Episode 127 : The Predator Alien Situation

On this week’s episode, we discuss those things that formed our views of life, as children. You know… TV. Also, William went to the fair! And Tony discusses his physique! Also, a very important public service announcement for everyone. Enjoy!

 

QUESTIONS:

Dear Chaps of the Chapeau, What story or series of stories (in any form) do you think are great for kids? (Talking narrative here — so not Sesame Street). — Jas

 

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10 Responses to Episode 127 : The Predator Alien Situation

  1. Bloodsparrow says:

    The phone is riiiingiiiiiiing!

    • Bloodsparrow says:

      At first I thought you were trying to bargan with the pizza guy…

    • Bloodsparrow says:

      I can understand why somebody would say that.

      I really enjoy the Hostful episodes of Nerdist and never miss one of those. Now-a-days, with all of them having stuff on their plates, it’s usually just Chris interviewing somebody. And that’s still good, but there are episodes (great swaths of them) of Nerdist that I’ve skipped over.

      But I’ve never missed an ep of TMTH. šŸ˜€

    • Bloodsparrow says:

      Elesyum:

      The other day I was at home looking at a pile of dirty dishes when I got a call asking me if I wanted to go see this movie…

      Normally when faced with the choise between a pile of dirty dishes and hanging out watching a movie, I’ll put off the dishes…

      In this case, I opted for the dishes.

      I guess that was wise.

  2. jas says:

    Whatever Elysium’s budget was, it might have been worth it for engendering that epic rant…twas awesome.

    Don’t think I had a particular answer in mind–the sitcom one was great. I think a lot of the same ones that you guys mentioned were influential for me too. And I’d probably throw in the Mary Tyler Moore show.

    Science–my Dad used to tell me the story of “how I came to be” which was an absurdly abridged version of the big bang, dinosaurs, evolution, and, the whole “we are stardust” shebang.

    I started reading Harry Potter to my son when he was 3 (this was when they came out first). I think a useful lesson in those stories early on was that sometimes it’s important to break the rules–and then trying to figure out when that is.

    I loved mythology as a kid. And those stories are pretty violent (thinking about the Dark Crystal being scary comment). And heard a recent radio program about the 200th anniversary of Grimm’s fairy tales. One point the guest on that show made was that fairy tales are a safe space for exploring things that are dangerous, violent or forbidden.

  3. B-Smart says:

    Great stuff. Especially the sitcom conversation. I think this is me to a certain extent, at least until high school. Thanks Bill Cosby.

  4. Beth says:

    Bloodsparrow – I’m with you on this being one of the best TMTH episodes ever, and that I have not missed one yet. I also skip over large swaths of Nerdist episodes, but usually just the hostful ones, I really like the ones where they interview people I’ve heard of (if I don’t know them, I often skip those too). I haven’t listed to any Nerdist in at least six months, so I’m dreadfully behind, even if they are interesting episodes.

    I really liked this episode, particularly for the sitcom conversation.

    Tony – I agree with you about Golden Girls. I used to think it was just a show about old women hanging out in Florida, I didn’t realize until I watched it recently how much of the show had sexual overtones, some of which were pretty overt.

    I agree with Tony, I have a certain fondness for shows that were just before, or way before my time. MASH, Leave it to Beaver, Bewitched, The Wonder Years, Growing Pains, Family Ties (which to this day, I have trouble remembering which is which.) If I watched Family Ties now, I would probably think it was heavily political, but at the time, I didn’t catch that. I did like Alex P. Keaton and thought his passion about whatever he was doing was interesting to watch. I thought it was funny when his little brother came along and Alex tried to get his brother to be just like him. I barely knew the girls names on the show because they seemed to add little to the plot. I know one sister was Mallory, but can’t remember if there was another sister or not.
    When what’s his name who played Archie Bunker died, they showed All in the Family Marathons, and that was the first time I’d been exposed to that.
    I’m also young enough that I was still learning from Seinfeld and Home Improvement, at least when the shows were in their first few seasons.
    I never thought the Cosby show was as funny as the laugh track seemed to think it was. I also couldn’t keep track of all their kids: Vanessa, Theo, Rudy, Raven Simone, the one with the spin-off to A Different World – were there others? Besides too many kids, I think I was too young for the show when it was running, and I didn’t see it much in syndication, so I wasn’t quite the right age to “get” the show.
    When I was younger, we were forbid to watch the Simpsons, Mom thought it was too stupid (stupid lazy Dad and a smart-mouthed kid had nothing to offer HER kids for entertainment). Then one day we were “accidentally” still watching after Seinfeld was on, and Mom noticed that they made some literary reference (about Herman Melville maybe?) and she decided maybe the show wasn’t quite so stupid after all. Thanks for the explanation that it evolved into a smarter show over time.

    Tony – you’re right, I think I was raised a bit too much by TV…

  5. Mark says:

    Ringing phones and knocking noises? What kind of low budget operation is this?

    Greatest episode ever: Maybe not, but it’s been quite amusing so far. šŸ™‚

    Good $10 mowing: Sheesh, I get neighbor kids to mow our lawn, also at $10, but they don’t exactly do the best job.

    Yard Work Kid: Maybe you can also get him to shovel snow this winter?

    Roller Derby: Blargh, that does sound awful.

    Tony: Considering a career change into being a wedding planner?

    Nerdist: Originally I really liked them, then they started being more hit-or-miss; lately, they’ve mostly been a miss.

    Elysium: Really Watchmen was better? *ugh* That’s… that’s really bad. The previews looked so nice. *sigh* I guess this really has dropped to my “maybe watch when it hits Netflix streaming” list. Michelle’s not interested in it and everything I’ve heard about it is bad but I’d been hopeful. I guess the question at this point would be; is the movie bad enough to enjoy as a bad movie?

    Prometheus: As you kindly warned us off Elsium, I must now return the favor and warn you off of Prometheus. It is the one of the absolute worst sci-fi movies I’ve ever watched. The only thing this movie has going for it is the cinematography. The story is utter nonsense. The acting is mediocre at best. There’s only one satisfying scene in the movie; it’s only satisfying in a schadenfreude sort of way and the scene itself is a perfect example of how dumb this movie gets.

    SIDE NOTE: I listen to most podcasts at 2x speed. TMTH is the exception to the rule; however I’ve been listening to this particular episode multiple times (so I can write good comments) and just briefly bumped the playback to 2x speed to get back to part of the podcast I’d not listened to yet. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, it totally turned Tony into a hyperactive chipmunk.

    Aliens, Predator & AvP: I’ve seen I think the first 2 Alien movies; I’ve seen Predator and I’ve not seen any of AvP. You know, I think I’m pretty happy with that track record and don’t feel the need to fill in any of those gaps.

    Tony Hanks vs Pirates: Yeah that sounds full of *meh*.

    Labyrinth: That was a fun movie.
    Chronicles of Narnia: Good books and fun movies. It’s a shame we’re unlikely to ever get more of the books made into movies.
    Dark is Rising: Favorite childhood series, hands down.

    Thomas Covenant: Wow, just wow. I found that a rough series to read in high school. I can’t imagine the kind of psychological trauma it must have caused by reading it in fifth grade.

    Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: LOL.

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