Doctor Who celebrated it’s 55th Anniversary this week! In honor of this landmark moment, here is a link to the very first Doctor Who episode, An Unearthly Child.
We’ve also linked our commentary track for the story, courtesy our podcast Examining The Doctor. Hosts Mark and Seth bring their signature blend of knowledge and humor to this all time classic story.
Don’t worry, just start the commentary first, and it will tell you when to start the TV episode. If you like what you hear, we have dozens more Doctor Who stories, both Classic and Modern (or “NewWho” to some fans), on our podcast Examining The Doctor.
Geekville Radio #216: Marvel and Star Wars Content for Disney
Thanksgiving may be coming to a close, but that doesn’t stop Geekville Radio from talking some fun news about the news.
Several shows have been announced for the Disney streaming service. In the Star Wars corner, Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell in Game Of Thrones) has been cast as one of the main characters in Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian. Former MMA star Gina Carano (Deadpool and Deadpool 2) has also been cast, presumably as another Mandalorian.
Diego Luna will reprise the role of Cassian Andor in a yet untitled Rogue One prequel series. It is unclear how long before the Rogue One movie the series will take place in, or whether any of the other members of the film’s cast will be part of the show.
This is in addition to a seventh season of the fan favorite Clone Wars series, which will presumably depict the fates of several characters. Disney has already teased a reunion between Ahsoka Tano and Anakin Skywalker. Fans of the series may recall Ahsoka leaving the Jedi order in the final episode of Season Five.
On the Marvel front, a series starring Sebastian Stan as Winter Soldier and Anthony Mackie as Falcon has been greenlit according to Slashfilm. This is in addition to a Scarlet Witch show with Elizabeth Olsen, and (perhaps the most anticipated) a Loki series with non other than Tom Hiddleston.
It is worth mentioning that all of these series look to be limited series, and not full seasons. So expect something more along the lines of a 4-8 episode season you might see on Netflix than the usual 22-26 episodes you might see on TV.
Marvel head Kevin Fiege will be directly involved in the series, which is not the case for Agents Of SHIELD on ABC. Coincidentally, Agents Of SHIELD has been renewed for a 7th season. Yes, you read that correctly. a SEVENTH season when the sixth hasn’t even aired yet.
Over in the DC side of things, James Gunn has officially been hired by Warner Bros. in a move that shouldn’t surprise many who have been following the story. Gunn will likely write and possibly direct Suicide Squad 2. Coincidentally, Disney will still be using Gunn’s script for Guardians Of The Galaxy 3.
The title of the long rumored Harley Quinn/Birds Of Prey film has been announced. The current official title is Birds Of Prey: And The Totally Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn.
Ewan McGregor has been cast as Black Mask, who will likely be the film’s central villain. Birds Of Prey has been a title over the years for a street-level female team. The team usually consists of some mixture of Huntress, Black Canary, Batgirl, an Catwoman. Poison Ivy and Harley have been in the series at different times.
In the final segment, Crazy Train reviews Red Dead Redemption 2. The long anticipated title has set a record for its opening weekend. With $725 million, the Western title beats out Avengers: Infinity War in opening weekend grossing.
This review may contain opinions that might not be the norm when talking about this massively popular game. In fact, the amount of realism of the game can be a deterrent at times. Take this headline
All this and more in another fun-filled Geekville Radio!
As always we are on iTunes, Stitcher, and many of your favorite podcasts devices. Let us know what you think. Let us know what you want to hear! Give us a review if you can.
The importance of Stan Lee to the history of comic books and superheroes cannot be overstated. Lee was so influential, writers to this day may be borrowing from his storytelling style without even knowing it.
Some of the topics discussed include how, instead of the mega-hero like Superman, Stan Lee gave the world the “flawed hero”. He also was able to provide social commentary on the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s through The X-Men comics. And, of course, Stan popularized the “shared universe” where what happens in one title might affect characters in another title. All of these things are so commonplace in comics and movies today that people may not even realize that the very basis of The Marvel Cinematic Universe was brought to us by Stan Lee in the Silver Age of Marvel.
Here is the image of Stan from the 1970s that is discussed in the show
Hi-Yo Silver! The mysterious masked man who has been an icon to TV and radio has made his way to the Geekville Radio Lesser Known Geek Hall Of Fame!
“What?” you may ask. “You said this is the LESSER Known Geek Hall Of Fame. Everybody has heard of The Lone Ranger. Why are you doing a show about a character everybody has heard about?”
That is a very good question. While it is true that the vast majority of people have probably heard of The Lone Ranger, how much is actually known about him? Do you know who the Ranger is? Do you know why he is called The Lone Ranger?
Seth “Zandrax” Zillmann and “Crazy Train” Jonathan Bolick open the doors to the Hall Of Fame to answer those questions and more.
The story of The Lone Ranger starts in Detroit Michigan during the 1930s. George W. Trendle, a lawyer, businessman, and overall renaissance man had invested in several Nickelodeon and movie theaters. In fact, he co-owned about 20 movie theaters in the Detroit area. When competition started rising in the theater industry, he sold the theaters for apprimately six million dollars. That’s six million not adjusted for inflation. Six million in 1930 dollars.
After leaving the theater business, George invested in the radio business. He bought the CBS affiliate radio station WGHP, and changed it to WXYZ (“The last word in radio”). Radio was arguably the biggest entertainment media at the time, since the television would not become a mainstay for another decade or two.
Trendle knew he had to have programming. Radio plays were popular forms of entertainment, so it made perfect sense for WXYZ to have their own shows. Westerns were a popular genre, so the chances were good that a Western themed show would be a hit with audiences. However, he would need actors to perform the stories. But he wouldn’t be able to get actors to perform the stories if he didn’t have stories in the first place. And in order to have stories, he would need characters to write the stories about.
Enter Fran Striker, a writer from New York. He had actually written radio shows before, even some in the Western genre. Who exactly did what to create the The Lone Ranger can be debated, but the official credit goes to Trendle. Striker was then hired to write the episodes, a duty that Striker would continue for the next several years in many forms of media.
The rest, as they say, is history. Trendle went down in history as the creator of arguably the greatest Old West hero of all time. Striker would find steady work writing stories. And, most of all, fans would enjoy these stories on the radio, TV, print, even the movie theater.
What may surprise many people who may not know the full history of The Lone Ranger is his direct relation to another famous crimefighter who became an icon of his own.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! What is your jam at Halloween parties? In this compliation episode, we flashback to 2013 and 2014 to talk favorite Halloween movies and music to play at your Halloween party. Guests include Uncle Greg, Leadbase, Vengeful Jedi Clint Thiele of GeekDig.
What do you like at your Halloween partis? Let us know at our Facebook, Twitter, or email
WARNING: Examining The Dead is Geekville Radio’s only explicit rated show. Content is meant for mature audiences.
Well it’s been a long few months, but Examining The Dead is back just in time for Halloween. We do apologize for not releasing any shows in the last six months, but it should be smooth sailing from here
Seth roughly equates it to a Superman lawsuit from a few years back where the estates of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were allowed to maintain ownership and licensing to the original take on Superman from the 1930’s. However, DC will still keep rights to Superman as we know him today.
“We are disappointed in the court’s ruling and disagree with its conclusion. We are considering our options, including an appeal. We understand that this ruling has created confusion among some fans of the franchise and, more specifically, “Friday the 13th: The Game” players who have questions about new Friday the 13th content in the game.
The court was very clear that its ruling in favor of Mr. Miller is limited to the original screenplay in which Jason’s mother is the killer and that Mr. Miller’s termination notice did not purport to terminate Horror, Inc.’s separate copyright in the iconic supernatural killer who wears a hockey mask. While the ruling does not prevent Gun from continuing to sell and operate the existing game, it may complicate adding certain content to the current game in the future.
Some have asked if a settlement could be reached with Victor Miller to enable the creation of new content. Even if Gun were in a position to continue to fund the game while it was waiting for such questions to be resolved, there is no evidence to date that such a settlement is possible.
Friday the 13th director Sean Cunningham has previously reached out directly to Victor Miller to discuss a settlement. Miller responded by refusing to talk to Sean. Work on new content for fans was suspended because of the position that Miller has taken.
Given Miller’s unwillingness to discuss settlement to date and following the guidelines set down by the Court’s ruling, Horror Inc. intends to aggressively explore many opportunities for new projects featuring settings and characters not included in Mr. Miller’s screenplay.
Horror, Inc. will be providing additional details on the new Friday the 13th projects in the near future.”
There may be more to come with this story, but neither Train nor Seth rule out the possibility of this being the beginning of the end.
In movie news, we are only a few weeks away from the highly anticipated movie Halloween. This is, of course, another retelling that ignores all movies in the franchise except the original 1978 classic. This means that Laurie Strode and Michael Myers are not siblings, and the movie will be a direct sequel to the first film that takes place 40 years later.
The film has been generally well received, if not mixed. As of this recording, it is sitting at an 85% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes. That means the film will likely be labeled “Certified Fresh” by the time its released. On the Metacritic scale, it sits at 66 rating.
AMC’s Fear Fest
October is the month for AMC’s annual Fear Fest programming. Each year the network rolls out horror themed programming for the Halloween Season, and this year is no different.
October 14th marks the return of The Walking Dead to the airwaves, and it’s no secret that this will be Andrew Lincoln’s final season. It’s a pretty safe bet that some people will tune in just to see how Rick Grimes gets written out of the show. Reviews have come in stating that the show will have more of a female presence.
Another part of Fear Fest will be Eli Roth’s series on The History Of Horror. The premiere episode airs on Monday, October 15th.
Finally, Stranger Things Season 3 has been delayed until Summer of 2019. Rumors abound that the season will take place sometime later, allowing for the actors to physically grow to match the age the characters will be. Also, there is the story that the storyline grew so complex, that The Duffer Brothers may be putting more time into it than previous seasons.
The Gruesome Twosome
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8ti-SEh_Ag
Season 3 of AMC’s Preacher has recently wrapped. Fan favorite characters such as The Saint Of Killers and Herr Starr have made their presence known on the series. Plus, Jesse’s background is really expounded on, as well as his relationship with Tulip and Cassidy. How has it held up to the previous seasons? And does it fit in with the former FOX series Lucifer?
A popular K-Horror film from Korea, Train To Busan, is available on Netflix as of this recording. Train highly recommends it, even though all the language is in Korean with English subtitles. Train gives a very spoiler filled review of the film, so if you want to avoid spoilers, watch the film before listening to the review. Ma Dong-seok (formerly Don Lee in the MMA and wrestling world) has a memorable role as a heavy.
Into The Crystal Ball
Special Guest The Rev. Dan “The Dragon” Wilson joins the show to talk about his new horror production company One Good Scare Productions. Dan, like Train, made his name in the pro wrestling world and is now moving on to other things.
Among the shows OGS produces are Seeking Human Victims, a weekly podcast on horror films. The first season is called The ABC’s of Horror, which explores the five quintessential films every horror fan should watch and understand. Not just the movies themselves, but the impact they may have as well as any tropes they may have helped create.
Other shows are The Art Of Murder by comic artist Todd Johnston, which also talks classics along with original artwork from Todd. Another is Spooky Tricks by Anni & Brelyn that discusses tricks and tutorials like zombie make-up. Graphic Content discusses hiden gems and favorites Finally, Dan himself hosts Wrestling With Horror, which has special guests to discuss their horror fandom.
One Good Scare can be found on social media on Facebook and Twitter under the name OGScare.
The final conversation, as usual with Into The Crystal Ball, is about the future outlook of the horror genre. Dan believes that the future for horror is as bright as ever. And of course, some of their favorite movies and shows.
Crazy Train’s custom Halloween playlist is up on Spotify. Perfect for any Halloween party or gathering.
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Not one, but TWO trailers for Bumblebee, the latest Transformers feature film, have been released this week. Unlike all previous live action entries, this movie looks to be directly inspired by the original 1980s toys and cartoons. The original classic Transformers era has since been branded Generation 1, or G1 for short. We have listed the time codes for all the points of interest in these trailers. If you see something we don’t, don’t hesitate to let us know!
First up, Bumblebee Trailer 2
:11 Charlie Watson introduced. Now I may be wrong here, but to dust of some Transformers Geek Cred, there was a human girl in the original cartoon named Carly. She is Spike’s girlfriend, and in Transformers The Movie and Season 3 of the series, they are married. Perhaps coincidentally, there was a Carly in the third Bayformers movie, portrayed by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
:15 Charlie finds Bumblebee in the junkyard.
:21 She is given the car by Uncle Hank for her birthday (Len Cariou).
:25 She drives Bumblebee home, presumably without license plates or registration, but let’s suspend a little disbelief.
:27 Then a piece of Bumblebee, perhaps an arm, since that’s about where his arm would be while transformed, falls to the floor
:30 She shines a flashlight into Bumblebee’s eyes, and he transforms into his robot form
:54 Charlie’s voiceover says humans can be terrible about things they don’t understand, while military humvees shoot at Bumblebee. We also see a determined John Cena, aka Agent Burns. This possibly implies that Burns may be an antagonist. There is the theory that this may be a backdoor into another GI Joe movie, but I don’t recall any Joe named Burns. That’s not to say it can’t be, just that there wouldn’t be an established character from the 80s named Burns.
1:05 Airplane and a Huey Cobra helicopter fly but they turn out to be Triple Changers.
1:13 The red transformer talks to the military about a criminal, presumably Bumblebee. Which would make these characters Decepticons
1:15 A round pod is shown escaping from Cyberton. So perhaps Bumblebee is similar to Superman in fate.
1:23 Hailee asks Bumblebee if there is any family, Bumble points at her. This implies Bumblebee may not have any memory of his life on Cybertron, or the war with Decepticons.
1:30 Bumblebee’s retractable blade in action
1:33 Shockwave surrounded by what looks like Starscream and other Seekers. One of which could be Skywarp.
1:34 We see some transformers turning into jets on Cybertron
1:36 Agent Burns is shown stating that he sees firsthand what these things really are. Again, it’s a little open ended, where we don’t know if he trusts Bumblebee or not. He could be an antagonist, he could be helping the heroes. We just can’t tell yet
1:37 We see another jet transforming, and it looks like judging by the colors, it’s Starscream. And he looks like he’s a Harrier jet.
1:40 The real mark out moment: G1 Optimus Prime! Complete with Peter Cullen’s voice.
1:45 G1 Soundwave ejecting Ravage! I’m curious what Soundwave will transform into. Since the gimmick in the 1980s was a tape deck that would somehow change size.
1:47 Prime says you must protect earth and its people. Again, sounds like Bumblebee is getting the Superman storyline. which is not a bad thing.
1:51 Bumblebee vs. Grappling Hooks
1:56 Bumblebee puts on his battle mask look, and fires an arm canon.
2:00 A collapsing building on what looks like it’s on Cybertron. And is that Starscream again?
2:03 Another Harrier transforms. Could be Dirge, or even an Autobot like Powerglide if we’re going to have Autobot jets.
2:07 Starscream flying with Bumblebee by the throat. Reminds me of Thor vs. Iron Man in the first Avengers.
2:09 The military surrounds a fallen Bumblebee. Could he be taken captive?
2:12 Bumblebee fights with a Decepticon
2:22 And finally some humor to end on a funny note.
INTERNATIONAL Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVjRBaKd4JQ
This one seems to have more plot
0:00 Looks to be a longer shot of Starscream transforming from the last two trailers. And Starscream grabs Bumble be the neck. Links to that scene from 2:07 in the previous
:10 Starscream (at least we think it’s Starscream, we don’t truly know yet) threateningly asks Bumblebee “Where’s Optimus Prime”
:11 Starscream drops Bumblebee off a cliff, where he seemingly learns how to change into a VW beetle before passing out. So all those scenes of Starscream and Bumblebee fighting each other look to happen at the beginning of the movie, or at least chronologically before he meets Charlie.
:30 Variant scenes of Charlie driving Bumblebee home and meeting him. It looks like Charlie coins the name Bumblebee.
1:09 Charlie tries to repair something in Bumblebee, and uncovers the message of Optimus Prime giving his pep talk.
1:17 Some other shots that were at least partially used in the last trailer, including Prime on Cybertron and the Decepticons meeting the military to warn about Bumblebee.
1:36 A huge explosion to remind us Michael Bay is still involved with this film.
1:49 Prime gives the designation “B127”, rather than Bumblebee. This makes sense in the end because what are robots on an alien world going to know about Earth bees anyway?
1:50 Ravage vs. Optimus Prime?!?
1:55 Bumblebee flees from the military.
2:02 Some additional footage of Bumblebee fighting the Huey Cobra Decepticon.
2:11 More footage of Bumblebee, well, bumbling around the house. Still funnier than the pot brownie jokes from Revenge Of The Fallen.
Did you catch anything we missed? Anything else to add? Sound off below, or hit us up on Facebook and Twitter!
You have probably heard of The Phantom, and yes you’ve probably seen him in a newspaper comic strip. But do you truly know the origin of The Phantom? Seth and Crazy Train talk the creation of The Phantom, as well as his origin. Why is the character called The Ghost Who Walks?
A lot of people may not know how long The Phantom has been around. Creator Lee Falk started writing the character in 1936, and continued to write up until his death in 1999. That means he had a 63 year run writing Phantom, which could be a record for longest stint for a writer on a specific character. The Phantom has also been in print regularly since 1936, which is a record for oldest superhero title at 82 years and counting.
If you want to learn more about The Phantom, there is the awesome Phantom Wiki. And check out the good people at Chronicle Chamber, who have a podcast dedicated to all things Phantom!
In the latest chapter in the ongoing controversy for Guardians Of The Galaxy 3, the movie is reported to be on hold after Disney made the decision to not reinstate director James Gunn. Dave Bautista has stated that he isn’t sure he wants to return.
“They’re putting the movie off. It’s on hold indefinitely. To be honest with you, I don’t know if I want to work for Disney.”
2. Also part of the DC Movie Universe will be an as of yet untitled Joker/Harley movie that would further explore the relationship between Joker and Harley Quinn. Leto and Robbie would likely return for that film that has been described as “When Harry Met Sally On Benzedrine”.
Also on the docket, a possible Birds Of Prey movie. Margot Robbie has reportedly expressed desire to portray Harley in her own standalone film. Birds Of Prey has been a title for DC that involved an all-female cast in various incarnations over the years. Harley has been part of the group in the comics since her turn as a more anti-hero type character. Cathy Yan (Dead Pigs) is set to direct off a Christina Hodson (Bumblebee) story. It is yet to be announced whether the film will feature Leto as Joker.
It’s the last show of the month. And to be a little different, we are debuting a new segment. We like to call it Geekville Radio’s Nostalgia Trip. The debut edition of Geekville Radio’s Nostalgia Trip is devoted to the classic 1980s TV show The Dukes Of Hazzard. Seth “Zandrax” Zillmann and “Crazy Train” Jonathan Bolick talk the history of the show and why it is so iconic almost 40 years later.
As ardent fans know, Dukes was actually spun off of a 1975 feature film Moonrunners, which had a very similar vibe. Both that film and the TV series were created by Gy Waldron, and are based on the stories of Jerry Rushing. Crazy Train provides a brief course in moonshine whiskey and moonshine running.
How well do you know the background of Bo, Luke, Daisy, and Uncle Jesse? No matter your level of Dukes fandom, you might learn a few things. Which Duke was a Vietnam Vet? Which was a star football player in high school?
And of course, what good are the heroes without the villains? JD “Boss” Hogg, Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane, Deputies Enos Strate and Cledus Hogg made up the recurring antagonists for The Duke family. Then of course there were the out of town strangers that would be up to no good each week.
You knew trouble was coming to Hazzard when you saw a basic Plymouth Fury riding into town.
Seth and Train also dive into the 1982-83 season which had the controversial replacement Dukes, Coy and Vance.
But perhaps most importantly, they talk the vehicles.
While Hazzard Country Georgia may not actually exist, Train does provide geographical evidence as to where Hazzard County would be on a map if it did. Don’t believe us? Listen to Train’s evidence and you’ll hear why.
Now you know where to find Hazzard County Georgia!
If you’re a 70s kid like Train, an 80s kid like Seth, or even came to love Dukes Of Hazzard after the fact, there is something for you in this edition of Geekville Radio’s Nostalgia Trip. Our goal is that, regardless of your level of fandom, you’ll enjoy this podcast and maybe even learn something about what was arguably the most “Southern” TV show to ever air on television.
As mentioned during the show, Crazy Train has amassed a list of Outlaw Country songs for Spotify, which fit perfectly with the attitude of Dukes Of Hazzard.
Look up our shows on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter, and Crazy Train can be reached on Twitter. Give us a subscribe and let us know! We encourage your feedback!
