Gleaming The Tube

1995's Hackers is a shockingly accurate portrayal of the rollerblading hacker subculture of the time and stars darn near everybody, most notably a skateboarding Fisher Stevens who plays an evil hacker called "The Plague." The film also stars Angelina Jolie in one of her first starring roles, Lorraine Bracco, and the dude who played Sick Boy in Trainspotting. Kevin and Michael discuss the film, the skateboarding, hackers they have known, that moment in early 90s Providence when people would declare "I'm not a raver! I'm a club kid!", and many, many other tangents that are both related and unrelated to this deeply silly movie. Hack the planet, y'all! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1989's Honey, I Shrunk the Kids stars the great Rick Moranis as a nutty inventor and father who accidentally, well, shrinks his kids. And his neighbor kids. A whole lot shrinking happening and a tiny bit of skateboarding, which is why Kevin and Mike watched this movie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1994's PCU, directed by Hart Bochner, tells the story of college life at the fictional Port Chester University, and represents "an exaggerated view of contemporary college life in the 90s" - according to the filmmakers. There are slobs, there are snobs, there is the specter of POLIITICAL CORRECTNESS and there is a little bit of skateboarding. The film features Jeremy Piven in his first lead role, a young Jon Favreau, David Spade, and George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars.Kevin and Mike talk about the weird Jeremy Piven performance at the center of this movie, whether or not they liked this movie, the things the movie gets wrong, the things the move got right (P-Funk being awesome, basically), and the dawn of inline skating - and there's a brief side discussion of Kevin's college radio show. So grab the t-shirt of the band you're going to go see and BE THAT GUY on the latest pulse-pounding episode of GLEAMING THE TUBE! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1989's SHREDDER ORPHEUS is a dystopian science fiction skateboard retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Euridyce. And it's exactly as good as that description makes it sound.Kevin and Mike enjoy this movie in spite of itself and discuss the skateboarding, the connection to Hadestown, the Providence, RI rave scene of the early 1990s, and how their knowledge of members of Ronald Reagan's presidential cabinet is entirely due to Bloom County comic strips and/or Dead Kennedys songs.Join us as we dive into the genuinely bizarre SHREDDER ORPHEUS! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Minding the Gap is a 2018 documentary film directed by Bing Liu, which chronicles the lives and friendships of three young men growing up in Rockford, Illinois who are united by their love of skateboarding.Kevin and Mike watched this (pretty amazingly great) movie and discuss, in an atypically heavy episode of what is normally a deeply silly podcast, how the movie manages to weave together themes of cycles of violence, growing up in America, race, class, and more. We watch a lot of dumb movies for this podcast so it was a refreshing change of pace to be presented with something so well-made and meaningful. The movie also has a shit-ton of skateboarding in it, so we talk about that, too.This episode has a content warning for discussion of domestic violence. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2007's HOT ROD tells the story of aspiring stuntman Rod Kimble, played by Andy Samberg, and his attempts to pull off his most impressive stunt yet to help raise money to save his stepfather, played by Ian MacShane. And there's some skateboarding.Kevin and Mike are joined by their pal Guy Benoit to discuss this deeply silly movie. So strap on your best false mustache and check out this exciting installment of Gleaming the Tube! Cool beans! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There comes a time when you heed a certain call, like the call Kevin and Mike had to watch and discuss 2024's THE GREATEST NIGHT IN POP - a documentary about the making of the iconic 80s charity single WE ARE THE WORLD, as told by the people who put it together. (Mainly Lionel Richie.) How'd it come together? Is the song any good? Where the eff are Prince and Madonna? What the eff is Dan Aykroyd doing there? How drunk was Al Jarreau? These questions and more are asked and answered in the latest pulse-pounding episode of GLEAMING THE TUBE!

2011's CHALET GIRL stars future Rebel Alliance soldier Felicity Jones as a former skateboard champion who goes to work at a posh ski resort in the alps where she discovers snowboarding, romance, and montages about snowboarding and romance. Not necessarily in that order. Kevin and Mike talk about the film, the relationship between skateboard and snowboard culture, and why you should really just watch Blue Crush instead of this thing. Welcome to 2024 - it's an all-new episode of GLEAMING THE TUBE!

Kevin and Mike take a break from the world of skateboard movies for the holidays to discuss some of their favorite Christmas specials - they're joined by Kevin Eldridge from The Flopcast to talk about the storied classics everyone knows (Rudolph, Charlie Brown), some lesser-known gems (A Cosmic Christmas, Muppet Family Christmas), and some holiday disappointments (looking at you, Opus special.) From the very first animated Christmas special ever shown on American TV (Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol) to otter jug bands to Pee-Wee's Playhouse we cover a whole lot of ground - give a listen to see if your favorite gets name-checked by the gang. We'll be back in 2024 with more skateboard movie action! Happy holidays, y'all!

The young stars of the 90s are middle aged men in the 80s in 2023's AIR, a film based on the true story of the AIR JORDAN sneaker and NIke's attempts to woo then-basketball rookie Michael Jordan.  Kevin and Mike discuss the film, the one character in it who skateboards, how the Air Jordan sneaker fit into 1980s skateboard culture, and many, many other tangents. If you listen to one podcast episode this year that has two dudes who know next to nothing about basketball try and pontificate about the sport and one of its most famous players make sure it's this latest installment of GLEAMING THE TUBE!

Kevin and Mike break format for another special episode in honor of the Halloween season and are joined by Hanako Ricks from the Fandom Hybrid Podcast and filmmaker and bon vivant Guy Benoit to discuss our favorite vampire films! Old, new, cult, and classic - Bram Stoker's Dracula, Blade, Near Dark, Underworld, The Lost Boys, Nosferatu, Horror of Dracula, Priest and more - our panel of film enthusiasts cover a lot of ground and discuss a lot of movies involving thinly veiled metaphors for sex and addiction in this vampire movie special edition of GLEAMING THE TUBE!

2014's A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT, written and directed by Ana Lily Amirpour, was promoted as The first Iranian Vampire Western, although when I have been describing it to people I've said it's the first Iranian Skateboarding Vampire Western. It's in black and white, all the dialogue is in Farsi, and there's a skateboarding vampire. Kevin and Mike talk about the film, artsy vampire movies, and spend more time than is probably necessary on a tangent about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Happy spooky season, y'all!

This time out we discuss Eddie Murphy's late 80s hit Coming to America, a film that is packed with stars (James Earl Jones! Arsenio Hall! John Amos! Louie Anderson! Samuel L. Jackson!), packed with laughs, and packed with romance and heart. What it's not packed with is skateboarding but there's juuuuuust enough to justify our covering the film for this podcast. Our discussion also finds us discussing Eddie Murphy's career as a whole - his meteoric rise to fame in the 1980s and the highs and lows of his career since. Is Coming to America his best film? You'll have to decide for yourself after listening to the episode. Just make sure to sow your royal oats first.

1988's BIG, directed by Penny Marshall, stars Tom Hanks as Josh Baskin, a pre-adolescent boy whose wish to be "big" transforms him physically into an adult. Kevin and Mike discuss Hanks' performance, the wave of "kids who turn into adults" films that swept cinemas circa 1987/1988, Hanks' made-for-tv classic of Dungeons & Dragons-related hysteria "Mazes and Monsters", and whether or not this movie is as good as we remember it being. Oh, and Tom Hanks skateboards in it at one point. Get out your most-bedazzled white tuxedo as GLEAMING THE TUBE discusses Big!

2023's BARBIE, directed by Greta Gerwig (who also co-wrote the film), is based on the long-running and popular doll line from Mattel. In the film Barbie (Margot Robbie) has to travel from Barbieland to the real world after suffering an existential crisis. And someone on Venice Beach has a skateboard. Kevin and Mike are joined by children's book author Phaea Crede to discuss the film, the toy, patriarchy, dream ballets, ninja turtles, why skateboarders look down their collective noses at in-line skates, Todd Haynes' Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, Pee-Wee Herman, and so, so much more. You can check out Phaea's great books at www.phaeacrede.com

We're joined by Joe Crowe, co-director of DragonCon's American Science Fiction Classics Track, to discuss 1984's Gremlins (an American science fiction classic if ever there was one)! Kevin, Mike and Joe discuss the film, the creation of the PG-13 rating, the movie's tie-in novelization, Joe's experience interviewing Zach Galligan onstage at DragonCon, Mike seeing Sha Na Na at age four and thinking it was the band KISS, and so much more, including the very tiny bit of skateboarding that one of the Gremlins engages in during the film. Turn off all the bright lights, don't get your player wet, and BE SURE not listen before midnight to GLEAMING THE TUBE's coverage of Gremlins!

2009's Observe and Report, directed by Jody Hill, tells the story of mall security guard Ronnie Barnhardt (played by Seth Rogen), who is called into action to stop a flasher from turning a shopper's paradise into his personal peep show. But when Ronnie can't bring the culprit to justice, a surly police detective played by Ray Liotta is recruited to close the case. And there's a bunch of skateboarders in the mall parking lot. Kevin and Mike discuss the movie, the skateboarders, mall skateboarding in general, the movie's influences (Taxi Driver and King of Comedy, mainly), and whether or not this film is maybe a little too dark. There's also a whole tangent at the end about musical theater. A typical GLEAMING THE TUBE episode, in other words. Enjoy!

1976's THE SHAGGY D.A., the 19th and final film directed by Robert Stevenson for the Walt Disney Company, finds Dean Jones (the king of 60s and 70s live action Disney) playing Wilby Daniels who, for reasons too complicated to get into during this episode description, keeps transforming into a dog while trying to run for district attorney. And his son skateboards. This movie's got it all - pie fights, roller derby, a man in a dog suit punching Dick Van Patten in the face - and Kevin and Mike dive into its many delights, Disney's live-action films from this era, and Mike's childhood belief that D.A. stood for "duck's ass." So put down that magic ring, stop asking Tim Conway to list all 49 flavors of ice cream he's selling, and settle in for the latest exciting installment of GLEAMING THE TUBE!

Kevin and Mike are taking a break from watching and discussing a terrible skateboard movie and instead invited their friend Christian Campagna from the Talk About the Passion podcast to join the show this week. The three of them then proceed to rattle off their top 5 instances of popular songs being played in films. It's a wide-ranging discussion that touches on some of our favorite films from the 1960s through the current millennium but (spoiler) we all wound up picking something from Wes Anderson's Rushmore. This being Gleaming the Tube, Mike then rattles off a list of his five favorite songs from skateboard videos. (We were not expecting Sade to make the cut.) So fire up the podcast-playing apparatus of your choice and, if you're like us, you might come out of the show with some new films to either check out or that may be due for a rewatch.

1995's GLORY DAZE tells the story of Jack Freeman, played by a young Ben Affleck at his most sour and unlikeable, and his four college housemates as they face graduation and make an attempt to prolong their carefree lifestyles before going their separate ways. At one point Affleck's character says “Wanna get a 12er and shred?" and then skateboards around to a New Bomb Turks song, hence why we're covering it. In addition to talking about all the things about this movie that don't work - from its copious use of terrible Warped Tour punk music to its writing, directing and performances - Kevin and Mike keep coming back to a movie they both love, Noah Baumbach's KICKING AND SCREAMING (not to be confused with the Will Ferrell soccer comedy) - a film that came out the same year as GLORY DAZE, is about basically the same thing, and yet manages to be great in every way the GLORY DAZE manages to be terrible. We know you'd rather be bowhunting, but pick up a 12er anyway and listen along as we shred GLORY DAZE to pieces. 

1994's THE CROW, based on the comic series by James O'Barr, tells the story of ERIC DRAVEN who is resurrected one year after he and his fiance' were brutally murdered and does the only sensible thing: paint his face like a mime, don his tightest leather pants, and then exact revenge on those who done wronged him. Kevin and Mike are joined by Gary Mitchel from A Podcask of Amontillado to discuss the film (Gary loves it, Kevin and Mike aren't so sure), its legacy, influence and general gothiness, the tragic death of star Brandon Lee, the original comic, and why you should never, ever skateboard in the rain.

1976's CAR WASH, directed by Michael Schultz from a screenplay by Joel Schumacher, tells the day in the life of the employees of the titular CAR WASH as they engage in what can only be described as SHENANIGANS APLENTY. The film has a great ensemble cast, cameos from Richard Pryor and George Carlin, one of the catchiest theme songs ever put to celluloid, and a surprisingly robust amount of skateboarding. Kevin and Mike discuss all this as well as those stupid "Rock Against Disco" rallies in the late 70s, the Danny DeVito subplot that only showed up in television broadcasts of the film and Mike's definition of "touch" when it comes to skateboarding. They also drop a Noah Hayslip quote or two because how could they not. If you are listening to this in the future, know that the time had had its way with us, and that we knew it would. And it will with you. There is no escaping this. In a strange way, it's what makes life so beautiful and strange, that nothing alive stays the same. It's a new GLEAMING THE TUBE!

2000's NEXT FRIDAY is a sequel to the popular 1995 film FRIDAY - it was written by and stars rapper turned actor Ice Cube, directed by Steve Carr and is inferior to the first FRIDAY by every possible quality metric one can imagine. Still, this one has skateboarding in it so Kevin and Mike endeavor to discuss it. In between lamenting that this film is not as good as its predecessor our hosts tackle the connection between skateboarding and hip-hop, N.W.A. and the STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON movie, East Coast skateboarding vs. West Coast skateboarding, and why comedy sequels so often disappoint. The episode winds up being about 30 minutes long, perfect to listen to while you wait for the bathroom to air out.

2004's SAVED!, directed by Brian Donnelly (who also co-wrote the film) follows a teenaged girl played by Jena Malone who attends a Christian high school and, as part of an attempt to “cure” her boyfriend of his homosexuality, winds up pregnant and facing the ostracization of her classmates, most notably the self-righteous Hillary Fae, played by Mandy Moore. The film also stars Patrick Fugit, Martin Donovan, Eva Amuri, Macaulay Culkin and the always effervescent Mary Louise Parker. Kevin and Mike tackle the film's portrayal of religion, the way some people distort Christian messages to suit their own prejudices, the cast, the movie's status as a time capsule of mid-2000s culture, and the skateboarding antics of Patrick Fugit's rebellious Christian missionary. Hallelujah, it's a new Gleaming the Tube!

2010's NIC AND TRISTAN GO MEGA DEGA tells a day in the life of two 10 year old skateboarding twins - this is an obscure film (it doesn't even merit its own Wikipedia page) aimed at very young children, so Kevin enlists his young daughter to give her thoughts on the film as well. What it DOES have is a ton of skateboarding, animated cockroaches, broad performances, and cake-eating punk rockers. Mega dega!

In this short special episode, Kevin and Mike build off their discussion of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure to discuss other weird characters from the 1980s - like Max Headroom, Mr. T, and Sgt. Slaughter. What's the difference between a character and a comedic persona? Where does professional wrestling fit into all of this? Why would anyone spend this much time obsessing over obscure pop culture from 40 years ago? Why, in a podcast ostensibly about skateboard movies, does this episode mention neither movies or skateboarding? All this and more is discussed in this short, special episode of GLEAMING THE TUBE!

"Pee-Wee's Big Adventure", directed by Tim Burton and starring Paul Reubens as the iconic man-child Pee-Wee Herman, is an absolute delight and - despite containing a minimum amount of skateboarding - Kevin and Mike will use any excuse to rewatch it. Pee-Wee returned in the Netflix original movie "Pee-Wee's Big Holiday" a few years ago (Pee-Wee himself rides a skateboard in that one) and that was also screened for discussion. Is "Big Adventure" the best thing Tim Burton has ever done? Should Jan Hooks have gotten an Academy Award for her role as an Alamo tour guide? How, exactly, is this movie so great? All this and more is discussed in the latest episode of GLEAMING THE TUBE!

High Fidelity, based on the novel by Nick Hornby, tells the story of Rob Gordon (John Cusack), a thirtysomething record store owner and living embodiment of a certain type of insufferable pop culture obsessed dude (I TYPED WHILE HOSTING A PODCAST ABOUT SKATEBOARD MOVIES) as he navigates love, ex-love, and maybe – JUST MAYBE – figuring out that what someone is like is more important than what they like. Also: someone skateboards in it at one point. Kevin and Mike discuss the movie and their own relationship with being pop culture obsessives, the book, the time Kevin saw the very weird musical adaptation of this, and what High Fidelity had to say about certain types of toxic behaviors when it came out vs. what it has to say now. They go deep and confessional about their pasts while also trying to figure out what a musical adaptation of One Crazy Summer would be like. It's that type of episode.

1986's Chopping Mall tells a story as old as time: three high-tech security robots turn into maniacal killing machines and start murdering the teenage employees of a shopping mall after dark. Also: someone skateboards inside the mall. Kevin and Mike are joined by Gary Mitchel (of the horror podcast A Podcask of Amontillado) and Shaun Rosado (of PopCycled Baubles) to discuss the film, its place within the firmament of 80s horror, its misleading VHS cover art, and scary movies in general. I love the smell of commerce in the morning!

1976's KENNY AND COMPANY, written, directed, produced, shot and edited by Don Coscarelli tells the story of young Kenny as he comes of age in 70s southern California, fighting bullies, having his first crush, and dressing up as a horrific bear-pig hybrid for Halloween. And he skateboards! Kevin and Mike are joined by pop culture writer Chris Cummins (who also hosts the great Twitch show Sci-Fi Explosion) to discuss the film, crazy stories from their own unsupervised childhoods, bullies in Woonsocket, RI vs. Philadelphia, Kevin's algebra teacher calling his parents to tell them that Kevin was a Satanist for playing Dungeons & Dragons, "the cool teacher", and the time Kevin almost got Mike fired from his janitorial job at the weird Catholic high school that Kevin attended. A digressive, meandering episode to discuss a digressive, meandering movie!

1991's The Commitments, directed by Alan Parker and based on the book by Roddy Doyle, tells the story of Jimmy Rabbitte, a young music fanatic who assembles a group of working-class youths to form a soul band named, in case the title of the film didn't tip you off, The Commitments! We see the band come together and then fall apart and also someone skateboards at one point. Kevin and Mike are joined by Kevin Eldridge from The Flopcast to discuss the movie, the music, the soundtrack album, the tour, soul music, and the strange confluence of this film, skateboarding, and the first two U2 albums. Sure, we could have discussed a more popular film and gone on to wild podcast success but this way... it's poetry.

2008's RIGHTEOUS KILL pairs legendary thespians Robert De Niro and Al Pacino as two maverick chess-playing and little-league-coaching cops who are trying to solve a string of vigilante murders that one of them might be behind? Or the other? This movie sucks, is the synopsis. Oh, and it has a skateboarding pimp character - hence why we're covering it. Kevin and Mike dig into the careers of De Niro and Pacino, the many ways they were let down by Righteous Kill, and what pro skateboarder Rob Dyrdek is doing in this terrible, terrible movie anyway.

1986's Pretty in Pink, written by John Hughes, tells a story of life, love, and social cliques among 80s high schoolers in the suburbs of Illinois. The film stars Molly Ringwald, Harry Dean Stanton, Andrew McCarthy, Jon Cryer and James Spader and has the bare minimum amount of skateboarding to qualify being covered on this podcast. Kevin and Mike are joined by their friend Jen Towers, who's been researching the Internet manosphere (incels, pick-up-artists, etc.) for her dissertation to discuss where some of the characters in the film fit into that world. Discussed: Is Duckie an incel? (probably not), should James Spader be given a lifetime achievement Oscar for his work in this film (probably yes), and the movie's amazing, amazing soundtrack. If you've been looking for a deep-dive discussion about the connections between Pretty in Pink and the Internet manosphere on what is ostensibly a dopey skateboard movie podcast then this is the episode you've been waiting for!

2010's SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD, directed by EDGAR WRIGHT and based on the graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley, presents us with the adventures of Michael Cera's slacker musician Scott Pilgrim - who discovers that in order to win the heart of foxy new girl in Toronto Ramona Flowers he must fight and defeat her seven evil exes in combat! Kevin and Mike are joined by Preston Masterson from KISSING KONTEST (who, among other things, does the music for Gleaming the Tube!) to discuss the film, the comics, the skateboarding character Lucas Lee, and weird insular music scenes like you find in the film and in our collective hometown of Providence, RI. Be sure to stay tuned to the very end to hear an unreleased KISSING KONTEST cover of Sex Bob-Omb's "Summertime", from the film. We are Gleaming the Tube and we are here to make you think about movies and skateboarding and music scenes and stuff!

Kevin and Mike are back and watching "Jackass Forever", the latest installment in Johnny Knoxville and company's ongoing efforts to engage in the most ludicrous stunts imaginable. Discussed in this episode: the Jackass franchise as a whole and its roots in skateboarding culture, what this latest installment says about aging, our favorite Jackass segments, and where we think all of this may be headed. We're Kevin and Mike and this is a podcast.

Blue Crush tells the story of Anne Marie Chadwick (Kate Bosworth) and her friends as they prepare for the Pipeline surfing contest and navigate life, love and surfing the waves of Hawaii. Kevin and Mike are joined by the great Guy Benoit to discuss the intersection of surf and skateboard culture and lay out the reasons why Blue Crush is one of the greatest American movies ever made. (Yes, we're serious.)

2012's The Amazing Spider-Man may not be the most beloved cinematic outing of the popular comic book hero but it's the only Spider-Man movie that has our Friendly Neighborhood crime fighter doing some sweet kickflips on a skateboard. This time out Kevin and Mike are joined by special guests Joe Crowe (co-director of Dragon Con's American Science Fiction Classics Track) and ToniAnn Marini (of the Geeky Devil blog) to discuss all things related to Spidey on film, with a focus on this first Andrew Garfield film and his skateboarding stunt double William Spencer. Face it, tiger - you just hit the jackpot!

2016's "La La Land" is a musical about an aspiring actress and a jazz bro who sing and dance while chasing their Hollywood dreams and falling in love, and it has the bare minimum of skateboarding in it to qualify it for discussion on this podcast! Kevin and Mike talk about the movie's relation to the grand tradition of movie musicals and settle into a wider conversation about musicals in general, a genre they both love. Mike and Kevin mention their favorite musical films, Mike talks about his experience as a recent transplant to Los Angeles in relation to the movie and whether or not jazz is indeed dead. It's an all-singing, all-dancing episode of GLEAMING THE TUBE!

Kevin and Mike are joined by special guest Shaun Rosado to discuss 1989's time-travel classic Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure! Together they cover the film, the very tiny bit of skateboarding contained therein, its two sequels, Jane Wiedlin, Mike's experience living in San Dimas, Spicoli, "surfer talk" and quantum mechanics. Strange things are afoot at the Circle K, and Gleaming the Tube is here for it. https://www.gleamingthetube.net/

Bad Santa stars Billy Bob Thornton as a department store Santa who is, as the title suggests, bad. Bad at being Santa and bad at being a person. Will he discover a modicum of holiday spirit? Kevin and Mike investigate and discuss the great performances by John Ritter, Bernie Mac, and Lauren Graham, mall security, and what all of this has to do with skateboarding for our 2021 holiday themed episode. See you in 2022!

2003's GRIND, directed by Casey La Scala, tells the story of four skateboarding pals who try and get sponsored and go pro by roadtripping through various competitions and discovering that the real sponsorship is FRIENDSHIP ITSELF! Kevin and Mike discuss how much they hated this movie, how representative of skateboarding in the early 2000s it is, and why there's a weird detour to a clown college run by Randy Quaid. Hoo boy, this one is rough.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child finds the be-sweatered nightmare killer Freddy Krueger attempting to enter people's dreams through the unborn child of Alice the Dream Master. We think. The movie doesn't make a ton of sense but Freddy does briefly ride a skateboard in one sequence which is why we're covering it on our show. Beth VanDusen from the great podcast EXECUTE CHAPTER 66 joins Kevin and Mike to figure out where this entry fits into the overall Elm Street canon but wind up spending half the episode discussing the Kool Moe Dee/LL Cool J rap feud instead.

We're breaking format a little bit this week and discussing an episode of a tv show instead of a movie but we think you'll feel it's justified: Kevin Eldridge from The Flopcast joins Kevin and Mike to chat about "The Skateboard Wiz", from the third season of Wonder Woman, which finds the amazing Amazon (played by Lynda Carter, who is unimpeachably great in the role) investigating an underground gambling ring, making enormous leaps in the air, and generally being great. And it all climaxes in a skateboard chase complete with Wonder Woman's special skateboarding outfit. Add in a creepy subplot about a degenerate gambler trying to get a teenage girl to count cards for him, secret doors, and a skateboard contest and you've got a prime example of late 70s action television nonsense.

It's a double feature this week as we take a look at the seminal 80s skateboard crew The Bones Brigade! Kevin and Mike watch the famous 1987 skate video "The Search for Animal Chin" (the first video of its kind to have an overarching plot) and also check out Stacy Peralta's 2012 documentary "Bones Brigade: An Autobiography" to get a larger overview of the Brigade and their place in skateboarding history. From Lance Mountain's goofball antics to the eccentric genius of Rodney Mullen our intrepid hosts endeavor to discuss it all.

We're back for season two! And we've got a doozy of a skateboarding movie for y'all: 1978's SKATEBOARD is a "Bad News Bears" ripoff featuring skateboarding instead of baseball and Allen Garfield instead of Walter Matthau!  Garfield plays a down-on-his-luck talent agent who sees dollar signs when he starts a professional skateboarding team with Leif Garrett and Tony Alva. Kevin and Mike dig into what may be the very first feature length motion picture to revolve around the world of skateboarding!

For our season finale we take a look at 1980's "Foxes", which has a young Jodie Foster trying to navigate the world of high school and boys and a young Scott Baio trying to navigate the world of Vans t-shirts and skateboard car chases. Also discussed: Mike's crush on Sally Kellerman, Randy Quaid's giant KISS poster, the keytar, and where this film fits into the pantheon of both skateboard movies and 70s and 80s coming of age teen films. Coming of age film enthusiast Liam Gray (of Snack Report fame) joins us for this episode. We'll be back in September with more Gleaming the Tube!

2021's Skater Girl tells the story of Prerna, a teen in rural India who discovers a life-changing passion for skateboarding. How do the tropes of skateboard cinema work when transposed to a different continent? Is this movie any good? And what happens to the goat who mysteriously disappears partway through the film? Kevin and Mike tackle these questions and more as they dive into Netflix's first foray into international skateboard cinema.

2021's North Hollywood tells the story of Michael, who wants to become a pro skateboarder despite his working class Dad's objections - it's a plot unlike anything we've yet seen here on GLEAMING THE TUBE! Rejected from Sundance and spurned by distributors, North Hollywood went on to become a surprise hit on iTunes. Kevin and Mike dig into Illegal Civ (the production company behind the movie) and how well the movie plays for people who like skateboarding and how it plays to people aren't hardcore skating enthusiasts. (Basically, Mike liked this movie a lot more than Kevin did.)

2007's "The Simpsons Movie" took the beloved television program to the big screen - Kevin and Mike chat about how the movie compares to the show, engage in the time-honored tradition of figuring out when the show stopped being as great as it was at its height, and work in some skateboarding talk both around Bart's big skating moment in the movie and around Simpsons guest star and all-around legend Tony Hawk. Join us for the best of times and the blurst of times for one of the greatest shows to ever air and its good-but-not-great movie adaptation!

1993's "City Hunter" features the great Jackie Chan in a bonkers action comedy based on a popular manga series. (And yes, Jackie does jump on a skateboard at one point.) The film is sort of like a live action cartoon with impressive stuntwork and martial arts - it sounds great on paper but is it any good? Tune in to see what Kevin and Mike think of this one. Also discussed: which character from "The Love Boat" do we think was most likely to have ridden a skateboard?

1993's "The Skateboard Kid" has everything you'd want in a movie about a magical talking skateboard voiced by Dom DeLuise - Timothy Busfield playing a hapless television station manager, the mom from "My So-Called Life", disputes about whether or not a water tower should be classified as a utility or a dwelling, YOU NAME IT - and yet it's somehow still not a very good movie. If it was the early 90s and your local video store was all out of "Jurassic Park" and "Aladdin" then your family probably made do with this dud. Let's relive the magic. Also discussed: Which characters on "The West Wing" do we think ever rode a skateboard at some point.