Episode 78: Cavemen S01E01 Her Embarrassed of Caveman (2007)

If you were watching American TV in 2004, then you remember the Geico caveman commercials. What you might not remember is that they spun off a sitcom: Cavemen (2007), starring Nick Kroll, was cancelled after only six episodes and is considered one of the worst TV series of all time. But how does it hold up to scientific scrutiny? Find out on today’s episode, where we do the research the screenwriters didn’t! Win some SotSA Merch! Send your mistakes, inaccuracies, and corrections to us by email or social media: Twitter: @SotSA_Podcast Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Email: [email protected] In this episode: The Geico caveman commercials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8o_YqzMBoo Watch the full Cavemen series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE9Q41jqFKU&list=PL81C5835E560AE6BE Green et al. (2010) A draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1188021 Green et al. (2006) Analysis of one million base pairs of Neanderthal DNA: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05336 Denny, the first generation Neanderthal/Denisovan hybrid: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/nov/24/denisovan-neanderthal-hybrid-denny-dna-finder-project Interbreeding between archaic humans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbreeding_between_archaic_and_modern_humans “Ghost lineages” in human ancestry: https://www.science.org/content/article/mysterious-ghost-populations-had-multiple-trysts-human-ancestors Oase 1 – a modern human with recent Neanderthal ancestry: https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnature14558 Bacho Kiro – modern humans with recent Neanderthal ancestry: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03335-3 Nikolai Valuev (is not a Neanderthal): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Valuev Allometry: https://www.britannica.com/science/allometry