Nerd Lunch

Michael, Rob, and Karen Flieger discuss the first James Bond feature film: how it compares to the Fleming novel while setting the stage for the 60-year (and running) series of movies about the world's favorite super spy. 

Evan asks Dave, David, Erik, and Michael to find the hidden connection (other than the fact that none of them are English-language films) between Solaris (1972), Le Dîner de Cons (1998), and Force Majeure (2014).   If you haven't seen one or more of the movies, feel free to skip to the discussions of your choice:   00:02:10 - Review of Solaris (1972) 00:16:12 - Review of Le Dîner de Cons (1998) 00:30:57 - Review of Force Majeure (2014) 00:51:24 - Guessing the Connection

Michael and Rob welcome back Corinna Bechko and Ben Graham to adapt books and movies into Star Trek holonovels. Each panelist picks a character from the source material that they want to play and then invites Star Trek characters to take on other roles. But in true Star Trek fashion, everything does not go smoothly on the holodeck and strange glitches occur to complicate and change the stories.   Opening and closing music by Andrew Allen.

Evan, Michael, Pax, and Rob ramble about the Hardy Boys, Batman, kids, surprising personality traits, and how to watch TV. Among many other things.

Evan, Michael, Pax, and Rob enjoy a rambling conversation about The Sandman, Ringu (and The Ring), Cyclops’ heat vision, Black Panther comics, and ever so much more.

Michael and Rob gather in the study to talk about an odd Sherlock Holmes movie. Michael Caine plays Holmes and Ben Kingsley is Watson in this parody where Watson is the brilliant detective and Holmes just a fictional character portrayed by a failed actor.

To commemorate the hundredth episode of AfterLunch, Evan, Michael, Pax, and Rob discuss the evolution of the show over the last couple of years and think about where it might possibly go from here. But it's not all just looking at belly buttons and they finish the episode talking about the 100th installments of Alpha Flight, Batman ('66), Bob's Burgers, and Marvel Team-Up.

Hail Hydra.

Michael, Rob, and Evan welcome Christian Nielsen (Pop Culture Retrofit) and new guest Siskoid (The Fire and Water Podcast Network) to guess movie titles based on one-sentence descriptions of the plot. It's kind of hard, fairly chaotic, and completely fun. 

Michael, Rob, Evan, and Pax talk about The Book of Boba Fett (with SPOILERS), the Oscars, Married Couple Origin Stories, and professional caregivers, among other things they've been watching and thinking about.

Michael, Rob, Evan, and Pax gather for another wandering discussion about what they've been listening to and reading. Conversational stops along the way include fan-made audio plays, radio, Ain’t It Cool News, and the ComiXology-Amazon merge.

Michael talks about the most unusual James Bond novel of all, The Spy Who Loved Me. No Jaws. No Russian spy on a revenge quest. No underwater lair. Just a heartbroken girl, a remote motel, and a couple of thugs sent to kill her.

Opinions are divided when Michael, Rob, Pax, and Lizzie cover the second Thor film on their conversational journey through the MCU.

In this solo episode, Michael talks about the four James Bond short stories collected after Ian Fleming's death as Octopussy and The Living Daylights. In addition to the two title stories, later editions also included "The Property of a Lady" (commissioned by Sotheby's) and "007 in New York" (to placate American readers after a rather cranky essay Fleming wrote about the city).

Rob, Pax, Evan, and Christian Nielsen form teams and test their superhero knowledge as Michael asks them questions from a card game he got in his Christmas stocking. There is triumph and there is defeat, but mostly there's a lot of laughter.

Michael continues exploring Ian Fleming’s James Bond books with Thunderball, a controversial novel with complicated origins that finally introduces Ernst Stavro Blofeld and SPECTRE to the series.

Michael continues exploring Ian Fleming’s James Bond books with the eighth in the series. For Your Eyes Only isn't a novel, but a collection of five short stories. Elements of all five have turned up in various films though, whether it's the titles of "Quantum of Solace" and "From a View to a Kill" or the villains of "Risico" and "The Hildebrand Rarity" or the revenge-seeking daughter of "For Your Eyes Only."

Michael, Rob, Evan, and Delaney wrap up their look at Star Trek: Enterprise. The show tried some new things in its final season, so the panel talks about whether or not that worked to improve things for them. And then there's that series finale...

Michael, Rob, Evan, and Pax chit chat about The Beatles, The Morning Show, the post-Endgame MCU, and whether or not the Supernatural is real.

Michael, Rob, Evan, and Pax gather again to talk about what they've been listening to and reading. And their favorite flowers. Lots of recommendations, but in the process of meandering the conversation occasionally settles into topics like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Fast and Furious movies, and gritty super hero comics.