Laser Time

This is a previw of the newest podcast on the Laser Time Patreon Feed, Back to the Boondocs!   It's a new show as we look back on the Adult Swim Show: The Boondocks, On this preview episode, we look at the  creation of the comic, take a small dive into Aaron McGruder, and get you preped to listen to the us break down the show!    If you want to hear the episodes as they come out, please go to patreon.com/Lasertime

THE GREATEST YEAR FOR MOVIES EVER. 40 years ago, the greatest year in movie releases went down. Gods were toppled, genres were forged, franchise filmmaking became a thing. For better or for worse, 1982 changed your cinematic world...

With another year of indoor doldrums, at least we had the warm glow of great television to keep us moderately sane. From 90s plane crashes, sloppy steaks, and squid games, these are our very favorite TV shows of the year!

Pigs and Spiders at the Vista Del Mar! Hope that's not giving anything away, since Laser Time's annual tardy tradition of chiming in on the year's best cinematic offerings has finally arrived! Listen, watch, chat, Patreon, etc. SPONSOR: This episode is brought to you by STORYBLOCKS. STORYBLOCKS makes it possible for content creators like you to bring your stories to life without sacrificing your vision due to time, budget, or resources. Head to storyblocks.com/LASERTIME and let them help tell your story.

It's that time of year again, so this season we're taking the time to reveal all the personally embarrassing little pop culture traditions we've accumulated throughout the Holidays. Sappy songs, irredeemable movies, and unspeakable Christmas specials abound! Have a happy one, everyone!

With Netflix's Cowboy Bebop out in the wild, we're rounding up the handful of previous anime adaptations to see how they stack up. (The WESTERN adaptations. If we tried to talk about live-action anime films made in Japan we'd be here forever.) Spoiler: The results are not great...

SPONSORED: During the 1-900 number craze of the Nineties, one company provided the vast majority of phone sex. American Telnet was an empire founded by the man who called himself "The Telephone Pimp." He ran the company "like General Motors" and got filthy rich doing it. But for the (mostly) women who answered the calls and delivered fantasies 24-7, it was a different story. The powerful stigma against sex work was always lurking just beneath the surface, until it threatened to tear apart the whole company. Hosted by Tina Horn (Why Are People Into That?), OPERATOR is an eight-part series about big ambitions, Shakespearean-level corporate backstabbing, men and women at the cutting edge of a technological revolution...and on the front lines of a sexual one. Listen to Operator now! http://wondery.fm/OP_Laser_Time

It's a star-studded show as we break down some of our favorite moments from the spookiest season on television's longest-running comedic institution. Get ready for some classic Halloween sketches, Saturday Night Live fans. If we missed any of your favorite's let us know!

Norm Macdonald 1950-1961. We lost one of our most gifted, inimitable comedians recently, and it's difficult to deal with. But before Norm departed our mortal coil, he left us this wonderful audio journey through his whole dang career. Yes, this is a rerun, but you know you're a Legend when you reach Legendary Status while you're still alive. Special thanks to the Talking Simpsons guys for elevating the preemptive tribute! 

Great things come in pairs, and comedy is no exception! We're talking about our favorite hilarious duos, and it's all leading up to a wonderful discussion on the greatest movie you've never seen. Eat it with your ears!

What's on TV tonight? Does it matter?! Television shows remain great, while TV itself seems in an unstoppable cycle of decay. Have you noticed your favorite Nature or Music channel look alarmingly similar these days, when you need them most? In this episode we're examining why television channels are desperately abandoning their identity, and yes, it's largely because of the very medium you're listening to this on.

When it comes to cast members who spring boarded from Saturday Night Live into super stardom, there are almost too many names to mention. That's why we're talking about we're talking about kinda the opposite this week! We're looking back the SNL alum you might not even know are SNL alum, because for various reasons, they sputtered out on the show in just a SINGLE SEASON or less, yet went onto become household names anyway. And be sure to check out our companion SNL 2021 Awards podcast on our Patreon! 

Continuing our annual tradition, we've once again watched all the movies nominated for Best Picture at the 93rd Academy Awards so you don't have to! A global pandemic has obviously made a giant mess of the Oscars this year, but there's certainly some viewing pleasure and sketch material to mine from the most depressing crop of films the Oscars has ever recognized. Enjoy!

We love ourselves some long lost subgenres, and film subgenres don't get much deader than the Erotic Thriller. As premium cable mainstays of the 80s and 90s, many of us grew up with sneaky late night HBO screenings as our highest form of titillation. But by the internet age, the American Erotic Thriller was all but extinct, and both porn and puritans are responsible for its demise. Even better, we're joined by Honey Leavitt, of The Honey Leavitt Show, as well as a special appearance by Dan Amrich!

It's a little late, but just in time for the Golden Globes, Laser Time's annual TV wrap up is back for another year-end wrap-up. Life outside took a big hit, but streaming services thrived as everyone became of the Scrooge McDuck of indoor time! Let us know your faves below.

Better late than never, our annual tradition of picking out the best films of the year has arrived, if not without a COVID shaped caveat. But a pandemic can't keep cinema down, even if is keeping cinemas closed. There was still plenty to enjoy in 2020, as you'll hear in this week's episode!

Are you a hardened atheist or Holiday cynic who sees no value in Christmas? Well, what about your favorite Christmas movies, specials and TV episodes?! That's what we're here to help with this week, in Laser Time's one billionth annual Xmas special. Hope you and yours have a Merry one!

SPONSORED: Hosted by Taraji P. Henson, Wondery (Dr. Death, Dirty John, The Shrink Next Door) and Universal Music Group present Jacked: Rise of the New Jack Sound.  The story begins with a keyboard player in the heart of Harlem: Teddy Riley. Teddy's entire world was music. Playing it. Composing it. Producing it. Teddy and his friend Timmy Gatling followed their dreams and started a revolution in the world of hip-hop and R&B. They crafted hit after hit, and were on top of the world. Their group's quick rise to fame came with betrayals and broken friendships. Tensions within the band began to flare, and rivalries with other artists turned violent. As the stakes grew higher, their troubled manager pushed the group past their breaking point, with deadly results. Listen today at http://wondery.fm/Jacked_Laser

At this point, our second of two episodes, we should probably clarify that we're talking about The Best/Worst of Stephen King ADAPTATIONS. But whatever, the guy is one of the few living authors that's a household name, he's made hundreds of millions of dollars off of his talent, and thus an undoubtedly very big boy. In this final episode of October, we're talking about the worst reviewed, lowest grossing, and our personal least favorite Stephen King adaptations...

Stephen King's obviously one of pop culture's most famous authors, but for our October movie marathon purposes, he's also generated billions of dollars of box office revenue with dozens of film and TV adaptations. We've scoured box office reports, reviews, and the finest in internet user criticism to try and find a consensus of which of Stephen King's cinematic adaptations truly float to the top. In the next episode... we'll tell you about the absolute worst!

Still trying to watch a horror movie for every day in October? Well, have we got a cheat for you! The lost majesty of the horror anthology movie is an easy and wonderful way to ingest multiple stories within a single film! And that's saying nothing of how easy it is to commit to several short stories instead of one big two hour one. So join us as we head back to the heyday of the anthology film, and recommend only the very best for this special time of year....

What happens when your favorite show gets canceled, or your favorite performer dies? Well, it turns out the medium of video games can offer you one last, and typically lost, appearance! We went and dug up some of our favorite characters and actors whose final performance is lost inside forgotten games

Some of your most beloved, adorable, indelible comic, movie, and video game stars have been quietly kneecapped by forgettable suits? Oh yes, never underestimate old people when it comes to making money by doing very little, because we're digging into the sordid history of pop cultures most litigated superstars!

The world's having a bit of a rough go right now, so feel free to take solace where ever you can. A great place to hide from the darkness is in your favorite music, which is exactly what we're doing in this Laser Time audio extravaganza! Come with us on a auditory journey back to not-so-long-ago when making peppy tunes about our upcoming apocalypse didn't seem silly in the slightest, as we explore some the happiest jams celebrating The End of All Things!

Mount up, original bingers! We've got a got another fantabulous quizdown this week, and its guaranteed to activate something in the back of any TV obsessed brain. There's a little something at the end of every TV show that's slowly dying out in the streaming age, but before it does, we're gonna celebrate some of television's earwormiest jingles, with a mighty dollop of TV trivia. Enjoy! Support us at Patreon.com/LaserTime

Computer... Generated... Imagery. IT'S TERRIBLE. Except when it isn't? Which is kind of a miracle given production schedules, budgets, and a... general respect for animation. Obviously, CG can be easily taken for granted, but its ubiquity has become commonplace enough to where most people don't even notice some of our favorite heroes, characters, backgrounds and even suits, are essentially a big budget cartoon.

Introducing the newest Audioboom original podcast, Truth vs Hollywood. Join Film lovers David Chen and Joanna Robinson as they do a deep dive into well known films and discuss how similar they are to the actual story.  Truth vs Hollywood premieres 6/12. Subscribe to Truth vs Hollywood on Apple Podcasts

Laser Time's favorite parodist, Dan Amrich of Palette-Swap Ninja, has a new superhero-inspired project to chat about called Hero Falls, so we're using that as a springboard to talk about the history of the song parody! It's a musical journey through the ages as we explore the beautiful offspring of comedy and music in a time before Weird Al, and baybay, you're invited!

As a television institution that's kept chugging along for almost half a century now, Saturday Night Live has little choice but to be a reflection of our own abnormalities. So with SNL recently tapping out of socially distance sketch comedy for the season, Dave Rudden and Tony Wilson join Laser Time for a look back at some of the other weirdest moments in Saturday Night Live history! For those who want more, be sure to follow the the gang over to our Patreon for another annual edition of the SNL Awards

Since we're all stuck at home and mostly away from work, let's have a little chat at the emotional turmoil that can erupt when we're all trapped in the same room, with the same people, with little to no hope of intervention. Whether your budget's low or you're just hungry for an Emmy, a lot can be revealed when our favorite TV shows cut themselves off from the outside world. 

No, we're NOT talking about acts of animal cruelty, although we should warn the faint of heart, we will be talking about how entertainment uses the death of innocent animals to either tug on our hearts strings and/or the first line of suspense. It's a hack practice that has almost-but-not-entirely fallen out of fashion, but get ready to relive some of the most traumatic moments of your pop culture upbringing

Even though we are practically overwhelmed with adaptions of our favorite books, comics, and games these days, getting the Hollywood treatment remains a massive accomplishment. Which is why it's strange that sometimes, whether good or bad, your favorite thing will get made into a film that just falls into obscurity. Or maybe Netflix just made a new series out of it that overshadows in entirely! In this episode we're talking about some of the weirdest films that couldn't be saved by all the preexisting awareness in the world.

Movies, TV, video games, comics, sports and more. While not the most important things in the world right now, the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a wrench into how all of that is produced and/or distributed. In this special episode, we're going through a relatively recent list of Coronavirus-related disruptions to our entertainment consumption, and just how much of what we enjoy could be permanently changed as a result

Modern media distribution has brought us untold accessibility… but has it come at the cost of discoverability? Streaming, digital rentals, and On Demand tend to favor the shiny, the new, the recently licensed exclusive or remake (and so do most of us TBH) so we figured there must be something genuinely special about having a favorite movie that came out before you did. How'd you see it, why did it connect with you, and why does it still work?! We'll tell you ours, if you'll tell us yours!

Children of the 80s had VHS. Kids of the 90s grew up with the internet. So how is it possible for any movie, TV show, or video game to completely disappear in a digital era? Turns out the missing media phenomena isn't exclusive to old timey film nitrates or video tapes, as you'll find out in Laser Time's exploration of Lost Media old and new!

Since we almost never mention anything they've done on the show, it's high time Laser Time get an introduction to two of the most prolific creators in modern media! Special guest, TL Foster join Chris and Sarah in order to help fill in our undeniable White Boy Blindspot with a prolonged discussion on the work of Shonda Rhimes and Tyler Perry!

A classic sci-fi locale, an unknown variable, a mythic heavenly body or the foretold destruction of us all?! Whether your kidnapping Godzilla or peddling a dubious doomsday prophecy, Planet X means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Join us for this space-soaked episode of Laser Time as we set out to explore a whole new world

In times of political unrest, it's nice to be able to laugh at grotesque caricatures of our elected officials... or at least it used to be? As we look back on our favorite/worst politicians throughout popculture history in a fun little listening party, it can't be denied our political fiction has gotten a lot less absurd. Either way, brace thyself for hilariously awful mayors, chancellors, councilmen, presidents and more!

As one of the most dangerous and unpredictable forces in our natural world, lightning is not to be trifled with. Unless you're making a movie! Then lightning can raise the dead, transfer souls, cause machines to malfunction, grant sentience, bestow temporary abilities, and even all-out superpowers. Let's look back to a simpler time when a just single bolt could renergize the flimsiest premise

So Uncle Mickey unlocked the vault and unleashed EVERYTHING onto the Disney+ streaming service? Obviously not, but most of us were too blinded by The Mandalorian to care in those first few weeks. Certain titles are missing there because of momentarily tangled rights, but other omissions are more baffling, and others... well, there's dozens of wholly-owned pieces of Disney entertainment the company would rather stay dead and buried. But in this weird Patreon preview/make good, we're grabbing our shovels and digging up the stuff Disney+ will most likely NEVER let you see...

It's that time again! We've watched all the Oscar Nominees for Best Picture so you don't have to! More so than other years, there's certainly not a lot to hate about this years Academy Awards winner's circle, but there's still plenty to complain about. Joker, Parasite, Jojo, and... uh, Ford? And more!

Get ready to learn more than you ever wanted to know about Bing Crosby bears, phallic camels, cookie crooks, greasy clowns and the absolute spokes-slut that is... Snoopy. Yes, this episode of Laser Time is tackling our favorite gone-but-not-forgotten product mascots, so join us as we reveal out unabashed love for the fictional pitchmen who hocked us wonderful garbage. Feel free to share your faves in the comments below...

What's the oldest source material for a video game that you ever played? Don't answer yet, because Laser Time's prepared an 8-bit extravaganza for you this week, all courtesy of some of the worst licensed Nintendo games ever made! It's easy to forget that the adaptive output of the Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicon represented over a century of popular culture. For a certain type of kid, the NES became your gateway to a staggering number of classic films, television, animation and even literature, with a volume and span no other game console has achieved before or since...

With the great movie debate all settled, it's time to turn our attention to the small screen... where things have gotten weirdly bigger! Skywalker-less Star Wars, scumbag superheroes, Bojack Birds, Canadian rednecks, and unexpected rise of Hulu. Oh yes, it's time once again to talk the best television of the year.

2019's almost a distant memory, but we've narrowed down its greatest cinematic achievements into a legacy that'll live in your hearts forever! Fake pimps, dead superheroes, suburban subterfuge and failed stuntmen abound. Oh, a we've tried to keep the spoilers to a minimum, so head on in for the annual festivities!

Ringing in 2020 with a massive mega-sode. Friends will become enemies and fans will become irate as we sit down and deliberate the impossible: What are the 2010s greatest films! Using our typical dysfunctional process, we've taken it upon ourselves to narrow 2010 to 2019 to a hyper-serious, ultra-definitive Top 10. Obviously, we'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter so do not hesitate to chime in!

Shame Songs, Filthy Christmas Jams and Celebrity Cringe Crooning?! Oh yes, we've combined them all into one awful yuletide listening extravaganza! Bring the kids in, crank up the speakers, and enjoy some Holiday Horror with the whole family. From Star Wars to Santa Farts, this episode has it all! 

Tis the season for spooktacular thrills, and Laser Time is tackling yet another horror subgenre and it's a surprisingly robust one! It might surprise you that the killer do staggering amount of straight-to-video imitators. If you grew up watching schlock on late night cable, you're in for a real treat!

It had to be done, Coulrophobics! With two new disturbing clown movies in theaters, we're examining how this once wholesome embodiment of family amusement became a default icon of pure terror. Is it earned or is it irony? We'll get to the bottom of It, as we dig into the origins of the creepy ass clown...

Kicking off yet another Laser Time spooktober with a bit of a cheat, yet a wonderful excuse to return to one of our favorite topics: Saturday Night Live. The latter half of SNL's almost fifty years on the air has featured exponentially more corpsing. Or rather, breaking character and laughing over your lines in front of a live television audience. We'll explain the term and why we don't mind so much when the integrity of a sketch is obliterated in this literally laugh-filled episode...