Baconsale: Hickory-smoked Pop Culture

Where’s the beef? Well, it’s in Kent’s, Joel’s, and Jacob’s bellies, because Baconsale has completed another menu quest! Despite a global pandemic, we managed to eat every single item at Wendy’s and we’re ready to talk about the best & worst offerings the world's third-largest hamburger fast-food chain has to offer. We’ll also discuss Dave Thomas, strange slogans, chili scandals, Twitter roasts, and more—all while uncovering Joel’s fondness of Frostys, Kent’s soft spot for spicy things, and Jacob’s passion for potatoes. Don’t be a square (burger), press play!

Atteeeeeention! Now, I want you to remember that no podcast ever won by doing only one episode about war movies. They won by doing two episodes about war movies. On this episode of Baconsale, Kent and Joel are building more monuments for some of their favorite war films—this time focusing on World War I and World War II. From the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand to the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers, we’re going to do our best to honor those movies that really made an impact on the cinematic world, even if they aren’t completely historically accurate. Keep the sand out of your weapons, keep those actions clear, and press play.

Sparkly vampires, shirtless werewolves, vacant stares, clumsy dialogue. We know what this is...and we’re going to say it…out loud. Twilight. But don’t expect the full force of our criticism to be unleashed, because on this episode of Baconsale our task is to defend Stephenie Meyer’s popular books and their film adaptations. It’s not going to be easy, but we’re going to do our best to stay positive and speak about the merits of this young adult romance fantasy franchise. However, we will allow ourselves a few rant breaks, just so we don’t completely go insane. It doesn’t matter if you’re Team Edward, Team Jacob, or Team Aro, you’d better press play, spider monkey!

We’re Baconsale and we’re criminal masterminds. Well…maybe we are. We’re not quite certain, actually. But we are certain that Disney just released a film adaptation of Artemis Fowl, and we’re going to review it. None of us have read the book series, so we watched this movie without any expectations. We have a lot to say about it now. And even if you haven’t seen it, you can still listen to the first part of this review, which is spoiler free. In fact, we recommend listening to this episode before you watch it. Dame Judi Dench’s gravely voice commands that you press play.

Surfin’ may be the only life, the only way for some, but for the three landlocked members of Baconsale, The Beach Boys was their closest connection to catchin’ waves, cool cars, and sunny beaches. So on this episode, we’re pickin' up good vibrations by discussing the best and worst songs this classic American rock band has given us during their five decades of making music. Kent thinks Brian Wilson is a genius. Zack says he loves The Beach Boys, but does he really? And Joel must draw a line in the sand about Kokomo. Tell the teacher we’re surfin’, tell your dad we’re finally talking about one of his favorite bands, then press play!

Come on down! You’re the next listener on the Baconsale podcast! On this episode, we’re talking about game shows, old and new, and the survey says Kent, Joel, and Zack will have a great time doing it. We’re picking answers for 15 different categories, such as Best Host, Most Recognizable Theme Song, Show You Think You’d Do Well On, and Needs a Comeback. Plus, Joel & Kent try to win fabulous prizes while taking a trivia quiz that reveals who is the weakest link. Press play, then phone a friend and tell them to listen as well.

Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four members of Baconsale lived in ignorance of a popular Nickelodeon TV series. Then, everything changed when Joel’s coworkers suggested he watch it. Only Joel watched Avatar: The Last Airbender at first, then he recommended it to Kent and it began to spread. But when the world needed this show the most, it vanished from streaming services. A few years passed, and Avatar has now returned to Netflix, and we have a superfan named Kris joining us to talk about it. And although our desire to discuss the whole series is great, we’re going to stick to the basics in order to appeal to everyone. But we believe that The Last Airbender can save the world. Don’t let the animation style scare you away. Press play!

Gooooooooood morning, listener! There are many war movies out there. So many. Too many to choose from, in fact, so we’ve strategically narrowed down the field a bit. On this episode of Baconsale, Kent and Joel are each selecting four war films that don’t deal with the World Wars to put on their personal monument, following which we’ll decide which ones we’d carve in stone to create a public monument. From the Persian invasion of Greece to modern-day Afghanistan (but skipping over the years 1914 through 1945), we’re discussing some of the best battles the silver screen has to offer. Are you not entertained? Wait, you’re not? Well, then, press play.

Kent hoped. Kent dreamed. Kent retweeted. And finally, this DC fanboy’s dream has come true, because Zack Snyder’s Justice League is coming to the small screen! HBO Max is releasing the Snyder Cut next year, 2021, and Kent could not be happier. Well, he would have been a little happier if Henry Cavill had announced Man of Steel 2, but he’s still pretty thrilled, and he wants to spread his warm fuzzy feelings to you, the listener. Press play to hear Kent squee with geeky delight!

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, select, start. There. Now you have 30 lives to listen to this episode of Baconsale! Today we’re taking things back to our childhood, when we would spend hours playing video games on the original Nintendo Entertainment System on our big 22-inch screen TVs. We’ve picked a dozen categories such as Doesn’t Hold Up, Deserves a Reboot, Best Box Art, and Most Frustrating Boss, and Kent & Joel are ready to choose their NES answers for each one. It's dangerous to go alone! Press play to take this episode.

We’re not quite sure how Kent talked us into doing this, but for this BaconBit we’re reviewing the 2020 remake of a 1997 PlayStation game that was the seventh installment in the series. Kent was very passionate about Final Fantasy 7 back then, and he seems to share the same passion now—even though the new remake changes some things that fans of the franchise may not be happy with. Join us as we do our best to not make Kent cry, because he did back in ’97 when he played FF7. Oh, and just in case you were worried, we’re not spoiling anything for the first part of this review, so go ahead and press play.

Have you ever enjoyed a movie that you never wanted to watch again? Kent, Joel, and Zack have! Whether it be because they were too long, too dark, too experimental, or too perfect, we’re talking about films that we’re glad we saw, but don’t have a desire to revisit. We’ll do our best to keep things light and fluffy, despite the grim subject matter we encounter along the way. Listen as Kent fears for Joel's hipster soul, while Zack makes some picks that are sure to be controversial for both children & adults. Press play to decide how many times you’d like to listen to this episode of Baconsale.

Imagine Kent and Joel are on a school field, with a bunch of bad animated feature films standing in front of them. They must choose their team, one by one, and then present their final list to Zack, who has to decide which group of movies he’ll be watching for the rest of his life. That’s the premise of this episode. Watch as we try to defend mediocre-to-terrible children’s cartoons that you, the listener, gave to us. It ain’t pretty, but it’s Baconsale. Don’t get left on the bench, press play!

Now that Chris Hemsworth is taking a break from being Thor (and taking a break from arm day, according to Zack), Baconsale is here to give our review of his latest movie, Extraction. But is this straight-to-Netflix action flick as good as the ones they release in theaters? We’ll let you know. And don’t worry about the overly complicated plot, we’re ready to help walk you through it once we leave the spoiler-free part of this BaconBit. Press play to hear some amazing Australian-like accents!

Are you ready for a life-changing experience that will change your life forever? Four years ago, Baconsale presented a list of people, places, and things that we felt were overrated. Everyone in the world agreed it was the best show we’d ever done…UNTIL NOW! Buckle your brain belts, because once again, we’re talking about overhyped stuff. Our range of random topics includes overpraised breakfast foods, Olympic sports, Pixar movies, sitcom characters, smartphone features, condiments (a surprisingly touchy subject), and so much more! Press play to have your mind blown by the new most greatest episode of Baconsale!

You can be a winner at the game of life by listening to this episode of Baconsale! Today we’re ranking some of the most popular tabletop games in history, including Monopoly, Scrabble, Twister (can you play that on a table?), Yahtzee, Connect Four, and The Settlers of Catan. You think playing Risk makes people angry? Just wait until Kent, Joel, or Zack give one of your family favorites a low tier. Get ready for fun facts, random histories, and the confessions of a board flipper. And just in case you were wondering who we want to press the play button, it’s you, in your home, with the candlestick.

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is a wonderful resource for any movie-lover, but some of the user-submitted content on that site is a little strange. Therefore, on this episode of Baconsale, we’re introducing a new game (that’s going to sweep the nation!) where Kent, Joel, and Zack try to identify movies based solely on descriptions from the IMDb Parents Guide. We invite you to play along, as well, and see if you can beat our scores. Also, you should know that while this episode discusses potentially offensive material in films, we still try to keep things as family friendly as possible. Press play to hear why 1 out of 1 listener found this podcast interesting!

Just because something is awful doesn’t mean we hate it. Today Baconsale is scraping the bottom of the barrel to search for movies we enjoy among the lowest-rated flicks on Rotten Tomatoes. Kent has to defend one of his all-time favorite films, Joel is apparently obsessed with Dana Carvey, and our good friend Zack, who is stepping in for Jacob today, almost gets kicked off the show multiple times. Press play to get critical with Baconsale!

Hey, all you cool cats and kittens! Hollywood may have stopped releasing feature films in theaters, but Netflix is bigger than ever with their latest seven-episode documentary, Tiger King. And in case you’ve been wondering what all the memes are about, Baconsale is here to review it. Kent, Joel, and Zack each watched it and are still trying to process everything they saw. If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t worry, the first half of this BaconBit is spoiler free. Don’t believe Carole Baskin’s lies about us! Press play to hear all about murder, mayhem and madness.

If you’ve got some time to kill—and many of us seem to have that problem these days—this is the episode for you! Today on Baconsale we’re talking about television shows that will help pass the hours, days, and even weeks, if necessary. These are shows that are available to stream online right now, so you can start enjoying our recommendations immediately. However, we must warn you that Kent embraces the dark, Joel gets in touch with his feminine side, and Jacob…well, Jacob has something important to tell you. Press play to hear the record for most Star Trek references on a single episode of Baconsale! (The previous record was one.)