The Lake Effect

The Lake Effect

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THE LAST CRUSADE: With the completion of Indiana Jones & The Great Circle now in his rearview, D. Bethel shares some final thoughts on what ended up being a surprisingly enjoyable and innovated game.

CHANGING THE GAME: Andrew dives deep into new TTRPG ventures with the extremely referential but fun Outgunned Adventure and finds a lot to like in Daggerheart, the new RPG system from Critical Role.

TOPICS:
(0:00:00) Intro – Final thoughts on Indiana Jones & The Great Circle
(0:09:36) Andrew plays Outgunned Adventure
(0:15:09) Andrew checks out Critical Role’s Daggerheart
(1:01:45) Outro – The intersection of Star Trek and Cheers
(1:04:00) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Open Awesome License” (13 January 2023): Where Andrew walks us through the Wizard of the Coast’s strange decision to change its approach to its Open Game License.
  • “Sausageria” (29 December 2023): Where D. Bethel names the most recent Indiana Jones movie, Indiana Jones & The Dial of Destiny, as his “Thing of the Year: 2023.”

RELEVANT LINKS:

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Andrew Day

Andrew Day

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HE’S THE ONE THAT SITS: Our hosts start with the sadness and address the recent passing of actor George Wendt, whose Cheers character, Norm Peterson, (along with his bar buddy, Cliff Claven, played by John Ratzenberger) really resonated with viewers as the quintessential everyman.

THE MAYONNAISE CAMPAIGN: Andrew wrapped up the Dungeons & Dragons campaign he had started earlier in the year and has some closing thoughts after spending some time with this new edition of the game.

THE WALKINGS DEAD: A kind of two-in-one, Andrew takes inspiration for his own short campaign of the tabletop RPG of The Walking Dead by starting to watch the first spinoff show, Fear the Walking Dead, due to its setting on the west coast of the United States.

THE LEGACY OF PIP & JANE BAKER: Our hosts wrap by discussing a short lived and *possibly* relevant character to the new season of Doctor Who, the malevolent Time Lady, The Rani.

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro – RIP George Wendt
(08:17) Andrew finishes Dungeons & Dragons
(20:47) Andrew starts watching Fear the Walking Dead
(28:51) Andrew starts a campaign in The Walking Dead tabletop RPG
(31:06) D. Bethel finished Indiana Jones & The Great Circle
(34:24) Outro – Doctor Who & The Rani
(39:08) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Ear COVID” (16 February 2024): Where Andrew started the D&D campaign that he finishes in this week’s episode.
  • “The Rolling Dead” (11 April 2025): Where Andrew tires out the The Walking Dead ttrpg for the first time.

RELEVANT LINKS:

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Turn on the Window

Turn on the Window

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RIDICULOUS REMAKES: D. Bethel goes off on “live action” remakes of beloved animated movies––Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon––that genuinely seem unnecessary.

DOCTOR WHO: With the first half of season 2 (series 15) of Doctor Who done, our hosts talk about what it’s doing differently from the previous season before zooming in specifically on the most recent unsettling and surprisingly profound episode, “Lucky Day.”

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro – What are they doing with these “live action” remakes anyway?
(05:11) Doctor Who, season 2 (series 15) episode: “Lucky Day”
(36:32) Outro – D. finally heard the Wilhelm Scream in Indiana Jones & The Great Circle
(37:32) Outtakes

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Nerd Intervention” (28 June 2024): Where our hosts reflect on the previous season of Doctor Who.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Theme Song Detectives

Theme Song Detectives

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It’s been nearly a month with lots of things happening, under our hosts’ control and not, but they check back in this week with some overview of life stuff as well as nerdy and geeky stuff.

WEEKS IN GEEK: Andrew finds a lot to like in the recent MCU-Disney+ show, Daredevil: Born Again, continuing the series from its run on Netflix. He also returns to survival gaming with Far From Home’s Forever Skies. D. Bethel dips into new old sci-fi with the well-regarded series, The Expanse, but has been occupying his gaming time with Machinegames’ Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN: The show wraps with a short remembrance of Jean Marsh, an incredibly expressive actress whose career ran decades. Our hosts, of course, remember her fondly for her dips into Doctor Who across the years (she even used to be married to the Third Doctor, Jon Pertwee) as well as her turn as the unforgettable villain, Queen Bavmorda, in Willow.

TOPICS:

(00:00) Intro – Where we’ve been
(02:06) D. Bethel’s Mister Rogersification
(05:25) Andrew’s WiG #1: Daredevil: Born Again
(13:44) Andrew’s WiG #2: Forever Skies
(24:03) D.’S WiG #1: The Expanse
(28:51) D.’s WiG #2: Indiana Jones & the Great Circle
(42:03) Outro – RIP Jean Marsh
(46:07) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “A Warm Heat” (23 June 2017): Where D. Bethel discusses the Machinegames’ reboot, Wolfenstein: The New Order.
  • “Whatever We Bring, We Bring It” (13 October 2017): Where D. Bethel discusses his time playing Machinegames’ Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
  • “It’s Always a Game” (08 February 2019): Where Andrew relates his experience with the survival game, Subnautica.
  • “Earl British” (25 September 2020): Where our hosts discuss Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda Softworks.
  • “Bear is Watching” (21 May 2021): Where Andrew plays the Subnautica sequel, Subnautica: Below Zero.
  • “The Soundness” (01 September 2023): Where Green Hell becomes Andrew’s survival game of choice.
  • “Nomanski” (24 November 2023): Survival goes to space as Andrew and D. Bethel discuss No Man’s Sky.

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FEATURED MUSIC:

The Rolling Dead

The Rolling Dead

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THE LEGEND OF DICK BRIMES: After dusting off the microphones, our hosts return for Andrew to tell a wild tale he experienced running a game of Free League’s The Walking Dead tabletop RPG.

HE WAS YOUR HUCKLEBERRY: Our hosts round out the show to quickly discuss the death of the mercurial actor, Val Kilmer. D. Bethel drew a tribute not so much to Kilmer as much as a character Kilmer played that means so much to him––Willow‘s Madmartigan.

TOPICS:

(00:00) Intro – Why the show went dark for three weeks
(02:51) AMC Presents The Walking Dead – The RPG
(11:20) The Mechanics of The Walking Dead
(22:15) Story time
(26:50) It’s a good game––why is no one talking about it?
(39:35) Outro – RIP Val Kilmer
(44:31) Outtakes

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Do the Laugh” (27 January 2023): Where Andrew talks about watching the first season of The Walking Dead.
  • “Cowboy Energy” (25 October 2024): Where our hosts walk through one of the foundational texts of zombie fiction, George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead.
  • “The Sheng Long Distraction” (27 September 2024): Where Andrew buys a lot of The Walking Dead comics.
  • “My Nude Wall” (15 November 2024): Andrew gives an update on his watch-through of The Walking Dead.

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A Different Kind of Show

A Different Kind of Show

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WE’RE BACK…FOR A MINUTE: Life has been incredibly busy for our two hosts, but they were able to pop into the recording studio to say hello and talk a bit about the first two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again and the recently Academy Award-winning animated film, Flow.

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Dot Nyet

Dot Nyet

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WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew finishes up Cobra Kai, while D. Bethel finds a wonderful world to explore in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

BRAVE NEW CAPTAIN: D. Bethel rounds out the episode discussing his (mostly spoiler-free) thoughts of Captain America: Brave New World. On the whole, he liked it!

TOPICS:

(00:00) Intro – February’s over, suddenly!
(01:45) Andrew’s WiG: The end of Cobra Kai
(31:51) D. Bethel’s WiG: Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
(45:20) Outro – D.’s thoughts of Captain America: Brave New World (mild spoilers)
(52:21) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Too Many Johnnies” (5 February 2021): Where our hosts have their first big sit-down conversation about Cobra Kai.
  • “Full Frasier” (16 September 2022): Where Andrew discusses the fifth season of Cobra Kai.
  • “New Machine, New Problems” (29 November 2024): Where Andrew shares his thoughts on the first part of Cobra Kai, season 6.

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The Lightning Lady Guy

The Lightning Lady Guy

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DOWN THE WITCHES ROAD: Our hosts are joined by the show’s resident on-the-ground-Marvel correspondent, Kyrun Silva (of Taurus Comics) to talk about the most recent MCU Disney+ show, Agatha All Along.

TOPICS:

(0:00:00) Intro
(0:02:22) Kyrun’s thoughts on Galactus’ appearance in the trailer for Fantastic Four: First Steps
(0:07:26) Kyrun’s overall thoughts on Agatha All Along
(0:10:55) The magic side of the MCU
(0:16:09) The arc of the WandaVerse
(0:21:48) Let’s talk Billy Maximoff
(0:26:58) The benefits of Agatha‘s episodic structure
(0:36:15) The Death of it all
(0:44:04) Comic-accurate costumes
(0:45:38) Final thoughts
(0:51:56) Outro – Shameless self-promotion
(0:56:24) Outtakes

Follow Kyrun on the following services:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “The Nature of the Gutter” (12 March 2021): Where our hosts inexplicably bring on their On-the-Ground-DC Correspondent, Taylor Katcher, to discuss WandaVision.
  • “A Bunch of Empty Sound” (5 April 2024): Where our hosts and Kyrun talk about the opening episodes of X-Men ’97.
  • “Rogue Staple” (8 November 2024): Where Andrew shared his thoughts after the conclusion of Agatha All Along.

RELEVANT LINKS:

  • Kyrun will be at Black Comics Day 2025 this weekend in San Diego, CA. Find more information at their website.
  • D. Bethel will be a part of a panel about how to get started with writing comic books at StocktonCon this Sunday, 2/16, at 11:30. More information at their website.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Nothing But Mouth Sounds

Nothing But Mouth Sounds

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WHEN MARVEL HIT HARD: In the lead up to the main topic for this week, our hosts talk about some recent MCU trailers that dropped (and impending releases) with Captain America: Brave New World and Daredevil: Born Again and how they both seem to be breathing some fresh air into the franchise.

THAT’S THE THING: However, the most refreshing trailer that they’ve seen was the one Marvel Studios dropped this week for Fantastic Four: First Steps.

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro – New MCU! Captain America: Brave New World and Daredevil: Born Again
(10:12) Our hosts discuss the teaser trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
(40:28) Outro – Teasing next week’s episode?
(43:06) Outtakes

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “My Nude Wall” (15 November 2024): Where our hosts discussed the trailers for Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

No Herbs

No Herbs

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SHINE ON: Our hosts spend a quick minute discussing the fall of Diamond Distribution and all the markets it touched.

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew watches the new Star Trek movie, Star Trek: Section 31, while D. Bethel finally jumps on the bandwagon and watches the beginning of the Apple TV+ show, Severance.

TOPICS:

(00:00) Intro – Diamond Comics Distribution goes bankrupt
(08:52) Andrew’s WiG: Star Trek: Section 31
(30:44) D’s WiG: Severance
(43:21) Outro – “Superhero” is public again
(46:03) Outtakes

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Jersey Finger” (26 April 2024): Where our hosts discuss the breakup of the comical overreach of the Embracer Group.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC: