A Special Presentation, or Alf Will Not Be Seen Tonight
By BitterKarella
A Special Presentation, or Alf Will Not Be Seen TonightFeb 10, 2020
A Special Presentation 240: Dick Tracy specials w/ Ryan Estrada
After the failure of the Dick Tracy movie, Warren Beatty was so mad at the studio that he decided to make sure the studio never regained the rights to make another Dick Tracy movie. To that end, every 12 years or so he makes a weird avant garde art piece dick tracy zoom interview intended to be seen by no one... but which allows him to retain copyright! Artist, author and adventurer Ryan Estrada joins us to talk about these delightful exercises in spite.
A Special Presentation 239: Bernard and Huey
Jules Feiffer's comics in the Village Voice were THE THING back in the swingin' 60s or maybe the 50s, but we still remember them best as the thing that the last liberal wanted to read before he got got by Milo and Cutter John in Bloom County. Well, Feiffer wrote a movie script based on his comics back in the 80s and it got lost for 30 years, but now they found it and they made it. Bernard and Huey... get old!
A Special Presentation 238: Prince Valiant (2 of 2)
Everyone knows Prince Valiant, the comic strip that's NO FUN. You look at that wall of text and those serious illustrations and you just know this is a scam -- it's no whimsical fun comic strip, it's probably trying to teach you something! In 1997, Prince Valiant was adapted into a theatrical film with Katherine Heigl, Ron Pearlman, Warwick Davis, and Joanna Lumley, which, in a different world, might have filled the Krull-shaped hole in our hearts... If only!
A Special Presentation 237: Prince Valiant (1 of 2)
Everyone knows Prince Valiant, the comic strip that's NO FUN. You look at that wall of text and those serious illustrations and you just know this is a scam -- it's no whimsical fun comic strip, it's probably trying to teach you something! In 1997, Prince Valiant was adapted into a theatrical film with Katherine Heigl, Ron Pearlman, Warwick Davis, and Joanna Lumley, which, in a different world, might have filled the Krull-shaped hole in our hearts... If only!
A Special Presentation 236: The Weird Adventures of Mutt and Jeff and Bugoff
This week, we're going back... back... back in time to look at the very FIRST ever comic strip, Mutt and Jeff. America couldn't get enough of the adventures of a short guy and a tall guy who hung out together. Come for the weird Mutt and Jeff stitched-together Frankencartoon, stay for a long digression about Ghostbusters, Beetlejuice, and a brand new anti-woke movement just for Travel Lodge bear cosplayers.
A Special Presentation 235: Marmaduke (2022)
Marmaduuuuuke! He's a big dog.
A Special Presentation 234: A Storm in April
Once again, we're spending some time with Canada's favorite sons: The Foobs! Lynn Johnston's For Better or For Worse has an animated special all about the birth of April! What's the deal with April? Let's investigate!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ugly Sweater Party 2: Turtlenecks In Time
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??????!??!?!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A Special Presentation 214: Raggedy Ann & Andy Watch-Along! (With Glumdrop!)
A Special Presentation 213: Halloween 4-Ever!
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!
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!
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.
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.
A Special Presentation 208: Garfield Originals
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!
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!
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!
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.
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!
A Special Presentation 202: Here Comes Natefield (2 of 2)
"sponsored" by his "app" Egeez. Also a large digression about racist
food.
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.
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!
SPECIAL: Biopsy Of An Ogre Episode 1 (Dragon on a Pedestal)
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!
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!
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.