From brilliant scientists and fearless leaders to quirky oddballs and animated icons, television has given us some unforgettable female characters. In this episode, Preston & Todd kick off a two-part countdown of their all-time Favorite Female TV Characters, revealing ranks 20 through 09. Way back in episodes #037 & #039, the Geeks listed their Favorite Sci-Fi TV Characters. Many of our favorite shows are dominated by male characters, so we realized that too many excellent female charact...
Mar 06, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Season 4Ep. 185
Continuing with the 2024 Year In Review, the Geeks list and rate their favorite TV seasons of 2024. There's also a little bit about music, wrestling, and books. The TV shows covered in this episode include: ABC / Hulu - 9-1-1 (seasons 7 & 8) - High Potential (season 1) - The Rookie (season 6) Amazon Prime - Batman: Caped Crusader (season 1) - Fallout (season 1) - Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power (season 2 of 5 - really?!?!?) Apple TV+ - Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (season 1) Disney+ - A...
Feb 10, 2025•1 hr 27 min•Season 8Ep. 184
Welcome to 2025, and thanks for returning to the Discerning Geeks Portal. In PART 1 of our two-part 2024 Year-In-Review, we take a look back at movies we've seen & even some movies we were only tempted to see & a few we were glad we did not see. Throughout the discussion, the following movies get at least a mention, if not a deeper dive... - Alien: Romulus - Atlas - Beetlejuice Beetlejuice - Borderlands - Challengers - Civil War - Deadpool & Wolverine - Dear Santa - Fly Me to the...
Jan 24, 2025•59 min•Season 4Ep. 183
Finishing off the holiday season, we review the Christmas episodes of the TV show "Grimm": 3.08 "Twelve Days of Krampus" and 4.07 "The Grimm That Stole Christmas." Technically, we also briefly mention 1.07 "Let Your Hair Down," but that episode would barely be about Christmas at all if not for one single scene. - This episode starts with a tangent about the TV show "Farscape." What did the Geeks think about that show? - And, even after starting to talk about "Grimm," how did Todd work in his obl...
Dec 25, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Season 4Ep. 182
The movie doesn't have a sequel, but now the review does. We revisit the holiday classic, "The Muppet Christmas Carol." This time, Todd re-evaluates the movie with Preston, who wasn't with us the first time around, in episode #028 (check out that episode for the first version). - What examples did the Geeks have of Muppets being comforting, diplomatic, the theme of the best ride at Disney World, great music video makers, and being made for adults as much as for kids? - While still on tangents be...
Dec 23, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Season 4Ep. 181
Merry Christmas! Next up in our Christmas movie reviews is "The Nightmare Before Christmas." - If the various holidays (each represented by a tree in this movie) each got their own movie and eventually crossed over to form the "Nightmare Before Holiday" Cinematic Universe, which holiday (or maybe day of the week) would be the antagonist? - Does this movie contain any deeper meanings, and what could those be? - How well developed (or not) is the relationship between Jack and Sally? What are the d...
Dec 21, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Season 4Ep. 180
Merry Christmas, and welcome to the last minute marathon of Christmas-related movie reviews for 2024. First up, we review "Iron Man 3." We reviewed "Iron Man" and "Iron Man 2" in episodes #011 & #099. This makes the 3rd trilogy that we've completed, having reviewed the "Back to the Future" trilogy in episodes #058, #065, and #088, and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy in a two-parter, episodes #066 & #067. - Are the Geeks caught up on their vaccines, and how it that relevant? - What memori...
Dec 18, 2024•1 hr 30 min•Season 4Ep. 179
We return to "The Simpsons," one of Preston's favorite shows, to review the "Treehouse of Horror" specials 05 to 08. Check out episodes #168 & #169 of our podcast for our two-part review of "Treehouse of Horror" 01 to 04. In this batch The stories, spoofs, and themes covered in these four episodes include: "The Shining," time travel, cannibalism, giants, "Nightmare on Elm Street," "The Thing," microscopic societies, alien bodysnatchers, nuclear holocaust, "The Fly," Salem Witchcraft Trials, ...
Nov 22, 2024•1 hr 26 min•Season 4Ep. 178
Just in time for listening while standing in line at the polls on Election Day, Todd & Preston discuss movies & TV shows of a political theme. Political-Themed TV Shows Discussed The West Wing Veep Madam Secretary The Simpsons episode 6.05 "Sideshow Bob Roberts" Commander-In-Chief House of Cards The Newsroom The Good Fight South Park episode 20.05 "Douche and a Danish" Babylon 5 Political-Themed Movies Discussed The American President Election Air Force One My Fellow Americans Welcome to...
Nov 05, 2024•1 hr 28 min•Season 4Ep. 177
Welcome to the Halloween 2024 Edition of Todd & Preston's Drive-Time Chats. This episode starts with Preston's review of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice." Preston then continues with reviews of the following streaming movies: - A recent remake of "Salem's Lot" - "VHS Beyond" - "I Watched the TV Glow" Todd then talks about movies he's recently seen in abridged form, via reaction videos on YouTube: - "Alien vs. Predator" - "Alien vs. Predator: Requiem" - "Alien Romulus" - "Army of Darkness" (which th...
Oct 30, 2024•1 hr 25 min•Season 4Ep. 176
This week, we take a deep dive into the importance we place on entertainment, whether we're being too picky about movies & TV shows, why some of them fail, and how much writing is responsible for successes or failures. Note: Please excuse this brief description when first being published. I had an extensive description all typed out, and when I clicked one link on the screen, Spotify blanked out my summary!?!?! Check back later and refresh the episode for when I have the patience to re-type ...
Oct 23, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Season 4Ep. 175
This week, we review the sci-fi film, "Valerian and the city of a Thousand Planets," a passion project of "The Fifth Element" director Luc Besson. - What record does this movie hold among independent films and European films? - What did the Geeks think about the story structure and pacing? Did the movie flow well, or were there too many distracting tangents along the way? - With Luc Besson directing both visually vivid movies, which had better visuals, this movie or "The Fifth Element"? - What d...
Oct 08, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 4Ep. 174
We continue with Part 2 of our Drive-Time Chat #07, covering the following topics... - "Late Night With The Devil" movie - "Arcadian" movie - "Deadpool & Wolverine" trailers (recorded before the movie itself came out) - The "X-Men" franchise, in general - "Batman: Caped Crusader" TV show - "Agatha All Along" trailer - "Spider-Man" comics Listen now for these topics & more. You can contact us at [email protected]...
Sep 17, 2024•55 min•Season 4Ep. 173
Tune in to our Drive-Time Discussion #07 as Todd & Preston cover: X-Men '97, The Ark, House of the Dragon, The Acolyte, The Bear, Jules - Preston is finally caught up on "X-Men '97," so we're finally able to talk about it, including some spoilers. What did the Geeks think about it? - What reasons did the Geeks have for bringing up Surge energy drink, Putt-Putt Golf & Games, love triangles, and strong accents? - What did Todd have to say about the return of the low-b...
Aug 26, 2024•1 hr•Season 4Ep. 172
It's another new member of the $1 billion club. We review the superhero blockbuster, "Deadpool & Wolverine." - Plain & simple, which Geek is the grump this episode and how badly? - What were the Geeks' opinions about performances in the movie? - Which of the Geek(s) felt like one or more of the fights in the movie were a little over-the-top? Did they mean that in a good way or bad way? - How good was the on-screen chemistry between Deadpool & Wolverine? - Which type...
Aug 14, 2024•1 hr 25 min•Season 4Ep. 171
May the odds be ever in your favor...for enjoying this week's review of "The Hunger Games," the first movie in the young adult political action-thriller franchise. - Which Geek has read the Hunger Games book trilogy, which Geek didn't see any of the Hunger Games until now, which Geek is the only one to see all five movies including the prequel, and are any of these the same Geek? - Which narrative & visual issues did one Geek have with Act 1 of the movie? - Which Geek first...
Jul 30, 2024•1 hr 34 min•Season 4Ep. 170
In Part 2 of our discerning look into "The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror 01 to 04," we start with the two literary parodies and then delve into broader discussion about the general appeal of "The Simpsons." - One of these stories makes a reference to the political primaries of 1992 that included Ross Perot. Don't the days of Ross Perot seem quaint now, in a good way? Could we get that kind of political season back please? - Did Dave enjoy the monkey's paw parody, or i...
Jul 16, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 169
This week, we take a haunting look into the first four "Treehouse of Horror" episodes from "The Simpsons." In Part 1 of this super-sized two-parter, we review the movie parody and "Twilight Zone" parody stories from those first four annual Halloween-themed episodes. Each "Treehouse of Horror" episode contains three stories and a framing device. Preston is the huge Simpsons fan, and he chose to structure our discussion by category. First, we cover the "...
Jul 12, 2024•54 min•Season 4Ep. 168
This week, we join a time-traveling S-Mart employee named Ash against Deadite zombies as we fight with, "Army of Darkness." - Did the Geeks agree whether this movie felt like a Looney Tunes cartoon brought to life? - What did Dave feel was the target audience for "Army of Darkness," and did he consider himself part of that group? - What did the Geeks feel about the special effects in the movie, and how much did it matter that many of the effects, especially the zombie skeleto...
Jun 27, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 4Ep. 167
This week, we review the 1999 romantic heist film, "The Thomas Crown Affair." - Were the Geeks on the same page with this movie, or was this another contentious review? - What did the Geeks think about the heist aspect of the money? Was it still enough of a heist movie with certain elements missing or downplayed and the movie also being half romantic drama? - How "heisty" is this remake compared to it's original as well as other movies like the "Ocean's" tri...
Jun 06, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Season 4Ep. 166
Folks, you're missing out if you haven't seen "The Fall Guy." The Geeks recently saw the new action/romantic-comedy in the theater (one of them twice), and now they're reviewing & recommending it to you, our discerning stunt team. - This movie is part action movie, part romantic comedy. For the action part, it's a "love letter" for stunt people. What did the Geeks think about the stunts in the movie? - Which scenes, stunts, moments, techniques, and running...
May 18, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Season 4Ep. 165
We are back with a review of a 2024 movie, "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire." Dave, Preston, and Todd, all saw this in the theater together recently, and <spoiler> all liked it. - Did the Geeks think this movie was fun? Was the comedy good? - How well did the movie handle its older characters from the original movies? - Were there too many characters? - Were the character interactions & relationships a plus or a minus? - What was the target audience for this movie? Was it clear? ...
May 14, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Season 4Ep. 164
Part 2 of Todd & Preston's Drive-Time Chat #06 continues with the following topics. - TV shows that only lasted two seasons (at least 19 shows mentioned) - Preston's Wrestling Corner - Todd's Star Trek Challenge - Upcoming topics on the podcast: "The Thomas Crown Affair," Ranking MCU Phase 2, "Army of Darkness," Favorite Multi-Episode TV Stories, and "Real Genius" - A tangent about real-world stuff, particularly the teaching profession - The excellen...
May 04, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Season 4Ep. 163
It's time for another Drive-Time Chat with Todd & Preston. As usual, they packed in more topics (and side tangents) than they expected, so be on the lookout for Part 2. For now, here's what they they cover in Part 1. - "X-Men ’97" first half of season 1 - "Shogun" (up to the penultimate episode for Todd; no spoilers; Preston is still catching up) - "The Rookie" season 6 so far - "9-1-1" season 7 so far - Jerry Stiller - "The Ark" (whe...
Apr 22, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 4Ep. 162
This week, we take a...hopefully discerning...look into the British musical horror comedy web series, "Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared." Technically, this is just season 1, which only takes about 35 minutes to watch six episodes, and somehow this led to our 2nd-longest podcast episode ever. - What were the co-hosts' general feelings about this web series. Which one(s) found it at least entertaining, if not meaningful; and which one(s) found it frustratingly nonsensical & pointless? Can you guess wh...
Apr 06, 2024•1 hr 51 min•Season 4Ep. 161
With the triumphant return of Andruw, we finally review the Netflix horror trilogy, "Fear Street." Each of the movies in the trilogy are named after the year in which they're based: 1994, 1978, and 1666. - How well did the Geeks think these three movies worked as a collective trilogy? Was there disagreement about this point? - Did one or more co-hosts love these movies, and did one or more co-hosts hate these movies? - Were the characters likable and/or sympathetic? Did that change...
Mar 27, 2024•1 hr 38 min•Season 4Ep. 160
This week is PART 2 of Todd & Preston's Drive-Time #05. Topics discussed include... - "NCIS" franchise - "JAG" - "Magnum P.I." - "Hawaii Five-O" - The movie "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" - The movie "2 Days in the Valley" - Spaghetti Westerns - Who had the better navy, the Empire from Star Wars or the Federation from Star Trek - "Star Trek Adventures" role playing game - "Star Trek Continues" web series Lis...
Mar 21, 2024•51 min•Season 4Ep. 159
With Dave & Andruw incognito this week, Todd & Preston go on another imaginary car ride for their Drive-Time Chat #05. And, once again, the discussion lasted long enough to make a two-parter. This is Part 1. This time, Todd & Preston discuss... - Preston's audio issues (sorry about that, folks) - Super Bowl commercials & trailers - Trailer for "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" - "The Real Ghostbuster" animated series from the '80s & '90s - Trailer ...
Mar 05, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 4Ep. 158
This week, we review the 1989 fantasy/sports/road-trip movie, "Field of Dreams," a favorite of one of our co-hosts. - This movie makes a lot of nostalgic connectionss between baseball and Americana. Which Geek is a fan of Japanese baseball? - Which Geek described this as a "Hallmark movie for dudes"? - What did the Geeks think about the relationship between the main character and his wife? - Which Geek(s) really loved the opening monologue? - How much or how little did this m...
Feb 17, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 4Ep. 157
Season 4 is the season of variety. So far, we've reviewed two Christmas movies, a western, and a horror TV-movie older than all the co-hosts. This week, we review a different kind of movie. It's the cutscenes of the video game "Arkham City" stitched together in cinematic fashion. It's our first time reviewing something from a video game, outside of Whatcha' Doin'? episodes. - Which voice actors from "Batman: The Animated Series" reprise their respective ro...
Feb 09, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Season 4Ep. 156
