Nerd Lunch

A palliate is something that reduces or eases the symptoms of something horrible. In this special episode of AfterLUNCH, Rob Graham talks to AfterLUNCH guests and listeners to learn what has brought them joy or relief during the uncertainty and isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tune in and find out what movies, TV, video games, creative activities, and other things your podcast friends have been into to get them through.

Before we run out of summer, let's talk about another Disney pirate movie. In this second flashback to the dead 'Casting Off podcast, Michael and David May are joined by Rob Graham to blather about Blackbeard's Ghost from 1968 starring Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones, and Suzanne Pleshette. But before we get to that, we also have a quick announcement about AfterLUNCH itself.

Michael May, Rob Graham, Jeff Somogyi, and Chad Young hit the playground to argue about who would win in four legendary match-ups between various characters. Gandalf vs Sasquatch is just the first competition (and not even the weirdest) in this hilarious discussion.

The Magnum PI panel reconvenes to discuss Season 2. It's Evan Hanson, Jeeg, Michael May, Rob Graham, and William Bruce West talking about their favorite episodes, who they ship, TC's photography skills, and of course Higgins' half-brother from Texas.

Adam Pope pitched the idea and Michael May dug it, so they invited Chris Bailey, Rob Graham, Evan Hanson, and Christian Nielsen to help create teams of fictional police characters. Each team has a leader, a detective, a ballistics expert, a wild card, a scientist, an undercover expert, a dispatcher, and a beat officer. And as an added bonus, we had to record late at night for logistical reasons, so the panelists are extra loopy.

While AfterLUNCH is officially a monthly show, Michael has been thinking about how to have fun things to listen to in the weeks between episodes. One has to do with a short-lived podcast that he and his son David did called ‘Casting Off, about nautical adventure stories. We won't rerun the whole series on AfterLUNCH, but there are a couple of episodes with some guests who’ll be familiar to Nerd Lunch listeners. This first one is a deep dive into the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, The Curse of the Black Pearl. There’s already been an official Nerd Lunch drill-down on the first four movies of the Pirates series, but this conversation is different enough that hopefully it'll be worth listening to. In addition to Michael and David, the panel includes Nerd Lunch Fourth Chair Army members Lizzie Twachtman and Mike Westfall, as well as comics writer Ron Marz. The plan was always to have this same panel come back and talk about the rest of the Pirates movies, but that never happened. Part of the reason for s

Paxton Holley pitched the idea for this episode in which he, Adam Pope, Michael May, and Shawn Robare each try to sell an idea for a movie, TV show, or product, then modify that idea based on notes from the other panelists. It's a weird and funny episode; the perfect way to kick off the new, but familiar AfterLUNCH podcast. And very special thank you to the legendary Mike Westfall for creating the AfterLUNCH logo.

On this final episode of Fourth Chair Army Invasion, members of the Fourth Chair Army talk about what they love about Nerd Lunch, their favorite episodes, and say goodbye to the show. But all is not done. Stay tuned to the very end for details about the new monthly show that will replace Invasion on the Nerd Lunch feed.

This is exactly what you think it is. You're welcome.

After almost nine years of podcasting and over a year of build up, the moment has come. We have made it to the final episode of the podcast. This one is special, Lunchketeers. In fact, so special, that I'm not going to give you an outline of what you get on the episode. You're just going to have to listen. Special thanks to Adam from SequelQuest for his musical contribution. It's been a blast to do the show. We hope you enjoy the finale.

CT and Michael May make an announcement about the schedule for the remaining Nerd Lunch episode and why you should continue subscribing to the Nerd Lunch feed even after you've listened to it.

Mike Westfall, Michael DiGiovanni, Annaliese Trammel, and Paxton Holley join Michael May for another round of the classic Nerd Lunch feature: "Turning Movies into TV Shows." After a discussion of what movie-based TV shows have worked (and which haven't), the panel pitches TV shows based on A League of Their Own, Gremlins, Xanadu, Tomorrowland, and Pretty in Pink.

One more episode to go after this!! In this episode, the final guest episode, we are joined by Nerd Lunch's very first 4th Chair Army member, Shawn Robare.  And we are talking about pop culture things that a) We Just Can't Quit and b) That We are Done With.

CT welcomes PLee back. After a quick discussion about the first episode of Star Trek: Picard, the two of them launch into one of their nerdiest discussions ever. They run through possible options for Deep Space Nine if different Next Generation characters had joined the cast instead of Worf. And there's even a quick run through with Voyager.

For our 350th episode and our next to next to last episode, we wanted to do something special and extravagant, but decided to discard extravagant and just do something special. Jeff Somogyi and Jonathan DeMuth return one last time to resurrect the ol' Rabbit Hole. Can we get from the page for the Five-Second Rule to the page for Death? Only one way to find out. Well, two ways. You could listen or you could have someone listen for you and tell you.

If you're bummed about No Time to Die getting pushed back to November, have no fear. William Bruce West, Doug Frye, Evan Hanson, Rob Graham, and Michael May have created the best spy movie in the world and you can enjoy it right this very second in your imagination.

Finishing out the Nerd Lunch Hip Hop show series I am joined by two of the hip hop show veterans, Jaime Hood from the Beastie Boys show and Eclectik from the NWA show.  We are talking all about The Fat Boys, their music, their movies, and their legacy.

For this final meeting of the Nerd Lunch Star Wars Panel, we discuss our favorite and least favorite aspects of the sequel trilogy as well as the two anthology movies.  We talk about favorite new characters, favorite legacy characters, what other anthology movies we'd like to see and what we think is coming next for Star Wars.  Listen to us finish out the panel the way we started, with a roundtable discussion.

The Nerd Lunch Star Wars panel is back to talk about The Mandalorian, Cara Dune, and the cuteness of The Baby That's the Same Species as Yoda. 

The Star Wars Panel reconvenes for the last time to discuss a Star Wars movie.  And we are going to talk about the finale to the Skywalker Saga, Rise of Skywalker.