Saturday Morning Deathgrip

It's a very special Saturday Morning Deathgrip, as this serves as our finale. We watched the final episode of 'David the Gnome' in which he and his wife decide that they're too old and need to die. Yep. That happened. We are also joined by ALMOST EVERY GUEST WE'VE EVER HAD. Our booking agent, Mort Fischerman, decided to sacrifice his spirit in order to revive every guest. If you've ever wondered how Shades from 'Denver the Last Dinosaur' is doing as a human toilet, you can find out. If you wonder how many crime Hugs and Tugs from 'Carebears' can commit, you can find out. If you wonder how loveable Columbo and Columbo Jr are, well, you should already know they're the most loveable. So tune in, and say good bye. It's a very special episode of Saturday Morning Deathgrip.

It might be New Years, but according to the Catholic calendar, it's still Christmas until January 4, so we're still celebrating. And how are we doing it? Disney Afternoon-style, with Talespin and the episode "A Jolly Molly Christmas". Listen in as we discuss such topics as what David Lynch's Talespin would have looked like, the actual failures of the business practices of Higher for Hire, what you call the piece of wood a pontoon boat lands next to (certainly not a dock), and whether certain members of our little organization inappropriately starts words with the letter "p" (yes she does). We're also joined by lesser-known air pirates, Thoreau and Clip Top, who share with us the various strategies they have as air pirates and the outrageously high number of planes their group goes through each month. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next year (which is technically this year, but forget that for a moment and pretend it's still Christmas).

We're back, with SLEIGHbells on. That's right- we celebrate the Holidays (all of them, Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza, Memorial Day...) by watching a Christmas epsidoe of one of the greatest shows ever produced, Batman: The Animated Series. Call it a present to ourselves, but we just decided to wtach a legitimately good show. And we were not disappointed.Listen in as the lyrics to "Kiss From a Rose" which totally make sense are dramatically read, while we also,the naming conventions of Gotham City landmarks, the resourcefulness of the Joker, how many Robins there are in the world (of all kinds), and the greatest Foley artist of them all, Priest Isley.We also are joined by Summer Gleeson, Gotham's number 1 news anchor, though she doesn't appear to know her own name. She does, however, compose a mean romantic Christmas song. Thanks for listening, and why not say hi to us on Facebook, twitter or via an iTunes review?  And Merry Christmas, in spite of the loss of the Batmobile's wheel, Robin's unfortunate egg laying and the Joker getting away.

Well, it's a tiny bit past Thanksgiving, but that won't stop us from "celebrating" with a Thanksgiving episode of a show none of us wanted to watch: Life with Louie! While none of us could tell you exactly what Louie Anderson's standup involves, we can tell you we thought his voice was already the worst, until we remembered his voice as a child. In this episode we discuss so much, including how sweet Edie McClurg seems, the oddness of an early 60s-set cartoon that aired in the mid-90s, why someone would agree to let themselves be designed as a cartoon human basketball, just how unlikely it is that you'd be the sponsor of the Santa Claus float in the Macy's Parade (entirely unlikely), and of course how much we hate Louie Anderson's voice. We also were joined by the titular Louie and, for some reason that is difficult to understand, former President John Kennedy. He was pretty surprised too.  Enjoy the episode and happy belated- Thanksgiving!

Great Scott! It's a trite intro!   Yes this month we sat down and brought back from the past... Back To The Future the Animated Series. A show that was made after a great movie, but as we learned, unlike Scott, not all things are great. We also learn that Giancarlo could not be a part of the episode because of an acute case of being lazy, a condition his doctors called, "a waste of their time." We also learn his closest friend in the world is probably our interview guest, who happens to be a dead confederate general. Is that sad? THAT'S FOR YOU TO DECIDE!   This episode also features our first letter from a fan, which we read aloud and then get all Charlie Rose on your ass by talking semi-seriously about the death of Saturday morning cartoon's and what it use to mean to anticipate television programs versus having them appear whenever you damn well please (lousy generation of tomorrow).    But more important than anything else in this episode, Tim tells us his opinions on the film Looper.   Now pop open a Tab cola pull out your hoverboards because for where you're going you won't be needing roads...or ears...no I take that back, you do need ears. BUT NOT ROADS!   Thanks for listening, and make sure to give a rating on iTunes. Because you are our density.

As we come to the climax of this month of terror, we watched the scarily insane "Attack of the Jack O'Lanterns" from the 90s live-action Goosebumps. Actually, Tim might not like our use of the word "climax." There are a lot of things Tim might not like in this episode, seeing as he has the sensibility of a normal human and it's possible that the rest of the SMDGers, in explaining why he's missing this episode, might go a little far... you be the judge, once your ears stop bleeding. For the first time, we have special guest- Sean Duffy (Can't Make This Up podcast) who fills in, and he helps us wade through the bedlam of this episode of Goosebumps and the numerous Shampoolint (check the SMDG archives!) twists that occur at the end. Listen as we discuss Mr. Duffy's podcast, the grown-up allure of 'Fear Street,' the villainous side to Earthworm Jim and why Canada seemed to produce a lot of horror anthology shows for children.   We also have a two-hander interview featuring some aliens who might not have the best grasp of the English language, but know what they like in a good meal.   Thanks for listening, and why not rate us on iTunes or at least give Sean's podcast a listen?    You may also notice that the art is the episode art... hopefully this is clear as you listen. As clear as a visual medium can be while listening...

As the air turns crisps and people start putting cooky faces on pumpkins, it can only mean one thing- we have to check our episodes from last year to figure out how we do Halloween episodes. And this time, we do Halloween with The Real Ghost Busters (the space is canonical, look it up!) and the episode "When Halloween Was Forever." In this episode, we are playing a man (or WO-man, as it is) short, but we do our best to make up for it by talking about more nonsense than usual. We discuss the origin of Halloween, how Dan Aykroyd wasn't that fat in 1984, the punctuation needed to find the true meaning of the lyrics of "Walking on Sunshine", how terrible Roger Moore's Bond films are (KANANGA IS INFLATED TO DEATH!!!), whether or not you should be eating Creepy Crawlers (answer: no) and we go in depth on the honors bestowed at the annual Fart Expo (that's why Andrea isn't with us.) We also get booked with two interviewees, one on purpose, the episode's antagonist and spirit of Halloween, Samhain as well as the easy-to-mistake-for-Samhain, Hollywood screenwriter Sam Hamm. But they get along and it's a terrific interview. As the episode intro says, if you want to help spread the word of our show, vote for #7 "Wormy Autumn Nights" in the Flophouse Song of the Autumn Contest! Thanks for listening!

On this week's episode of Saturday Morning Deathgrip, we watched a true rarity- the much beloved but oft forgotten animated gem - Columbo Jr. That's right, Hollywood allowed the fantastic team up of Hanna Barbera and the late, great Peter Falk  and produced a Saturday morning cartoon based on LA's best homicide detective and his precocious nephew. In this go-round, we talked about what the Harlem Globetrotters really sound like, the ins and outs of pun making, how much baseball Steve Harvey does not actually play, and words that rhyme with "brooms". There are many of those. You know what else can be called "many?" The number of guest stars this episode had- Phyllis Diller, Charles Bronson and even a time-traveling Eleanor Roosevelt- all the kids' faves! For our interview segment ("Conversations with Stars!") we have our very first four hander, as we were visited by Lt. Columbo, the titular Columbo Jr., Mrs. Columbo and even their dog, Dog (the most adorable of all Columbos and the best at rolling over).  Through some hard-hitting investigative journalism, we learn about gambling mishaps involving the lacrosse team at Columbo Jr.'s elementary school. And we also discover that the Columbos lived next door to a young Steve Wozniak. Just a typical interview in SMDG-land.   Once again, thanks for tuning in! If you're looking to kill some time, think about heading over to iTunes and subscribing to our show. If that isn't time consuming enough, consider writing a review! If time has seemingly stopped, you might as well listen to this episode again on Stitcher. And if you want to complain about why there are so many empty hours in one single day, feel free to direct any rants towards @SMDGpodcast or leave any comments on our Facebook page.

After a short summer break, SMDG is back and we treated ourselves to a cartoon that is made by people who had bother resources and evident desire to make a quality program, the fine folks who brought us Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers, a show that feels like it should have a colon or a possessive in the title, but doesn't! And it's Tim's favorite RR episode, "The Case of the Cola Cult" (it's because of this song right here.)   In this episode, we discover the startling similarities between NBC sitcom Wings and Rescue Rangers, we pitch a second cartoon Earth vs Orphans (the premise of which you'll never guess), the stage magic of Dracula, Andrea's fatigue leading her to say things that do not fit into any sort of context, Giancarlo's love of wearing a bowtie and breakaway pants, and the most Michael Winslow discussion since probably his parents talked about naming him "Michael" or "Foley Artist".   We also are visited by Pop Top, the leader of the titular Cola Cult, and learn about his other dealings with cults, soda-based and non-soda-based.    Please enjoy before the date on printed on the bottom of this can of podcast!

For this week's Saturday Morning Death Grip, to the delight of everyone but a deeply indifferent Andrea, we watched an episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, "Convicts from Dimension X." And for that, we can also be considered heroes (though sadly we are not in half-shells).  Should you decide to hit "play," you'll be treated to VERY accurate impressions of absent co-host Sean, revelations about how Mickey Rooney was the original Splinter and the origins of everyone's favorite cartoon, Nursing Home X. As if all that ear candy wasn't enough, our guest this week was none other than Sklarg, a character you totally remember, one of the aforementioned convicts from Dimension X.  Listen as Sklarg adds some flair to the SMDG office (hint: it involves bullets) and goes into graphic, unnecessary detail regarding sex on Dimension X.  You will NEVER guess what's involved.  Thanks for tuning in!

Our long plugged, much anticipated live show came and went on July 12. We had a warm yet intimate (gross) audience come out and join us, and we appreciate it! We were also joined by Pete Lepage (Comic Book Club Live). This episode's format was a tiny bit different, as rather than review a single episode of anything, we pulled some of the most insane clips from the shows we've reviewed. You can visit our webpage (unless you're reading this at the site, so then look around...) and we will have the clips posted. You can hear the audio in the episode, but obviously a lot is visual.  So on this episode, we talk about those clips. We learn Giancarlo might have invented a whole channel in his brain to air Bots Master, Helen Keller is to be envied when it comes to some of these shows. We review how Blondie feels about Dagwood. We had a contest to discover the joke in the live interstitials from Hulk Hogan's Rock 'N' Wrestling. And we found an exclusive outtake from an unused moment in Masters of the Universe. Thanks, subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher, like on Facebook, follow on Twitter, other social media stuff and whatnots.  Thanks!

In this week’s episode of Saturday Morning Deathgrip, the gang is once again tortured by another of Giancarlo’s terrible suggestions – My Little Pony Tales.  At this point, we’re relatively certain that Giancarlo’s entire being goes against the Geneva Convention.  And, as soon as this post goes live, we will look into having him charged with some war crimes. Fortunately, while we’re getting Giancarlo deported to The Hague, you can feast your ears on scintillating discussions regarding horse menstruation, the origins of Plessy vs. Ferguson and the (obvious) sex appeal of centaurs.  You’d be surprised how easy it was for us to string together such seemingly disparate topics (actually, if you’re an avid listener, you would not)! Additionally, our interview segment features the illustrious Rita HAYworth and Mr. C. Biscuit, the Oprah and Sumner Redstone of the horse and pony media world.  Despite having a bevy of Cable Ace awards under their saddles, they clearly have very little understanding of how the human world interacts with horses.  And, spoiler alert: one of them has major gastrointestinal issues (hint: it’s Rita). Thanks so much for listening!  Once again, you can stream SMDG via iTunes, Stitcher or our own lovely little website.  And if our blog and podcast leave you salivating for more, you can follow us on Twitter @SMDGpodcast.

On this week's episode of Saturday Morning Deathgrip we watched C.O.P.S. and unlike many of cartoons we put ourselves through, this show was surprisingly un-horrible for a change.  In addition to learning about Empire City and it's cybernetic team of law enforcers, we also learned that Giancarlo doesn't know what the word "slobberknocker" means and joins a long list of many, many other words. However, that is not the only shameful fact that gets revealed, as we also learn that Sean is from Georgia. Also Andrea lets us know she has confidence issues but that hardly seems like a revelation.    Speaking of hard, our booking agent Mort Fisherman really worked his butt off to travel six years into the future, to the year 2020 (when the C.O.P.S takes place) and brought us back a pair of Empire City's most notorious criminals for an exclusive interview. They tell us all about how blimps come back in a big way and make a pretty unconvincing argument about how the deceased rapper Big Pun was more muscle than wads of fat.    Somewhere in the middle of all that Tim tries to start his old beef with Giancarlo on why candlepin bowling is better than regular bowling. Knives are drawn and blood is shed but that's what happens when rivalries as deep as this come up to surface. I guess it's safe to say in this kill or be killed world, we could all use a little more C.O.P.S.    Thanks for listening!

In this latest episode of SMDG, Giancarlo manages to trick the rest of the gang into watching a cartoon version of the comic strip Blondie.  We quickly discover why only two episodes were ever produced.  And we come to the conclusion that Giancarlo is never to be trusted again (in fairness, we should have come to this realization years ago). As Giancarlo tries in vain to defend his choices and Blondie’s artistic sensibilities, we manage to broach the staunch conservatism of Tim’s hometown newspaper, express incredulity at why anyone would draw a depressing comic strip (looking at you Funky Winkerbean) and hear about Andrea’s convoluted attempts to prank an ex-coworker using the U.S. postal service. And speaking of the U.S. postal service (please take a moment to applaud this segue), our guest just happens to be one Mr. Beasley - the Bumstead’s mail carrier.  How did SMDG land such a get?  Lucky for us, our booking agent Mort Fisherman has a long history with Mr. Beasley (they both sat for the civil service exam at the same time and shared a jelly sandwich on a break).  Anyway, turns out Mr. Beasley has sustained a lot of mental trauma.  Spoiler alert: he might even believe that Jimmy Carter is still president! Once again, you can continue listening to ol’ SMDG via iTunes, Stitcher or even stream it from our very own website (if you didn’t applaud for the aforementioned segue, please applaud for technology now).  And, if the blog and podcast aren’t enough, you can follow us on Twitter @SMDGpodcast.

In this latest episode of SMDG, we continue paying homage to upcoming films (we are addicted to homage!) as we subject ourselves to the cartoon version of Godzilla, co-produced by Tim's beloved Hanna-Barbera. The only bright spot is that the show might have helped to curb our aforementioned homage addiction. In other words, Godzilla could possibly be cartoon methadone. Of course, fear not; we move far beyond the potential palliative effects of Godzilla. Indeed, we address the rumors that Giancarlo may or may not be a phantom of Tim, Sean and Andrea's collective imaginations. Tim and Sean also surprise themselves with the depth of their knowledge regarding the original Godzilla. Not surprisingly, Andrea had even less knowledge than we previously assumed. And, once again, we're forced to lower the bar we set for her (it's now buried underground). Oh, and we cover the glory that is the animated mustache.   By this point of the synopsis, you're probably wondering how the episode could get any better. After all, can you out-gold gold? This was a trick question; you cannot.  However, you can certainly increase your gold supply. And our booking agent Mort Fisherman came straight from the (gold) mines with this week's interview. Indeed, we had the privilege of talking with Godzooky, Godzilla's nephew and a prominent cast member of the show. Join us as we learn how Godzooky segued from Hollywood to a Toyota dealership in Trenton, NJ.

In honor of the upcoming films Amazing Spider-Man 2 and X-men: Days of Future Past, we (foolishly) decide to once again test the waters of Spider-man and His Amazing Friends. We were promised a crossover with X-men.  And, as you can imagine, this promise was only partially delivered. However, we do manage to push through the heartbreak to discuss the type of pants Juggernaut may or may not wear, Aunt May's stress levels while unknowingly hosting the X-Men and whether or not a quickie can cause blindness (we're divided on the answer).   To the great delight and surprise of Sean, Tim and Giancarlo (Andrea remained unimpressed), we managed to nab a visit from Professor Charles Xavier for our "Conversations with Stars" segment. Amid some hard-hitting, Pulitzer-worthy questions, Prof X reveals the real story behind his paralysis, dishes on mutant control of Hollywood and discusses window treatments with Andrea. And Giancarlo manages to invent hand wheelchairs, a creation that even the folks behind the American Disabilities Act would scoff at!   You can listen via iTunes, Stitcher or, if you're feeling saucy, stream the podcast right from this very page (oooh technology!). And, if you're still reading, feel free to email or follow us on Twitter @SMDGpodcast. We'll gladly follow you back!  And our social media etiquette is fit for royalty. Or something.         Finally, feel free to head over to our website, where you can induce brain trauma by watching this episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends!

For today's episode we watch the 90's camping "classic" Camp Candy, a show about a camp owned by Canadian comediean John Candy with no explanation as to why Canadian comedian John Candy owns a camp. It's a real doozy! And by "doozy" we mean,  "Uuuuugh."   Join us as we discuss how to actually pronounce M. Nigh Shyamalan's name properly. Giancarlo pitches his script "Horsey: the Magical Flying Horse" which doesn't get the reception he's looking for, while Tim and Sean might just ruin Giancarlo's chances in Hollywood by suggesting a role for Sarah Jessica Parker (hint: it's the main character in the script "Horsey"). We learn how Harry Nilsson may just sometimes write songs out of passion... passion for paychecks! We also discuss the actual circumstances of John Candy's death, and whether or not it's too soon. Finally, we dive into the topic of  economic factors that explain the disparity between the animation quality in a cartoon's intro versus the cartoon itself, or as Andrea calls it, "yet-another-part-of-podcast-where-I-zone-out."   For our "Conversations with Stars", we get a visit from bad guy #2 (meaning, the henchman) Chester, and we learn about life in modern day Detroit.   SMDG is back baby! Like we are every two weeks. Thanks for listening! Tell your family!

For today's epsiode, we watched the "classic" animated series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. And we can all thank Filmation for making the term "classic" hold no meaning for us.   Listen in as we discuss the complexities of smartphone map systems. We also learn about Giancarlo's (not so) secret fantasies about robot horse/non-robot human relations. All of this is in an effort to not really focus on "Origin of the Sorceress," the somewhat confusing and convoluted episode focusing on the beginnings of the "He-Man" character The Sorceress (in case you couldn't guess) and why her nemesis is a giant Moses. Plus, learn what a robot horse not programmed to be sentient thinks, courtesy of the magic of a computer that translates non-sentient horse robot thought into very robot words. It's as good as it sounds, folks.     Plus, in our interview segment, the Sorceress stops by and we even learn that's she's an Eternia ex-pat living in the states and we discover her real name is not Teela-Na as we were led to believe by every single piece of evidence we found. Earth-shaking stuff, folks.     Thanks for listening, and if you like us, maybe you should subscribe or tell someone that we exist. We know we'd appreciate it.  

  In this episode, we return to the unrelenting mediocrity of Hanna-Barbera in the 80s by watching The Snorks.  This time around, we talked about a terrible clarinet and snare drum quartet Andrea was in in 6th grade that played Bryan Adams "Everything I  Do (I Do It For You)", Tim and GC play by the syntactical rules of The Snorks while singing the theme to a much better show. If you do'nt know those syntactical rules, don't worry, we help you out with that, just like the shows, by strictly defining when and how to  substitute the word "snork" for other words, actual words. Sean does stuff and then totally does not leave 90% of the way through the recording so he could make his improv practice. And as a group, we do our best to make  some high quality fish/sealife puns, we perform a little bit of Hamlet gets performed, and we discuss how sassy eels that act as wheels aren't sassy the way they would have been if they were on a better Hanna-Barbera show, Thundarr the Barbarian. That's a joke. Clearly we mean the late 70s Fantastic Four. The one with H.E.R.B.I.E. Thanks for listening. You should snork a snork about this show. And check out the website about the contest. Also "snork a snork" means "tell a friend". 

In honor of the new Robocop, we watched an episode of the animated Robocop, our second straight R-rated movie turned into a kids cartoon. What a world we live in, right? This time around, we learn Andrea's nickname, which has led her to legal trouble, Giancarlo fantasizes about some sexy cartoon ladies (never done that before, right?), some of us try to one up each other on Nixon references, and we talk about X-men for the thousandth time on a episode that's not at all about the X-men. Yes, we finally adress the regulation of Cyclops' optic blasts. Please notify Stockholm for our physics Nobels, please. We also get a visit from ED-260, and boy has he gotten into some murder-related hijinx since the show.  We're also running a contest which you can enter and win your own SMDG art! Enjoy listening to today's episode, check out the episode on our website, and tell a friend. Thanks!

We are back and we are once again down one host. But luckily, we have four hosts normally, so it's not like there are awkward pauses. And one of the remaining host most certainly doesn't leave in the middle of the recording but gets edited in a way that makes it appear that she is there the whole time... certainly not! In this week's episode, we watched the pilot of one of the very first children's cartoons based upon an R-rated movie- "Rambo". Because what makes for better kid's cartoon than a character that's most politely described as a "rather disturbed Vietnam Veteran who murders lots of people"? We also discuss how sexy closeups of animated muscles can be, the effectiveness of push-based combat, the lack of engineers on the writing staff of the "Rambo" cartoon, and we have an amazing interview with the extremely intimidating Sergeant Havok who had his eyelids removed. We also make a two big announcements- one about a contest (see the website) and one about a live show (don't see the website yet, because we don't have details set!) Enjoy and listen with a loved one or a disturbed Vietnam vet. Or both.

Hey everybody, we're back with a new episode. We really turned our formula on its ear by watching something we enjoyed, an episode of Muppet Babies. During this episode, we're a man down, as someone had the unmitigated gall to be sick and not present. But the remainder of the team carried on, stalwart and bold, like the fearless troopers we are.  Anywho, in this episode you will thrill as we discuss Sean's potential contraction of Space AIDS, Tim discusses his unabiding love of June Cleaver, we forge new paths as we try and determine why this show actually holds up a entertainment (as opposed to what we normall watch) and we interview Skeeter, the only cast member who didn't do any other projects with the rest of the Muppet crew. Here's a hint, Skeeter's got some problems folks... Enjoy and why not tell a friend?

Hello there Grippers (a new name for our fan base, we’re just trying it out), because if there is anything we learned from this cartoon, it’s how much nicknames help make sense of everything. In today’s episode we watched the pilot episode of the 1985 Ewoks cartoon/forest fire PSA entitled, “The Cries of the Trees.”   Listen as we talk about the Ewoks’ love of certain presentation styles, their love of their own confusing language and their love of dropping manure on other Ewoks. They’re a very positive society. We also discuss ABC’s hatred of the actual Star Wars trilogy. The ORIGINAL Star Wars trilogy. I know, right?   Also, in retrospect, we think we’ll drop the “Grippers” lingo. Even though it’s still better than most of the names they created for Ewoks.

We extend a belated (thanks to some computer issues) Christmas present to everyone, a second holiday episode of Saturday Morning Deathgrip.  For this episode, we watched the episode of Alvin & the Chipmunks called "Merry Christmas, Mr. Carroll" which you'd never guess from the title, but it's an adaptation of Dicken's A Christmas Carol.  In this episode we discus The Codcast (check your local listings!), who David Seville is not related to, the saddest old man in pop culture history, Richard Dreyfuss movies for way too long, and then we antagonize Simon and Theodore in the interview segment. Everything you want from a holiday episode. Subcribe, rate, email us, whatever you want. Tell your friends. Happy New Year! 

In this excerpt from episode 14, we have an interview with two-thirds of the Chipmunks- Simon and Theodore. We hear about their take on thier films, reading in English, chemical weapons to protect America's freedoms, and the beauty of the holiday Chipmunkakah. If you enjoy this, why not listen to all of episode 14? 

We sure do love Holiday episodes, don't we? Because here we are with a Christmas episode of SMDG. And what a Christmas it is. We, in fact, had ourselves a Morlock little Christmas, as we watched the episode of X-men "Have yourself a Morlock Little Christmas".   We bucked our normal trend of watching things we despise by watching something we (at least three of us) genuinely love. But that doesn't mean we had nothing to talk about. I even think we avoided getting too technically detailed for you non-X-fans out there, weirdos though you may be. In this episode we discuss the origins of television via catheter ray tubs, who would win a fight between Jean Grey and Gambit (Jean Grey), the crimefighting team of Paper & Currency, the difference between Tim and GC's fanfictions about Rogue, and our greatest concept yet, the Fart Cube. We also interview Callisto, leader of the Morlocks, who, for a one-eyed genetic freak covered in scars that lives in the sewers, isn't really doing that well for herself. Enjoy, and have a Very Morlock Christmas!

Excerpt from Episode 13 in which we interview Callisto, leader of the Morlocks, from the "X-men".   Callisto is doing about as well as you'd expect from a physically scarred, one-eyed, sewer-dweller. We even find out what happened to her eye, and her Twain-like origins from before she made it to New York and moved into the realm of the DPW. If you enjoy this, why don't you listen to the full episode? 

Hey folks. It's late November, the trees have all changed, there is turkey on our tables, Black Fridays that for some reason start on Thursday or even Wednesday at K-Mart, and we watched a Thanksgiving episode of an 80's classic, Care Bears. By classic, we mean, why did anyone watch this ever? In this episode we discuss at length the horrible idea of naming two of your characters "hugs" and "tugs", the importance of the traditional Thanksgiving speech in front of the whole town, how a small gas mining operation in the clouds may be too small to attract the notice of the Empire, and life-sized microwaves. That's right. Also, we should apologize that some of the hosts of this podcast about cartoons are immature.

An excerpt from Episode 12 of Saturday Morning Deathgrip, wherein we watched a Thanksgiving episode of Care Bears. Mort Fisherman, our booking agent, landed us not one, but two stars of the show, the baby Care Bears, Hugs and Tugs. We got some milage out of their names on the actual show, but here we just learn what the two tikes have been up to, we hear a couple of their original songs, the sad economic state of Cloud City (not Lando's sadly), and the official hugs of countries around the world. Oh, and let's not forget life-sized microwaves. Those come into play here too. If you enjoy this, why not listen to the WHOLE EPISODE???

Friends, we are back and we watched the most Eighties show that ever Eightied, "Jem and the Holograms." We watched the pilot episode, which, unbeknownst to us, was a two-parter, so we have no clue how the story ends. I don't know when our collective rear ends will be off the collective edges of our collective seats, but, boy oh boy, cliffhanger tension!  In this episode you can thrill as we (the three guys) try to talk much more about the X-men cartoon from the 90s (including the world's greatest idea, the Saved By the Bell/X-men crossover), we debate the differences between a "drive through" and a "drive in", and we discuss the magic formula of the show's songs (repeat the title over synthesizers), the show's weird sexual innuendo, plus Tim and Sean's great impressions of all the characters, especially the ones who sound like Walter Brennan as a prospector.   Listen, enjoy, and why not subscribe on iTunes, eh?

An excerpt from Episode 11. Here our booking agent booked the mastermind behind Jem and the Holograms, The X-Man Morph Synergy the computer. We get some great updates on what she's been doing, and she's really branched into a more hands-on role in the music production world. We also learn that Jem and the Holograms are big on the N.K-pop scene, but that may be a political front. Oh, also, Synergy apparently was the Tupac hologram, so there's that too. Listen, and if you like what you've heard or you too have Broderick-on-the-brain, why not listen to all of Episode 11?

Episode 11 is slightly delayed (look for it soon, though). But there was a moment that fit nicely as a peek behind the curtain at SMDG- the struggles of coming up with unscripted procedural material! Thrill as we all cheer Andrea on as she attempts valiantly to introduce Episode 11. She getst here. She's a trooper. 

It's still Halloween season so our spooktacular celebration of Halloween continues with Garfield's Halloween special "Garfield's Halloween Adventure" aka "Garfield in Disguise".   Our discussion (for some reason) begins and ends with ABC TV's "The Middle" but also how terrifying this special actually was to a five year old kid (extremely), the delightful sounds of Lou Rawls (or possibly Dr. John, one of them), the surprisingly violent ways the Garfield captures lasagna, some general hatred of 90s ska as a genre, and of course we debate the worst kinds of candies to get on Halloween.  Join us won't you? Enjoy it, we sppokily dare you!

This is the interview excerpt from our Spooktacular Halloween Episode 10 "Garfield in Disguise" where we interview our biggest star yet, Odie! Our booking agent, Mort Fisherman, the details of whom get darker and darker and each time we chat, secured for us Odie, Garfield's canine friend. We find out so much about the loveable dog, who is surprisingly unlike his television and comic strip character. The gracious Odie spends some quality time with us, shares some behind the scenes stuff, and really just gets along swimmingly with us.

It's Halloween season, which means only one thing- it's mid- to late- October! In honor of the season, we watched the Halloween episode of Pac-Man which had the segments "Pacula" and "Trick or Chomp."  In this episode, we compare Andrea to Vincent D'Onofrio in Full Metal Jacket, we name-check some listerners, and discuss the seasonally-appropriate horror of what Lark Voorhies has turned herself into, our collective regret that "Pacula" was not a Pac-pun of "Scott Bakula," the no-doubt excitement of Pac-Wars, which is the Pac-World's Star Wars, with realistic Galaga-type action and the appeal of the baby-holding-ovaries scene in Devil's Advocate over the appeal of this cartoon we watched. Also, Mort Fisherman, our esteemed and mysterious booking agent, secured an interview with Inky, one of the ghosts from Pac-Man's rogues' gallery.  Enjoy this spook-erific episode. You could do us a favor of subscribing and maybe telling a friend, why not?

This is an excerpt from Episode 9, with an interview with Inky the Ghost Monster from the animated series "Pac-Man" (not to mention some video games).  Mort Fisherman, our booking agent, is praised, and then Inky dishes on what it's like to be a Ghost in the Pac-World and how that differs from the ghosts of our world. as well as who the living version of Inky was. As ever, it's a hard-hitting interview with some real big answers to real big questions. If you listen to this but not the full show, why don't you try that too? 

We're back with a new episode. It is the very first episode that features fewer than the full lineup of Deathgrippers. But Sean, Andrea and Giancarlo do tell you where Tim is. He's not dead, that much this podcast description can tell you. In today's episode, we watched the pilot episode of "Captian N: The Gamemaster," which is either a big Nintendo ad, possibly Nintendo's attempt to remake "The Big Chill" with its characters or maybe even Joseph Campbell's response to Star Wars. We explore all of the possibilities! You'll also hear all about the buxom King Hippo, the incredibly annoying portrayal of some Nintendo B-listers, the only slightly less annoying cartoon trope of the villain raising his voice to impersonate the heroine to throw off the hero and the hero buying it, and most amazing of all, Andrea's amazing impression of the amazing Levi Stubbs. And of course, our booking agent, Mort Fisherman, landed us Megaman for the interview segment.  Listen! Enjoy! Also, please tell like one other person about us! We'll love you all the more for it.

Excerpt from Saturday Morning Deathgrip Episode 8 in which we interview Megaman, costar of "Captain N: The Gamemaster."  Megaman tells us what he's been up to since the end of the show, how he got the part, his litigious lifestyle, as well as his possibly overly suggestive lifestyle with his robot dog. He also talks about the difficuties of being an adult male robot trapped in a 10 year old boy robot body. If you enjoy the excerpt, why don't you check out the WHOLE EPISODE?

Welcome back, we sound semi-professional now!  For today's episode, we watched "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" episode "Video Man". We talked about overly complex death traps, the awful Miss Lion, tight cartoon buns, an important PSA about the scourge of "razorballs", and a visit from star of "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends", Flash Thompson. Thanks for listening!

In this excerpt from Episode 7 of Saturday Morning Deathgrip, we interview Flash Thompson from "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends".  Of course Flash, being the bully and overall jerk, is neither "amazing" or a "friend" to "Spider-Man" (who is also not). But Flash does share with us where he's been the last few years, as well as his undying love of sandwiches! Tune in. Unless you've listened to Episode 7, then don't, because you've heard this...

We are back with audio that sounds competent! The show we watched was 1985's "Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling" which is not as good as we remembered, and most of us didn't remember it being good. In the course of our discussion, we talk about just how terrible animation and writing can be, Sean breaks down the anatomy of terrible sketch, using the show's live-action interstitials as an example, the joys of marching in Tampa, Andre the Giant's carelessness with details when giving rubdowns, and the calm demeanor of Bizarro Hulk Hogan. We also have a visit from none other than the animated "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Not the real one. We could not land that guy. Subscribe! Enjoy! Tell a friend!

An excerpt from Episode 6, where we talk with cartoon 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper, the primary villain (or heel, if you will) of the 1985 cartoon "Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling". There are a few jokes which you may not understand if you don't listen to the whole episode. Like when Giancarlo asks for a "rubdown". It's not as gross as it sounds.

We're back with another edition of Saturday Morning Deathgrip. Courtesy of Giancarlo's apparently demented childhood, it was Laser Time as we watched the pilot episode of "Bots Master," a show designed for people who loved early 90s hip hop but may have thought that "Do the Urkel" was both too risque in lyrical content and too subdued in musical construction. In today's episode, our topics include Andrea's staunch Libertarianism, the perfect Kevin Costner movie, people with names that are, purely by coincidence, one letter off from a famous person's, and Giancarlo's deviant behavior (nothing new there, amirite?).  Thanks for listening, please subscribe, tell your friends, and don't litter on your way out of wherever you are at the moment you read this.

In this excerpt from Episode 5, our agent, Mort Fisherman, landed us interviews with two of the heavies from "Bots Master", Lady Frenzy and Doctor Hiss. A real coup, even though, sure, not everyone remembers Bots Master and sure, these two seem to have fallen on some rough times. Everything we do here makes sense, don't question it.

In our latest episode, we turn our attention (and our occasionally wonky audio) to the 80s biggest innovation in television animation: the syndicated cartoon. The honor goes to none other than the Denver the Last Dinosaur episode, "Chinatown Caper." We talk a lot about Chinatown architecture, cats shaped like Rihanna and we get to sit down for a very real and disturbing interview with a surprise guest star from the show.  Thanks for listening!

We've added a new section to the podcast, the character interview. We've decided to excerpt it, to act as a sort peak into our 55 minutes of rambling, without having to listen to the whole thing! You know- for the kids! If you are listening to or you plan on listening to Episdoe 4, this is a direct excerpt, so feel free to pass by this one. If you're lookig for a small sample at the podcast buffet, this is for you! This time, we interview Denver's pal Shades from the show. 

Our third episode, with more marginally improved sound quality!  Today, we watched the 1992 special "Monster in my Pocket" (a title we may or may not struggle to get 100% correct). Not only do we discuss the reasons this might not have made it as a series, we also talk about some bizarre interpretations of classic monsters (Dracula hypnotizing through a ring? Woody Allen the mummy? An anthropomorphic pile of feces?), the show's inappropriate use of Jamaican culture, the proper classification of birds, and how we all might mathematicians, er chaoticians. Also, there's a good chance the room we were in had a gas leak, because none of us seemed to be able to, you know, think good. Thanks for listening and enjoy! Maybe tell your friends?

We're back with episode 2- now with slightly better audio quality (we're gettig there; give us a break, we're new at this). For episode 2 we watched the 1987 pilot for a unproduced X-men series "Pryde of the X-men". The conversation includes a LOT about the X-men, what circuits looks like, the sensibility of destroying a planet you want to conquer, the disturbing concept of "Hulking out" with middle-aged women, and the always appropriate discussion of Josef Fritzi.  Thanks for listening!

The very first Saturday Morning Deathgrip- a podcast where four adults watch and discuss saturday morning cartoons from the 80s and 90s.  Today, we discuss "Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue," the 1990 anti-drug PSA featuring stars of the era's most popular cartoons. Topics include an awful lot on the plot of the show, how poor our Winnie the Pooh impressions are, how much George C Scott sounds like Robert Loggia, the dangers of cerebral spinal fluid leaking out of your nose, the possibility of Smurfs as voyeurs, and the potential horrors of fanfic.   Subscribe, comment and enjoy!