Episode 159: Cthulhu Sausage

We are back, after a lengthier-than-expected parental visit, an unexpected recording studio flood, extended remediation of water damage, and a certain amount of recording equipment replacement and testing. So please: be gentle.

While the ratings were abysmal (meaning you may well not have watched it), this week gave us the first planned ending to Twin Peaks ever, after 27 years. And, since Rob is a huge fan, and maintains with a straight face and a certain vehemence that Twin Peaks has a lot in common with comic book storytelling (this week’s finale alone gave us time travel, dimensional teleportation, evil twins, and a dude defeating evil by punching it to death with a green Hulk fist), we discuss the series as a whole. We talk about what worked for fans and non-fans (hi, Amanda!), whether the visual beauty was worth the sometimes terrible pacing, if the wait for the return of Special Agent Dale Cooper was worth it, and whether the ending was yet another unsatisfying cliffhanger, or just enough to tell us what we really need to know.

This is, however, a comics podcast, so we also dive into another ending: Secret Empire #10, written by Nick Spencer with art by Steve McNiven, Rod Reis, David Marquez, Paco Medina, and anyone else needed to keep this mess on schedule. Like Twin Peaks, this is a story where we’ve waited literally years for the return of its hero, where the theme requires buying into weird metaphysics with rules that are seemingly made up as they go along, and where the ending can dictate whether it was worth the infuriating journey or just a waste of time.

This episode was recorded live to tape. So if you ever wanted to know why no one in college would watch Twin Peaks with Rob, here’s your chance to find our why!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:24:18 — 91.3MB)

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Thanks for listening, suckers!

Episode 150: My Pine Weasel is Out

Look: we’re talking about Twin Peaks: The Return.

We know, this might not seem like the topic for a comics podcast, but hear us out. Twin Peaks is one of the main inspirations for The X-Files which is clearly turf for genre shows. It features a shared universe of different genre stories like any good comics universe. It has characters with super strength. But most importantly, Rob is a giant Twin Peaks fanboy, and he can’t pass up an opportunity to talk about the return of the first television program that showed him the promise of a shared genre universe the way that comic books did when he was 18 years old.

So we discuss what made the original Twin Peaks great, why there’s still excitement about it 27 years after it ended with little fanfare, and whether it was worth the wait to a person who owned every Twin Peaks property available between 1990 and 2016, or if it is even remotely compelling to someone like Amanda, who watched every episode of Twin Peaks that Rob rammed down her watchholes last week.

We also discuss:

• The Flash #22, written by Joshua Williamson with art by Howard Porter, and:
• Secret Empire #2, written by Nick Spencer with art by Andrea Sorrentino!

Ah, disclaimers:

• This episode was recorded live to tape, meaning that there might be more than the usual number of pauses, verbal tics and weird inside jokes. But we figure if you’re willing to listen to a show about Twin Peaks, then pauses, verbal tics and inside jokes are maybe your jam.
• This show contains spoilers. Laura Palmer’s killer was revealed on November 10, 1990. Rob found a way to find out who killed Laura Palmer despite not having hindsight, the Internet, or a working ABC television station in reasonable broadcast range on November 10, 1990. Rob has no pity for you when it comes to this subject.
• This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. We talk about Secret Empire. That means there is cursing. You are forewarned.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:41:32 — 100.8MB)

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Thanks for listening suckers!

God Help Us, Twin Peaks Might Come Back After All

Late last week, there was a rumor going around the Internet that David Lynch had had a meeting with NBC executives to relaunch Twin Peaks. The rumor was that Lynch was planning to set the new series twenty-something years after the original series final episode (which aired on June 10, 1991), with Bob still trapped in Dale Cooper’s body, with as many actors and actresses from the original series that he possibly could… and despite the fact that I am about the biggest Twin Peaks fan you’ve ever met, up to and including being one of the only two people I know who paid to see Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me in the theater (the other being the poor girl who had never seen Twin Peaks that I dragged to the flick), I didn’t mention it here because the story was obviously bullshit. Because it looks like the original rumor came from a 4Chan posting, and therefore without attached pictures of Lynch and his proposal, it must be considered suspect since it does not involve cats.

And that was a good choice, since it turns out that original rumor was, in fact, bullshit. Twin Peaks Co-Producer Mark Frost debunked the whole story on Twitter:

Dear Internet: You are very good at spreading rumors. Truth is more valuable and much harder to come by. Sincerely yours, @mfrost11

— Mark Frost (@mfrost11) January 2, 2013

So that’s it. Game over. Nothing to see here. Right?

Well, kinda.