Baconsale: Hickory-smoked Pop Culture

The Boys are Back in Town! It’s time for Baconsale to Listen to the Music of the 1970s. We Will Rock You as we take a Walk on the Wild side and discuss some of the greatest classic rock bands of all time. Much like many songs from the 70s, we go on a little long in this episode. Don’t feel Paranoid, though, we’re not going to Rock and Roll All Nite. Kent, Joel, and Zack are taking a Slow Ride on this tournament and only completing the first round. It’s Live and Let Die as some artists are going to have to Surrender, and there will be some Sweet Emotion as some of your favorite bands take the Stairway to Heaven. But hey, Love Hurts sometimes. Press play, but Don’t Fear the Reaper. And print out your own 70s bracket at Baconsale.com and play along with us!

Raya and the Last Dragon, Disney’s latest animated feature, is available on Disney+ with Premier Access, but is it worth the extra cost to see early? That’s the question we’re answering today on this BaconBit. Kent has seen this film twice, Joel has seen it once, and Zack has seen it 0.5 times. We’re each going to give our spoiler-free review first, and then we’ll let you know when we’re going to start talking spoilers for this movie so you can listen even if you haven’t seen it yet. We may not know how to pronounce the protagonist's name correctly, but we certainly have our opinions about this movie. Press play to unleash the power of Heart, Fang, Spine, Tail and Talon!

***SPOILER ALERT!*** In this episode, Baconsale is discussing spoiler etiquette for movies and TV shows. And as the spoiler prophets that we are, we’re going to teach you how to carefully navigate an increasingly online community and avoid ruining big twists or major plot points. Our guidelines are intended for both the spoiler and the spoilee as we give suggested timelines, educate you in Spoiler L.A.W., and propose punishments for breaking the official rules. Press play, but be warned: we give away the entire plot of The Little Mermaid (1989) during this process.

Ventas servitas! On this episode of Baconsale, we’re discussing a character from a popular book series whose name is Harry—a dark-haired orphan who’s also a wizard…but it’s probably not the magical Harry you’re thinking of. We’re talking about Harry Dresden. Steven Ross is a big fan of The Dresden Files and he’s joining us today to raise awareness about the novels. Steven has read (or listened) to all of the books, Joel has read a handful, Kent read the first one just for this episode, and we’ve intentionally left Zack in the dark so he can be the everyman and make sure we don’t get too far into the Nevernever. Toot-Toot! Press play!

Hi-ho, listener! It’s time to play the music and light the lights, because on this episode of Baconsale, we’re talking about the Muppet films. We’ve watched ten Muppetational movies and we’re going to rank them from worst to best. Joel is still a kid at heart and loves almost everything the Muppets have done, whereas Kent has grown a little more cynical as he’s gotten older, and Zack thinks that all the films (and this episode) are about 20 minutes too long. Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection—the lovers, the dreamers, press play.

Last time Baconsale talked about romantic comedies, it went off without a Hitch, so we (Love) Actually decided to do it again! We’ve come up with just under 13 (Going on 30) categories to showcase some of the most popular rom coms of all time. Plus, Zack, our personal Wedding Singer, is also going to quiz Kent and Joel on their knowledge of these movies. And with romantic steak street tacos on the line, the stakes have never been higher. We’ll discuss Julia Roberts (to see if She’s All That), which films left us Sleepless (in Seattle), and which actors look Pretty (in Pink). CORAL! Press play to help us determine what is “peak Streep.”

A lot has changed since our last Sundance film festival recap, including the festival itself. This year, film geeks around the world streamed (strom?) indie movies from the comfort of their own home, making snide remarks to an empty room. Kent watched 26 of these films in six days! His brain is fried, but he’s ready to give us some highlights (and lowlights) of what he saw, including reviews of Prisoners of the Ghostland, CODA, Eight for Silver, On the Count of Three, Mass, In the Earth, The Sparks Brothers, Cryptozoo, and John and the Hole. Press play to hear about the college draft for film buffs.

Baconsale is ready to pop a lot of trouble because, once again, we’re going to rank popular tabletop games. From ancient Mesopotamia to the 2000s, we’re including such favorites as Uno, Chutes & Ladders, Boggle, Taboo, Chess, Checkers, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Ticket to Ride, Cranium, and Blokus. As we move along the board, we’ll talk about the history of these games, discuss unusual versions (Body Boggle, anyone?), and we’re surprised by a musical number that makes the tough guys tumble. Kent and Joel agree way too much, Zack isn’t sorry about going his own way, and we just hope you roll the dice and tier each party game along with us. Press play to turn the crank, and snap the plank, and boot the marble right down the chute!

Wow. Who could have predicted everything that happened last year? Baconsale tried and, believe it or not, we actually got a few things right! So, once again, we are going to attempt to read the tea leaves for the coming year. We’ll forecast celebrity breakups, predict “sexy” Halloween costumes, discuss new fast food meat alternatives, guess sporting event winners, warn of reptilian takeovers and, of course, predict box office flops & talk about movies we’re looking forward to this year (if they actually come out). Plus, with so many lunch bets on the line, the stakes have never been higher. Press play start a wi-fight!

Baconsale is kicking off our seventh season by talking about our top five & bottom five films from last year. Joel is a little drunk with power because his method of picking movies is quite suitable for this situation, whereas Kent was actually able to scrap together a list of favorites from the dearth of movies released in 2020—even if he had to grade on a curve. Along the way, Zack attempts a FOUL pun, Hans Zimmer gets called out as a hack, and we try our darndest not to give anything away about our top picks (but we don’t mind spoiling the worst ones). Press play to initiate the temporal pincer.

On this, our sixth season finale, Baconsale is looking back at our shows from this past year and talking about some of our favorite moments, both on the air and behind the scenes. Our schedule was destroyed by the pandemic (which Zack may have caused), but we still managed to create some memorable episodes, including when Kent promoted Helga Sinclair, Joel offended the cult of stuffing, we impersonated southern ants (who HATE grits), we safely invited guests into the Baconcave, we created the Parents Guide Game (which swept the nation!), and we sang….a LOT. Plus, we even dare to bring up the terrifying Scream Queen. 2020 has been a trying time for all of us, but we hope that the weekly episodes have helped lift your spirits in some way—they certainly lifted ours. Press play to hear our sincere thanks to our listener and to our patrons for helping us get through season six of Baconsale!

You’d better watch out, you’d better not cry, you’d better not pout, I’m telling you why… because some of these creepy Christmas creatures will beat you, kill you, or eat you. On this episode of Baconsale, we’re sharing unusual holiday folklore from around the world, but primarily from Germany, Iceland, Austria, and France (because Europe is weird). It’s dangerous to go alone on this perilous path, so we’ve invited Chris Draudt, a Krampus expert/enthusiast to join us. Listen as we butcher the names of Knecht Ruprecht, Père Fouettard, Mari Lwyd, Kallikantzaros and other companions of Saint Nicholas. But beware, some of these traditional yuletide tales can get pretty grim. Grab a bundle of birch branches, pull that potato out of your shoe, and press play!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Baconsale is going to do another Christmas song category show! It’s been five years since our last holiday music episode, but Joel is more than happy to do another one. Kent, on the other hand, is a bit of a Scrooge when it comes to yuletide tunes. Nevertheless, we’ve come up with twelve categories—including Best Duet/Collaboration, the One You Can’t Resist Singing, Most Underrated, and Worst Acapella Cover—and Kent, Joel & Zack are going to each pick a winner for each one. Come on, it’s lovely weather for a podcast together with you! Press play!

You may have heard us play Cable, IMAX, Erase on Baconsale before, but never like this. Yes, for the first few rounds we’re going to take three movies and decide which one we’d watch in theaters, which one we’d watch on standard-definition television, and which one we’d erase from existence. However, then we’re going to change things up and adapt the game to food, bands, candy, actors & actresses, restaurants, and more! Joel tries his best to be the villain, but Kent steals the crown back pretty quickly. And watch out for when Zack attacks! Press play to hear us hem & haw about decisions that don’t really have any consequences.

Imagine that it’s Thanksgiving. You’re at the serving table. Which foods get the prime real estate on your dinner plate? That’s the question we’re asking today on Baconsale. Kent, Joel, and Zack are going to tier turkey, rank rolls, score stuffing, grade gravy, criticize cranberry sauce, and put pie in its place with the help of our special guest, Jennifer Kielkowski. We’ll also discuss the history of Turkey Day, share family traditions, and give a few fun facts with the leftover time. Please pass the potatoes and press play.

Back in 2016, we ranked popular pizza chains, but on this episode we’re bringing it home and popping it in the oven because Baconsale is ranking frozen pizzas. We’ve tested & ranked 25 popular pizza brands and scientifically identified the top five best and the bottom five worst. We’ve included thin crusts, rising crusts, gluten-free crusts, and everything in between. We also have a saucy discussion about the history of frozen pizza, our experiences with the taste testing, governmental cheese regulation, what “uncured pepperoni” means, and Zack’s lack of enthusiasm for this freezer favorite. Preheat your device to 400 degrees, then press play!

Hey There Delilah, it’s time for Baconsale to Crank That bracket of 2000s songs from the Around the World (La La La La La) and declare an ultimate winner! As we’re Ridin’ along, no band or artist is Bulletproof, because the one-hit wonder police are here to Shake It up a bit. When some music match-ups Collide, it’s a bit of a Paralyzer for Kent, Joel, and Zack. Nevertheless, The Boys of Summer will press forward and make the difficult decisions as they comb through A Thousand Miles of random facts. And of course, as is to be expected, things get a little Crazy. Go on. Go on. Leave me Breathless by pressing play. And you can download your own advanced 2000s one-hit wonder at Baconsale.com.

Who Let the Dogs Out? Well, that’s exactly what we’re going to try to figure out Right Now. On this episode of Baconsale, we’re talking about one-hit wonders of the 2000s. Everytime We Touch one of these music tournaments, people get a little Headstrong and say we made them have a Bad Day. Nevertheless, we’re going to advance one round on our bracket this time, and after a few Days Go By, we’ll do another episode where we’ll determine which song wins All or Nothing. Wherever You Will Go, Crush that play button, Butterfly! Download our official 2000s one-hit wonder bracket at Baconsale.com.

It was a dark and stormy night, and Kent, Joel, and Jacob are hunkered down in the Baconcave, ready to bring you horrifying true crime stories to end this Halloween season. Beware, the tales we share may be a bit too intense for children, but we’ll still try to keep things as family friendly as we can…while discussing murder. Along the way, [INSERT RUNNING GAGS FROM THE EPISODE] Press play to [INSERT INSIDE JOKE] [SCHEDULED TO PUBLISH ON 10/26]

Two years after The Haunting of Hill House terrified Kent and Joel, Netflix has released the second story in this eerie anthology, The Haunting of Bly Manor. But will this sequel series be as scary as we supposed? We’ll keep the first part of this review spoiler-free, so even if you haven’t seen it yet, you can still listen to this BaconBit. After that, we’ll discuss all nine episodes and give our opinions on the story, the characters, and the way the story is told. It’s you. It’s me. It’s Baconsale. Press play.