Guys Of A Certain Age

This week The Guys get “Clued” in to some exciting geek news, with a new series or two being signaled from the DCU and a favorite composer getting a shot at more Marvel-ous fame.  

Meanwhile, back in Westview, Wanda is up to more shenanigans and The Guys catch up just a wee bit faster than Vision himself.  And in recent days the broadcast world lost an iconic personality and voice.  Love him or hate him, Rush Limbaugh became the face of talk radio, and perhaps even the grandfather of podcasting; and for that, at least, we are thankful.

 Listen as they reminisce about board games coming to life (not Jumanji…the other one), and pontificate on what they know about WandaVision thus far.  

The Super Bowl may be over, but the commercials will live on forever.  

At least that’s what those companies are hoping, the ones that dished out millions of dollars to the network and the celebrity spokespeople to get their message out to the masses.  

The Guys did watch the game, but this time the pauses and skips were through the action, and the real attention was paid to the commercials in between.  They talk favorites, they talk surprises, they talk disappointments.  And they ask the deep questions: Are Beavis and Butthead really coming back?  Why did Travolta agree to do a TikTok dance on the greenest lawn you’ve ever seen?  And will Matthew McConaughey escape the vending machine alright, alright, alright?  

Geeks of the Week focus largely on remakes, and also asks a deep question: do we need a trailer for a trailer?  Listen and get no answers save the desire to climb a mountain just to see a captain dance.  

Believe it or not, The Guys have jobs that actually pay money and don’t involve Geeks of the Week, except for the occasional look in the mirror. 

And they’ve been working for a long time. 

In this episode, they share memories of their first jobs, back when they were just wee lads pushing machines that spin blades fast enough to cut off a limb (botanical or bodily, as it happens), waving flags at speeding tractor trailers, and hand-spraying crops with unidentified chemicals. 

And you thought they were crazy now.  

In this episode, The Guys get Sirius.  Siriusly, they are sharing their satellite radio presets, and they’re getting specific.  Kind of an “XM marks the spot” situation.  

And despite the differences in musical taste, there is some surprising overlap (if you don’t count the buttons Jay has been too lazy to change from the previous owner of his truck.)  Is terrestrial radio dead as was predicted with the advent of the satellite systems?  Not as long as it’s free, old friends, just like this podcast.  Meanwhile, on the telly, it’s Oscar time - or is it?  And will the Oscars be recognizable by the time they actually arrive?  

Thankfully, there will be Babylon 5 to keep our eyes busy, and talk of Buck Clooney to keep our imaginations buzzing until the 25th century.  Radio is here to stay, and The Guys love their Sirius XM - but be sure to binge listen to all the episodes before sailing away on Yacht Rock to Margaritaville with the Beatles.

Row, row, row your time, gently down the streams.  Merrily, merrily, merrily binge, I used to have a dream.  

This week The Guys jump on a couple of geek headlines, the breaking news regarding shifts (and giggles) in the rapidly evolving world of streaming, both video and audio.  The rumor mill leaked the possibility that Apple may be considering a paid podcasting subscription service.  How would that affect podcasting?  How much would you be willing to pay to hear three aging geeks ramble on every week?  The Guys recommending binging the archives now.  

Netflix also announced that there would be a new movie released every week during 2021.  Is this a comeback attempt in these days of too many streaming services?  How will that play on a playah’s player?  The Guys answer all your questions, and raise even more.  And they do it for free, every week.  You’re welcome, for now.  

With a little help from the interweb, The Guys roll with a new credit this week: Casting Directors.  Reliable speculation indicates that the Timothy Zahn novel Heir to the Empire may be the Avengers: Endgame crossover equivlanet for the Star Wars universe.  (Or is it just the galaxy?) 

Of course, this show is far, far away, which gives The Guys plenty of time to save up all those advertising dollars (sorry - pennies) to join the CSA. 

In the meantime, they make their case for who should be re-cast in the iconic roles (Luke, Leia and Han) as well as many others likely to be part of this new event. 

In the Geek of the Week segment, Jay gives Art a break from his usual Celebrity Undertaker role, and in turn Art likes it when a particular actor comes back.  Meanwhile, Robbie give us 220 million reasons to remember our passwords.  

In case listeners haven’t already picked up on this, Jay really loves it when all the people come back.  And this episode is jam packed with “back”.  (BTW, spoilers ahead!)  

The Mandalorian, Season 2, is over and boy did someone come back for that one.  Return of the Jedi, indeed. The Guys talk about everything from  the significance of Luke’s grand re-entrance to the quality of the de-aging technology.  But that wasn’t the only light at the end of the dark tunnel that was 2020.

 WW84 finally arrived, and with it the return not just of our gal, Gadot, but also the one she pined for: Steve Trevor.  Was WW84 the blockbuster we all hoped it would be?  Or was it mostly a refreshing visit back to the 80’s for guys and gals of a certain age?  

In the GOW segment, Jay continues to revisit the 80’s in his home theater, Robbie speaks of drone enlightenment, and Art the Celebrity Undertaker causes yet another well of tears.  (Or a tear for wells?) This one has all the back, and we’re not just talking fanny packs.  

The end of 2019 would have been a good time for The Guys to do an episode about the best movies of the 2010’s, right?  (Who knows, maybe they did do one and just forgot.) 

Either way, that’s how they decided to drown the sorrows of 2020: pick their favorite movies of the past decade as Father Time trades his Depends for a Pampers and starts fresh in 2021. 

As they discover, it was a pretty good decade for geeks: Marvel was at the top of the super hero game, Star Wars put out another trilogy and two back-stories, and DC - well, we’ll see how the Snyder Cut works out.  And to make this ten year celebration complete, Jay discovers a new YouTube channel that’s only been around nine of those years.  

It’s the end of the decade as we know it, and The Guys feel fine.  Even if last year was the real end of the decade, it’s been declared fair to ignore 2020 altogether. 

With that in mind, The Guys decide to tackle a decade’s worth of television.  Jay and Art each share their top show with a couple of honorable mentions. 

Robbie has three faves and twenty alternates.  Buckle up and get your pen-pencil-stylus, there’s a lot of tv-watching to catch up on.  And just because some fancy website makes a list of the 50 best shows of the last ten years, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are the ones The Guys are recommending. 

Be sure to listen for the Geek of the Week trifecta: Mario Lopez, Boba Fett and a nightstand from the future.  (Nobody said those were the best of the decade.)