Guys Of A Certain Age

With Jay Reed out, Robbie and Art launch another rant session. 

With Jay out enjoying his new role as grandfather, aka Baba, Robbie and Art take advantage of a brief window when they are both in the same time zone to quickly rant about a few things.

The Guys are well over 300 episodes into Season 1 of this podcast, which begs the question: at what point does it become, “Guys of a Certain Age, Born Again?”  The bigger question may be: is the world even ready for that?  (See show notes around episode 400 for details.)  

This episode begins, as usual, with exciting news from the world of geekdom.  You heard it here second. Superman is ever closer with a tremendous trailer released, with some subtle changes and fodder for a product tie-in you might not have expected.  MAX seems to be channeling Prince and his identity crisis.  One iconic hero may get an extended cut, while another planned trilogy seems destined for a duology. There’s a lot going on this week.  

And not long ago, Daredevil: Born Again, Season 1 completed its run, and that’s what The Guys hash out today.  Reviews are mixed among the gentlemen co-hosts, but no thumbs were down.  Even with a bit of “it was fine” in the air, there’s still hope for Season 2, "Born Again Anew.” Please listen to this episode, then again.  

It’s another episode of Guys of a Certain Age*, soon to be known across the continents (or at least Antarctica) as The Old Offenders.  The studio could hardly contain all the excitement as The Void released Robbie, Art, and Jay long enough not just to go to the movie together, and not just talk about said movie together in a podcast episode, but to pay even less for said movie than the seasoned citizen rate.  Triple win.  

Ditto with the Geeks of the Week: Robbie expands the Andor universe for all, Jay takes an imaginary joy ride through the forests of Endor, and Art contemplates the director of the next Thor movie, “Love and Thunderbolts*"  Then it’s time to go to the movie.  It’s time to grab the popcorn and the super serum and watch The New Avengers Formerly Known As Thunderbolts*.  The Guys agreed that Marvel is getting its groove back.  Strong characters (though largely unknown and apparently not actual comic Thunderbolts), meaningful plot dealing with actual current issues, plenty of action, a little darkness, and just enough humor.  Listen for all the details and spoilers and name changes (and it’s not just the new pope.)

It’s another fully regrettable episode.  Wait, who writes this stuff??  It’s actually a full and complete episode made entirely of Jay’s Regrettable Segments, where he pulls a semi-obscure (depending on who’s listening) superhero from the archives of Jon Morris’s book, The League of Regrettable Superheroes, then tells the story after a brief “brought to you by” ad from Art the Announcer Guy.  Said (or sad) superheroes are then rated as Regrettable, Redeemable, or Not Regrettable (super original, right?)  

In this segment of segments, The Silver Age closes out with Spyman, then the heroes enter the Bronze and/or Modern Age, depending on how you define it, with Adam-X the X-treme, Holo-Man, and The Outsiders (probably not the ones you’re thinking about.)  And like the Super Bowl, even if the heroes are regrettable, this one’s worth listening to just for the ads.  

The Guys are back!  And that means all three of them in the same room: the room where it happens, where they’re not gonna give away their shot, and where (hopefully) they won’t be shot in a duel of any kind.  

That’s right, Robbie himself went to see the broadway musical Hamilton with Jay, Robbie, and all the GOCA wives, with very little arm-twisting.  And Art sings a couple of lines with royal gusto (on the episode, not in the theater.)  Did it live up to the hype?  Was live better than Memorex? All these questions and more will be answered.  

DC characters get a little love (or they will in 2026) in Geeks of the Week, but most of the action takes place in the Star Wars universe, or in Yaban, depending on how you say it.  One might say it’s a Star Wars celebration.  Perhaps Lin-Manuel will write a song about it!

We've got another week without the full complement of Guys, but plenty of Geeks. Robbie and Art remember beloved game show host, Wink Martindale, share news of a Star Trek Red Alert experience at Universal Hollywood, and resurrect DC Deathwatch as Art cancels his DC Universe subscription. 

One might say Robbie had leavin’ on his mind for this episode, because there were definitely not 3 cigarettes in the (proverbial) ashtray on this episode.  Robbie went to Vegas, leaving Art and Jay to reminisce about their shared role in musical community theater.  It was almost crazy how these last minute roles in “Always, Patsy Cline” came about.  Let’s just say it pays to know Art’s cousin, as well as one of the Golden Triangle’s favorite actresses.  

Jessica Horton and Madeline Golden (not to mention the Silver Eagle Band) put on a stellar performance, and also allowed these two Guys to dance their way into regional stardom.  On this episode, they talk about their experience, with a little country music trivia thrown in just for fun.  And there were Geeks of the Week a’plenty.  

Lots of trailers for big movies dropped this week, a well-done insurance commercial makes the cut, and there is news of fictional fantastic new life juxtaposed with the actual passing of some big stars with geek cred.  If you’re walkin’ after midnight under the blue moon of Kentucky, and need a podcast to keep you from falling to pieces, this is the one.  

These Guys are of such a Certain Age, they could be called “Vinyl.”  But just like vinyl records, they are timeless, have a nostalgic sound, and will hopefully, one day, make a comeback.  From what?  Who knows.  In this episode, it’s a two-fer again, as Art went in the wrong door of the building an hour late and missed the recording.  

Jay and Robbie carried on, though, to talk about vinyl, turntables, and other forms of musical recordings that have whispers of comebacks.  Robbie helps Jay figure out how to get his newly refurbished turntable to a state of listenability, they discuss their current (and growing) collections, and talk about an app that keeps Robbie from buying 3 copies of the same LP.  With Art gone, Geeks of the Week had to be bolstered a bit, but has that ever been a problem?  

Here’s the more-eclectic-than-usual lineup: new Oscar stunts, Pattinson’s geek potential, Game of Clones, pizza with Yoda and friends, and an anniversary.  A little something for everyone.  You’re welcome!  (And thanks for listening.)

The Guys are hungry this week, so hungry in fact that Art skipped recording to eat lunch.  Or was he replaced with a food-service robot?  Only dedicated listeners will be able to discern.  

Jay kicks things off in Geeks of the Week with some of the new crazy food items available at MLB ballparks this summer, inspired by a story of his own childhood that took place only steps from the GOCA studio.  Robbie has news from the world of Dollar Twenty-Five Tree and delivers a tidbit from FedEx.  And of course, there is news from The Tardis, aka the Dr. Who delivery service.  In the second half, Robbie tells the tale of a robot who served him cookies and milk in Vegas, and we’re not talking about his son, Mark the Chef.  That leads to a thoughtful discussion on robotics in the world of food, and where it might lead, from cake decorating to perfectly designed salads.  There’s even one for the home.  

But not to worry, there are no podcasting robots here.  That’s their story, and they are sticking to the story they were programmed to tell.