Planet 8 Podcast

Episode 178: I Was a Teenage Monster

The 1950s was the decade of the teenager. Along with rock and roll and fast cars, another thing teenagers were obsessed with were movies. And the studios recognized this and began making films tailored to their interests. American International Pictures, or AIP, was particularly astute at making films that struck a chord with young audiences. In 1957, they made a trio of films that combined the teen-age craze with another, that of monsters, producing "I Was a Teen-Age Werewolf," then later that year, "I Was a Teen-Age Frankenstein," and "Blood of Dracula." Each film featured a teen-age character who turned into a "monster" of some type, not from the typical supernatural cause, but from a pseudoscientific one. This episode, your Planet 8 crew, along with our guest Lord Blood-Rah, discuss these films and how they express old themes in new ways for a growing demographic in the 1950s. And of course, we also jabber about the make-up, Whit Bissell, having an alligator pit in your house, and a bunch of other crazy stuff.
For our Sensor Sweep, our good friend Lord Blood-Rah has a live event coming up this fall that you'll want to know about: November is the Out of the Cellar film festival! Film-makers will be challenged to complete a short film in 48 hours, and the resulting films will be shown at the festival. Check out Lord Blood-Rah's Events page to learn more. 
Bob is still working hard to make sure Godzillafest in September and the Godzilla Film Fest in July both go off without a hitch! You can learn more and buy tickets at the website here.
Larry has become the proud owner of a Twiki robot. And Karen found some old Star Wars pictures. So check it out.
Let us know what you think of these films. When did you first see them? How do you think they hold up?
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Don't be square - be were!

Episode 177: The Mandalorian and Grogu land on Planet 8

We're back, and so are that bounty hunter and his little green sidekick -the Mandalorian and Grogu! But this time, they're not coming to us via our TVs, they're up on the big screen. All three of your Planet 8 crew saw this film in the theater, and - we all enjoyed it!
We'll discuss the film, what we liked, and how we feel about the negative talk that seemed to appear months before anyone even saw it! Certain segments of Star Wars fandom have become hellbent on tearing down anything coming out of Disney, and this film was no exception. But we found it an entertaining, popcorn movie that didn't deserve all the abuse. 
Of course, we'll also discuss some other films and shows we've been watching, and maybe a few goodies we've obtained, in our Sensor Sweep, so don't miss that.
What did you think of the Mandalorian and Grogu? We want to hear from you!
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Leave us a message! This is the Way!

Episode 176: 8 Years of Planet 8

It's hard to believe, but your Planet 8 crew has been transmitting for eight years now! Yes, it's our eighth anniversary. It almost sneaked up on us. But not quite! We hope you'll join us as we recount how the podcast came to be, and talk about some of our favorite episodes. We've enjoyed putting this show together all these years, and we hope you've enjoyed listening to it or watching it.
We'll also do a Sensor Sweep, where Larry shows off his new Space 1999 Eagle ship -it's so big, it fills the whole screen! Bob has a book: Horror Movie Monsters by Jon Landis, and it's a beaut! He also has a 4K version of one of his favorite films, Speed Racer. Karen deosn't have any goodies to share, but plugs her YouTube channel, Echoes from the Satellite, where she's been reading Fantasy and Sci-Fi anthologies, as well as Marvel's Killraven comic book.
Check out this episode and let us know what your favorite episode over the last 8 years has been! And hang around til the end, and you can hear the mysterious, perhaps ghostly, knocking that Bob talks about in the episode!
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It's our anniversary! Where's the cake??

Best of Planet 8: Ray Harryhausen

Due to circumstances beyond our control, instead of a new episode, we are bringing you an encore performance of our Ray Harryhausen episode from February 8, 2019, our 20th episode. We note that Ray -"the Master" - passed on May 7, 2013, so almost exactly 13 years ago. He may be gone, but he'll never be forgotten.
 
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Presented in the miracle of Dynamation!!

Best of Planet 8: Remembering Gerry Conway

The Planet 8 crew was saddened to hear today of the passing of comic book legend Gerry Conway, who had written many comic book titles of the 70s and 80s, including Amazing Spider-Man, The Mighty Thor, and Fantastic Four. Back in May 2020, we interviewed Gerry as part of our "Giant-Size Spider-Man" episode. We share that interview here as a tribute to Gerry. Our condolences to his loved ones.

Episode 175: Top Ten Aliens

We're back with a Planet 8 tradition -a new top ten list! We've done robots, spaceships, and science fiction films. Now we take a look at our favorite extraterrestrials. Those beings from other worlds - aliens! It's open to beings from movies and television, live-action and animated. Who will make the list? You'll have to listen or watch to find out!
In our Sensor Sweep, Bob has more details for you about Godzillafest -you can now buy your tickets! Go to Godzillafest.com for all the info. Karen shares some classic soundtrack CDs she got from Film Score Monthly. And Larry received a package of goodies from our great friend and listener Bill, including a Liddsville comic!
That's it for now. Once you have caught our list, let us know your picks. You can reach us at:
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In space, no one can hear you podcast

Episode 174: Live from Planet 8, It's Saturday Morning!

Recently we aired an encore presentation of our September 2019 show on Saturday morning cartoons. In that episode, we said that someday, we should discuss our favorite live-action Saturday morning shows. Well, that day is here! In this episode, each of us -Larry, Bob, and Karen - shares a favorite live-action show. We follow this up with a brief discussion of other shows we enjoyed. 
Karen starts things off with 1976's Ark II, a postapocalyptic kids show, Bob follows with the well-known Land of the Lost, and Larry surprises us all by choosing The Bugaloos!
There was something special about live-action shows. They seemed like "real" TV shows, but for kids. They often had protagonists about the same age as the viewers, so it was easy to insert oneself into the story. And most offered up a moral at the end.
Did you enjoy live-action Saturday shows? Let us know which ones were your favorites.
For our Sensor Sweep, Karen shares her Micronauts Time Traveler figure from Super 7. It's just like the ones she had as a wee child. Larry shows off his replica pistol from Blade Runner, sold by Paragon. It's incredibly detailed. Bob updated us on Godzillafest 2026: tickets are now available! The film festival will be held July 17-19 at the Balboa Theater in San Francisco, and the full-blown convention will occur September 18-20 at the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway, also in San Francisco. Go to https://www.godzillafest.com/ for more information. Bob also shared a Godzilla popcorn bucket from the Alamo Drafthouse.
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I hope you listened to this one with a big bowl of cereal!

Episode 173: Intergalactic Book Club

We bet that many of you have some great books on the science fiction, horror, and fantasy films and TV shows that you love. Well, so do we, and on this episode, we are sharing those books and talking about what makes them our favorites! This is really a great episode to jump over and check out on our YouTube channel!  Each of us shares several different books, looking at everything from Star Trek, Ultraman, classic horror, Planet of the Apes, and Walt Disney. We're nothing if not eclectic. In any case, we hope you enjoy it!
This week, our Sensor Sweep gives us a chance to catch up on what everyone is watching. There's certainly a lot of genre shows out there!
That's all for now folks. Stay safe, stay cool, and tell us about your favorite books.
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"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx