Laser Time

Get ready to learn more than you ever wanted to know about Bing Crosby bears, phallic camels, cookie crooks, greasy clowns and the absolute spokes-slut that is... Snoopy. Yes, this episode of Laser Time is tackling our favorite gone-but-not-forgotten product mascots, so join us as we reveal out unabashed love for the fictional pitchmen who hocked us wonderful garbage. Feel free to share your faves in the comments below...

What’s the oldest source material for a video game that you ever played? Don’t answer yet, because Laser Time’s prepared an 8-bit extravaganza for you this week, all courtesy of some of the worst licensed Nintendo games ever made! It’s easy to forget that the adaptive output of the Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicon represented over a century of popular culture. For a certain type of kid, the NES became your gateway to a staggering number of classic films, television, animation and even literature, with a volume and span no other game console has achieved before or since...

With the great movie debate all settled, it's time to turn our attention to the small screen... where things have gotten weirdly bigger! Skywalker-less Star Wars, scumbag superheroes, Bojack Birds, Canadian rednecks, and unexpected rise of Hulu. Oh yes, it's time once again to talk the best television of the year.

2019's almost a distant memory, but we've narrowed down its greatest cinematic achievements into a legacy that'll live in your hearts forever! Fake pimps, dead superheroes, suburban subterfuge and failed stuntmen abound. Oh, a we've tried to keep the spoilers to a minimum, so head on in for the annual festivities!

Ringing in 2020 with a massive mega-sode. Friends will become enemies and fans will become irate as we sit down and deliberate the impossible: What are the 2010s greatest films! Using our typical dysfunctional process, we've taken it upon ourselves to narrow 2010 to 2019 to a hyper-serious, ultra-definitive Top 10. Obviously, we'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter so do not hesitate to chime in!

Shame Songs, Filthy Christmas Jams and Celebrity Cringe Crooning?! Oh yes, we've combined them all into one awful yuletide listening extravaganza! Bring the kids in, crank up the speakers, and enjoy some Holiday Horror with the whole family. From Star Wars to Santa Farts, this episode has it all! 

Tis the season for spooktacular thrills, and Laser Time is tackling yet another horror subgenre and it’s a surprisingly robust one! It might surprise you that the killer do staggering amount of straight-to-video imitators. If you grew up watching schlock on late night cable, you’re in for a real treat!

It had to be done, Coulrophobics! With two new disturbing clown movies in theaters, we're examining how this once wholesome embodiment of family amusement became a default icon of pure terror. Is it earned or is it irony? We'll get to the bottom of It, as we dig into the origins of the creepy ass clown...

Kicking off yet another Laser Time spooktober with a bit of a cheat, yet a wonderful excuse to return to one of our favorite topics: Saturday Night Live. The latter half of SNL's almost fifty years on the air has featured exponentially more corpsing. Or rather, breaking character and laughing over your lines in front of a live television audience. We'll explain the term and why we don't mind so much when the integrity of a sketch is obliterated in this literally laugh-filled episode...

Rejoice, cartoon lovers! This episode we're talking about the animated inspiration behind your favorite cartoon characters. And no, we're not just rattling off factoids you may already know, we're letting the legendary voice actors explain themselves in their own words! 

Don't like the way your generation or cause gets depicted by the mainstream media? Well, imagine being a hippie, perhaps the world's safest target of ridicule throughout the last half-century. From the scorn of their late sixties heyday, to the violent mockery of the 90s, this episode of Laser Time takes a look at the pop culture depictions of the damn dirty hippie.

Video games have pioneered so very many things in the realm of pop culture. So… it’s a difficult question to ask: Is music NOT one of them? Grab the buds and/or phones, because we’re exploring a bit of a tough topic. When it comes to game music, what is borrowing, and what is stealing? Either way, please enjoy another funtastic Laser Time listening party, as well as the butchering pronunciation of several wonderful Japanese composers. Feel free to chime in with anything we missed!

Kermit, Mario, Mickey. Throughout history, certain characters have become so popular, they become the default mascot spokes-things for their respective companies. This is not about those characters. This is about the once mighty icons who were relegated to the background the moment their successors debuted. But we're giving them another shot in the spotlight this week, so join us we celebrate some of pop culture's most lovable losers...

Another year, another Comic-Con. But the annual San Diego pilgrimage is far from the only way to pay tribute in person to the things you hold dear. That’s why we’re talking not only about the history of Comic-Cons, along with some of this years news, but all the other places you can mingle with creators, shop for rarities, and dress up as your favorite characters. Feel free to share your favorite Comic-Con alternatives in the comments below. 

Join us for an exploration of not only pop culture's finest murderous machinations, but a look at our own fears of robots and AI. Will the replace us? Will they enslave us? Will they ever make a Short Circuit 3?! Compliance or die...

What, Me Worry? Yeah, now would be the time, Alfred. Because it looks as if it the final days for the leading comedy comic, we've assembled an Unusual Gang of Idiots to bid adieu to the century's leading source of visual humor...

Who decides what's popular? The People, you say? Fools! It's mostly cold analytics, complete strangers, literal guesswork, and the almighty dollar. This episode of Laser Time explores who and what are providing us with performance date on our favorite movies, shows and games, PLUS we've gotta a former employee of the Nielsen company here to demystify the complexity and secrecy around American TV ratings...

What, you thought we ran out last time?! Even though the odds of most modern video game stars getting their own TV shows are exceedingly rare these days, the one's we used to receive dredge up a lot of... complicated memories. Last time we focused a ton of talk on Mario, so rest assured it's Sonic's turn in the barrel in this episode.

Get read for another Laser Time listening party, because this week we'll be digging into the dying art of the official DVD commentary! From good, to bad, to all out trainwrecks, we're saving you dozens of hours by playing you the best bits from some of the most notorious movie commentaries of all-time. 

As one of the longest-running television institutions, Saturday Night Live has developed an peculiar way of bidding adieu to cast members around this time of year. Sometimes, however, the only thing more interesting than how SNL says farewell is how it doesn't. We'll be exploring both phenomenons in this week's not-ready-for-prime-time episode of Laser Time