Lethal Weapon Review

Do you start your day? Deciding which video game

you're gonna play? You fight with your family

Go for which is better, Marvel or DC? The geek

of all your few friends Cause you know what Batman

beats Superman This is the right place to be

So turn up the volume cause you're an altered

geek Altered geek! Hello and welcome to Altered

Geek I'm your host Steve Megatron Phillips and

in this episode I'm flying so low This is episode

299, of course, and we're going to cover a multitude

of things from Lethal Weapons Return and my thoughts

on that, Google's ex -CEO and his thoughts on

the internet splitting in two by 2028, fan engagement,

Streets of Rage 4, the problem with too much

technology, Amazon opening 3 ,000 stores and

what that could mean for... Walmart and Kroger

and places like that. Fall TV always being here

and of course podcasting. So hopefully there's

something in there that everyone will like to

some degree anyway. So before we get into the

lethal weapon information, TGIF, the old ABC

staple of Friday nights, is returning and it's

kind of funny. that this would finally kind of

come back and I'm not really all that surprised

being that people really don't go anywhere anymore

they stay in their house it's kind of there's

really no activities like there was in the 90s

which is why TGIF started kind of going away

towards the end People were still kind of socializing

at that time and then programs started going

away and people stopped going out and Lo and

behold here. We are everybody stays at home plays

games or watches streaming or whatever So ABC's

new TGF lineup encompasses with Speechless fresh

off the boat and Another show that's I forget

what it's called It's something like child child

support I think Anyways, it's got kids talking

on it's got like Ricky Gervais and and Fred Savage

which funny enough Ben Savage and Jaleel White

are guest starring on a couple of new TGIF staples,

so Ben Savage is returning to TGIF with ABC's

Speechless Which is moving to fall on Friday

nights in the season 3 premiere Savage will guest

star as a real estate agent and then Fresh off

the boat will be after that Which will feature

Jaleel White from Family Matters Steve Urkel

another TGIF alumni which he'll be on that and

then of course they'll have the uh the other

shows so yeah i'm not quite sure what to think

of the tgf but again like kind of like something

we mentioned in the the latest all things transformers

is a lot of the stuff that's coming out now really

doesn't apply to our generation for the most

part so it doesn't really bother me in the slightest

that they're bringing back this marketing gimmick

because honestly it kind of worked back in the

day i used to watch Boy Meets World every Friday

night on TGIF. I used to watch Family Matters.

I used to watch Step by Step and Yeah, so I mean

it kind of works. It's I totally get the reasoning

for Their new their new lineup as it were And

it starts at on Fridays at five o 'clock now

which I don't remember how early they used to

start before I think it was like seven and They

used to go to like 10 o 'clock at night Which

was kind of or maybe like nine some somewhere

in there. I mean they were half -hour shows,

so I'm not really surprised in the slightest

So before we get into lethal weapon TV line actually

breaks down the fall premieres for 2018 of Shows

that are that are coming out on a massive calendar

between September and October And in really the

only ones that apply to me that I I care about

And I know that there's some that everybody likes

on these But I Care about like the Big Bang Theory

because more so it's it's Going to be ending

this year, so I look forward to seeing what they

do with it whether they wrap up a lot of the

plot lines And and kind of break out of that

stereotypical nerd role that's on their lethal

weapon of course has already come back with its

first episode since The whole shakeup with losing

Rigs in the show the actor that played him who

was spectacular in that role And I'll get into

my thoughts on lethal weapon in a minute They've

got the Murphy Brown revival, which I'm not gonna

be watching, but I just think it's funny. Big

Bang Theory's gonna be moving to Thursdays again.

Last Man Standing revival premiere is the 28th

of September today, so it's... I'm looking forward

to watching this. I'm really excited to see this

back, albeit on Fox. But yeah, I'm definitely

looking forward to that. Saturday Night Live,

of course, on Saturdays is returning, Simpsons

returning on Sundays on its staple time. And

then it goes a little while before there's another

show that's something I would sit and watch anyway.

Shark Tank comes back on October 7th, which I

enjoy just because I like seeing the crazy things

people come up with. And then, of course, October

9th, we get The Flash at 8 and Black Lightning

at 9. I'll be watching The Flash. And then we

get Supernatural back on the 11th, which I am

not going to be watching anymore. And it looks

like Titans is going to air on the DC Universe

weekly on the 12th on Fridays. I may or may not

watch that, I don't really know yet. It just

kind of depends on how dark it is. I'm not a

big fan of DC's diving all in on the darkness

train that's like their DC Extended Universe.

The CW I enjoy much more just because it's not

as dark, but again, all we've seen are teasers

and images so far, so it's not really a... True

Vision of what we're getting I mean trailers

can be deceiving and that's that's kind of what

I'm getting at is until I actually see it It's

gonna be hard to judge it and the Supergirls

coming to Sundays on the 14th which I'm not sure

if I'm gonna I'm not sure if I'm gonna jump on

that bandwagon again this year I watched Black

Lightning for season one and it was good, but

I just don't really care to pick up another show

Supergirl I may or may not drop it. It just depends

the new Charmed premieres on the same day and

I'm not gonna be watching that but I just think

that it's kind of of note to bring up and then

Arrow comes back on the 15th which Looking forward

to and then on the 16th the Connors, which is

the spinoff of? Roseanne I'm interested in seeing

what they do with it just because I wasn't a

fan of the original show all that much, but I

liked the revival for what it did In the little

bit I watched but it was more so because there

really wasn't anything else for me to watch and

so I watched it So I may or may not stick with

that it's just something I was watching just

to fill the void as it were Probably won't be

watching it, to be honest. And then late October

and November premieres. Legends of Tomorrow comes

back on the 22nd, which I will be watching. They've

got the new Sabrina show starting on Netflix

on the 26th, which I won't be watching, but just

a note of revivals. And then also, we get into

mid -season premieres. We get the Blacklist,

which I'll probably watch when there's a lull

in programming. That's usually when I catch up

on that. Same thing with Gotham. That'll be coming

back in the mid -season premiere as well. And

I zombie. And yeah, that's about it. And then,

of course, we've got Star Trek Discovery and

The Orville coming back in January or February,

somewhere in that neck of the woods, among other

shows. So yeah, there's a ton of stuff to look

forward to that's coming out. And yeah, it's

gonna be interesting on that. So getting into

Lethal Weapon. Season 3. Without giving away

spoilers, obviously, they alluded to the fact

that they were going to kill Martin Riggs at

the end of Season 2 just because the actor had

been shot and because Clayne Crawford was fired

from the series, obviously, they had the opportunity

here with that final shot to remove him from

the show. in something that he could have been

saved or incapacitated through season 3, they

opted to have him die. And then Murtaugh just

wouldn't let it go, and then you... I won't tell

the story behind the new character that Sean

William Scott's playing, but he's got kind of

a... rookie vibe to him but he's also got kind

of a Riggs and Murtaugh vibe at the same time

so it's kind of this nice amalgamation of and

they even make a comment in the in the episode

of not trying to replace Riggs and they mesh

really well together just because he's kind of

he's quirky kind of like Riggs but he's also

quirky like Murtaugh so it's kind of I think

it's going to work. I really do. And I was kind

of unsure with them getting rid of Riggs, but

it kind of puts a new spin on it. So this rookie,

Wesley Cole, is his character. And they put an

interesting twist on it, that's all I'll say.

If you're kind of on the fence about Season 3

because of the fact that they got rid of Riggs,

I would suggest putting that aside and just checking

it out because the writing and the action on

this show are stellar and I think that he's going

to fit in rather well and he's broken in a sense

like Riggs and Murtaugh were but it's different

so I would definitely say It deserves a revisit

if you were on the fence. So definitely check

it out. So moving on to the Google ex -CEO saying

the internet will split in two by 2028. I found

this in more so I'm kind of going through like

a bookmark list of my phone because I tend to

open up like a crap load of tabs and For whatever

reason, I don't close them out. So they just

kind of sit here and just collect and collect

and collect. And I just, yeah, I'm going through

kind of purging it at this point. So where we're

going with this is Alphabet or Google's executive

chairman, Eric Schmidt speak. Spoke at the 2017

salt conference in Las Vegas But he believes

the internet will split in two within a decade

He he told an audience at a private event in

San Francisco that he foresees a break between

the Chinese -led internet and the non Chinese

-led internet so basically saying that Google

has recently come under fire over plans to expand

into China with project dragonfly so He predicts

that the internet will split in two in the next

decade. Basically saying that the most likely

scenario now is not a splintering but rather

a burification or bifurcation into a Chinese

-led internet and non -Chinese internet led by

America. So yeah, he's predicting this anyway.

I don't foresee that, but at the same time, there's

a lot of garbage on our Internet that's probably

not needed there. So I wouldn't put it past them

because they have a lot of censorship and control

over their Internet and their products and their

services over there in China. So it's not surprising,

but especially with the way our economies don't

mesh very well and the fact that Google has its

hands everywhere. Yeah, they Yeah, they're basically

censoring versions of Google search there so

it's it's kind of It's kind of a sticky situation

so it's hard to say if they're gonna do that

or not I think it's kind of ridiculous that there

would be two but Same token like if if the country's

like that and they heavily regulate everything

kind of like here how here is getting With everything

It's bound to happen or something's bound to

go wrong with this. So again, not really surprised

all that much because it kind of happens in that

neck of the woods, especially with all the recent

stuff that Europe's done with the copyrights

and everything else. So I think something that's

a little bit more fun is the fan engagement.

I saw an article on Film Daily. which talked

about people having the power, why fan engagement

is the future of TV. This is kind of a double

-edged sword because it can be good in the instance,

because they mention how Freeform had cancelled

basically Shadowhunters, meaning the second half

of season 3 would air in 2019 and feature the

last ever episodes of the horror show, so...

Fans were campaigning to save the show online

since and that a decision was made after the

network's co -production partner lost its output

deal with Netflix, putting a bigger financial

burden on the show, basically. Not much different

than what would have happened to Discovery had

CBS not taken the boat and moved it over to their

platform completely and kind of away from the

Netflix money. But it says that You know, they

decided the economics couldn't handle it so It's

frustrating for fans because it's a monetary

problem and it wasn't based on content or ratings

but sheer money So it also shows too that you

know Fans do have some power because a lot of

shows not necessarily that one Can be revived

and and you look at a lot of the shows that have

been canceled recently and moved to other stations

late looking at last man standing or I believe

Brooklyn 99 was moved to for the same reasons

and Fans, you know Even with timeless which was

canceled and renewed within three days because

of fan outcry Fans have this this power on social

media and you know the hashtags and and everything

else Where shows can get cancelled picked up

at other networks, I mean Supergirl had it kind

of happen You know Brooklyn 99 timeless last

man standing so it kind of goes on and on and

on And then fans kind of gloat. Oh, we did it.

We got loud enough. We were heard. We saved the

show But it's also kind of a double -edged sword,

too, I feel, because we as fans tend to feel

very entitled for something that, yes, we watch

it, and yes, we purchase anything that has to

do with said show that we enjoy or love, but

we get entitled. Like almost too entitled like

attached to it like it's it's our thing like

we created it We we're the only reason it's here

and it's not necessarily true And that's it's

kind of like where a lot of the fan outcry and

rage comes from is Because we get so entitled

and possessive over something that we don't own

That we believe that you know We're the only

ones that that can control it and and they should

make the show that we want because of XYZ And

you know, I fall into that trap too sometimes

it just depends and I'm not saying it's right

either way. It's just we all kind of fall in

that boat and Each generation like like specifically

with Transformers and Ninja Turtles and Power

Rangers, you know each generation has what started

them in those franchises which gave birth to

you know, the continued products for the rest

of the series or the continued revivals for other

aspects of those for you know the the fans that

grew up with a different iteration at a different

point in time and I mean kind of looking at it

now I mean we've got the new bumblebee movie

coming out and it looks very G1 -esque and we

just had G1 the movie get re -released in theaters

last night and It's really interesting when you

look at it, seeing all that can be accomplished

through nostalgia and through the power of social

media, but at the same time, you know, it even

goes back to that truck -not -monkey thing, you

know, people just flipping out over different

aesthetics and looks. And I've been guilty of

it, even on this show, like with reboot, with...

Thundercats with really anything But I mean we

can we can either choose to yes, like I love

continuity in certain things especially when

it's like a series like Star Trek like it drives

me nuts when stuff doesn't make sense when It's

supposed to they claim it's supposed to go to

something but at the same time like you kind

of have to shut some of that off In order to

enjoy the medium or in order to enjoy something

of it Because again, we we get attached to something

we like it the way we like it, you know, we don't

like change We're like, you know, this is this

is how I want it and it's really not up to us

I mean, yeah, we can get a show revived if we

really enjoy it if there's enough outcry at another

station, but You know, we do hold the power in

that sense whether show permanently stays dead

but we really don't... I guess the fandoms get

kind of cocky and just downright mean with it

when they are like, oh, I got the power because,

you know, they start campaigning for something

they don't like or an actor that they don't like

or like and put pressure on the people that are

producing the shows and it's just, I don't know,

it's kind of a weird area to be in. So I don't

know what you guys think about that, but that's

that's kind of my thoughts on it But you know

I guess I'm just kind of coming into that because

I see enough of it kind of going around on the

internet and people are just I Don't know just

kind of mean about it and in Kind of shoving

it in their faces. You know I see so much hate

on people liking different shows and it's even

going around I mean it's it it's been happening

for generations I mean that even there was articles

on the next generation of Star Trek coming out

and oh blah blah blah it won't last oh it's gonna

be garbage blah blah blah like just you know

in in like TV guide articles and everything because

it's not the original series so it's it's all

relative So here's something that hits close

to home. I found an article on EcoMedia which

talks about too much technology and children

growing up with weak hands and fingers, which

I could kind of relate to because I have a lot

of, I don't know, nerve damage or hand and finger

muscle issues. from when I was a kid not only

from just playing with toys, but from electronics

and Although I didn't have a Gameboy until I

was about 10 11 And I didn't own a game console

until I was I mean I did play them at friends

houses but I Didn't have one of my own until

I was about 16 Well, that's not entirely true.

I had one at like 12 or 13. I had like a Sega

Genesis, but still They're saying that smartphones

and tablets are convenient babysitters and pacifiers

for bored or crying children, which I don't Our

kids are not allowed to do that We don't do that

so But it says that they may be preventing those

children from developing the necessary hand strength

to hold pencils cut with scissors and perform

tasks generally, you know children their same

age could easily do just a decade ago and I will

regard that with saying that because I've used

technology so much that It's very painful for

me to hold a pencil or a pen and in right if

I don't have a certain type of pen like I have

to use like the uniball where it's like kind

of a I don't know. It's a light touch because

it's it's got like the leaky ink in it So it

doesn't really hurt my hand because I don't have

to apply pressure But if it's not those pens

it like kills my hands, and I've actually had

hand spasms Before to where it will seize up

my whole hand it'll start curling it on itself

in the my elbow like I'll have to like grab my

hand and It'll cause a nerve Kind of a spike

in my arm. It's really weird. I haven't had it

in a while, but I'm starting to get the nerve

feelings again With the the change in jobs over

the last two months Could be I don't have my

gaming mouse which is like the largest mouse

I could get But they're saying that yeah, it's

it's Some new review from the Heart of England

Foundation reports that kids are coming into

classrooms ill -prepared for writing and other

activities that require finger muscle strength.

And they're saying that pediatric doctors behind

the report blame the technology and the lack

of traditional activities young children often

do, such as stringing beads, coloring, and other

pastimes. And they're coming to school. you know

basically not being able to write with a pencil

and increasingly not being able to hold it because

they don't have the fundamental movement skills

which I'm thankful that my boys are they color

they they draw they build with legos they do

beads um play outside I mean it's just we don't

give them a ton of technology so it's kind of

kind of nice that they don't have all of it and

and so I'm really hoping that they don't have

the same issues with their hands that I do because

again it's it's it's probably why my hands are

so bad come to think of it just I mean I played

with all did all the same stuff my kids do but

then I got a computer at the age of five and

Started learning the mouse and the keyboard and

playing flight simulators and stuff like that

and Then playing game super Nintendo's at a friend's

house and like so I have horrible hand and wrist

and finger and you know elbow and I Don't know

joint issues So but yeah, it's it's it's kind

of crazy that You know the the virtual inclusion

or exclusion of the more traditional choice toys

It can Really make a difference in in the coordination

the hand -eye coordination or that just the movement

of the hands This is ten or fifteen years ago

we were getting referrals for kids with weak

hands that had specific diagnosis like You know

Down syndrome cerebral palsy and things like

that. Now we're getting kids' referrals for these

issues and increased numbers who have no known

diagnosis. They're just your average child with

no medical background reason that would make

them have this problem. It's unfortunate, honestly.

Yeah, it's technology at its finest. And then

moving on, we have Engadget, which posts, Amazon

could open 3 ,000 cashierless Go stores by 2021.

It has opened four of those stores so far. So

we'll see how far that record goes. They've opened

three in Seattle and one in Chicago and at least

one on the way in New York. And there's one for

San Francisco coming as well, which is just the

beginning of the iceberg. But. I think it's a

little crazy that they're going cashier -less.

I don't know what you guys think about that,

but I think that that's strange, because who

are they gonna, like, I mean, I know they're

gonna have people working in the store, but it's

still just a little odd that they're not gonna

need somebody to bring people out. I just don't

know how they're gonna make that work. But it

says that they're gonna have as many as 50 in

2019, so I don't know how they're gonna get to

that 3 ,000 number by then. But it says that

the first Amazon Go store needed more than a

million dollars worth of hardware. Focusing on

prepared foods rather than groceries could help

boost profit margins. Some of the existing stores

are already doing that. Additionally, opening

multiple stores in the same metro area could

help minimize costs since they could in theory

share centralized food production facility. This

is likely that some of the places affected by

the cashier list stores would include like Subway

Panera and Prada manager And yeah, so restaurants

have a lot for quick eating or convenient takeaways,

so They're saying that Microsoft reportedly has

its own checkout free technology in the works

and Standard cognition opened up a cashier list

store in San Francisco earlier in the month But

the funny thing is it's having an impact on Walmart

and Kroger because the announcement stocks sink

on wild Amazon Go report. According to like Bloomberg,

they say that a move would mark a significant

ramping up of a concept that Amazon opened to

the public only this year and then spelled doom

for traditional grocers, convenience store operators

and corner. It says that both shares of Walmart

and Kroger dropped, which cited anonymous sources.

I think it has something to do with the fact

that Amazon is not going to have cashiers and

it's the fact that it's Amazon. Just to be honest,

Amazon is a beast in the business world nowadays.

It's honestly kind of crazy to see a world we

live in where you're getting to the point where

you can just walk in and ring yourself up and

nobody's there. It still remains to be seen how

they make this work. I think I'm going to cut

this down. The next episode I'm going to have

an email. from Scanner 51. We're gonna have Booth

Ninja on, and we're gonna talk about a few things.

Maybe I'll highlight some of the episodes of

Altered Geek I've enjoyed thus far with the six

years in and 300 episodes. And it kind of maybe

tease some things for post 300, but I might take

most of October off for the podcast. to kind

of retool because at this point I'm not really

sure where I want to go with the show and I don't

want to kill it because I do enjoy it and it's

you know 300 episodes strong but I feel like

I need to consume new information and find something

that's going to work for the show as well as

provide value because I don't feel like the show

provides as much value as what it could or what

it used to. Not only because of the lack of significant

feedback, not only on the website, which I hope

improves with the new site, but just in general,

I want to produce a better program and in order

to do that I need to refocus my efforts and find

out what... You enjoy what I enjoy. So I'm going

to be going back over old episodes and seeing

what resonated with everybody. Not only between

comments but downloads. We'll just see how it

goes and hopefully we can come up with a mutually

beneficial show that everyone enjoys. And I'm

kind of looking for a new fresh theme for intros

and outros. So if anybody has any ideas or thoughts

of some really cool stuff that you want to send

me or let me hear, send it to Steve at geekcastradio

.com or feedback at alteredgeek .com or if it's

a link to something, just tag me on Twitter at

scp21. So I'm kind of hoping to see something

come out of that. Plan on having a rotating panel

of co -hosts when the revival comes back Put

on starting with episode 301 and I'm not gonna

have the same co -host every week It's gonna

be kind of a rotating panel based on topic And

what they have to bring to the table. I'm also

hoping to bring in interviews on the weeks I

don't have a co -host or if I'm flying solo I'll

have something else in that that space or maybe

my own opinion piece but I'm definitely looking

to expanding it and It's it's gonna be more of

a variety show than just covering news or a 20

minute conversation here or there it's it's gonna

be kind of a Nice little segmented show, but

I'm shooting to do one a week I know that I was

gonna do two this week, and then it just things

kind of got away from me So this is this is the

one a week That we're we're starting and so next

week next Friday, I will have episode 300 out.

I plan to do a little bit extra editing on the

episode and adding some things maybe from the

past because Booth Engine and I are going to

record that on Monday. So yeah, I hope you guys

enjoyed the show. I hope you give me any feedback,

constructive or otherwise, what you hate, what

you like, what you hope to hear. how to connect

with me. I know I've done some kind of polls

and surveys over the last couple months to kind

of get ideas, but really looking for significant

feedback. Topics are always welcome as it makes

it easier to converse and kind of come up with

what you guys want to talk about as well. I know

I didn't talk about podcasting, but honestly,

the only thing that really came out... Is the

fact that places like BuzzFeed and Some other

different podcasting companies like that have

gotten out of the podcasting business and it's

kind of because Well at this point some of the

companies just don't want to play the long game

and Don't really have the vision to see it through

they're they're expecting like insta cash and

and do it now and It's just not They don't really

have an endgame or or a mission and that's kind

of Part of the problem to be honest and you have

When you have shareholders in your company and

they're kind of calling the shots and they're

like, oh things aren't moving aren't moving quick

enough or Your stakeholders, your staff, with

any radio company, it's one of the bigs or the

management's ability to dream up, clarify, and

sell its vision to shareholders, stakeholders,

or staff, making the difference between great

companies and also the ones that just don't get

it. And it's not difficult to identify leadership

that gets it. However, a lot of them don't And

that's the sad truth and that's Kind of the reason

why a lot of these companies kind of are just

getting out of the business because they just

don't have The vision and the people that are

paying the bills don't have the vision So it's

kind of just the lack of of true direction which

leads to just people that are disgruntled as

a whole. So it's kind of interesting that they're

kind of crapping on podcasting when radio is

kind of in this flux that it kind of sucks too.

And it's more so because it's not resonating.

Like I haven't listened to traditional radio

in over 10 years. when I used to listen to the

local light radio station and wind stuff. I haven't

listened to actual radio in 10 years. I listened

to what my previous employer had because that

was a part of my job. But even now I listen to

one of the shows that I used to when I worked

for them. And it's not even one of the shows

on their network. I listened to this particular

host on another network, which is Doc Thompson.

So I listened to him on another podcast network

and what's funny is a lot of people that used

to work at the place I used to work or used to

have their show over there are now on this network

and so I actually prefer the new network over

what I came from because it's not the same conversation

over and over every show so yeah so I'm just

gonna leave that there But yeah, the the vision

thing is is that fundamental building block that

sets the tone and lays out the path and paves

the way for a future in a climate that is anything

but predictable or certain so You know And and

I love Jacobs Media Strategies, which is JacobsMedia

.com. They have a lot of commentary on podcasting

and radio and the correlation between the two.

So if you ever get a chance to go to that, some

of the stuff that I referenced came from their

article there and then some of the things I've

experienced myself. So yeah. So that wraps this

episode up. So until next time. You can reach

me on the Twitter at SCP -21 be sure to leave

this show comments or ratings in or reviews and

iTunes, please I would really appreciate it even

if it's Even if it's not good. I would just at

least appreciate something and if if you guys

Really dislike something or would like to see

a change of any kind just email me. Let me know

I Good feedback, bad feedback, any feedback is

good feedback because it means that you're tuning

in for a reason and if I can produce something

better for you, that's better for me. I don't

do this for money, I do it because I enjoy it.

So if you're not enjoying it, then I'm not enjoying

it. So that's kind of the boat I think from.

So until next time, get altered. Get geeky with

the Altered Geek.