Episode 15: Space Jam

Everybody get up, it's time to slam as we do a real jam on 1996's “Space Jam"! Musician and podcaster Gooey Fame joins the show to talk about the classic basketball/Looney Tunes/Michael Jordan comeback film that launched 1000 Hot Topic t-shirts! His Airness has gone from dunkin' on faces to running the bases but when the Looney Tunes find themselves facing slavery on Moron Mountain, Bugs and crew will have to convince the GOAT to lace up his Air Jordans for one last game! It's hard to fully elucidate how huge a phenomenon Michael Jordan was in the '90s and it's even more difficult to explain what a shock it was that he quit the sport he'd mastered after winning 3 championships back-to-back-to-back with his whole career ahead of him. It's almost as unbelievable as a shoe commercial becoming a live-action Looney tunes feature, but Jordan's affability and charisma as a pitchman rivaled even his on-court abilities. On this episode, we discuss the film's origins in the Air and Hare spots, the ubiquity of '90s basketball culture, Jordan's shocking defection to the minors, the tragic death of his father following his 3rd championship win, the amazing voice talent in the film, the classic soundtrack, the revolutionary techniques used in bringing the Tunes and the Monstars to life, the movie's showbiz meta-commentary, the film's immortal website, and of course, Lola Bunny. Plus, we talk about the state of video game and wrestling movies, Cliffy B as the net Kevin Feige, emo sports, Rotten Tomatoes as film nerd ESPN, putting all the hats on other hats, "Jordan Rides the Bus", Shazam vs. Kazaam, Bill Murray's 1-900 number, June Foray, the hollow Earth, WB kayfabe, the film's surprising parallels with "Us", Gooey finally getting Charles "Bark"-ley, Aaron mispronouncing "Nike" a bunch, and the existential terror that is the Michael Ball. Mike's Secret Stuff. Not even once. Space Jam Scores Rotten Tomatoes: 42% Metacritic: 59 IMDB: 6.4/10 Follow Gooey on Twitter and check out their other podcasts! http://www.twitter.com/gooeyfame http://www.twitter.com/PWRVpodcast http://www.twitter.com/eifpod http://www.twitter.com/virtualtheaterx Watch the SB Nation expose on the big game! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DppXWDwf258 Watch the documentary "Jordan Rides the Bus"! https://amzn.to/2shYvW8 Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter or our Discord channel! http://www.facebook.com/craftdisservices http://www.twitter.com/craftdisservice https://discord.gg/fv5RJuX