Forty years ago, after huge success with Star Wars, Mark Hamill showed up in a down-to-earth comedy about a boy and his car in Corvette Summer.  Join shazbazzar and JediShua as they get revved up in high speed at 77 minutes per episode on this Memorial Day TechnoRetro Dads.

In the NEWS

Thundercats return to the small screen, but they don’t appear to be like the classic ‘80s cartoon. A She-Ra reboot looks like it will be more faithful to the original.  Kitsis and Horowitz line up to run the Amazing Stories reboot overseen by Steven Spielberg.  Galaxy’s Edge gets a release date…sort of.  And in sadder news, legendary movie poster artist Bill Gold and Lois Lane Margot Kidder both leave this life.

We Love Our Cereal…

…and other sweet, sugary, and colorful breakfast foods.  This coming Friday is National Doughnut Day…again!  It seems like it comes twice a year, doesn’t it?  PLUS: Cereal Feedback from Jonathan, Adam, and Shane. 

Corvette Summer

Mark Hamill and Annie Potts make an unlikely couple in 1978’s Corvette Summer, a RomCom featuring a boy’s automotive dreams, a girl’s effort to make it in the world, and the love they find along the way.  Although JediShua saw this one in theaters in 1978, shazbazzar didn’t see it until a week ago.  But in the end, the ‘Dads both love this movie!  Check it out when you can.  It’s a fun flick with lots of surprises and flashbacks to ‘70s culture for GenXers. 

TechnoRetro Arcade

Drop a quarter in the slot and take off with a shot in some great driving games we played in arcades and at home.  From the confusing axonometric driving in Super Off Road to the “behind the car” perspective of Pole Position, driving games have always been popular in the arcade.  We remember Rally X, Spy Hunter, futuristic F-Zero, and (of course) Super Mario Kart as we put one foot on the brake and one on the gas at the TechnoRetro Arcade.

Feedback

Mike MacDonald agrees that Twiki and Dr. Theopolis are similar to Bollux and Blue Max from the Brian Daley Han Solo novels, but Mac admits he hasn’t seen Willow, yet.  Shane in GR recalls the blue Hot Wheels carrying cases he used to have as a kid and wonders if they’re still in his parents’ house.  Jimmy in GA submits some sketches of Tony the Tiger and Buzz from Honey Nut Cheerios.  John Schepler helps shazbazzar out with the identity of Chris Claremont.

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 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 a message or mp3 via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com.

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Thirty years ago, Ron Howard and George Lucas teamed up to make a movie.  That movie was Willow.  This Friday, the Howard/Lucas connection returns with Solo: A Star Wars Story. And we’re kicking the hype up a notch by revisiting Willow, replaying video games featuring the Millennium Falcon, rereading the Brian Daley Han Solo novels, and joking around.  And if you don’t think it’s worth 77 minutes of your day, listen at 2x the speed and only waste 38 1/2 minutes!

In the NEWS

Sledgehammer might get a reboot, but The Greatest American Hero reboot pilot didn’t get picked up by ABC.  A potential G.I. Joe spinoff featuring Snake Eyes is in early stages of writing.  A Willow sequel has been hinted by Ron Howard.  PLUS: some new details about Disney’s Star Wars resort and next year’s Celebration!

We Love Our Cereal…

…with Star Wars masks on the back or plastic droids inside.  With Solo: A Star Wars Story coming this week, we chat about some of our favorite Star Wars cereal crossovers and premiums.  Plus, Shane in Grand Rapids lets us know about Toucan Sam’s nose and a new version of Froot Loops cereal. 

Willow

Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley met on the set of Willow more than thirty years ago.  And though they didn’t last in real life, their chemistry still reacts well on screen thirty years later.  Willow premiered on May 20, 1988 to appreciative audiences who loved seeing Warwick Davis as the lead as Willow, the reluctant hero who achieves greatness through persistence and a little help from friends, both big and small.  With magic, swashbuckling, and special effects, Willow continues to thrill the homes of TechnoRetro Dads today!

TechnoRetro Arcade

Fly the Millennium Falcon in Atari’s vector-graphic The Empire Strikes Back arcade game or the axonometric Return of the Jedi game just a couple years later.  Play Falcon Gunner on your iPhone or iPad or dust off your Super Nintendo for a sluggish ride through hyperspace in Super Star Wars Return of the Jedi.  On modern consoles, you can soar in the iconic ship in Battlefront and Disney Infinity.  And for those who can deal with the vertigo of immersive gaming, Star Wars Battle Pods allows you to climb into the pilot seat and punch it with Chewie.

Star Wars Scrapbook

Not long after Splinter of the Mind’s Eye enjoyed success in bookstores, Brian Daley’s Han Solo at Star’s End kicked off a trilogy of late-seventies / early-eighties novels featuring our favorite scoundrel, Han Solo.  Rounding out the Daley novels were Han Solo’s Revenge and Han Solo and the Lost Legacy.  These books were shazbazzar’s introduction to the Expanded Universe and still hold up as a fun look into Han Solo’s life before meeting Luke and Leia.

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 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 a message or mp3 via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com.

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It was forty years ago this year when Sgt. Pepper taught the band to steer.  They were playing up on top of the bus, causing everyone to make a fuss.  They were the Gibb brothers and Peter Frampton and the movie was 1978’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.  Get set for psychedelia, disco, and colorful digital gaming on this episode of TechnoRetro Dads.  

In the NEWS

We’ve mentioned it before, but now Bill and Ted are officially returning for the long-awaited sequel, Bill and Ted Face the Music as these definitive TechnoRetro Dads try to save the world with a little help from their friends daughters. A unique theatrical experience is just around the corner as the Choose Your Own Adventure books make the move into movies with interactive technology that gives the audience the choice of what they want the story to be.

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Not the 1967 Beatles album but the 1978 rock opera featuring the Bee Gees, Peter Frampton, Steve Martin, Alice Cooper, Earth, Wind & Fire, George Burns, Aerosmith, and more!  Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band took its influence from the Beatles’ song and crafted a story about love, joy, peace, and the business side of the music industry and threw it all together with bright colors, lots of dancing, and some trippy effects to make one of the most controversial films of 1978.  Don’t miss out on this classically good (or bad) piece of music and movie history!

Vinyl Scratchback

Although we’ve already covered the Bee Gees, disco isn’t far from our minds when we spin some records with Earth, Wind & Fire.  Featured in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Muppets in Space, and Rock and Rule, Earth, Wind & Fire is a bit of everything: funk, soul, boogie, disco, pop, rock, Latin, and African.  They stormed the scene in the ‘70s and are still performing today.  After getting a taste of this amazing band, you’re going to want to rush out to the record store to start your own collection.

TechnoRetro Arcade

Shoot wave after wave of robots to save the last human clones: Daddy, Mommy, and Mikey.  With two joysticks and no buttons, players move their digital character around the screen, avoiding obstacles and blasting robots and their spawning sources on colorful levels of frenzied action in Robotron 2084, an iconic arcade game from 1982.  JediShua and shazbazzar revisit their experience at Flashback Games in Loganville, GA before digging into the full description of the game itself.  We hope you have greater success than shazbazzar.

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 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 a message or mp3 via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com.

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Whether they’re from Switzerland or they’ve been Lost in Space multiple times over decades and even centuries, the Robinsons are an adventuresome lot regardless of their past or future.  Future and past are the name of the game today — your present from TechnoRetro Dads!  Get ready for 77 minutes of pop-culture, fandom, and geekiness with shazbazzar and JediShua. 

In the NEWS

The bad news this week is about Kevin Bacon (though, thankfully, he has not passed).  SyFy has passed on the pilot to a new Tremors series.  Sorry, Mr. Bacon.  We still like you sizzlin’ hot.  Another male icon is getting his own movie — and two directors have been named; Adam and 

Aaron Nee (they’re brothers) have been announced as the directors who will head up the new He-Man movie.  Bill Nye (yes, the science guy) has published three new children’s books.  Steven Spielberg hints that a new “Indy” may be female.  What this means for Indiana Jones 5, we don’t know.  Disney announces a digital series that will stream this summer called Star Wars: Season of the Fan.  

Lost in Space

The Robinsons were first known as a Swiss family lost in the jungle, but became even more familiar to the X Generation for being Lost in Space.  Created and produced in 1965 by Irwin Allen, the original show centered around a family of space pioneers whose mission was interrupted by a saboteur, Dr. Zachary Smith.  Smith and the youngest Robinson (Will) became the central humans on the three season series as did Robot’s familiar phrase, “Danger, Will Robinson!”. 

Thirty years after the series ended, New Line Cinema produced a Lost in Space film including nods, homages, and cameos from the television program.  It was a fun movie with some hope for a sequel, but due to its lackluster reception in the box office and somewhat lacking special effects for 1998, the sequel never happened.

Not to be stopped by one “poor” performance, however, the Robinsons re-emerged with a pilot for a TV reboot.  Directed by John Woo and penned by Irwin Allen, The Robinsons: Lost in Space was dead on arrival, sabotaged, not by Dr. Smith, but by a teen-drama feel that was really, really, really bad.  Really.  Totally 2004.  Some good things came from this version, however, including plot points that would be resurrected in the brand-new series from NetFlix.

Lost in Space returned to the small screen (iPhones, iPads, and anything else that streams NetFlix) in April to raucous praise.  And for good reason.  The cast is good, the story is good, the character development is excellent, the effects are effective, and a second season has been approved.  Haven’t seen it yet?  Stop what you’re doing and watch all ten episodes!

Vinyl Scratchback

The Bee Gees were topping the charts this week in 1978 with “Night Fever” and three other tunes from the band and/or a Gibb brother.  Since their foundation in 1958, the Bee Gees have gone through various and vibrant changes.  They’re best remembered for their work during the disco era with popular songs like “Tragedy”, “Jive Talkin’”, “How Deep Is Your Love”, “Stayin’ Alive”, and “You Should Be Dancin’”.  For a band called “Bee Gees”, they sure like to leave out their “g”s in song titles.  Weird, isn’t it?

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 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 a message or mp3 via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com.

Share and enjoy.