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A Special Presentation, or Alf Will Not Be Seen Tonight

A Special Presentation, or Alf Will Not Be Seen Tonight

By BitterKarella

A podcast where two obsessive lovers of 1980s newspaper comics discuss said comics and the 1980s animated specials based on them.
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A Special Presentation 128: Asterix the Gaul (2 of 2)

A Special Presentation, or Alf Will Not Be Seen TonightMar 07, 2022

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A Special Presentation 233: Jane and the Lost City

A Special Presentation 233: Jane and the Lost City

Jane was a saucy 1940s British comic strip about a sweet young thing names Jane, famous for fighting nazis and losing her clothes through various contrived and saucy means. Jane was credited with helping the British drive back the axis in Burma, but does this late 80s big screen adaptation capture the sauciness of the original strips? We investigate!

Mar 25, 202401:15:13
A Special Presentation 232: The Folks Behind the Funnies [3 of 3]

A Special Presentation 232: The Folks Behind the Funnies [3 of 3]

Did you know that there are folks behind the Funnies? It's true! This 2018 documentary talks to all the big names: Lynn Johnston, Mell Lazarus, Mort Walker, Scott Adams, Etc, to learn all about what it takes to be a folk behind a funny. But you gotta listen to the notes that they're NOT playing!

Mar 18, 202445:16
A Special Presentation 231: The Folks Behind the Funnies [2 of 3]

A Special Presentation 231: The Folks Behind the Funnies [2 of 3]

Did you know that there are folks behind the Funnies? It's true! This 2018 documentary talks to all the big names: Lynn Johnston, Mell Lazarus, Mort Walker, Scott Adams, Etc, to learn all about what it takes to be a folk behind a funny. But you gotta listen to the notes that they're NOT playing!

Mar 11, 202401:11:08
A Special Presentation 230: The Folks Behind the Funnies [1 of 3]

A Special Presentation 230: The Folks Behind the Funnies [1 of 3]

Did you know that there are folks behind the Funnies? It's true! This 2018 documentary talks to all the big names: Lynn Johnston, Mell Lazarus, Mort Walker, Scott Adams, Etc, to learn all about what it takes to be a folk behind a funny. But you gotta listen to the notes that they're NOT playing!

Mar 04, 202401:00:56
A Special Presentation 229: Curiosity Shop [2 of 2]

A Special Presentation 229: Curiosity Shop [2 of 2]

In 1971, Michael Eisner decided he was going to make a commercial competitor for PBS's then ascendant Sesame Street. The result was Curiosity Shop, a show about four kids going to a curiosity shop run by the absent Mr. Jones. It featured music, puppets, and animation -- including appearances by the cast of Miss Peach, Dennis the Menace, BC, and Wizard of Id. Only two episodes remain, so we take a look.

Feb 26, 202456:52
A Special Presentation 228: Curiosity Shop [1 of 2]

A Special Presentation 228: Curiosity Shop [1 of 2]

In 1971, Michael Eisner decided he was going to make a commercial competitor for PBS's then ascendant Sesame Street. The result was Curiosity Shop, a show about four kids going to a curiosity shop run by the absent Mr. Jones. It featured music, puppets, and animation -- including appearances by the cast of Miss Peach, Dennis the Menace, BC, and Wizard of Id. Only two episodes remain, so we take a look.

Feb 19, 202457:47
A Special Presentation 227: Dennis the Menace

A Special Presentation 227: Dennis the Menace

In 1993, everyone's favorite menace, Dennis, made the jump to the big screen -- in a film that could almost be good if John Hughes wasn't so dedicated to recreating the success of Home Alone. Walter Matthau is forced to carry an entire film by himself, but, damn, does he do it!

Feb 12, 202401:25:09
A Special Presentation 226: Rock Odyssey w/ Morbiose

A Special Presentation 226: Rock Odyssey w/ Morbiose

In the early 80s, Hanna Barbera decided to take a little risk and tell the entire history of post-war America through the medium of rock and roll music and also put Scatman Crothers in it as a talking jukebox. It's like if Fantasia kind of sucked but was also about the most obvious boomer pleasing aspects of rock music. Morbiose joins us to talk about this weird rock oddity!

Feb 05, 202401:32:34
A Special Presentation 225: GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords

A Special Presentation 225: GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords

It's Ethan's birthday, so we're taking a little detour from our usual wheelhouse to look at another 80s cartoon robot franchise... The GoBots! You may remember them as the poor man's transformers... and you'd probably be right! Are the GoBots going places or should they be going home? Ha ha, get it? Please yourself then.

Jan 29, 202401:12:53
A Special Presentation 224: Mickey's 60th Birthday [2 of 2]

A Special Presentation 224: Mickey's 60th Birthday [2 of 2]

Happy birthday, Mickey Mouse!!! To celebrate Steamboat Willie finally, FINALLY falling into the public domain, we look at the 1988 television event Mickey's 60th Birthday, when a wizard makes Mickey lose his mojo and then he meets the cast of Cheers and Family Ties (big sit coms at the time, ask your parents). We ended up talking for two hours because we get distracted by talking about the bizarre history of Roger Rabbit, Jim Hensen's traveling puppet medicine show, the bullshit of Time's Man of the Year, Disney racism, and the black hole of Michael Eisner's charisma.

Jan 22, 202401:13:45
A Special Presentation 223: Mickey's 60th Birthday [1 of 2]

A Special Presentation 223: Mickey's 60th Birthday [1 of 2]

Happy birthday, Mickey Mouse!!! To celebrate Steamboat Willie finally, FINALLY falling into the public domain, we look at the 1988 television event Mickey's 60th Birthday, when a wizard makes Mickey lose his mojo and then he meets the cast of Cheers and Family Ties (big sit coms at the time, ask your parents). We ended up talking for two hours because we get distracted by talking about the bizarre history of Roger Rabbit, Jim Hensen's traveling puppet medicine show, the bullshit of Time's Man of the Year, Disney racism, and the black hole of Michael Eisner's charisma.

Jan 15, 202401:04:51
A Special Presentation 223: Rudolph's Shiny New Year [2 of 2]

A Special Presentation 223: Rudolph's Shiny New Year [2 of 2]

We're leaving our wheelhouse to discuss everyone's favorite Rankin Bass new year's special "Rudolph's Shiny New Year." Rudolph has to go to the archipelago of last years to save the baby new year and the important thing is that there's dinosaurs. A lot of questions are raised about how this worlds works, however.


Jan 08, 202454:27
A Special Presentation 222: Rudolph's Shiny New Year [1 of 2]

A Special Presentation 222: Rudolph's Shiny New Year [1 of 2]

We're leaving our wheelhouse to discuss everyone's favorite Rankin Bass new year's special "Rudolph's Shiny New Year." Rudolph has to go to the archipelago of last years to save the baby new year and the important thing is that there's dinosaurs. A lot of questions are raised about how this worlds works, however.

Jan 01, 202459:06
Ugly Sweater Party 2: Turtlenecks In Time

Ugly Sweater Party 2: Turtlenecks In Time

It’s the season of giving… ourselves a break and just watching a ton of shows at once! Happy holidays once more from Mike and Ethan and our whole crew of cool friends that we invite over every year. Rocketshark, Morbiose, Fattyatomicmutant (from your favorite Tumblr memes!) and Glumdrop have joined us for some startlingly cynical Christmas specials: The Moo Family, the True Story of O Christmas Tree, and even the Christmas episodes of Sam & Max and Bump In The Night! Everybody’s waiting for the man with the bag! (It’s Mr. Bumpy, just ask Morb)
Dec 25, 202302:09:45
A Special Presentation 220: It's Magic, Charlie Brown!

A Special Presentation 220: It's Magic, Charlie Brown!

In this episode, we look at the Peanuts special that's so normal that it's weird. Snoopy learns to do witchcraft and damns Charlie Brown to a living hell of invisibility. Also, Charlie Brown kicks the football??????!??!?!

Dec 18, 202301:02:16
A Special Presentation 219: Garfield in the Rough

A Special Presentation 219: Garfield in the Rough

What happens when everyone's favorite fat cat goes camping and encounters an escaped panther from the zoo? Well, that's pretty much it. Join us as we look at one of the lesser Garfield specials, we were gonna talk about "It's Magic, Charlie Brown!", the snoopy special with which it was originally paired, but we got too distracted talking about commercials for McDonalds and the concept of cable TV.

Dec 11, 202301:17:23
A Special Presentation 218: Mandrake (1979)

A Special Presentation 218: Mandrake (1979)

Mandrake the Magician has, for some reason, not made the jump to the big screen in this latest round of superhero mania, but the globe-trotting crime-fighting magician of the comics page has so much potential that we can’t help but imagine a much better movie than we got with the sole Mandrake film adaptation: this 1979 made-for-TV lost dud starring Robert Reed from the Brady Bunch and James Hong from everything that James Hong has ever been in.

Dec 04, 202301:22:50
A Special Presentation 217: Tubby the Tuba

A Special Presentation 217: Tubby the Tuba

It's after Thanksgiving, and that means it's time for everyone's favorite Thanksgiving special -- Tubby the Tuba! You know Tubby the Tuba, right? You will soon! Join us for this look at everyone's favorite opera for tiny tots about a tuba who joins the circus and also goes to adopt an orphan melody and there's a frog. This all seemed like a really good idea in the early 70s! The important thing to remember is that Pixar was NOT involved.

Nov 27, 202301:37:16
A Special Presentation 216: Garfield the Movie [2 of 2]

A Special Presentation 216: Garfield the Movie [2 of 2]

The fat orange cat finally got his big screen debut in 2004 with Garfield the Movie, the culmination of Jim Davis' long-time dream to see Garfield in theaters. Was it everything that it was cracked up to be? Why on earth did they CG Garfield but not Odie? We answer the big questions as we try to wrap our heads around the dumbest studio decision in film history.

Nov 20, 202349:57
A Special Presentation 215: Garfield the Movie [1 of 2]

A Special Presentation 215: Garfield the Movie [1 of 2]

The fat orange cat finally got his big screen debut in 2004 with Garfield the Movie, the culmination of Jim Davis' long-time dream to see Garfield in theaters. Was it everything that it was cracked up to be? Why on earth did they CG Garfield but not Odie? We answer the big questions as we try to wrap our heads around the dumbest studio decision in film history.

Nov 13, 202301:00:22
A Special Presentation 214: Raggedy Ann & Andy Watch-Along! (With Glumdrop!)

A Special Presentation 214: Raggedy Ann & Andy Watch-Along! (With Glumdrop!)

What was the movie that traumatized you as a kid? For Mike it was a movie that was once so rarely aired it was rumored not to exist, but its recent rediscovery on YouTube has brought its wonderful, egregiously over-animated horror into thousands of unsuspecting households. Join us this week for some exposure therapy, as Ethan and Glumdrop (co-authors of Joy Traveler, the sci-fi creepypasta novel you probably still haven’t read) hold Mike’s hands and pet him gently as we work our way through the entirety(!) of Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure.
Nov 06, 202302:18:59
A Special Presentation 213: Halloween 4-Ever!

A Special Presentation 213: Halloween 4-Ever!

It wouldn’t be a spooky Halloween without a spooky podcast where we watch terrifying eldritch cartoons! This year we’ve got Jack O’ Lantern (1972), Fat Albert’s Halloween Special (1977), and Mad Scientist (1988), plus an assortment of short subjects that features the work of animation pioneer Ub Iwerks. Now YOU tell one!
Oct 30, 202302:14:45
A Special Presentation 212: It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown & Play it Again, Charlie Brown

A Special Presentation 212: It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown & Play it Again, Charlie Brown

We're back on our Peanuts bullshit! Today we look at TWO, yes, TWO, Peanuts specials that are so slight you might not even believe they were actually specials! Come for Peanuts, stay for tales of bible camp, vampire monkeys, and anime dog fart pranks!

Oct 23, 202301:57:38
A Special Presentation 211: Blondie's Blessed Event

A Special Presentation 211: Blondie's Blessed Event

Between 1938 and 1950, they released 25 Blondie movies -- 4 in 1942 alone!!! This week we look at a random one, Blondie's Blessed Event -- which brings us both the birth of Cookie and also the big screen debut of Hans Conried!

Oct 16, 202301:26:03
A Special Presentation 210: Dick Tracy w/ Morbiose [2 of 2]

A Special Presentation 210: Dick Tracy w/ Morbiose [2 of 2]

We're back on our Dick Tracy bullshit! This week, our good friend Morbiose joins us to talk about the 1990 Dick Tracy movie, starring Warren Beatty, Al Pacino, Madonna, and a whole host of A list actors disguised under several hundred pounds each of foam rubber.

Oct 09, 202354:56
A Special Presentation 209: Dick Tracy w/ Morbiose [1 of 2]

A Special Presentation 209: Dick Tracy w/ Morbiose [1 of 2]

We're back on our Dick Tracy bullshit! This week, our good friend Morbiose joins us to talk about the 1990 Dick Tracy movie, starring Warren Beatty, Al Pacino, Madonna, and a whole host of A list actors disguised under several hundred pounds each of foam rubber.

Oct 02, 202301:01:48
A Special Presentation 208: Garfield Originals

A Special Presentation 208: Garfield Originals

There's a new Garfield show out and it's made exclusively for the French Internet, but if you love algorithm-friendly gray content slurry then you're gonna love... this ersatz Garfield stuff.
Sep 25, 202301:09:22
A Special Presentation 207: The Dick Tracy Show (2 of 2)

A Special Presentation 207: The Dick Tracy Show (2 of 2)

Dick Tracy was adapted to the small screen in the early 1960s and you know what that means: lots and lots of racism!! The Dick Tracy Show featured remarkably little Dick Tracy but lots and lots of racism. It has... not aged well. But you know what will always be in style? Two white guys talking about racism. Enjoy!

Sep 18, 202301:34:53
A Special Presentation 206: The Dick Tracy Show (1 of 2)

A Special Presentation 206: The Dick Tracy Show (1 of 2)

Dick Tracy was adapted to the small screen in the early 1960s and you know what that means: lots and lots of racism!! The Dick Tracy Show featured remarkably little Dick Tracy but lots and lots of racism. It has... not aged well. But you know what will always be in style? Two white guys talking about racism. Enjoy!

Sep 11, 202301:01:29
A Special Presentation 205: Fearless Fosdick

A Special Presentation 205: Fearless Fosdick

Fearless Fosdick is a comic-within-a-comic from Lil' A bner -- this Dick Tracy parody was ostensibly Lil' Abner's favorite comic, but it was really just an excuse for Al Capp to goof on Dick Tracy. Fearless Fosdick was popular enough in his own right to get adapted into a puppet show... and if anything, this show proved that everything is more fun with puppets!

Sep 04, 202301:27:15
A Special Presentation 204: Crayon Shin-chan: The Storm Called: The Adult Empire Strikes Back w/ Steph Cherrywell

A Special Presentation 204: Crayon Shin-chan: The Storm Called: The Adult Empire Strikes Back w/ Steph Cherrywell

Friend of the pod Steph Cherrywell joins us to talk about Crayon Shin-chan: The Storm Called: The Adult Empire Strikes Back, one of the bazillion Crayon Shin-Chan movies and the one to greet the new millennium with a surprisingly heart-felt mediation on the seductive and destructive powers of nostalgia. Somehow how poignant when we're living in 2023, the year that all the suddenly middle-aged Xers got weirdly obsessively fascistically nostalgic and also decided that their childhood has been ruined by things and stuff.

Aug 28, 202301:48:09
A Special Presentation 203: The Big Stuffed Dog

A Special Presentation 203: The Big Stuffed Dog

It's another Charles Schultz oddity... about a giant Snoopy plush that is never identified as Snoopy. He's just The Big Stuffed Dog. When a whiny little kid is separated from his dog that he loves so much he never bothered to name it, said plush goes on a series of melancholy and pointless adventures. It's The Big Stuffed Dog on NBC!

Aug 21, 202301:02:28
A Special Presentation 202: Here Comes Natefield (2 of 2)

A Special Presentation 202: Here Comes Natefield (2 of 2)

We're back on our bullshit with another look at Nathan Mazri, the legendary entergagpreneur behind Garfield Eats. This week, we talk about Nathan's newest venture: a three episode podcast called Natefield that is
"sponsored" by his "app" Egeez. Also a large digression about racist
food.
Aug 14, 202354:57
A Special Presentation 201: Here Comes Natefield (1 of 2)

A Special Presentation 201: Here Comes Natefield (1 of 2)

We're back on our bullshit with another look at Nathan Mazri, the legendary entergagpreneur behind Garfield Eats. This week, we talk about Nathan's newest venture: a three episode podcast called Natefield that is "sponsored" by his "app" Egeez. Also a large digression about racist food.

Aug 07, 202301:17:02
A Special Presentation 200: Here Comes Garfield

A Special Presentation 200: Here Comes Garfield

200 episodes!! We've got 200 episodes! It's time to go back to our roots and look at the very first Garfield special... it's "Here Comes Garfield!" Here he comes! Also here comes a weird Jon. Not the Jon we know and love though!

Jul 31, 202301:40:36
SPECIAL: Biopsy Of An Ogre Episode 1 (Dragon on a Pedestal)

SPECIAL: Biopsy Of An Ogre Episode 1 (Dragon on a Pedestal)

This is NOT a Special Presentation episode! Scheduling conflicts prevented Mike and Ethan from bringing you the conclusion of Japan Month, for which we’re very sorry. In its place we’d like to present the first episode of Ethan’s new podcast, Biopsy of an Ogre! A podcast for kids who read the Xanth books, loved them, devoured them, and then grew up and were like “wait, that was really messed up!” For the first episode, longtime friend of the pod and children’s writer Steph Cherrywell joins Ethan to discuss the seventh book, Dragon on a Pedestal, which begins a new generation in Xanth while still dragging along the previous generation’s baggage.
Jul 24, 202301:07:12
A Special Presentation 198: Dragon Half

A Special Presentation 198: Dragon Half

They say that Dragon Half is the funniest anime ever made. Is it? We investigate. It's, of course, based on the manga of the same name about a girl who is half dragon as evidenced by her sexy sexy tail. We're getting super deformed in this one!

Jul 17, 202301:10:03
A Special Presentation 197: Pop Team Epic

A Special Presentation 197: Pop Team Epic

Are you extremely online? If so, then you've probably seen the shenanigans of Pop Team Epic, the Japanese webcomic about two school girls being random. But is it TOO random for those not steeped in online irony? Let's find out!

Jul 10, 202301:21:55
A Special Presentation 196: My Neighbors The Yamadas

A Special Presentation 196: My Neighbors The Yamadas

Let's get out of Australia -- now we're going to Japan! It's time to meet my neighbors... The Yamadas! It's a cute little comic strip about a family, like many comic strips, and here's a movie that really captures the vibe of a cute little comic strip about a family. It's by Studio Ghibli!

Jul 03, 202301:07:17
A Special Presentation 195: Ginger Meggs

A Special Presentation 195: Ginger Meggs

G'day, mate!!! We're back down under!!! In Australia!!!! This week, we're looking at Australia's favorite little battler, Ginger Meggs. Who's Ginger Meggs? Well, you'd know if you were Australian, maybe. It's another gang of kids movie, but this one has a bangin' rock soundtrack!

Jun 26, 202301:16:28
A Special Presentation 194: Fatty Finn (2 of 2)

A Special Presentation 194: Fatty Finn (2 of 2)

We're continuing our down under theme this week! Fatty Finn was Australia's best beloved newspaper comic (citation needed), so of course this ersatz Little Rascals escapade would eventually make it to the silver screen. Let's look at Fatty Finn (who is not fat), his sleazeball dad, his way too sympathetic bully, and a whole cast of corrupt cops and gangster molls set against the backdrop of 1930s Australia.


Jun 19, 202301:03:36
A Special Presentation 193: Fatty Finn (1 of 2)

A Special Presentation 193: Fatty Finn (1 of 2)

We're continuing our down under theme this week! Fatty Finn was Australia's best beloved newspaper comic (citation needed), so of course this ersatz Little Rascals escapade would eventually make it to the silver screen. Let's look at Fatty Finn (who is not fat), his sleazeball dad, his way too sympathetic bully, and a whole cast of corrupt cops and gangster molls set against the backdrop of 1930s Australia.

Jun 12, 202301:02:04
A Special Presentation 192: Snoopy's Musical on Ice (2 of 2)

A Special Presentation 192: Snoopy's Musical on Ice (2 of 2)

Did you know that it's always been Snoopy's dream to be in a musical on ice? Neither did we! But apparently it was, so this week we continued our investigation into the strange link between Peanuts and ice skating. What's the deal with that!? Also, we talk about what colossal nerds everyone in 1980s TV commercials were.


Jun 05, 202301:16:58
A Special Presentation 191: Snoopy's Musical on Ice (1 of 2)

A Special Presentation 191: Snoopy's Musical on Ice (1 of 2)

Did you know that it's always been Snoopy's dream to be in a musical on ice? Neither did we! But apparently it was, so this week we continued our investigation into the strange link between Peanuts and ice skating. What's the deal with that!? Also, we talk about what colossal nerds everyone in 1980s TV commercials were.

May 29, 202301:00:59
A Special Presentation 190: The Dog's Tail (Footrot Flats)

A Special Presentation 190: The Dog's Tail (Footrot Flats)

Last week, we learned that Charles Schultz was a huge fan and admirer of the New Zealand comic strip Footrot Flats. We're yanks so we had never heard of it. but turns out there's a movie! We look at the most New Zealand thing ever.

May 22, 202301:20:40
A Special Presentation 189: It's the Bestest Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown! and It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown!

A Special Presentation 189: It's the Bestest Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown! and It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown!

These are the last two Peanuts specials that Charles Schulz did and, boy, they're some weird ones! It's the Bestest Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown! and It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown! And technically he's an accordionist. For reasons.

May 15, 202301:39:13
A Special Presentation 188: Popeye and Son

A Special Presentation 188: Popeye and Son

Popeye's back! And this time, he's got a son! In the 80s, they gave everyone a kid... even Popeye! This attempt to update Popeye for a new generation isn't as bad as you might expect. We investigate further.

May 08, 202301:30:43
A Special Presentation 187: Lackadaisy Cats

A Special Presentation 187: Lackadaisy Cats

Tracy Butler's webcomic Lackadaisy Cats got a cartoon pilot, so that makes it fair game for us, right? We derail A LOT to discuss the eternal question: What makes something furry? Get the answer right here.

May 01, 202301:37:49
A Special Presentation 186: The Popeye Animatic w/ Ryan Estrada (2 of 2)
Apr 24, 202357:36
A Special Presentation 185: The Popeye Animatic w/ Ryan Estrada (1 of 2)
Apr 17, 202301:00:58