Screen Time: A Quarantine Podcast

In this week's new episode, the kids tackle a couple of things that are "new to them"--the computer game turned remastered platform gamer series Monkey Island. Mark talks way too much about the hypothetical third game that never actually happened, while Malcom painstakingly describes the mechanics of some of the puzzles. Coco talks about Barbie Life at the Dreamhouse and whether or not the show has any role models. Mark and Brigitte dig into the controversy and deep underlying sadness that is the Netflix docuseries (or as the Emmy category calls it "Unstructured Reality" but like whut?) and are shocked to realize it's the first show they've watched that has actually talked about this f****** pandemic. Whew. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Mark and Brigitte go child-free for this week's episode to dive deep on the Dexter New Blood finale. Yes, Dexter, the eight season ratings juggernaut of Showtime, returned in 2021 for a new "final" season. Did Showtime stick the new landing? Is this actually the new landing or is this just another excuse for Showtime to go down the old reliable path of a cozy, stakes-free serial killing where they can milk many more seasons out of their very valuable property? Tune in and find out in a spoiler-filled recap and deep dive of the new-old series. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In this episode that for us feels like a throwback to March 2020 when this whole Covid business started because now we're all home dealing with our own (mild!) cases of Covid, the kids talk about the lovely new animated feature film Ron's Gone Wrong. Mark and Brigitte talk about Jane Campion's buzz-worthy new "anti-Western" Western The Power of the Dog. Also, the gang debuts a new, less long theme song (just 45 seconds!) What do Mark and Brigitte think of the Netflix streamer? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Mark and Brigitte dig into WandaVision from the lens of total MCU n00bs who know nothing about the universe but enjoy a good television program. Find out what their overall thoughts were on the series, how it connects to other Marvel properties, how interested they are in checking out other Marvel-related things, and what is the deal with that orange dot in the middle of that purple guy's forehead?? (Seriously Mark is kinda dumb about these things.) First though, the fam gets all into superhero stuff finally, and the kids talk about Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse, the new-to-us Academy Award-winning animated feature that is pretty much super great. The kids also talk about the Disney+ movie Flora & Ulysses, which features a lot of funny actors that Mark and Brigitte enjoy (but did we enjoy the movie?) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Stephen King and movies about pets galore! The fam is back without any special guests this week to talk about some of the other things they are excited about. Malcolm and Coco discuss the 2019 DreamWorks film The Secret Life of Pets 2 (while practicing avoiding dead air, man they are going to be amazing DJs in 2035) and their favorite characters in it, which is basically all of them, and the funniest parts, which also was all the parts. Mark and Brigitte talk about the CBS All Access limited series The Stand. Come listen to their nuanced opinions on this prestige television rendition of the classic Stephen King novel-slash-paperweight. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The fam is back in 2021 to talk about the things we've been watching. Brigitte and Mark have some thoughts about Netflix's trashy highbrow Gossip Girl plagiarism Bridgerton. Mark asks a lot of questions about the overall idea of Dukes and Duchesses and what not. Malcom and Coco talk about Solo: A Star Wars Story and the Disney classic Sleeping Beauty. Featuring a cameo by Coco's very strange little doll that speaks to all of us named Honeydew. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Merry Christmas to All! We have another special episode to listen to with the family around the dinner table, as Film Trace hosts Chris and Dan re-join the podcast alongside podcast friends Timothy and Caleb to discuss the 49th best Christmas movie of all time, 2005's The Family Stone. Among the talking points: is Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker) a good character or a bad character? Who is the main character, anyway? Why doesn't Dermot Mulroney's character know about Meredith's mushroom allergy? Is the dinner table scene a powerful message of acceptance or a yucky neo-liberal virtue signaling? All of that discussion and more--listen now! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The fam returns from Thanksgiving break to discuss some holiday classic films. Elf was very funny for the kids and mostly the stuff about whether Santa is real or not pretty much went over their heads which is good because Santa IS real, duh. Mark and Brigitte discuss Christmas Vacation, the patriarchy, John Hughes, Chevy Chase, and Beverly D'Angelo's non-character character. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Mark and Brigitte invite a slew of former podcast guests/friends who have never met (Timothy & Caleb, Dan from the Screen Time podcast, Rudy from the Thrillers podcast) and force them to watch Jodie Foster's 1995 family dramedy Home for the Holidays. The gang ends up having a lovely and deep conversation about the film and the nature of family and relationships and only slightly fueled by some really good whiskey. Prior to that conversation, Mark and Brigitte pick Malcolm and Coco's brains on why they like the Muppets now, their thoughts on the 2011 and 2014 films The Muppets and The Muppets Most Wanted and try to coach them out of having lots of dead air time (spoiler alert: there is still lots of dead air time.) Hope you enjoy your turkey and pies and have a beautiful (if virtual) Thanksgiving! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

As we inch closer to Thanksgiving, we give more thanks about what things we are enjoying right now. The kids discovered Annie from 1982 and have a lot to say (and sing) about it. Mark and Brigitte also watched Planes, Trains and Automobiles recently on one of those long days where work blends into non-work time and everything just bleeds slowly into each other until you realize you have not showered in two to three days and have you even changed out of your sweatpants? I'm not sure but let's hope this vaccine works and gets out to us all soon. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Mark and Brigitte return with Coco and Malcolm in a typically disjointed episode of Screen Time. We talk to them about Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving things and what they are thankful for. We try to control their talking through the episode but eventually just kind of give up on that because we are eight months into this pandemic and we're all just kinda letting things happen at this point. Later, Brigitte and Mark talk about their favorite Thanksgiving pop culture, followed by a deep dive of Saturday Night Live, both classic episodes recently viewed on Peacock and the latest episodes. Mark talks about who he'd promote, who he'd clip from the very large cast, and get cozy talking about all the fun things they will do for the holidays. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

We have another very special podcast and a second one of the week! Today's episode we have a special guest and special simulcast edition with Justin Pinotti, host of the excellent Thrillers podcast, alongside frequent Thrillers guest and horror movie genius extraordinaire, Ryan Rudolph. We talk about the Halloween movie franchise, originally just diving into Halloween and Halloween II before touching on pretty much every other movie in the entire series in some way/shape/form (ooh The Shape he is scary). Through the brilliant (the original) to the truly unwatchable and disowned (Halloween: Resurrection mostly), we get through it all. Happy Halloween! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Mark and Brigitte handle the podcast in a special "Adults Only" (but still only rated PG-13) podcast where they discuss the "Return of Michael Myers" era of the Halloween franchise, aka the time the producer Moustapha Akkad saw all the money the Friday the 13th series and Nightmare of Elm Street series was making and wanted to find a way to bring Michael back and make some sweet, sweet cash, to middling artistic achievement. Carried by weighty performances by Donald Pleasance, this era of films is, if not "good", at least entertaining and worth talking about in podcast form for nearly an hour! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The kids discuss their viewing of Tim Burton's 2012 stop-motion animation film Frankenweenie and talk about the things that confused them and frightened them and just went over their heads. Later, Mark and Brigitte host Chris and Dan from the Film Trace podcast to discuss the best horror movie to ever center around a sunflower farm of all time: 2007's The Messengers. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

One week of Spooktober is down and the family is ready to talk about their Halloween faves. The kids talk about their favorite things and somehow we have two more kids in our house in addition to the two usual kids who are on our show. Later, Mark and Brigitte discuss the spooky things they've watched this week, including The Grudge (2020) (did you know there was a time in 2020 when movies came to theaters and people watched them there?), as well as What We Do in the Shadows movie, some Halloweeny classic TV series, and of course, classic Saturday Night Live sketches. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The fam begins the greatest month of the year, October! (Well, three of the four members of the family agree.) The kids talk about what has been spooking them lately, which has been Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for some reason. Meanwhile, Mark and Brigitte discuss their frightening experiences through middle school while raving about Hulu's Pen15. They also list the scary things they look forward to watching in this, the most wonderful time of the year. Except for Christmas, which is pretty cool, too. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

After an extended summer break, the fam returns with all new content for your listening pleasure. The kids discuss their favorite "new" movie of the moment, Enchanted, while Mark and Brigitte try to make sense of the craziness that is their thoughts, and also try to just get through lunch. Later, Mark and Brigitte eat ice cream in sadness and talk about the excellent HBO docuseries, The Vow. Will you join our cult? I mean it's not a cult, it is just a business development program for leaders... --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

After a week-long hiatus (hope you enjoyed the Best Of Screen Time episode we posted in its place ha ha #dadjokes), the gang is back at it. The kids ramble about what things they enjoy watching on Saturday mornings (okay let's face it, it is every morning) and it is (still) mostly Hamilton (thanks kids for taking away yet another thing we thought was just for we adults.) Mark and Brigitte discuss the Feb 2020 Neon release The Lodge which was deeply disturbing. Find out if it was disturbing in a good or bad way! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In this week's episode, the kids talk about the delightfully mediocre 2005 kids movie Madagascar, which draws rave reviews from kids everywhere, apparently. Later, after Malcolm tells a fairly aggressive and mean joke, Brigitte and Mark pivot to a movie and a TV series that both center on gaslighting and abusive men, with varying results in the end: The Invisible Man and Dirty John: Betty. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Mark and Brigitte host guests in both phases of the episode, bringing longtime Screen Time fans Lucas and Colin in with Malcolm who discuss what they're into these days in quarantine. Later, Timothy and Caleb come to discuss the not so "new" release You Should Have Left. Find out if the $19.99 that leaves your digital wallet to watch it is worth it! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Mark and Brigitte tackle the much-discussed new filmed version of the original Broadway cast performance of Hamilton and do their best to not try their own historical rapping. Meanwhile, Coco and Malcolm talk about The Rescuers while Mark and Brigitte do their best to try to get them to say interesting things. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The fam talks about their current favorite series on HBO Max--the kids being Home Alone and the entire series all the way through Home Alone 9 (it makes more sense when you listen to the episode.) Brigitte and Mark talk about HBO's Insecure, their favorite parts of the new season, and if there will ever be another regular season of television again or will everything just be tainted by this stupid never-ending pandemic anyway enjoy! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The fam talks Star Wars, past, present, and future. Mac and Coco share their thoughts about Jar Jar Binks, podracers, visiting Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland, and a lot of non sequiturs. Mark and Brigitte talk about their time in the Star Wars universe, their likes and dislikes, and also their favorite video stores with very confusing organization systems. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The gang introduce themselves and talk about what their favorite things are that they are watching right now. They add some jokes and some snark and generally have fun with it. There's also a theme song that was partially improvised. Don't worry, things will come together in future episodes! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app