Enjoy Stuff: A TechnoRetro Podcast

Greetings, PROGRAMS!

 

The greatest dystopia is when the story ends with a brighter hope for the future.  Comic Con always has some exciting things to enjoy now and in the future.  This year, one of the first panels celebrated ten years of The Clone Wars with a stunning announcement: The Clone Wars will return with promises of a fitting conclusion to this Emmy award-winning animated series.

 

In the NEWS

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Shazam, Godzilla, and Aquaman have exciting trailers to get everyone hyped for the movies.  Matt Groenig and Neil deGrasse Tyson fans are promised with the introduction of Disenchanted and the return of Cosmos.  And in a stunning move that has had a positive effect on Star Wars fandom, Lucasfilm announced the return of The Clone Wars with 12 new episodes to air on the upcoming Disney streaming service.

 

The Clone Wars

JediShua and shazbazzar revisit The Clone Wars, describing their affection for the series as well as giving reasons for anyone who missed out on the first 6 seasons to go back NOW and catch some of the best Star Wars ever on Netflix (so Disney can know how valuable great storytelling can be for the company).  From character development to amazing revelations about the Force to the story behind that cool reveal at the end of Solo: A Star Wars Story, more than 40 hours of Star Wars content is currently at the fingertips of anyone with access to Netflix.

 

Disappearing Dystopia

As the summer of dystopia dwindles to its inevitable close and the sunrise of school lingers just beyond the horizon, the ‘Dads take a final look at some notable, retrotastic, dystopian movies, shows, books, and radio dramas.  The Running Man, Total Recall, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Ice Pirates, V, 12 Monkeys, and Max Headroom all find their home in the annals of dystopian fun.

 

Feedback

Chris the Arvadinian and Andy Lindemann love Herculoids.  Shane in Grand Rapids shows us Karate Kid action figures.  Kendall chimes in with a Ready Player One video and a cool retro Kickstarter from Matt Kindt.  JediHolmes provides another cool video — a 2112 motion comic from Rush’s website.  And the Spider-Pan from Neverland ices the dystopian cake with a high school class on the various types of futures from dystopias to negative utopias and the differences between the two.

 

Thanks for tuning in to TechnoRetro Dads, EarBuds!  Don’t forget to rate and review TechnoRetro Dads on iTunes.  Then share with others on social media, and join us on Discord for discussions about toys, cereal, games, movies and/or shows from the ‘70s and ‘80s.  While you’re at it, give the ‘Dads your feedback via voice mail at (209) 878-7323 or sending us a message or mp3 via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com.

 

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Direct download: TRDads_06.16.mp3
Category:TechnoRetro Dads -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

Summertime is a funner time with your EarBuds, as long as the internet is being friendly.  Take a 77 minute trip with TechnoRetro Dads along for the ride on your family vacation for a dystopic change of pace this Monday morning afternoon.

 

In the NEWS

Ready Player One arrives in stores tomorrow.  Robocop returns in the future.

 

We Love Our Cereal…

Do not eat those Honey Smacks!  No matter how much you “Dig ‘em." 

 

Vinyl Scratchback

Distopian and Pre-Dystopian tunes are on the playlist this week with “Mr. Roboto” by Styx, Rush’s “2112”, “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” by R.E.M., “Road to Nowhere” by Talking Heads, “Eve of Destruction” by Barry McGuire or Joey Scarbury, and Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”.

 

Let’s Go to the Movies

JediShua and shazbazzar mix-and-mash yesterday’s dystopian characters with today’s heroic movies.  Where did they come up with that?

 

TechnoRetro Arcade

The Anato No Warehouse in Japan is a journey into a dystopian cityscape with arcade amusement games everyone can enjoy.  Dress appropriately.

 

Feedback

Funko Pops cereal, Mego toys, and Fraggle Rock.

 

Thanks for tuning in to TechnoRetro Dads, EarBuds!  Don’t forget to rate and review TechnoRetro Dads on iTunes.  Then share with others on social media, and join us on Discord for discussions about toys, cereal, games, movies and/or shows from the ‘70s and ‘80s.  While you’re at it, give the ‘Dads your feedback via voice mail at (209) 878-7323 or sending us a message or mp3 via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com.

 

Share and enjoy.

Direct download: TRDads_06.15.mp3
Category:TechnoRetro Dads -- posted at: 2:00pm EDT

Remember a time when arcade games could capture your imagination so effectively that read-along books with cassette tapes and even “radio drama” styled records would draw dollars out of you faster than you could put a quarter in the slot?  This week is just like that.  As the Zardonians prepare for the Krytolian attack, shazbazzar and JediShua train cadets for Missile Command.

 

We Love Our Cereal…

…and JediShua got some cool swag at Cereal Box, inc for his birthday (and for our EarBuds), so stay tuned for more on that…

In the meantime, shazbazzar talks about his experience with Post Nilla Wafers Banana Pudding cereal and JediShua enjoys a bowl of Lion Cereal with a Cap’n Crunch Slurpee to wash it down.  PLUS: loads of information from our Roving Spoonster Shane in GR and other cereal correspondents Jeffrey Fischbach and Jonathan Bell. 

 

Saturday Mornings

The Herculoids have always been a favorite of shazbazzar and JediShua, and with their amalgamation of style (prehistory fused with the future), the cartoon looks a bit dystopia.  The eight-member team is heavily weighted against the humans on this super team of good guys.

 

History Lesson

In May 2013, shazbazzar mentioned a movie’s release on May 20, 1983.  That movie was Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone.  Guess what?  We watch it again.

 

The Future’s Not So Bright (Dystopian Summer)

If Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone even remotely resembles the future, we’re all going to be disappointed. That’s nothing against the 1983 film’s effects, props, story, or acting chops and everything with all the bad things that happen to Wolff and Niki during their 3-D adventures in the Forbidden Zone.  Even if you’ve never seen this movie, you should check out the discussion.  It’s a good movie!

 

TechnoRetro Arcade

Atari’s Missile Command put the power in your hands with a roller ball, three buttons, three bases, and six cities to protect.  The game has always been popular at arcades, and it even ported to home consoles really well.  Grab a few quarters and join us at the arcade.

 

Thanks for tuning in to TechnoRetro Dads, EarBuds!  Don’t forget to rate and review TechnoRetro Dads on iTunes.  Then share us and with us on social media, and join us on Discord for discussions about toys, cereal, games, movies and/or shows from the ‘70s and ‘80s.  While you’re at it, give the ‘Dads your feedback via voice mail at (209) 878-7323 or sending us a message or mp3 via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com.

 

Share and enjoy!

Direct download: TRDads_06.14.mp3
Category:TechnoRetro Dads -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

After Star Wars thrilled audiences in theaters, everyone wanted to tap into the collective consciousness of pop culture that had embraced that galaxy far, far away.  After Battlestar Galactica was declined a second season, Glen A Larson made another attempt to seize audiences’ interest in futuristic space shows.  This time, he chose to update an iconic character to suit the culture of the late 1970s.  Buck Rogers, a character created by Philip Francis Nowlan in 1928 had already been featured in print, film, and on radio, and was ripe for a modern makeover.  NBC picked up the pilot which was packed with movie-style special effects, classic characters, and a light-hearted spirit that quickly caught on with young and older viewer.  Buck Rogers in the 25th Century sated our appetites for two seasons while we awaited the anticipated sequel to Star Wars.

 

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

The pilot episode of the television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was released theatrically in March 1979 as a prelude to the TV show which would air later that year.  Reworked and edited as a two-part first episode, “Awakening” revealed Buck’s backstory and his return to Earth five hundred years after being cryogenically frozen soon after lift-off in 1987.  We watched as Captain Buck Rogers (Gil Gerard) was captured by Princess Ardala’s (Pamela Hensley) flagship and subsequently set back on course to return to Earth at its previously programmed destination, Chicago.

Upon his return “home”, Buck encounters a world alien to his senses as he comes to realize his planet had undergone devastating changes.  Colonel Wilma Deering (Erin Gray), Dr. Elias Huer (Tim O’Connor), and a pint-sized drone called Twice (Felix Silla) curiously and cautiously befriended Buck as the adventures began in the 25th Century.

The first season of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was a hit with audiences as Gerard’s portrayal of a confident 70s "macho man” with a penchant for twentieth century references and an attractive personality (and sufficient chest hair) was alluring to female characters on screen and young viewers at home.  The characters’ interactions with each other week-after-week made this NBC program “must see TV” until the show radically changed course in the second season, losing audiences and frustrating members of the cast and crew.

However, as is evident in this discussion between shazbazzar, JediShua, and SuperFriend Paul Bateman, the show is still remembered fondly by those who saw it in its initial run from 1979-1981.  With audio from Gil Gerard’s appearance at Alabama Phoenix Festival in 2013 and “Keep on Sailin’”,a musical piece by High Adventure with lyrics by shazbazzar, this episode of TechnoRetro Dads Star Wars Aftershocks is sure to get you ready to don some white spandex and groove to a rockin’ disco beat in a 70s’ version of the 25th Century.

For a look back at more Star Wars connections with Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, check out shazbazzar’s article on RetroZap.com!

Thanks for tuning in to TechnoRetro Dads, EarBuds!  Don’t forget to rate and review TechnoRetro Dads on iTunes.  Then share us and with us on social media, and join us on Discord for discussions about toys, cereal, games, movies and/or shows from the ‘70s and ‘80s.  While you’re at it, give the ‘Dads your feedback via voice mail at (209) 878-7323 or sending us a message or mp3 via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com.

Direct download: TRDads_Star_Wars_Aftershocks_Buck_Rogers.mp3
Category:TechnoRetro Dads -- posted at: 12:00pm EDT

This week marks another great moment in history as JediShua’s birthday returns a week after Independence Day.  Armed with a 7/11 slurpee, a microphone, and Suckerman, Shua celebrates his birthday with shazbazzar and all EarBuds across the globe (including Australia) for this maddening voyage into the not-so-distant future for 77 minutes (listen all the way to the end) as TechnoRetro Dads continue looking to the past for clues about the looming dystopian future.

 

In the NEWS

  • Logan’s Run reboot/remake to be directed by Simon Kinberg
  • Sir Patrick Stewart might be willing to reprise his Star Trek role.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog finds a villain in Jim Carrey to play Dr. Robotnik.
  • Mobile Suit Gundam gets a live-action movie.
  • Ultraman (no, not the original) will be a Netflix series.
  • Star Wars Resistance images found online.

 

We Love Our Cereal…

…and Cereal Correspondant (or whatever we finally decide to call him) Shane in Grand Rapids finds multi-grain Nestle’s cereal in India and sends us a link to some cereal recipes for those new Post cereals JediShua definitely doesn’t crave. Jovial Jay (yes, the Trix cereal singing Jovial Jay) shares a fantastic video of a gourmet chef attempting to remake Lucky Charms.

 

Saturday Mornings

In honor of JediShua’s 47th birthday (no, really, he’s just 47), we scour the Saturday morning lineup for the Saturday adjoining the day of his birth to figure out what he would have been watching, had he been offered the choice.  Surprise, BabyShua, you only have three channels to choose from.  Archaic, we know.

 

Toys in the Attic

Both shazbazzar and JediShua recall some of their most memorable birthday presents from the ‘70s and ‘80s.  Ranging from Big Wheels to Chevy Vegas, with The Beatles in-between (with a CD boombox and Sony Walkman, respectively), the all-around winner of a birthday present, edging out six (6) Yodas by the width of a plastic  orange snake, is “Suckerman”!

 

The Future’s Not So Bright (Dystopian Summer)

Adam O’Brien, the Fantha from Down Under, joins shazbazzar and JediShua for a journey through the wastelands of the future in Mad Max, a low budget film that has spawned two or three sequels (depending on how you fit Fury Road into the canon) and successfully defined the look and feel of the genre for nearly forty years.  Follow Rocketansky down the rabbit hole as he deals out retribution to those who destroyed his life and murdered those he loves.

 

Thanks for tuning in to TechnoRetro Dads, EarBuds!  Don’t forget to give JediShua a birthday present by rating and reviewing TechnoRetro Dads on iTunes.  Then share us and with us on social media, and join us on Discord for discussions about toys, cereal, games, movies and/or shows from the ‘70s and ‘80s.  While you’re at it, give the ‘Dads your feedback via voice mail at (209) 878-7323 or sending us a message or mp3 via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com.

 

Share and enjoy.

Direct download: TRDads_06.13.mp3
Category:TechnoRetro Dads -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

Run, Logan, Run!  Before we heard Jenny’s cry for Forrest to flee from danger, Jessica was helping the sandman-turned-runner Logan flee from his imminent doom in the 23rd Century.  SuperFriend, Paul Bateman (art director and concept designer) lends his filmatic expertise to the conversation about Logan’s Run as shazbazzar and JediShua face a frightening future in the dystopian movies of the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s. 

 

We Love Our Cereal…

…but not necessarily every cereal equally.  Before JediShua, shazbazzar, and the shazlings give their thoughts about the new Dippin’ Dots cereals and a Cold Stone Creamery / Malt-O-Meal mashup, Shane in Grand Rapids chimes in with news that Cliff Bars are dipping their granola into the cereal bowl.  Are they macadamia nuts?  PLUS: Darth Taxus debates his dilemma with an abandoned (?) box of Special K Blueberry with Lemon Clusters.  

 

Logan’s Run

Summertime is a funner time when you’re not living in a bleak dystopia.  Still, the ‘Dads are embarking on a voyage into one of science fiction’s shadowy realms this summer by looking back at dystopian movies from decades past.  This week, art director and concept artist Paul Bateman brings his wit and wisdom to the conversation as the projector plays Logan’s Run.  Saul David’s seemingly utopian city belies a hidden dystopian truth as technology encourages the young to placate themselves with peaceful pleasure until some begin to realize that being “renewed” at thirty years-old isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.    

 

Toys in the Attic

After several long days in 2074 mixed with the heat of summer, we’re all due for something cold and refreshing, and Snoopy gives us the perfect treat — snow cones!  JediShua and shazbazzar recall, not only their memories of the Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine, but also Kool-Aid and Lemonade stands from the yonder years of youth.  After all, who can forget that catchy tune from the old commercial?

 

Feedback

Andy “Let Me Google that for You” Lindemann sends in an electronic-M with mp3dback because he has music on his mind.  From Rush to Cheap Trick to playing a benefit concert for kids (filled with tunes from the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s), Andy brings a musical flair to graying hair.  Puddingsbane on Discord (#TeamSteve!) reveals the answer to a lingering question about Burger Chef and Burger King regarding Star Wars glasses and the words “only eight million” escape shazbazzar’s lips.

 

Thanks for tuning in to TechnoRetro Dads, EarBuds!  Don’t forget to rate and review TechnoRetro Dads on iTunes, share us and with us on social media, and join discussions on Discord about toys, cereal, games, movies and/or shows from the ‘70s and ‘80s by giving the ‘Dads your feedback via voice mail at (209) 878-7323 or sending us your mp3dback via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com.

 

Share and enjoy.

Direct download: TRDads_06.12.mp3
Category:TechnoRetro Dads -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

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