Guys Of A Certain Age

It was a big week in geek news, with the Star Wars Celebration in jolly old England and the latest name change over at HBO/Discovery/Warner/Whatever announced in Holly-old-Wood.

The Guys get giddy about Star Wars content to come, with Rey and Mando getting new movies, and Ahsoka streaming soon.  Well, “soon” in the world of Disney+ releases.  

And what of Max, the new name for the Discovery-HBO-Magnolia-Etcetera streaming behemoth?  A little something for everybody, it seems, with a commitment to an extensive reboot from the Wizarding World, another pre-sequel (it’s hard to tell which is which these days) from Game of Thrones, and the Penguin waddling into our living rooms.  

Until all that happens, though, The Guys are excited about the Marvels movie trailer, sad about Al Jaffee, and eerily quiet about the dialogue in the latest John Wick movie.  Listen to this one, but don’t Max out.  

Following James Cameron's lead, Art waited almost 10 years to create a sequel to his mildly successful first Jack Quasar comic book. In this episode, Robbie and Art discuss the character's history, the process of creating a comic book on an iPad, and the ongoing trials and tribulations of self-publishing through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing system. 

Robbie really loves it when all the live people come back, and that’s what’s happening soon-ish on Netflix’s announced anime’ version of Scott Pilgrim vs The World.  All the stars, or at least their voices, will come back for this unique twist on the beloved comic-turned-classic movie.  

Jay, on the other hand, is excited not just about John Wick’s latest movie (where we assume lots of live people don’t stay that way very long), but also the spinoff, Ballerina, featuring the actress du jour, Ana de Armas.  They both noted that yet another Marvel mogul was unceremoniously given the door, and by the way, where is Art?  Apparently, it was his extremely significant other’s birthday and his gift had something to do with attic cleanup.  But the remaining Guys talked about him enough - nay, challenged him - that he is expected to return in the near future with a plan for pizza.  

Yes, Jay and Robbie turned to their favorite pastime: eating.  Spring is coming, and with it, gardening and farmer’s markets, and outdoor pizza ovens.  And will April showers bring rainbows of Skittles?  Well, maybe not if you live in California.  

This week it’s Art who’s roaming the country in search of the studio, so Robbie and Jay have to carry the conversation.  But not to worry, Guys of a Certain Age, though they might talk a lot about Marvel, they are not firing people like Marvel seems to be.  Art will be back just like Daredevil, however, unless he got caught in the Blip.  

And if that happens, the Guys (whoever is left) will be sure to keep all their listeners updated on all the social media channels.  And if you’re not sure which service to follow, Robbie and Jay ramble at length in this episode about which ones keep their attention the most, which ones are most likely to be rabbit holes, which ones they joined just to keep an eye on their kids, and which ones they really should be connected to but aren’t.  And vice versa.  

Listen first, then follow, like, chat, tik, tok, marco polo, and link in.  But don’t snap - we don’t want to lose Art for good.  

Art and Robbie welcome a new guest and possible Jay replacement this week to discuss the latest post-apocalyptic phenomenon, HBO Max's The Last of Us.

This week in the studio realm, the Council of Guys met to decide which Avenger’s movie would next be viewed and reviewed.  Since Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania was the only one in the theater, that’s the one they chose.  (Big decision-makers, these Guys.)

And they asked deep questions: Is Paul Rudd the new Robert Downey, Jr?  Will Michael Douglas come back for another movie?  Was Bill Murray’s role essential to the plot?  Did Evangeline Lilly really need to cut her hair?  Big stuff here.  

Meanwhile, back in the celebrity obituary department, it was a rough week, including a couple of eagerly anticipated Star Wars movies with big director/producer names attached, but not including the Woolly Mammoth.  He’s not quite dead yet.  Listen to find out how to buy advanced tickets to the Wonderful World of Woolly.  

It’s time to talk Severance.  Wait, what?  Is Robbie offering a severance package for Art and Jay?  Oh right - it’s the AppleTV+ show, Severance, that Jay finally got around to watching.  Whew.  

The Guys dissect this AppleTV+ original series about life-work balance (they really need some), or more accurately: life-work separation.  But don’t worry, they’re not severing from the podcast…or are they?  Only the Innies of a Certain Age know what was really discussed.  

In Geeks of the Week, it’s Robbie this time announcing a new-ish musical of avenger-ical proportions, as Jay shares a little-known (to him, anyway) factoid about the theme music from Indiana Jones.  Art and Jay both bring sad news about the passing of two film stars, one beauty and one who played a creature only a mother could love.  Listen at home or at work, it doesn’t matter - you won’t remember it.  

Lots and lots of money was spent advertising during the 2023 Super Bowl.  Thousands, at least.  (Prepare for the price increase of your morning donut:  Benifer is expensive.)  

And all that just to audition for a spot during the break on Guys of a Certain Age?  Who’d a thunk? The game that was played between commercials was pretty tight, as was the race for best ad.  The world awaits the decision, and you can hear it here first.  

But before the space in the show where one day listeners might hear Serena Williams do yet another commercial, Art and Robbie give Jay some MC-ed-U-cation as he reports the latest Disney Declaration, Robbie speaks of Legends, and bless his h-art, Mr. Shirley gets stuck with the celebrity obits again as he recounts a fantastic voyage.   

Apparently it’s time for a restructuring.  Unlike Disney, which can afford to lay of thousands of workers, The Guys need at least 2 to show up, so the GOCA shuffle has been postponed.

 But Toy Story 5 has not, it seems.  And an old friendship is soon to be restored when Loki returns to the small screen: Short Round is back, and we’re not talking about Jay’s appearance when he was 12.  

Believe it or not, that’s all before The Break.  Afterwards, The Guys once again fill valuable bandwidth discussing an award show they didn’t watch.  This time it’s the GRAMMYs, or as they like to call it, “When Harry Met Lizzo.”  People sang, people won (and lost) awards, people dressed up like Biblical characters and danced.  But was a good time had by all?  Listen and sing along with Art and the Two-Tops on this award-acknowledging episode!

The Big Announcement is finally here.  Or it was finally there a few weeks ago when it was announced - but now, valued listener, you get to hear The Guys talk about it.  

Yep, it’s the DCU, Chapter One, Gods and Monsters, announced by the young Gunn, James.  At last the wait is over, and DC fans can look forward to a fresh take on Superman, Batman, Swamp Thing and a host of other heroes, antiheroes and lanterns.  It’s time for the capes to have their moment of truth, justice and a better tomorrow.  The same thing The Guys say all the time.  

Meanwhile, Art gives sad news for fans of Laverne and Shirley, Jay reports a new voice for Harley Quinn, and Robbie tries to sneak in the main subject as his geek.  Live-ish from L’uva, it’s Guys of a Certain Age!