelle Monáe
Just a few weeks ago Pierre and I reminisced about the 80s and Nancy Reagan's Say No To Drugs movement aimed at middle class 8 year olds watching He-Man and Thundercats.
One of the main things we noted was that the onslaught of PSAs and weird, awkward anti-drug propaganda has seemingly dried up, or become much more subtle in today's media climate.
Well, last night during the Super Bowl, the SNTD movement came back with a vengance, slapping America upside the head with an uncomfortable, awkward anti-heroin spot. It caught everybody off-gaurd, and is the talk of social media and email chains everywhere today.
In that sense, it was profoundly effective... I guess? You be the judge
In contrast to popular rumors, no, those two characters in the title are not one in the same. The super cool and talented Ms. Bellinger joins us from glitzy L.A. as our first ever YIRTS guest.
We kick back and have some silly laughs about fun stuff like sexual harassment, cyber-bullying, sexism in showbiz, and the 1993 Waco Tragedy. Good times and lulz all around! =D
Then we get dead serious and discuss acclaimed docudrama My Demon Lover, which was a guiding force in Gillian's young life and development. We also get her to dish on working with Red Letter Media and her lead role in Feeding Frenzy.
Finally, we try to find out why native Texans are so damn proud to be from Texas and Pierre pretends to relate. He's such a nice guy.
Check out everything Gillian is up to:
Musical Interludes: "All my exes live in Texas" (which is more or less accurate for Travis) by George Strait, "Our Love is in Love" by Jack Packard, "My Demon Lover Trailer" from the movie, "Let Go" by Intimate Strangers (which is actually starting to grow on me - I need help)
Yea Chad, we feel you. Re-watching all these old PSAs and horrific drug scare movies gave us a hangover too. And unlike you, we may have had more than a guilty sip of lite beer to get in good with the fat kid and the asian girl at the video store.
Take a trip with us (so to speak) as Pierre and I venture back to the days when drug pushers were just outside every elementary school, Kaybee Toys, and playground jungle gym just waiting to get sub-10 year old suburban white kids hooked on hardcore drugs. Or at least, that's what Nancy Reagan and every cartoon, sitcom, kids show, and anything for little kids ever assumed was happening throughout the 1980s.
This is a long one, but worth it. Also, Pierre swapped out the tin can and string for an actual semi-decent microphone, so enjoy his sultry voice, much in the way Chad Allen enjoyed Louis Gossett Jr's in the Fate Elevator™
Oh and I was wrong, he's totally still alive. My bad.
Musical Interludes: "Right to say No" or "Be an Original" (need to know who performed this, please), "Because I Got High" by Afroman, "Fate Elevator" by Louis Gossett Jr and whatever deranged people wrote it.
