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The Ultimate Answer to Fandom, Geekyness, and Everything
The 42cast turns 100 as the cast celebrates a century of episodes. First up, Nathan answers your questions about himself and the show. After that, we pull in a cast comprised of some our most prolific guests as well as some of the people who inspired the show’s creation. Sam speaks to us about the definition of an archive and how archives and archi…
The 42cast is proud to welcome Larry Houston for an interview. This interview was recorded back in 2019, but we are now able to bring you all the cool information we gleaned from talking with this industry legend. Larry Houston was the first person-of-color to work on storyboards for Saturday morning cartoons. Since then he has worked on many anima…
We continue our series of episodes discussing each Doctor. This time we talk about the character’s second incarnation, Patrick Troughton. We discuss the first regeneration and why it worked. We talk about whether he or William Hartnell created what we now think of as Doctor Who. We also discuss the various monsters that debuted in this era. We also…
Last year, Fox released the final installment in its X-Men series of films. In a way, it brought the series full circle, bringing the timeline to the decade before the original X-Men is set and incorporating elements of the Phoenix saga which had also been part of X-Men: The Last Stand. In this episode we look at the movie as an end to a franchise …
Black Lightning returns to our television screens in February. In preparation we’ve taken a look back at season 3 to discuss everything that was going on with the series. We focus on how the show continues to address topical issues as we also discuss the series’ new, post-Crisis position in the Arrowverse. We talk about returning faces like Painkil…
After seven seasons, Oliver Queen finally saved Starling City, but as a Crisis loomed he once more stepped unto the breech to save all of reality from annihilation. In this episode we discuss Season 8 of Arrow. We talk about the familiar faces returning, how it works as a wrap-up, the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, and what we thought of the …
The 42cast is proud to welcome Elliot Chapman for an interview. In Doctor Who circles, Chapman is best known for playing the role of companion Ben Jackson in Big Finish’s Companion Chronicles and Early Adventures. We talk with Chapman about his career prior to acting, getting started in the profession, and getting cast at Big Finish. We also discus…
The Mandalorian season 2 is coming fast, so this week we take a look back at season one. We discuss the series legacy from westerns and samurai films. We talk about the idea of a Star Wars story without Jedi or Sith. We debate the importance of Baby Yoda. We also mention our thoughts on Giancarlo Esposito and his performance as Moff Gideon. In addi…
In 2008 Marvel released the movie, Iron Man, and the world would never be the same again. Now with their 22nd film, Marvel brings many of the story threads that they’ve been building for eleven years to a conclusion while leaving the door open for so many more stories. In this episode, we talk about Avengers: Endgame. We talk about the characters, …
Despite the criticism of the hardcore fanbase, Star Trek: Discovery’s first season was a success. Building on that and attempting to woo more classic fans, Discovery added Pike, Spock, and Number One from the original Star Trek pilot to Discovery season 2. In this episode was talk about the dynamics of Discovery with new captain, Pike in the seat. …
Lee Arenberg is one of the most prolific actors in the business. If you’ve watched TV in the last 4 decades, odds are at some point you’ve seen him. With a career spanning dozens of different TV shows and films, Lee is one of the actors who can embody many different characters. In this episode we talk with Lee to ask him about his career in acting.…
Movie scores and soundtracks add a new dimension to a film. A well-done soundtrack can make a good movie into a great movie. A bad soundtrack can ruin a movie. In this episode we discuss composers and individual movie scores that we love. This week’s five-minute controversy asks if Martin Scorsese’s comments about comic book movies have any merit. …
In 2015, DC released a list of a large number of DC movies extending into 2020. Of the movies announced for 2018 or later, Shazam was the only one that was neither rescheduled nor canceled. In this episode, we take a look at the Shazam film. We discuss the Captain Marvel name controversy. We talk about the portrayal of the same character with a you…
Orphan Black was a series that aired on BBC America. Starring Tatiana Maslany it followed the lives of a group of women who discovered that they were clones. In this episode we take a look back at Orphan Black. We talk about our favorite clones and discuss how her performance, and the technical aspects of the production created the most authentic s…
The 42cast is proud to welcome Tim Treloar for an interview. We discuss the whole gammut of his career from his beginnings as an actor to working with Big Finish and various projects that he’s worked on recently. We also discuss his behind-the-scenes anecdotes, experiences with his co-stars, feelings about the Third Doctor’s era, and what role he w…
In this episode we talk about anime. Sometimes referred to as “Japanimation”, anime refers to any animation created in Japan for the Japanese market. It took America by storm in the 90’s, when several series were shown in syndication or picked up by networks for American television. In this episode we discuss what we think makes anime so popular. W…
Captain Marvel rocketed onto our screens last year. Marvel’s first female lead series provided and origin story for Marvel’s newest hero and gave some insight on the MCU of the 1980’s. We talk about the captain herself, the plot and tone of the movie, the old friends that we see again, and how well the movie fits into MCU continuity. There’s also a…
Luke Cage was one of the big hits for the initial run of Marvel’s Defenders line of TV shows. Featuring topical storylines and a fantastic soundtrack, Cage resonated with many viewers. In this episode we discuss Cage’s second outting and whether or not it held up to the hype. Along the way we’ll talk about new characters such as Tilda and Bushmaste…
The 42cast is proud to welcome Peter Purves for an interview. Peter played Steven Taylor, one of the Doctor’s earliest companions and joined the show in 1965. He’s since become a mainstay of the British television industry presenting numerous for numerous series and events. In this episode we talk to Peter about his career focusing on his time with…
How much does it matter to you whether a movie gets the facts right; whether it is in science, history, or something else? In this episode we dive down into the psychology of wanting “just the facts”. At what point does a movie “getting it wrong” pull you out? Can a good story overcome those limitations? Can we come to a consensus on a general leve…
After Justice League failed to make the money that Warner Bros had predicted a lot of pressure fell on Aquaman. With expectations high and a lackluster holiday blockbuster season, many moviegoers flocked to Aquaman and it became an instant success. In this episode we discuss the movie to decide just why that is. From the score to the effects to the…
Season 6 saw a lot of chagnes for Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It was the first season that only ran for 13 episodes. It was the first season to run over the summer. It also was the first season without Agent Coulson. In the midst of all these changes the series found itself cut adrift from the Marvel films and needing to come up with a story wi…
While many of the main characters in Doctor who are still with us there are several who have sadly passed. Big Finish has kept the memory of those Doctors and companions alive by recasting the parts. In this episode we once again take a step back to Chicago TARDIS 2016 and an opportunity to discuss voice acting, playing an iconic role, and Fraser H…
In this episode we turn to our archive of con panels and pull one of the earliest recordings that we have for the 42cast. The year was 2016, but the content is still relevant today. In this one we discuss how prolific Doctor Who media is and what our strategies are for deciding how much and in what ways we keep up with it. Since this was a con pane…
Ant Man and the Wasp had a strange position in the Marvel schedule. Sandwiched between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Ant Man and the Wasp tells the story of what happened to Scott Lang between Civil War and Infinity War. In this episode we unpack the story. We talk about the comic roots that inform some of the choices. We talk about…
After six seasons, the Once Upon a Time showrunners decided that the series needed a change. Performing a soft reboot, they recast most of the characters and moved the action to a suburb of Seattle. The season met with mixed reactions. Many found it hard to get used to the new characters and the revised personas of the few characters that they’d be…
Dr Erin Macdonald is an astrophysicist who teaches people about the science behind science fiction at cons and on her Youtube channel. In this episode we talk with Dr Erin and discuss the importance of science, how scientists and fandom engage each other, and inspirational figures in sci-fi. We also geek out and discuss favorite Treks, the Star War…
The 80’s were a time cartoons were becoming more and more popular. Greater channels and the rise of syndication meant that there was a lot of content out there. When you combine that with the rise of licensing and cartoons being created by toy companies, and you had a recipe sure to win over any child’s heart. In this episode we discuss our favorit…
Avengers: Infinity War was a unique event in the history of cinema. Never before had 18 movies and multiple franchises culminated in a single movie combining all of the franchises and giving payoff for the various stories. In this episode from the archives we do a deep dive into the storyline. We talk about the ways that all of the existing charact…
Greetings, chums! The Tick has been entertaining us in various media for over 25 years. The Wild Blue Yonder is a fun character, often waffling between silly and profound, while telling offbeat superhero tales. In this episode we briefly discuss his comic origins before discussing his rise to popularity through the animated series on Fox Kids. We a…
Video games have been a hugely popular form of entertainment since their debut in 1972. As an art form almost 50 years old, historians have started to take a look at the saga of video games, chronicling and analyzing how they came to be what they are today. One podcast endeavors to look at the history of arcade, console, and computer gaming history…
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The 42cast
Our epic length recording about the life and works of legendary author, J.R.R. Tolkien, comes to a close. In this episode we ask whether The Hobbit truly needed to be three films. We also discuss the musical language of the Lord of the Rings movies. Bree mentions what it’s like to live near so much Tolkien history. Anji laments missing her chance t…
We move on to part two of our discussion of J.R.R. Tolkien and his works. This time we talk about Tolkien’s love of language, and how that makes for a more convincing world and makes it more interesting to read. We also discuss diversity within Lord of the Rings, modern interpretations of the text, the overall theme of the story, and the character …
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The 42cast
Over 65 years ago, Fellowship of the Ring, the first book in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings epic was published and literature would never be the same. That one work changed the way that fantasy literature was written and received by the public. It propelled a quiet academic into the public eye and has spawned a plethora of adaptations, interpre…
The Black Panther was a character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby back in the 1960’s. Portraying him as the ruler of a technologically superior African nation, Lee and Kirby showed just how visionary they could be in a time when the idea of a black superhero was controversial. Knowing the history behind the character and the potential for this m…
The original Lost in Space was a contemporary series of Star Trek, but it never got the same kind of following as the other sci-fi series. The storylines tended to be far more immature and the special effects left a lot to be desired. Yet, in 2018 Netflix decided to reboot the series. Taking the basic idea of the original series, they modernized it…
As we round out the year, we’re joined by Eric and Julia Lewald to discuss their work in animation, focusing on X-Men: The Animated Series and Exosquad. There are anecdotes aplenty as they detail how they broke into animation, working to get X-Men made the way that they want to, meeting Stan Lee, ideas that didn’t make it to the screen, and so much…
Star Trek was an idea devised by Gene Roddenberry over fifty years ago. He wanted to tell a hopeful story about the future that not only entertained but showed the potential of humanity. His series was not considered a big success at the time, but it has lived on in reruns and numerous spinoff TV shows and spinoffs since the late 70’s. In this epis…
Last Jedi hit movie theaters two years ago, and the reaction was unprecedented. It made its bank as expected, but the controversies both in and out of universe raged in a way that no single movie has ever provoked. With The Rise of Skywalker premiering this year, we decided that it was time to pull out our review of The Last Jedi. We discuss many o…
As Runaways season 3 rushes at us, we’re taking a look back to our discussion of season 2. Runaways was a surprise property for Marvel TV, taking a relatively new comic and placing it on Hulu during a time when Marvel was mostly putting TV content on Netflix. The first season achieved both critical and fan acclaim, garnering a renewal on Hulu was a…
This week we release out interview with Wendy Padbury from Chicago TARDIS 2018. Wendy played Zoe Heriot in the 5th and 6th seasons of Doctor Who alongside Patrick Troughton as the Doctor and Fraser Hines as Jamie McCrimmon. Since 2007 she has reprized the role of Zoe for Big Finish and has continued to play the character in audio dramas ever since.…
Doctor Who is the longest running science fiction television franchise of all time. With this episode we kick off a series on each Doctor, as we discuss their contributions to the overall story of Doctor Who. In our first installment we discuss William Hartnell. We talk about the first Doctor’s character, Hartnell’s performance, behind-the-scenes d…
Justice League was the culmination of DC’s attempt to create an interconnected movie universe akin to Marvel’s Avengers line. Having introduced Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman in the previous films, the movie introduced viewers to The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg as the team banded together to protect all life on Earth from the threat of Steppenwo…
This week, green is the new black as we discuss season 7 of Arrow. Oliver Queen has been thrown in jail, and a new Green Arrow appears on the scene in the form of Oliver’s secret half-sister, Emiko. The Queen family tree may have more hidden branches than the Charmings’, but we ensure that everything is clear with our typical, somber commentary on …
Four years and 2 networks into the series, Supergirl seems to have finally found it’s footing. In this episode we discuss difficulties of writing for the eternal optimism of Kara Danvers. We also discuss John Cryer’s surprising turn as Lex Luthor, Brainiac 5’s addition to the cast, and why a little moral ambiguity goes a long way in a series like t…
After years of messing with the timeline, the Flash becomes embroiled in his daughter’s very own Flashpoint as Nora-West Allen joins the crew in season 5 of The Flash. In this episode we examine the ramifications of this storyline as it effects the past, present, and future of The Flash. We’ll also talk about the villainy of Cicada, why the Reverse…
Before Black Lightning season 3 premieres next week, we do our review of season 2. We’re one cast member short this time, but that doesn’t mean that we haven’t jam packed the episode full of all the careful analysis, witty banter, and overall geeky hijinks of any other episode of The 42cast. We discuss the villainy of Tobias Whale, the awesomeness …
Legion is a mind-trippy story about the most powerful mutant on Earth, who also suffers from severe mental illness. In this episode we stare into the abyss of season 2 and try to keep it from staring back into us. Along the way we come to conclusions, all of which are probably inaccurate. Still, we have a fun time. Along the way we talk about Gary’…
Last year, before the wave of cancellations of Marvel Netflix series there was hope that we’d be getting these for a long time to come. This week, The 42cast pulls an episode from the archives from those halcyon days where we discuss Jessica Jones season 2. This season was controversial as many said that it lost some of what made the first season g…
Many people expected season 5 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to be the end of the series. It had achieved 100 episodes and much of that season seemed to be a wrap up. In this episode we talk about expectations vs. reality. Did the season work better as the end of the series or as just one installment in a continuing story? We also examine the links to t…
