Closing Out 2022!

Hey, this is David Kaye, and you're listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. You're tuned in

to Steve Megatron on Altered Geek. Hi, this is

David Kaye, and you're listening to Altered Geek.

Geek. Geek. Geek. Hello, and welcome to Altered

Geek. I'm your host, Steve Megatron, and joining

me on this adventure into geekdom is... No! Yeah,

you planned that. Of course I did. I am, of course,

Steve, you and Mike. It's no one. Terrorize!

That's what I'm gonna do. You keep calling me

no one. Yep, yep. Yep, yep, yep. So, yes, this

is the final episode of the year. Yep. I wonder

if anybody missed us because it's been a few

months since we've done one of these things.

Yeah, pretty much. I looked at the script and

I was like, October, really? That's when that

was? October. That's right. October. Yes. Yeah.

So, anyways. It has been a while. And, of course,

we aren't doing one of the GCRN year in review.

No, not this. Too much stuff has happened this

year between your stuff. There's been a lot of,

well, not only that, but there's been a lot of

famous people who have died this year. Yes, and

we kind of already did a dedication for two of

the most famous that we actually had interactions

with and all that. But, yeah, there has been

a lot this year. Just sucks. Yep. But we've all

been busy. Like, you've been busy. I've moved

across the country. You know, that doesn't happen.

I try to make sure that doesn't happen very often.

That's probably never going to happen again.

Never say never. Yes. He agreed. He agrees. Yeah,

well, you know, he's a dumbass, but... The name

Dumas. Dumbass. Optimus Solo moved into the Eastern

time zone. So there's that. So they moved across

the country, even though it's only a 20 hour

drive from Illinois to Florida. But, but yeah,

that happened. And it just like this year, last

year was kind of a, Oh shit, what am I going

to do now? And then this year is like all transition

for me. So, you know, it is what it is. Hopefully

we will do a, GCRN year in review for 2023. And

hopefully there aren't as many celebrity deaths

as there have been in the previous years. We

miss you all. So I've got five things down here

and. One of them we're not spending a lot of

time on because it's just discussing certain

ideas and reacting to trailers. So that's number

five, and we'll start with that last. We'll finish

up with that to transition to the overall topic

of the episode. Steve, what would you do if somebody

called you a kidult? I would wonder why. Such

a stupid name. I hate, I honestly hate acronyms

and short versions of names for, like, the word

selfie. Absolutely loathe the name. You're taking

a self -photo. Just say the full word. Just like

the new word that kids are saying now in teens

and young adults, sus. Yeah. It's short for sus.

suspect or like suspicious suspicious yeah and

my kids said that and i says don't don't sound

unintelligent i said say the full word yeah i

said because it drives me nuts it's like use

anyways my soapbox the yeah i can see why they're

kind of saying it Because, you know, the article

says adults are buying toys for themselves, and

it's the biggest source of growth for the industry.

And they're saying kidults who tend to spend

more on toys have a great fun as for cartoons,

superheroes, and collectibles that remind them

of their childhoods. No crap. Duh. I mean, that's

why we started this whole network in the first

place. Mm -hmm. It's the nostalgia. Yeah, it's

the nostalgia. But I have to say, this is coming

from... NBC or CNBC News. They're so out of touch.

They have been out of touch since Hall & Oates

released that song in 1984. Mainstream media

does not know about geek culture, pop culture,

whatever culture. They probably know more about

cancel culture than anything else. Considering

all of them left Twitter and then they came back

because the advertisers left Twitter. Yeah, it

is what it is. But this kidult thing, it's like,

who the hell came up with this? Who said this?

That's what I want to know. I want to know the

person who said... It's like those... What's

that old movie? Mean Girls, where the girl's

trying to make the word fetch into a word. And

that's what I feel like they're trying to do

here. They're like, oh, kidults. It's like, no,

how about... About geeks? Nerds? Yep. Fans? Uber

fans? You know, I mean, it's not like our generation

has stopped enjoying any of this stuff. Yeah.

What I think it is, is there's been a change

in people who work at these places and are finally

recognizing the fact that, hey, these people

spend money on things that they enjoy instead

of, you know, the, the fleeting crap. And don't

get me wrong. I love a vacation as much as the

next person or any of those types of things.

But there's something to be said of, you know,

the, the nostalgia, like I have truck models

of, you know, or hot wheel cars of a. particular

model of truck or i have you know the starship

enterprise or you know just various things i

have a boatload of transformers and it's all

you know and i'll pick up a hot wheel car here

or there if i see one that i really like but

it's it's the whole you know i enjoy them i like

them i like looking at them i like messing with

them and then i like repainting the figures so

when hasbro doesn't do their job No offense Hasbro,

but yeah. But anyways, yeah. I mean, we, we all

have this, this nostalgia, this, you know, the

fondness for cartoons, superheroes, and collectibles

that they mentioned here, because a lot of us

were picked on for what we enjoyed when we were

kids. And so that was, it was a comfort. Yeah.

It was not a, a acceptable thing. in the 80s

and 90s to say that you were a geek. And being

a geek and a nerd back then were insults. We've

reclaimed those titles since then. Hello, do

you see the front of the website? The Geekcast

Radio Network. Let's go. Like, come on. And here's

the thing about this. The reason why adults are

buying all these toys and why we are the responsibility

of whatever the math or the financial stuff is,

I don't know, whatever it is. The reason why

that is, is because half the kids want eye devices

or whatever. Like they want to be stuck to a

screen or they want this or they want like, I

don't, and you're, you're a parent. You can tell

me like how many times, let's say within a month,

do your kids ask you for actual action figures

all the time? But it's because I don't let them

on the screens. That's true. And my wife doesn't

either. We don't let them watch TV. We don't

let them watch. It's very limited. And then they

have tablets. But again, it's monitored. And

when I was a kid, I had two hours of TV a day

that I could have. Or no, maybe it was an hour.

But unless it was weekend, then I was allowed

to watch Saturday morning cartoons all day. But

the thing is, is, you know, I gravitated towards

certain shows and I bought the toys associated

with them. And I played with action figures until

I was about 14. And which I know that's not the

norm either. But I played with my brothers, you

know, with the Transformer characters and the

Legos and all that stuff. And my kids have Legos.

They have Transformers. They have various other

types of toys, you know, animals. and whatnot.

And so I, but I do see that like the, the modern

era kid is put in front of a screen, whether

it be a tablet, whether it be a phone, whether

it be a smart TV or a tablet, you know, just

any of those things. And they just consume, you

know, Twitch or YouTube, or, you know, it's not

like they're actually watching a show, which

a show for us as a kid was a toy commercial for

the toys that we were looking forward to coming

to the store and the stuff that's out now, it's

kind of hard to read. Like a lot of the, like

even the Star Trek movies, you know, that have

come out yet or the, the, the figures like hat

playmates is just now starting to put Trent,

uh, Star Trek toys back in like Walmart. Cause

I've seen, you know, they've got, you know, con

and, spock and kirk and then they've got some

from discovery and some from tng and different

generations of of star trek figures just kind

of toying with it and and they have like a new

enterprise you know toy that was similar to one

they released 30 years ago and because i had

it uh right and so i mean i i for one like a

lot of the stuff that's out now Like I have a

heavy nostalgia for the shows. What kills me

is the inaccuracies of the figures to the shows.

Like I could look beyond it with things like

Playmates or, you know, like Star Wars or, you

know, things like that because those weren't

identical, but they were as close as I was ever

going to get. And then things like Transformers,

like Beast Wars, for instance, I had no problem

dumping the old stuff and getting the new stuff.

that came with like Kingdom and Legacy and things

like that because they just better engineering

now. And so they've done what they couldn't do

25, 30 years ago. And so I don't have the nostalgia

for like the reissue figures. Like, yes, I still

like them. Like the Optimus Primal or the Beast

Megatron. Yes, I probably would have jumped ship

to those. Except for the fact I have a masterpiece

of one and I have the kingdom of the other. And

they're far superior to the old stuff. But yeah,

I mean, the fact that our generation is the one

that's fueling this whole industry right now

and keeping it afloat is very interesting considering

the prices continue to climb. But it's also kind

of a collector's market now. It's not like a

kid playing with toy market because most of them

just don't care or hold it to the same esteem

that we did. Yeah, and kids today are different

than we were back then. And look, I'm not going

to sit here and fake that I know what kids are

into today. I don't. I don't have kids. I have

no plans on having kids. I'm too damn old at

this point. But it's just one of those things

where, I don't, I, okay. So we've, we've talked

about Star Trek. We've talked about Transformers.

We were essentially talking about Hasbro specifically.

So Hasbro in their marketing and their marketing

team is amazing. Yep. They always, when I like,

when I'm like looking through their Instagram

stories, it says, you know, before the next slide,

Oh, let's just take Inferno for example. parents,

swipe up now to get this for your kid. You're

like, okay, fine. But, like, there really are,

I guess we're on the cusp of getting the Earthspark

stuff, so maybe that's what the kid toys will

be versus what the collector toys are. You don't

like the authentics, the authentics that they

sell it like, you know, King Super slash Kroger,

the little, you know, cheaply made. Yeah. Figures

like my kids look at them and they're kind of

interested, but they're like, eh. Yeah. And but

I think it's partially because I've rubbed off

on them and in that I'm a stickler for just like

if it looks like a crappy toy. Not even show

accurate. If it just looks like a crappy, cheaply

made toy, I have no problem telling them. To

me, those Authentics look like dollar store toys.

There's nothing to them. And to be honest, the

new Core Class stuff that Hasbro puts out reminds

me of dollar store figures as well. Because...

If you look at I mean, not only is plastic gotten

more expensive and they've made the figures smaller

and charge double the price or triple or quadruple

in some cases. I have compared them because I

have an old basic class iguanas from years ago,

and I put it side by side with Kingdom Rattrap

and. while the engineering and details on the

new figures are far superior in some cases, the

size and the, like the ball joints, like I've

noticed the ball joints are super cheap that

allow the engineering of the arms and the legs

to move or the knees or the elbows or whatever,

because my, my oldest gave me his Optimus prime

to fix. because it was just like a limp noodle,

like falling over on every position. Can't hold

the gun. Can't, you know, and I, I repainted

the figure, made it look, you know, like the

show and then give it back to him and it tightened

up the joints. But my old iguanas figure that

I beat the crap out of as a kid, like he was

one of my, he was one of my cannon fodder and

I, it's the original figure I own. And yeah,

He still holds a pose. He can still hold the

gun. He can still rest on the beast hands that

fold over in beast mode. It kind of bothers me

how crappy they make some of the stuff now in

some of those regards. And that's the same with

any of the size classes. Even the Transmetal

2 Megatron that's out now, those claws that they

incorporated into the chest. they don't fully

plug peg in there, which drives me nuts, but

that's totally different, uh, issue there. But

yeah, I mean, so I have no problem telling my

kids when I think it's a crap, crappily made

toy and to save their money or, you know, Hey,

how about this? Get the poor man's masterpiece

version, you know, like the studio series stuff.

Like I'm like, get those, those are better. Yeah,

and the thing is, like, look, we all love the

Masterpiece line. I do, too. Yeah, but it's expensive.

They're huge. Like, yes, but the thing is, is

Masterpiece was made at the time to be the ultimate

ultimate. Hasbro has now gotten to a point where

the ultimate ultimate for most of these are either

Studio Series 86 Hot Rod or... Kingdom Commander

Class Rodimus, just to give that character specific

examples. Like, yeah, like, I don't know. Like,

I'm not saying Masterpiece should go away or

anything else like that, and I understand why

the cost is what it is. But there are, like,

I don't even see it as poor man's Masterpiece

anymore, because you yourself have said that

the Kingdom Megatron figure is... just as good,

if not finer, better than what the masterpiece

was. And don't get me wrong. Like I, I don't

like the realism that they've added, like the

realistic animal look to their beast modes. And

I'm not a fan of like, I hate the dinosaur head

to be honest on, on the kingdom Megatron and,

and how, but the rest of the figure looks, I

mean, it's darker colors and it's a little bit

of deviations there, but. Overall, it's close

enough to the Masterpiece. I'm happy enough with

it. Now, if the opportunity still came my way

to get the knockoff Masterpiece Beast Megatron,

because one, he would have the voice of David

Kaye, and he'd have LED lighting, and it's a

better engineer than the Takara one, which is

like $400. If I could get my hands on that, I

would. because it's like i think it's like 110

bucks or something but so if i had the option

i would get it but i i would be fine enough with

the the kingdom version same thing with the transmittal

2 megatron like it's it's not perfect and that's

the other thing it's our generation too that's

got the 3d printers and makes like when Hasbro

or one of these toy companies fumbles or they

don't have something that they want, they just

make it. Uh, cause like the, like the G2, uh,

exclusive, like the, I forget what they call

it. Generation select, uh, G2 Megatron. Oh yeah.

He looked great, but he was missing the shoulder

cannon and he was missing the, The chest, you

know, fold -out part that the original character

had. And it bothered me that it didn't have those

aspects. Like, I can overlook the shoulder thing,

but the chest thing just bothered me more so

than the other. And somebody made one. Somebody

made the whole conversion kit for it, you know.

And same thing with, you know, the Transmetal

2 Megatron that I have. The head they made. the

robots in disguise Megatron face on it. Instead,

somebody made a 3d printed, you know, engineered,

uh, the transmittal to proper face and sells

it or like Inferno, he's missing the proper gun.

And so they, you know, they made the new gun,

you know, from his show. And so, I mean, it's

just, it's, it's mind boggling. Like, yeah, there's

all these things that the toy company drops the

ball on, but then the fans pick up the slack.

Yep. Yeah. And the thing is, like, the whole

point of bringing up... Like, for me, this story

is... It's a mute point. Because there are kids

who like toys, and there are adults who like

toys. And I'm actually... I've been trying to

find information about this. What... makes me

so angry about any of this thing in this article

is the term it has nothing to do with the phenomenon

of us adults being responsible for one point

whatever it is percent or whatever the hell of

the toy industry succeeding it's the kid alt

term that I am just like where the flag did that

come from because I don't know apparently It

was used way back in the 50s to, you know, and

of course, we've always had like Peter Pan syndrome

thrown around. What really gets me is Wikipedia

says that there are other terms such as rejuvenile

and adult descent or adulting. I hate that, too.

I don't know. I feel like there's a better way.

Like there's, there's a line in this, this article

where they talk about how adulthood has, has

evolved and, and said that, uh, what it used

to mean to be an adult was to be very upstanding,

serious member of society. And to do that had

to demonstrate it, you know, in every way. And

now people feel free to express their fandom

as part of their adulthood. Just call it, you're

a fan or, or a collector or, you know, it's funny

because a lot of these toy properties that are

out, you know, especially when you're dealing

with a film, like for instance, the Transformers

live action films, I would never let my kids

watch any of them because one, there's so many

like innuendos in there and there's so much crap

that they just don't care about. And honestly,

I don't either. I would, I just, it's like when

we were talking with, with Kevin about, earth

spark and we're like just give us the robots

stop putting the humans in it just give us some

genuinely good robots like bumblebee i felt like

was great when they were on cybertron and then

it kind of fumbled after it hit earth and not

that i didn't enjoy bumblebee more than some

of the other ones it was definitely far more

enjoyable than any of the michael bay directed

stuff yeah and I mean, the first Michael Bay

film, I'll give it kudos because it introduced

us to live action. And it kind of was the, like

how Beast Wars was the reboot, you know, the

kick in the pants that Transformers needed. The

movie was the kick in the pants that the franchise

needed at that point. Yep. Because we'd had so

many other, you know, rehash type stuff. And

so, yeah, I mean. you know, these films are definitely,

as it says in the article, not designed for young

kids, instead catering to the older group of

toy loving consumers. And that's, I feel like

that's true. Like even rise, the beast, I showed

kids the trailer and they're like, that doesn't

look anything like them because I've shown a

beast wars and they're, they're like, they're,

they're like, they don't even sound, you know,

they're like, why? And I says, I don't know.

I says, we're saying the same thing. Yep. I said,

I said, so time will tell, man. Yep. All right.

We're not going to spend a lot of time on this,

but this is kind of, I guess, ridiculous. Maybe.

I don't know. Warner Brothers is directing DC

to sue Chris Wozniak over an old, unauthorized

Batman story. Why? So this was published December

16th of 2022. And this is coming from Bounding

into Comics. So it's coming from their website.

A month ago, we reported that a comic creator,

Chris Wozniak, was taking legal action against

DC Comics and Warner Brothers for similarities

between The Batman and his outline from 1990

for a sort of final battle story for The Dark

Knight. Like the film, Wozniak's treatment, he

would battle a Riddler in a game of wits and

brings the hero to the edge. Yada, yada, yada,

yada, yada. It says, I wrote a Batman Riddler

story that was used to make the Batman, the $800

million film, The Batman. Warner Brothers attorneys

are not disputing that they used my story to

make the film. This is extraordinary because

usually these situations, the studio would claim

they never saw it and never used it. He adds

that this case is unique due to the evidence

that he has presented, but in my situation, they

know I can indisputably prove my story is on

screen. So instead of providing fair credit and

compensation, Warner Brothers are directing DC

Comics to sue me for writing an unauthorized

Batman story. Yes, you read that right. Because

they stole it. Huh? Because Warner Brothers stole

it. Essentially, yeah. God, why does there have

to be so much... Oh, boy. That's crazy. Just

crazy. I mean, you know, really, if he went to

them and whatever, give him credit and pay the

man. Like, if you used his shit, give him credit

and pay him. If you're able to pay him, pay him,

you know. All right, moving on, we've got...

Well, you know that they also, with James Gunn

taking over DC, he also canned the proposed Batman

Beyond movie with Michael Keaton. Yes, yes, I

know. Which sucks. Yes, it does. I would have

loved to have seen that. Yeah, that would have

been awesome. They've also gotten rid of Henry

Cavill as Superman. Which is stupid. I don't

know. I, I have no, I have, I have had no confidence

in DC or Warner brothers since Michael Keaton

was Batman because they can't seem to like string

anything together. Like the, the first two Batman

movies and then the original, you know, Reeves.

Christopher Reeve's Superman movies are the only

times that Warner Brothers had all their ducks

in a row. Ever since then, outside of maybe Wonder

Woman, everything else has been a train wreck.

Because they can't seem to stick to a plan of

any kind. Yeah, it's too many voices in the voice

box, I guess. Yeah, I don't know. I'm just...

Yeah, I don't know. I'm kind of... Yes. Yep.

Warner Brothers sucks. Anyways, moving on. It

is Christmas time, everybody. We're recording

this as Steve is on vacation in Michigan for

Christmas with his family. And we have yet to

talk about the Santa Clauses. So we both have

watched this Disney Plus series, correct? Mm

-hmm. Okay. I've watched the whole thing. So

have I. I like episode one, five, and six. Hey,

me too. The rest of it, I was kind of like, eh,

I didn't care for the other people playing Santa.

I don't like a lot of the new elves. They're

okay. They're kind of, um, eh, I, I just, I,

I don't like a lot of their personalities. I

just don't care for them. It is what it is. It's

Disney. The fact that they got most of the original

cast back in some regard, I really enjoyed it.

I liked Tim Allen being back as Scott Calvin.

Yeah, and I loved the Yule verse with Bernard.

And he's like, yeah, you aged. And he says, yep,

I gave up my immortality. Met a human. I met

a human. She's 84. And he says, I'm 1600 years

old. It doesn't really matter. Yeah, it doesn't

really matter. Yeah. And, but I thought it was

funny that, you know, they, they made it out

that Scott was the first human. Yes. That was

the good part of the story. That was awesome.

And that they had specifically chosen him. And

that's why, you know, the Santa that fell off

the roof disappeared and didn't, you know, and

Scott fell off the roof and he didn't, he didn't

disappear. Yep. Exactly. So it was all set up.

Yeah. So it was just funny. Cause they're like,

Oh, you don't know. they're like, this was all

predestined, you know, and they were like, you

were supposed to see him that night. And, uh,

just because of how he, you know, when he was

a kid, the, the heart that he had. And, uh, so

I thought that was kind of cool. And then how

they, they wrapped it all back up and, you know,

he got re -Santified and I'm not really sure

what they're going to do for a season two. So

that's my problem. Like, I feel like they, they

kind of, they could leave it right where it's

at. Like he's, he's like, you know, we're, we're,

you know, he's going to just live out the rest

of his life. Yep. So you guys are probably going

to, people listening to this show may or may

not go over to studio 2009 and listen to that

podcast as well. Steve and I just recorded our

mini discussion on spirited, which is an Apple

TV plus a film with Ryan Reynolds and Wilfred.

Wow. Will Ferrell. I almost said Will Friedle.

That was going to be a little weird. Can you

imagine Batman and Deadpool? Anyway, never mind.

So, anyway, I just said over there about how

I miss the one -and -done stuff. Like, a show

doesn't have to have seven seasons, eight seasons,

depending on the show. This, I viewed as a six

-episode miniseries kind of thing. and it has

a good beginning in the middle, because I'm not

the biggest fan of the Sinbad -like character,

the Simon character, whatever. He finally learns,

I think. The beginning and the ending are what

I liked about this, and the ending was good enough

to the point where I don't think they need a

second... But apparently, according to TV Line,

they are renewed at Disney Plus for season two.

And I don't know what else we could do. I don't

know. Like, what are you going to do? Bring Spencer

Breslin back? Do we really want him back? You

say how annoying the elves were in this. The

one elf. The one elf. The one elf. No, I found

a lot of them annoying. Really? Yes. other than

the head elf and the one that followed Scott

around. The rest of them were just painstaking.

I just found them all annoying. The most annoying

one to me was the old man sounding one. The one

that was doing this. His tinfoil hat. His tinfoil

hat. He's like, that's the only reason I haven't

disappeared yet. Well, now that it's gone, you

can disappear, dude. Yeah, I yeah, I just I didn't

care for it. No, me. But I mean, it's the same

thing with. I'll give it kudos in the sense that

at least they didn't wipe out Tim Allen's character.

Because there's there's been numerous Disney

shows where they've completely just. rode the

coattails of the original show, evolved it, and

then killed off the original leading man. And

used maybe a couple of people, like the Mighty

Ducks. Emilio Estevez, season one, they dumped

him for season two. All because he said something

about COVID or whatever it was. Well, he said

he wouldn't take the shot. Yeah. But, which...

I don't know. That is what it is. That is what

it is. Yeah, water under the bridge. But anyways,

the other ones that drove me nuts were Turner

and Hooch. I liked the show for what it was,

and I was kind of sad it didn't get a season

two because you also had Winslow, Family Matters.

Carl. Yeah. He can't remember his real name,

but anyways, Reginald Johnson. Yeah. So he, he

was in it, which was cool, but they killed Tom

Hanks characters. There was no way that he could

be back. And I was kind of bummed about it. I

never watched that show. I was so bummed that

they did that. They, they had it so that like

he had died and he'd left some info on a case

he was working on and they solved it by the end

of the season. But It just, I really didn't like

the fact that they did that. And then, uh, there

was, they tried to reboot, uh, Doogie Howser.

Uh, and they made a new, a new one that, you

know, was trying to ride the coattails off it.

It, I don't even know if it got a season two.

I thought it stunk too. And then, cause I just

was out of curiosity watching it. And then, uh,

this new national treasure. Yeah, that's coming

up. And without Nicolas Cage, it's not National

Treasure. Well, a third episode just came out

today because I watched the first two. How they

connect it to the National Treasure franchise

is the FBI agent that was constantly chasing

Benjamin Franklin Gates through the first two

films. You know, it takes place in modern day.

So he's old and, you know, senile and, uh, he

has somebody taking care of him in his house

and he's got all these security things and all

these, you know, and he's a Freemason and he's

got all these clues. And, uh, so anyways, this,

this girl discovers, you know, and she's an illegal

alien and, and, uh, you know, it has a knack

for solving puzzles and skills like that. and

has some friends and one of them is like a streamer

and something else. And the other, the dude is,

they make them super like wimpy and Weasley,

like he's all about shoes and stuff. But, uh,

so anyways, they come across some information,

like an old clue kind of thing. And the, The

fact that she kind of learns about her, her father

or whatever, and had this necklace and, you know,

he was a treasure hunter and, uh, basically trying

to do like akin to, you know, protecting the

treasures like Nicholas Cage's character. Yeah.

And the FBI agent, you know, it gives her some

information, gives her, you know, a book or something.

And then this tycoon kind of like the last, you

know, the, the first two films, there's, somebody

with a lot of money and a lot of backing and

a lot of shady background. And then it starts

sniffing around, taking care of it and attacking

them and going after them. And so it's, it's

very much similar to those, but I feel like it's

very hollow because they also killed the FBI

agent off. Like in the first, like he showed

up for that scene with the new lead character

and then off screen he was killed off. And then

they have his grandson, which inherits his house

and wants nothing to do with it. And I, I don't

know. I, I'm watching it out of curiosity sake,

but I kind of wish that they would just do a

third one with Nicholas cage. Yeah. Cause I know

they're going to have Riley show up in one of

the episodes during this season. Yeah. But even

then it feels kind of like, unless this is like

a way to shoo in, Nicholas Cage at some point,

but I mean, the guy that plays Riley is really

not doing much and neither is Nicholas Cage at

this point. Yeah, Justin Bartha, I don't even

remember. National Treasure 2 was probably the

last thing I saw him in. Yeah, same thing. I'm

going to watch it, but I'm kind of curious what's

going to happen in the show, but I don't have

high hopes and I feel like it's going to get

canceled too. I don't understand why they are

trying all this stuff to just eventually cancel

it anyway. Well, I think they're trying to ride

the coattails of nostalgia. The only problem

is they're forgetting the important part. It's

like trying to do the Transformers movies at

this point without Peter Cullen. They've kind

of, you know, like those films, you know, he's

going to, at some point, the man's not going

to live forever. I mean, and... At some point,

they're going to have to move on. But those films,

people would riot at this point because people

know that that's Optimus Prime. And the fact

that they keep reintroducing these old movies

as TV series and then neutering the main part

of it, which was the characters, which is what

made the whole story go. And I feel like a lot

of the writing and a lot of the modern shows

are very lazy. I watched She -Hulk, absolutely

hated it just because it was just lazy writing.

I liked Hawkeye. I liked Captain and the Winter

Soldier and the Falcon. Loki, I was kind of on

the fence. I don't like Loki as a character.

I don't like him as a character, but the show

wasn't terrible because they kind of made him

redeeming. They made him almost like Q in Star

Trek, so it was a little better. But I don't

know. I feel like because they're trying to pump

out so much content on all these different streaming

platforms, they're not really taking adequate

writers or show. uh, executive producers on that

understand the process of writing a quality program.

Yeah. Whereas like back in the nineties and the

early two thousands, like they didn't have streaming.

It just was like, you had to work your way up

and learn the trade. Nowadays they're just plucking

people from anywhere. Oh, you, you, you know,

I know this person, so I'm going to have them

right. And it, they could have crap for experience.

It's why they have. uh, instead of episodes like

back in the day where you maybe had, you had

one writer for the episode, maybe two, maybe

two. Nowadays they've got a whole slew of names

that are attached to episodes, which is why they're

so haphazardly thrown together and why they don't

make any sense or they're just, they don't, they

don't mesh well when it, when the show is put

together. Yeah. We're going to talk about streaming

here in a second folks, but Justin Bartha, Outside

of National Treasure's quote -unquote franchise,

he has the Hangover trilogy, Hangover 1, 2, and

3, the Rebound from 2009. Since he was in an

episode of Drunk History, he was in several episodes.

He was in 13 episodes of Cooper Barrett's Guide

to Surviving Life, 17 episodes of The Good Fight.

But, like, he... Usually I will look up people's

names and I will see them, whether they're young

actors or old actors, whatever actors they are.

I will see like, oh, you've been in three episodes

of this Law & Order version and that Law & Order.

I'll see all this other stuff that I know them

from, but other than the National Treasure stuff,

I have not seen him in any of the things that

he is credited for. Yeah. I don't know. So, streaming.

Oh, streaming. They just keep getting more expensive.

What's funny is, I remember recording an episode

of Geekcast Radio back in the day. Why can't

we just get a la carte? Well, we got a la carte.

And it costs as much as cable. Yep, pretty much.

although you get a lot more shows and you can

download them, but, uh, but I feel like it's

created this era of streaming platform hopping.

Absolutely. We'll, we'll binge everything we

want on this one for a year and we dump it and

we get a different one. And I feel like that's

kind of how it keeps going because they all,

you know, uh, you know, these streamers or platforms,

I should say, are losing money to not only get

content on their platforms by creating it or

licensing it, but it's also damaging to the one

subscribing to it because it just makes it difficult.

You kind of have to pick and choose. I mean,

there's so many different platforms now. I have

no ambition of getting Apple TV Plus or ESPN

Plus. I find it funny that I'll just have plus

tacked on at the end at this point. It's like,

just create a random name. Netflix, Hulu, they

sound decent. Amazon Prime Video, it's three

words. Everything is a plus now at this point.

I don't know. I'm entertained by the fact that

they keep raising the rates, and now they have

ad -supported platforms to try and offset costs.

Yeah, they're trying to get you into that monthly

price at the low price, but it's with ads. And

I am sorry. I do not have a cable box anymore.

I haven't had a cable box since 2017, 2018. I

do all my stuff. Streaming online. And if I am

paying for streaming content, I want ad -free

content. I will pay the money. I just, as of

this recording, my annual Disney Plus subscription

came up. And I paid the whatever it was, because

it was funny. It was two days before they were

going into the price hikes. So I got it at the

$76 or $86 price that I got it at last year.

So I just missed the price hike on the annual

plan this year. And the thing is, for me, folks,

now I want to find streaming services that offer

annual plans. I don't mind spending $100 a year

on streaming content. That's fine. I don't mind

that at all. That's great. $100 a year? I can

save up that money and pay you at the end of

the year. You know what I mean? I've gotten no

response from Netflix, but I asked Netflix if

they had an annual plan. They never responded

to me on Twitter. I asked and I even called.

I can't believe I did this. I called Hulu to

ask them. If they had, because they weren't really

responding, they're like, oh, you can check out

this. No, I want an answer. So it's $12 .99 now.

With the $12 .99 ad -free plan, there is no annual

billing. But I think all services should have

annual billing, especially if you're paying for

ad -free content. Currently in the midst of a

YouTube premium subscription for the first time

ever since I've been on YouTube since 2007 or

so watching content. And I love it. It's great.

I paid just over $100 for a full year. I've got

to actually check and see when that renews. But

it's one of those things where I don't mind paying

to not have ads. And I understand that things

are going to go up and whatever else. And those

people that want to pay the monthly, they can

sit there and pay the monthly and that's fine.

But I, this whole streaming war, it's, it's tiresome.

Well, it's funny because as they raise the prices,

they're only encouraging more people to pirate.

True. And I'm not encouraging that. Yep. I just

saying, The more that they raise the rates, the

more likely people are going to just rip the

program that they want rather than deal with

it. And it's not hard. If you know the software,

there's tons of them out there that you can rip.

I had a demo of one. I was trying to figure something

out for a disc I owned, and it did all of the

stuff at the same time. Just out of curiosity,

because it said it could do Netflix as well,

I recorded 30 seconds off. It ripped it. Verbatim.

HD. Doesn't matter. I was quite surprised that

it worked. I mean, it gives you 30 seconds because

it was free. You have to buy this full software,

and I wasn't planning on using it more than for

ripping the disk I already owned. Like I said,

I was just surprised. It's easier than ever if

you're really trying to get away. to get content

it's not hard to get it so i i feel like they

they need to all like i get they gotta make money

but it there's only so much i mean especially

with inflation and like cost of living going

up like my heating bill went it tripled because

they're like oh natural gas costs more now And

we're passing on the cost to our constituents,

our customers. And it's like, okay. And you're

not making a penny, right? But I mean, I can't

afford extra stuff. The heat bill going up, my

mortgage going up, the taxes going up. Everything

goes up. So it's like, what's the first thing

I'm going to cut? streaming. Yeah. Cause I can

live without it. I've got enough stuff that I've

socked away over the years, like of shows that

I've watched or, uh, movies or, uh, or there's

free platforms like to be. Yep. I mean, there's

commercials, but I don't pay for it. Sometimes

if you watch enough of it at one time, there

are no commercials. But because you're watching

it for free, I will put up with the commercials.

I'm not going to pay to have commercials. I feel

like that's the old way of thinking. Somebody's

like, oh, we're going to go back to the cable

method of you pay and you watch commercials.

I've said my piece. Yeah, it's just one of those

things where it's just crazy. I'm not in the

Apple ecosystem. I have no interest in subscribing

to Apple TV+. And they don't have any shows or

anything. Spirited's great. It's a great film.

All that, but I don't know. For me, like, I love

having Paramount +, and Discovery +, and this

+, and that +, and whatever other plus, and that's

great, and that's all well, good, and fine, and

it's the content that I want to watch, and that's

awesome. But, like, where's the ceiling for these

costs? That's the question I want. people to

answer for me truthfully i don't see these prices

going down i see them incrementally going up

over the next like five years i see them yeah

doubling at least oh absolutely no but that but

that's my point where is this for the consumer

for us i'm asking you and i'm asking the the

audience listening to the sound of my voice if

people are listening hopefully you are we enjoy

it that you listen thank you where is the ceiling

for us As consumers, at what point are we going

to say... It's enough. $20 .99 a month is too

much or $200 a year. And I'm only talking one

service. I'm not talking about multiple. You

pick one. Take Netflix, take Hulu, take Disney

+, take whatever you want. You pick that one

service, and you either pay the high monthly

plan or the low ad -supported plan, and you multiply

that over 12 months, or you pay the annual plan.

But what is that going to end up being? Like,

right now, I think, I don't have my phone with

me, but if I remember off the top of my head,

it's on the charger. I believe as of right now

in December of 2022, I can go on to Paramount

plus and get a yearly annual plan for, I think

it's 150 bucks for the ad free plan for the annual,

which isn't bad. No, it's fine for me. Like again,

not terrible, but it's not terrible. But in the

reason why it's not terrible is because, okay,

you take, let's say, That plan plus the Disney

Plus plan I just paid for at $86, even though

it's going to be more expensive next year. So

let's just say close to, well, that's what, $240,

$230, whatever it is. Normal cable packages in

the last 20 years have been somewhere between

$200 and $300 for all, like if somebody wanted

all the bells and whistles. But you're paying

that $200 to $300. and you're still getting advertisements

because that's how it used to work. Now with

having the option to get ad -free, that to me

is worth it, sort of. But there is a limit, obviously.

There's always going to be a limit. Like you

said, it encourages service hopping. Booth Ninja,

Mike Powers, does this all the time. He's done

this for years where he'll start one and then

stop the other or stop one and start the other

one or whatever. And, yeah, I mean, pretty soon

we're all just going to have to go back to probably

physical media at some point because it's going

to get too dense. That ceiling is going to, that

roof is going to be blown off so much. That explosion

is going to be like you just don't even want

to know. You timed that one good. I know, right?

That's what mute's for, folks. But yeah, I mean,

I've really enjoyed just the streaming aspect

as far as I don't have to get a discount, but

when it comes to cost, I will get the discount.

Absolutely. Or when it comes to... If it's not

on streaming, I will have to get the disc out.

If it's not on streaming, I will make it stream.

Okay, well, yes, but... No, I'm saying... Right,

I understand. Well, because all of my media,

my physical media that I've had over the years,

I've dumped it all. Yeah, you've ripped it all

into your... I've ripped it all into a hard drive,

and I have it on my network, and then I watch

it. Through my home network now. Absolutely.

And I know this is a silly, silly thing. And

it's funny because I wasn't able to do this this

year for studio. I wanted to, I wanted to do

an anniversary episode, but it's funny. Like,

like I just mentioned about the whole non, like

if it's not streaming, you, you go by the, this

year is the 20th anniversary of the film release

of. Shane West and Mandy Moore in A Walk to Remember.

That movie is 20 years old this year. It's not

on any streaming service currently, to my knowledge,

and I had to go buy a DVD off of Amazon to watch

the damn thing. I bought, because I don't think

it's on any streaming, I bought the complete

series of Dino Thunder for Power Rangers because

with Jason's passing, I'm like, I need to see

old, I need to see Dr. Tommy Oliver. I need to

see old ass Tommy and I need to see him kicking

ass when he's back in black. You know, it, we're

going to end up, okay, maybe you're not going

to end up having to go back to the school media

and maybe people who are like, Oh, I might for

some. Well, yeah. If I, if I can't find something,

I will buy it. And yeah, yeah, absolutely. Anything

else? I mean, we're at the year end, dude. What

kind of geeking are you wanting to alter next

year? I don't know. I'm just kind of waiting

to see some of the new movies that are coming

out. You know, the Spider -Man, the Super Mario,

Rise of the Beast. Yeah, that Mario trailer,

though. Wow. I was kind of surprised by it, actually.

But it's like it's taking a journey through the

game. And I liked it. I thought it was fun. I

thought it was cool. I, you know, do not care

about the whole supposed. You know, whatever

with, oh, my God, it's Chris Pratt is the voice

of Mario. Do I? I don't care. Do I wish the guy,

Charles Martinet or whatever his name is, was

the voice? Yes, I do. But I understand. And it's

fine. It's not the end of the world. Yeah, I'll

live. I don't care enough. I'm just. I'm not

hating it. Yeah, no, I'm really digging it. I'm

loving where they're going with it. It's very

fun. Very, very fun. Yeah, so I mean, that's

pretty much all I've got. Yeah, pretty much.

I mean, I guess we could give a passing mention

to the Barbie trailer. I saw that and I'm like,

really? Yeah, I don't know if I care. Oh, I don't

care. I think it's going to probably bomb, to

be honest. Yeah, I don't know. I'm not saying

that to be mean. I just think it's going to bomb.

Yeah, it probably is. So, I guess, Merry Christmas

and have a Happy New Year, everybody. Mm -hmm,

mm -hmm, mm -hmm. Anything else you'd like to

say, Megatron? No. Yes. No. What a pleasant surprise.

No, it's not. Where is my rubber ducky? Don't

you want to know? Yes. Well, that worked out.

Yes. No. I think the next one he says is side

guns. that didn't work out so well alright close

us out so you can of course get a hold of us

on geekcastradio .com where you can find all

of our podcasts including this one and all things

Transformers Studio 2009, The Pull Bag and more

You can leave feedback for the show, feedback

at geekcastradio .com. You can find myself on

Twitter at SCP21 or at Altered Geek. And yourself,

sir? I am at TFG1 Mike. So until next time, get

altered, get geeky with the Altered Geeks.