Geek Podcast | The Observation Lounge | Trek.fm

Tiny, Tiny Arms. It’s another week of general geek news with host Greg Harbin, TOL News Editor Kathryn Brihan, and returning friend-of-the-show Tristan Riddell. Enter the future of gaming with the Oculus Rift, gaze into the eyes of the past with Sauroniops, listen to the confusing and duplicitous words of George Lucas, fall into a cornucopia of wormholes with Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, and hope that Ronald D. Moore’s Helix isn’t canceled.

Post-Oscars Post-Mortem. One show wasn’t enough to handle Team Ben Affleck, so we’re back to talk about the joy of winning, the agony of Les Miz, our fury at Ang Lee, and our love of Jennifer Lawrence. Host Greg Harbin and Observation Lounge News Editor Kathryn Brihan are joined by Geek Crash Course’s Michael Nixon and The Zero Room’s Jose Munoz for a discussion that, honestly, gets a little Parental Advisory at times. Shoo the children from the room for this one, folks.

PlayStation 4 Non-Announcement. Greg, Kathryn and Drew are back in full swing with special fourth chair Tristan Riddell joining the show to discuss Sony’s three hour-long press conference to nowhere, Jurassic Park’s bite chunk-removable toys, Sean Connery in 3D, the twentysomething squabble-based sitcom with Batman and Superman, Dr Soran’s creepy mental hospital, the casting of CBS’s maybe summer adaptation of “Under the Dome”, and the Best. Jeopardy contestant. Ever.

It’s A Die Hard Knock Life. Regulars Greg and Drew are joined by PopCap Games’ Joey Trimmer to discuss The Doctor in 3D, the future of video games, the exploding Russian meteor, the war between Tesla and the New York Times, and how manly you have to be to enjoy a “Die Hard” film. And in the Staff Meeting, a costume-changing Benedict Cumberbatch pursues our crew as they spout their gaming choices for the week.

House of Cards. Greg, Kathryn, Tristan, and Martin throw out the rundown entirely to discuss (charming) Kevin Spacey and (handsome) David Fincher’s new Netflix original series House of Cards. Beware! Spoilers inside! Southern accents will be spoken, chess pieces will be moved, whites will be creamed, and the TV will be screamed at. Note: this episode is based on the 1994 BBC miniseries The Observation Foyer.

Returning Storylines. This week’s Observation Lounge is a morning show for Greg, Kathryn, Drew, and Charlynn, but that doesn’t get in the way of them discussing a smattering of updates to topics previously discussed. Cory and Topanga’s daughter has been cast, “1952” has been given a title, Paul Giamatti wants a horn, DARPA has actual LASERs, The X-Files have a comic, Ellen Page may or may not have aged, David Bowie’s son has a Warcraft film, and Sony has an announcement to make. And don’t miss the battle of Kevins in this week’s Staff Meeting.

It’s J.J. The Twitters were on fire this week with news of J.J. Abrams directing Star Wars VII, and regulars Greg Harbin, Kathryn Brihan, and Drew Stewart can barely contain their enthusiasm for how little they want to talk about it. Also on the rundown: Netflix posts a profit, Twitter adds video, “1952” has a box, Jan Jones is oblivious, WoW assassins are hired, and people are angry about not one but two biopics in this week’s Observation Lounge.

Stalking Sequels, Games, and Dinosaurs. This week on The Observation Lounge, Not-Co-host Drew Stewart manufactures a holodeck “accident” in order to become Acting Host. Then he invites over Trek.fm’s Charlynn Schmiedt and Jennie Zell of Playing Doctor and Mouthy BroadCast to give you your fill of geeky news. Unneeded sequels, Facebook stalking, and video games are just a few of the topics covered in this exciting episode!

The Oscars. It’s an honor just to be nominated, and as Ben Affleck well knows, it’s quite a dishonor to be snubbed. The crew is joined by the very angry VJ Antonelli to discuss the highs and the lows of this year’s crop of Academy Award nods. How mad is Kathryn about Les Miz, how much does Greg hate David O Russell, how many riots is VJ already going to start about Argo, and why does Drew not realize why “digital shrinkage” is so funny? All this and much, much more in a special double episode of The Observation Lounge.

Comics and TV News. Host Greg Harbin and Observation Lounge news editor Kathryn Brihan are joined by Trek.fm’s Drew Stewart for a smorgasbord of geeky news. Holodecks are on their way, Fraction’s “Hawkeye” can help Sandy victims, JGL is playing everyone, Stan Lee turns 90, Kathryn is packing her bags for the Wonderful World of Middle Earth, and much much more.

Trailers. Host Greg Harbin and Observation Lounge news editor Kathryn Brihan are joined by Trek.fm’s Drew Stewart and Geek Crash Course’s Michael Nixon to preview 2013’s finest films. Can they survive being taken “Into Darkness” before being assaulted by a Beard “of Steel” while trapped in an “Iron” cage? Can you repeat the past? Of course “Gatsby” can. Can two films survive “After Earth” without falling into “Oblivion”? Perhaps “GI Joe” can tell us before giant robots fight giant monsters on the “Pacific Rim”. These puns and more lie within.

The Hobbit. Our gang ditches the news format once again to discuss the biggest news of the week…a little movie from New Zealand. Host Greg Harbin is joined by TOL news editor Kathryn Brihan, Matthew Rushing of Literary Treks, and a special guest: PopCap Games’ Joey Trimmer for a wide-ranging discussion on everything including story points, acting, special effects and more. Tantalized by Thranduil? Riveted by Radagast? Goofy for Gloin? This is the episode for you.

Sequels, Transformers, and Child’s Play. Violence erupts in this week’s episode of The Observation Lounge, detonating the panel and everything they stand for. Host Greg Harbin is joined by Trek.fm’s Drew Stewart and Tristan Riddell, along with Kathryn Brihan, to chat about some of this week’s geeky stories. Among the rundown: Syfy’s 20th anniversary, the future of TV distribution, a sequel to the Tron sequel, a man shoots his girlfriend over The Walking Dead, Ben Savage tries to save Girl Meets World, Japan builds actual Transformers, and Harrison Ford and Gavin Hood ruin Ender’s Game. In the staff meeting, Cory Doctorow proves the signal can’t be stopped, Matt Fraction proves sometimes all you need is a “Hawkguy,” The Dark Knight proves villains and heroes aren’t that different, and Child’s Play proves that gamers can give back. Oh, and the ISS Riddell releases his docking clamps.

Batman and Beyond. Could Heath Ledger have been Batman? So say we all! Rumors and speculation abound in this week’s episode of The Observation Lounge. Host Greg Harbin is joined by Kathryn Brihan and Drew Stewart, TOS Editor for Trek.fm, to discuss reports about future Batman and X-Men films, SyFy’s Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome webisodes, upcoming Real Steel reality show, and Waterworld TV series. We also—allons-y!—discuss how very excited we all are about the upcoming 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, and share nuggets about All-New X-Men, The Ridiculous Menace, and the new novel from Steven King’s son Joe Hill.

Skyfall. In this week’s episode of The Observation Lounge host Greg Harbin is joined by Michael Nixon and Andrew Johnson to discuss the latest installment in the James Bond franchise.

Blood and Chrome, Girl Meets World, iPad mini, and The Commbadge. In this week’s episode of The Observation Lounge host Greg Harbin is joined by Michael Fisher, Senior Editor at PocketNow, and Drew Stewart, TOS Editor for Trek.fm, to discuss a grab bag of topics including Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome, Disney’s plans for a Boy Meets World sequel, Verizon’s cellular data blackhole, the iPad mini, and Indiegogo’s Bluetooth Commbadge project. Plus, we revisit last week’s Disney Star Wars debate and Michael reveals that all of his iPad reviews have at least one sex scene.

Star Wars and Disney. Even the Trek.fm crew needs to go off-duty from time to time. And when that time comes, we all gather in The Observation Lounge to talk about things not of the Star Trek universe. In our first show from that vaunted room of staff meetingness we take on the purchase of Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise by Disney. Is this a good thing for that galaxy far, far away? Who should lead the franchise into a new future? And what direction should this new journey take? We tackle all of these questions and more as host Greg Harbin sits down with Drew Stewart, Matthew Rushing, and Christopher Jones for a little bit of non-Trek chatter.