Whatcha Poppin' About?

In this special episode, we talk about Gabe's Bar Mitzvah and how he wrote his D'var Torah using references in pop culture. Terumah, the name of his Torah portion, means gift. Gabe takes us through his list of favorite TV episodes where someone gave a gift to someone else. Special appearances by Tommy, Lev, and J.J. the dog.

Shrek has been an interesting through line in our family's history. We talk all about this famous ogre: the movies, the book, the musical, the memes. Lev has us play "Who says the quote: Gabe or Donkey?" (20:01) and Anthony ranks his favorite Shrek characters (23:10). Originally recorded 9/26/20

We discuss the 1978 television Star Wars special centered around Chewie and his Wookie family during the holiday called “Life Day”. Anthony and Gabe take a break from the discussion at one point to argue about whether or not it’s considered a “Lost Episode” (12:34) . Then we go back to discussing the special itself (22:09). We also chat a little bit about the end of Mandalorian, Season 2 (36:59). Originally recorded on 12/19/20

Anthony takes us through an abridged history of practical effects in cinema starting with the 1902 short, “A Trip to the Moon” (3:20). Lev discusses Star Wars practical effects (19:30), Uncle Steve tells the group a little about American makeup artist, Tom Savini (43:20), and Gabe chats about Annoying Orange (50:06). Originally recorded on 9/19/20

Shortly after Chadwick Boseman passed away, the boys wanted to do an episode on the actor and Black Panther. We discuss the hero's history in the comic books (11:33), Chadwick Boseman's career (21:13), and Black Panther's role and best moments in the MCU (35:57). Also, Lev really wants to know who would win in a fight: Black Panther or Batman (and then later Hulk). Rest In Power, Chadwick Boseman. Rest In Power, King. Wakanda Forever. (Original record date Sept 12, 2020)

We discuss anthropomorphism & personification, Gabe tells us about the dark cartoon Animals of Farthing Wood (8:07, TW: there are some death scenes described from this show), and Anthony closes the episode out by reciting the entire plot of Zootopia (24:49).

THWIP THWIP, we're talking Spidey in this one. We touch on some brief history of the webhead, Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark (12:09), the live action movies (15:52), Miles Morales and Spider-Ham (19:26), Spidey VILLAINS (23:57), and the ol' famous "with great power comes great responsibility"...

A special edition episode where we just play some games. Well, kind of... We start off playing games like "One Star Movie Reviews" (6:00) and a round of "Categories" (16:04) and then by the end Lev has us doing Buzzfeed personality tests on which Hamilton characters we are (22:36) and which Hogwarts houses we are in (30:02). Background music is by our pal, Brad Kemp, at Second Bedroom Studio.

Grandma (& Grandpa) join us for a jam packed episode about Hamilton. Lev takes us through some of the special musical elements within the show (12:13), Anthony gives us a history lesson on Lin-Manuel Miranda (21:30), we discuss the logic behind DUELS and a closer look at Aaron Burr's story (32:30), and Gabe ranks his favorite Hamilton songs (53:39).

Before we dive into Toy Story, Gabe shares details with us on his creative project "SUPER BUBBE"! Then we discuss the Toy Story movies (17:35) and our favorite characters (28:50). AND THEN we close the show out with a game by Anthony: Is this a Trump or a Kanye Tweet? (40:53).

Anthony picks Gravity Falls. He gives us some background on the show's creator, Alex Hirsch, then argues with Lev about Dipper and their preferred types of heroes (13:00), then Uncle Steve ranks his top Gravity Falls Monsters (25:30).

Uncle Steve picks DuckTales for this week's topic. He takes us through the history of the animated show, Lev gives us background on Donald Duck (17:19), Anthony discusses the life of Carl Barks (30:20) and we play a game guessing movie titles based off 1 star Amazon reviews (40:30). Count how many times we say the word "duck"!

Lev chooses Lion King Broadway for this week's pop culture discussion with special guest Aunt Natalie! Lev takes us through the costume and set design (10:49), Aunt Nat talks about Julie Taymor and the puppets (26:02), and Anthony ranks Lion King music (42:02). Hakuna Matata! [Originally recorded on 6/13/20]

We discuss The Office - Gabe tells us why he loves it, Uncle Steve talks about the cast (8:16), and Anthony & Lev rank their favorite cold opens (17:37). We originally recorded this on 6.6.20, when the nation was actively protesting against police brutality, so the group wanted to take a moment to talk about supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.

We discuss how the LGBTQ+ community has been represented & censored in pop culture. Anthony takes us through some history of film censorship, Uncle Steve touches on censorship in comic books (22:35), and Lev sparks a good roundtable discussion featuring special guests Uncle Ross & Aunt Anita (34:54). Love is love! Happy Pride Month! xoxo

Wocka Wocka! We're talking about Muppets! Uncle Steve takes the crew through some Muppet history, Anthony gives us some background on Jim Henson himself (20:12), and Lev & Gabe rank their top 10 Muppets and Sesame Street characters (35:10).

We cover one of the most popular villains of all time, DARTH VADER. Lev walks us through the character history, Anthony gives us a little background on the costume (21:34), and we have a special guest family member, Dr. Anita Hund, join us to discuss the psychology of Anakin/Vader (38:50).

Gabe gives us his superfan take on The Amazing World of Gumball. Lev & Anthony go on a tangent about cliffhangers resulting in a Star Wars debate. Uncle Steve walks the crew through Cartoon Network history (27:23). Lev & Anthony close the show out by ranking the best animation in Cartoon Network shows (41:33).

We kick this pop culture show off exploring a little D&D (specifically on 5e). Anthony takes us through some history of how it came to be, Uncle Steve discusses how it's influenced pop culture (19:34), and Lev & Gabe share their "Most Poppin' Beasts of D&D" (32:09). Roll for Initiative!