Pop Culture Man Children

Oh let's have a cow! Welcome to pcmc, your one-stop-shop for fandom talk and pop culture ephemera. On today's episode, Mike is joined once again by Emilio Sparks, and together they are discussing the 1989 classic John Hughes film Uncle Buck. One of the guy's all-time favorite films and an absolute tour de force performance by the legendary John Candy. Mike and Emilio discuss their childhood memories of the film, as well as why they think it's so important. Come back next week for another episode discussing the big man himself, John Candy. If you like what you hear, be sure to subscribe anywhere you get your pods so you'll get all the new drops when they come out! find us everywhere @PCMCpod 

You shot who in the what now? Welcome to pcmc, your one-stop-shop for fandom talk and pop culture ephemera. On today's episode, Mike is joined once again by Bill, and together they are discussing the 1995 pop culture phenomenon "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" At the end of season 6 of The Simpsons, the producers decided to create a cliffhanger wherein the most evil man in Springfield would be shot by an unseen assailant, leaving a whole summer for the fans to figure out who pulled the trigger. A sweepstakes contest was also created to give the public an opportunity to guess who they thought shot Mr. Burns. Mike and Bill were kids during all this excitement and are here to share what it was like at the time, as well as to discuss the hilarious two-part episode at the heart of the event. If you like what you hear, be sure to subscribe anywhere you get your pods so you'll get all the new drops when they come out! find us everywhere @PCMCpod 

Welcome to pcmc! Your one-stop-shop for fandom talk and pop culture ephemera. On today's full episode, Mike is joined by dear friend of the show, Bill Gagliardi. Mike and Bill talk about the trailers for The Odyssey (2026), Avengers Doomsday (2026), Supergirl (2026), and Madden (2026). The guys also discuss what they're "chilling with" (reading, watching, playing) and confess their current pop culture obsessions. Topics in today's show include: Truffle chips, The Muppet Show, Mario Kart World, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, This is Spinal Tap, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, staying healthy in your 40s, AI generated art, and much, much more! If you like what you hear, be sure to subscribe anywhere you get your pods so you'll get all the new drops when they come out! find us everywhere @PCMCpod 

Happy New Year! It's 2026 and this year has got to be better, right?....right? On today's show, Mike and Janine look forward to the pop culture coming our way in 2026 and list their most anticipated new releases. This is going to be a great year in media and a great year for your favorite podcast pcmc! If you like what you hear, be sure to subscribe anywhere you get your pods so you'll get all the new drops when they come out!  find us everywhere @PCMCpod 

Oh boy! Welcome to a spectacular holiday episode of pcmc! On today's show, Mike is joined by Janine, and together they are discussing "From All of Us to All of You", an episode of the classic TV show Walt Disney Presents, which first aired in 1958. In the show, Jiminy Cricket and Mickey Mouse host an arrangement of classic Disney shorts and clips from their feature films. But to understand the real cultural significance of FAOUTAOY, you have to talk about Sweden. In Sweden from 1960 onward, this TV special has aired every single Christmas Eve without fail. It's a major Swedish holiday tradition and the whole country tunes in to watch. On this episode, listen to Mike and Janine analyze the show segment by segment and figure out what makes it so important to the Swedish people. So settle in with a cup of your favorite hot beverage and listen to this very special holiday offering. If you're a long time listener, or a newcomer here, everyone at pcmc thanks you and wishes you a happy holiday! find us everywhere @PCMCpod 

Primeee! Welcome to an all new episode of pcmc. Your one-stop-shop for media musings, nostalgia, and pop culture ephemera! Transformers conversation continues on today's show, as Mike is joined once again by Peter Marsh. Today's episode is about the would-be reboot of the Transformers franchise, 2024's Transformers One. The prequel film was great, but no one cared about it. Peter is a huge Transformers fan and Mike is a casual fan, but Mike loves bright colors and shiny robots, so he's on board! If you enjoy this podcast, please share it with everyone you know! find us everywhere @PCMCpod 

Autobots roll out! Welcome to an all new episode of pcmc. Your one-stop-shop for media musings, nostalgia, and pop culture ephemera! On today's show, Mike is joined once again by Peter Marsh. Peter is a long time friend of the show and something of a podcaster himself (The Lasser Cast / Comic Books Transformed). This episode's topic is the fan favorite animated film The Transformers: The Movie from 1986. The movie that made a million children cry! It's an action-packed death-fest where all our favorite robot cars/people die violent deaths! It also happens to be the final film of cinema legend Orson Welles! Peter is a huge Transformers fan and Mike is a casual fan, thus Peter helped Mike see the light. Come back next week for a continued conversation about Transformers. If you enjoy this podcast, please share it with everyone you know! find us everywhere @PCMCpod 

Hello! Welcome to an all new episode of pcmc. Your one-stop-shop for media musings, nostalgia, and pop culture ephemera! On today's show, Mike is joined once again by Anthony. Together the guys are returning to a concept first visited in episode 280. Describing movies they haven't seen. Each person has given the other the titles for three movies they know the other has never seen. That person has only the title of the film and the movie poster to come up with what they believe the movie is about. After the real plot is discussed, then kudos are given for how close the guesser got to the real thing. This episode is silly good fun and fun for everyone who either has, or hasn't seen the films discussed. If you enjoy this podcast, please share it with everyone you know! find us everywhere @PCMCpod 

Jellybeans! Welcome to an all new episode of pcmc. Your one-stop-shop for pop culture musings, celebrations, and ephemera! On today's show, Mike is joined by Anthony to discuss the Bravo franchise The Real Housewives of New York City. Specifically, an infamous three-episode arc known to fans as "Scary Island." This was a foundational moment in Real Housewives history, as one of the housewives straight up loses her grip on reality in a major way (maybe). Anthony is a longtime RHONY fan and Mike is entirely new to the series, so Anthony explains why this storyline was so important. This episode is funny and enlightening whether you're a Real Housewives fan or not. If you enjoy this podcast, please share it with everyone you know! find us everywhere @PCMCpod 

I'm pcmc and you're not. Welcome to an all new episode of pcmc. Your one-stop-shop for pop culture musings, celebrations, and ephemera! On today's show, host Mike Bongiorno is joined, once again, by Vin Forte, and they continue last week's deep dive into the dark and desperate world of failed late-night talk shows. Today's subject: The Chevy Chase Show (1993). Like many a failed talk show before it, this show ran for only one season. Chevy Chase was once the biggest comedy star in the world, but bad decisions and increasingly bad behavior left him on the outs with the American public. When Fox wanted to get into the late-night game, they thought Chevy would be the perfect fit for their young, edgy network. It did not go well. Mike and Vin review the first episode of the show and actually disagree on its value. Listen in for who liked it and who didn't. If you enjoy this podcast, please share it with everyone you know! find us everywhere @PCMCpod 

Can I buy a vowel?! Welcome to an all new episode of pcmc. Your one-stop-shop for pop culture musings, celebrations, and ephemera! On today's show, host Mike Bongiorno is joined by Vin Forte, and they dive into the dark and desperate world of failed late-night talk shows. Today's subject: The Pat Sajak Show (1989). This show ran for one season before being put to sleep like an old sick dog. Pat Sajak is mostly known to the world as the long-time host of the game show Wheel of Fortune, but in the late 80s CBS (trying to compete with Johnny Carson) decided to make him the face of their late-night offering. It did not go well. Mike and Vin go through the first episode of the show with a fine-tooth comb, looking at what works (not a lot) and what doesn't (most of it) and figure out why this show failed so spectacularly. Come back next week for more talk show talk. If you like this show, please share it with everyone you know! find us everywhere @PCMCpod 

Quack! Welcome to an all new episode of pcmc. Your one-stop-shop for pop culture musings, celebrations, and ephemera! On today's show, host Mike Bongiorno is joined by frequent contributor Janine Gagliardi. The topic of today's episode: Our Favorite Anthropomorphic Animals. Pop Culture is full of animals acting like people, and Mike and Janine are here to discuss why that is, and which are their favorites. If you like this show, please share it with everyone you know! find us everywhere @PCMCpod 

Surprise! Just when you thought it was safe to turn on your phone, pcmc Halloween 2025 is back! It's Halloween day and pcmc is coming to you with one last super secret Halloween special! Mike is joined by the one and only Emilio Sparks to celebrate the spookiest day of the year. Mike and Emilio got together to both discuss, and taste-test, General Mill's famous Monster Cereals; Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry. The guys have never had these cereals in their lives and thought if there ever was a time to try them it's on Halloween! Thanks so much for spending Halloween 2025 with pcmc. We're back next Wednesday with the usual pop culture goodness you've come to expect from us! find us everywhere @PCMCpod

Double, double toil and trouble! Welcome back to Halloween 2025! It's the most important time of year here at pcmc, and we continue coming to you all month long with Halloween specials! On today's show, Mike and Janine discuss two foundational TV specials from Disney. Two Halloween specials that have a strangle hold on the millenial zeitgeist. Disney's Halloween Treat (1982) and DTV Monster Hits (1987). Essentially, they were two Halloween-themed clip-shows featuring footage from Disney's animation vault, but somehow they managed to fire up the imaginations of a generation of people. Both shows are available online, but even if you haven't seen them you'll enjoy Mike and Janine waxing poetic about these specials. Thanks for spending Halloween month with us...there just might be a little more before it's all said and done.... find us everywhere @PCMCpod 

Oww my boobs! Welcome to pcmc Halloween 2025! Spooky season is the most precious time of year for the pcmc brood, and we continue rolling along with our month-long scare-tacular Halloween specials. On today's episode, the host, Mike Bongiorno, is joined by the lovely Jennifer "Grave" Litrell. Mike and Jen are discussing the highly underrated spooky stop-motion film ParaNorman (2012). It's the story of a little boy who can see and talk to ghosts and a misunderstood little witch. It's beautifully designed, funny, and heartfelt. But even if you haven't seen the film, you can enjoy today's episode of pop culture man children! Come back next week for more spooky fun! find us everywhere @PCMCpod

The funeral is about to begin! Welcome to pcmc Halloween 2025! Spooky season is the most precious time of year for the pcmc brood, and we come to you all month long with our scare-tacular Halloween specials. On today's episode, the host, Mike Bongiorno, is joined, once again, by Peter Marsh (Comic Books Transformed / The Lasser Cast). Mike and Peter got together to discuss the 1979 horror classic Phantasm. This movie is weird AF. It's a movie that makes about as much sense as a fever dream. It's like if Davin Lynch directed Night of the Living Dead. And the guys love it, and get super deep on what makes the film so compelling and fascinating. Come back next week for more spooky fun! find us everywhere @PCMCpod

BoooOOOOOooo! Welcome to pcmc Halloween 2025! Spooky season is the most precious time of year for the pcmc brood, and we come to you all month long with our scare-tacular Halloween specials. Today we travel to Hong Kong in 1985 to hop onto the hopping vampire craze! See what I did there? Today's film is Mr. Vampire — a slapstick comedy, martial arts, horror film! This movie modernized the mythology of Jiangshi (hopping vampires) for a new audience and set off a craze for similar movies. This movie is fun as hell, and we recommend you check it out, but even if you haven't seen it, you can still listen to this episode. Come back next week for more spooky fun! find us everywhere @PCMCpod

BoooOOOOOooo! Welcome to pcmc Halloween 2025! Spooky season is the most precious time of year for the pcmc brood, and we come to you all month long with our scare-tacular Halloween specials. Today we kick things off with the HIGHLY PROBLEMATIC film Dressed to Kill from 1980. It's Brian De Palma's homage to Alfred Hitchcock. The film is suspenseful, sexy, and brilliantly made. Sadly, it's also completely wrong-minded about the experience and life of transgendered people. If you've liked pcmc's previous episodes on slasher movies, this will fit right in with those conversations. Come back next week for more spooky fun! find us everywhere @PCMCpod

Pcmc does what Nintendon't! On today's all-new episode of pcmc, host Mike Bongiorno, is joined by longtime contributor to the show, Vin Forte. In this episode, Mike and Vin discuss a famous episode of television from the early 2000s; MTV's True Life: "I'm a Gamer." If you haven't seen this (or any) episode of True Life, go watch it right now, then come back! The guys talk about the winners and the losers in this slice of life reality TV episode, speculate on how it was produced behind the scenes, and make fun of one of video game history's greatest clowns, Billy Mitchell. It's a glimpse at early 2000s nerd-culture which is worth checking out if you're a pcmc fan. If you like the show, make sure to subscribe anywhere you get your pods.now, Find us everywhere @PCMCpod

Set it and forget it! On today's all-new episode of pcmc, host, Mike Bongiorno, is joined by America's sweetheart Vin Forte. In this episode, Mike and Vin discuss Informercials, what they were, how they worked, why they were great, and where they went. From the ThighMaster to Girls Gone Wild, if you were awake at ungodly hours in the 1990s you experienced infomercials! If you like the show, make sure to subscribe anywhere you get your pods. Find us everywhere @PCMCpod