Baconsale: Hickory-smoked Pop Culture

Welcome to the Jungle, listener, because Baconsale has begun The Final Countdown to finish our 1980s rock bracket. The previous episode was the Glory Days, when we could Jump to conclusions relatively easily. But now Joel, Kent, and Zack are experiencing a New Sensation of stress as each matchup tastes like Bad Medicine and each decision could give them a Bad Reputation. But We Won’t Back Down from this journey we started, and in The Spirit of Radio we’ll swallow our Pride and continue on until only One band remains Alone.   Join us on this Flight of Icarus to determine who plays the best Rock of Ages by pressing play.   If you’d like to Bark at the Moon along with us, you can download the advanced 80s rock bracket at Baconsale.com.

For those about to listen to this 80s rock tournament, we salute you! This episode of Baconsale Hurts so Good, because Joel, Kent, and Zack have gathered some of the greatest Juke Box Heroes from the 1980s on a bracket to determine who is the best. It’s going to be a Heartbreaker whenever we put two amazing bands up against each other and have to decide who’s visited by the Angel of Death in the Heat of the Moment. And it may seem like a Madhouse as we share our reasoning, but don’t let our picks Rock You Like a Hurricane. Don’t Run to the Hills or Bang Your Head, either. Just keep in mind that you Don’t Know What You Got Till It’s Gone, and this is still Nothin’ But a Good Time.   Who’s gonna win? Well, Our Lips are Sealed until the second half of this tournament.   Download our official bracket at Baconsale.com to Rock the Casbah at home, and if you’re living in a Land of Confusion, you can find our sampler platter playlist on our website, as well.

Magic mirror, on the wall, who’s the most controversial live-action Disney remake of all? On this BaconBit, Joel, Kent, and Zack will be giving their thoughts and opinions about Snow White (2025), Disney’s latest reimagining/money grab. We’ll (yellow) skirt around the multiple controversies before debating if this movie is a bad apple or not, all while keeping it spoiler-free for the first 20 minutes or so. After that, we’ll wander deep into the forest of spoilers and whistle while we work to remember the various changes from the original animated film and discuss how we feel about them.   Does Snow White dwarf the competition? Press play to find out.

Hello, listener! What's the craic? We’re grand, but seein' as how we've done a few of these country-centric episodes before, we figured it was high time we talked about Ireland. And while neither Joel nor Kent nor Zack have been to The Emerald Isle before, two of them really want to go there one day. And yes, there will be some attempts at Irish (or Oirish) accents as the boys are gabbin' about the pop culture influences of Ireland and givin' answers for such categories as A Fine Irish Film, A Lad You Could Hang Out with at the Pub, Celts in Your Mouth, Quite a Lovely Lass, Top O' the Music Industry, and Wails like a Banshee. And we hope you learn a thing or two as you experience Zack's travel facts about Ireland and multiple Pierce Brosnan references.   Brúigh imirt! (That's Gaelic for "press play!")

It's a topsy-turvy world, and maybe the podcast of three people don't amount to a hill of beans. But this is our hill. And these are our beans! Therefore, on this episode of Baconsale, we’re ranking parody movies. What are those? They’re films that spoof previous works, but that’s not important right now. What’s really groovy, baby, is that we have 24 comedies that Joel, Kent, and Zack are going to be tiering, including funny flicks like Hot Shots!, Spaceballs, MacGruber, Tropic Thunder, Scary Movie, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and Waiting for Guffman. Some of them may not rank as high as you’d like, but that’s a sacrifice we are willing to make. And beware of exclamation points(!), my wife references, and the Joel genre, as we decide IF we’re going to make a sequel.   Put... the candle... back! Then press play.

Having issues logging in? If so — we’re on it! Our team is actively investigating, and we hope to have things back up and running soon. Wait, we’re Baconsale, not Hulu, so this BaconBit about the 97th Academy Awards should work just fine. Kent was the only one to watch the ceremony live this year, and Zack has regrets because he thought the clips he watched afterwards were funny. But was having Conan O'Brien as the host enough to boost viewership for the Oscars? What was in the big nominee gift bags this time? Is Timothée Chalamet cool? And who won our Baconsale Oscar ballot contest?   Press play to open the envelope and find out.

Neighborhoods are important to Zack, and he’s looking for a new place to move his family. Luckily, Kent and Joel are both creating special subdivisions of hand-selected citizens. However, the residents are all annoying families from various TV series that were suggested by you, the listener. Therefore, on this episode of Baconsale, we’ll be doing a schoolyard pick of characters from sitcoms such as Arrested Development, The Simpsons, Family Matters, The Beverly Hillbillies, Married with Children, The Goldbergs, Home Improvement, The Addams Family, Malcolm in the Middle, and more. Then it’s up to Zack to decide which neighbors he’d like to deal with. There will be plenty of theme song singing, some over-the-shoulder reading, and the shocking revelation that Kent likes blondes.   Press place to decide whether you’d like to live in Kenterville or The Sunshine Sitcommune.

Well, the 97th Academy Awards kind of snuck up on us this year. And while Kent has seen many of the nominees, most others haven’t. That’s why Baconsale is here. We’re fulfilling our duty of giving you the skinny on a bunch of lackluster movies so you don’t have to watch them, but you can still sound like an informed film geek around the water cooler. Joel, Kent, and Zack will explain why they’re predicting each category winner, and they’ll throw in a lot of architecture puns, too. And with Dylan’s/Warrens on the line, the stakes have never been higher. Will A Complete Unknown become a household name? Will the Nickel Boys change Academy voters’ minds? Will Wicked be green with envy? Does The Substance have the stuff to win? Will Anora escort some Oscars home? Will the Academy be kind to The Brutalist? Is Emilia Pérez el mal? Press play to discover the shocking truth.   Oh, and we’re also bribing you to listen. Visit Baconsale.com to fill out our official 2025 Oscars ballot for a chance to win a cinematic prize

The Baconsale interns may have been fired from their last job at an automated dating service, but some companies just don’t learn. This time, Joel, Kent, and Zack are running the applications of lonely movie villains through the high-tech D.A.T.E. machine, then determining how correct the algorithm is. We’ll decide if Norman Bates is too much of a momma's boy, if Nurse Ratched will go cuckoo for a man, if Hannibal Lecter would enjoy a taste of romance, and if a cute guy will make the Wicked Witch of the West just melt. Things get a little strange and there are a LOT of puns, but we hope this episode proves that some of us still believe in love.   Press play to be Ruthless Wainwight.

Last season, Baconsale explored the music of specific years in the past. This time, we’ve decided to put a cinematic spin on that idea and discuss the films we love, the movies we hate, and the flicks we’ve completely forgotten about from 1985. Joel, Kent, and Zack will start off sharing their Mount Rushmore of movies made 40 years ago, and then we’ll give answers for such categories as Better Left in the Past, Guilty Pleasure, Overrated, The Lesser Sequel, and Most Watched. There will be some overlapping choices, and Zack goes full hipster on two 80s babies, but we hope you enjoy the nostalgic vibes and play along as we share synopses first and reminisce about how dark children’s films were back then.   Press play to question why Out of Africa was named the best picture of 1985.

Nothing can stop us now. We’ll tell you how we’re gonna be ranking Disneyland rides again. Ka-chow! This time, Joel, Kent, Zack, and our guest Josh will be talking about Disney California Adventure and ranking the newer attractions in both parks. We have 26 rides to tier, so we’ll start things rocking with Astro Orbitor in 1998 and we’ll finish up with Tiana's Bayou Adventure in 2024. And during this adventure/voyage/jamboree, we’ll share our personal experiences with waiting in lines, riding with kids, shooting game injuries, Winnie the Puh, and terrifying water sprinkles. It’s a web-slinging, astro-blasting, Millenium Falcon smuggling, emotional whirlwind on this episode of Baconsale!   Press play to help us find Jack-Jack. Five, four, three, two, one! GO!

Since this is the second episode of a Baconsale season, you can probably predict what we’re going to do. However, you won’t be able to guess what will be said during our pop culture forecast for 2025. Joel and Kent will try to turn each prophecy into a pitch show, whereas Zack attempts to estimate actual events. We’ll chat about celebrities, expound on movies we’re excited about, and hold space for soup. We also added a new category to our sports section, and we definitely know what we’re talking about this time. But is Joelstradomus dead? Do Kent’s conspiracy theories hold merit? And how many times will Zack offer an apology? Listen to find out.    Press play if you’re #TeamSessyStitch or #Teamothy.

What should we do for dinner? That’s the simple question that spawned a spontaneous adventure for Joel, Kent, and Zack during their recent trip to California. And on this BaconBit, we’re going to share our experience going to Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament for the first time. We’ll talk about how a day of canceled plans turned into a magical & memorable evening that included an unexpected crowd, some sad horses, eating food with our bare hands, enthusiastic cheering for the color yellow, being served by a very nice wench, and a few embarrassing moments.   Join us, lords & ladies, for a look into how a ridiculous idea became a Baconsale reality.

Baconsale is back and ready to rank our favorite and least favorite movies from the previous year! Zack has decided to only opine during this first episode of our eleventh season, but Kent & Joel have each brought their top five and bottom five films to the table. After some quick cinematic stats, we’ll begin with the bad as fulfill our childhood dream of dancing with Post Malone and Satan. For the record, some of these terrible movies have good soundtracks. Then, after discussions about stabbing, misleading posters, and how jelly works, we’ll jump into the realm of good and talk about Glen Powell’s face, dark & disturbing mainstream picks, and appreciating movies even if you don’t like them.   Press play to kick off the season premiere of Baconsale!

Doesn't seem to matter what we do, it’s time to say adieu. And as Joel, Kent Daddy, and Zack wrap up season 10 of Baconsale, we’re taking a look back at the episodes we’ve done this year. We’ll throw out some seasonal stats first, then we’ll begin patting ourselves on the back as we talk (in parentheses) about our favorite intros, outros, images, blurbs, moments, running gags, and more. We’ll reminisce about converting to Arby’s or cream cheese, we’ll offer episode numbers right off the tops of our heads, we’ll steal each other’s jokes, and we’ll even start planning for the future as we discuss the past.   Don’t be a cheese pansy, press play to hear the final episode of 2024.

What a bright time, it’s the right time, for Baconsale to discuss Christmas music again. It seems that every classic holiday song has been covered hundreds of times, but on this episode, Joel, Kent, and Zack have whittled that down to three popular versions of 25 iconic songs, including "Jingle Bell Rock," "Let It Snow," "O Holy Night," "Sleigh Ride," “Here Comes Santa Claus,” and "Winter Wonderland." We’re going to debate each tree-o of tunes and decide which one should be the default on your smart speaker. We’ll also talk in parentheses, break some triple ties, and bare some bias about Bing and Bublé.   Beware of Big Gulps making mouth sounds after you press play.   You can also find the Spotify playlist of all the Christmas cover song candidates we bring up on this episode at Baconsale.com.

Baconsale has talked about Hallmark Christmas movies before, but on this episode, we’re creating our own holiday-themed rom-com by making a list, checking it twice, and using the childhood game of M.A.S.H. to find out whose films are naughty and nice. Joel, Kent, and Zack will each star in their own movies while a random number generator will pick things like their job, their love interest, their tragic backstory, and their reason for going back to their hometown. Then they’ll have to tie everything together in a magically festive way. After we’re done, it’s up to you, the listener, to decide which clichéd Christmas flick you would choose to watch this winter.   Watch out for Twister references as Twinkle, Jolly, and Mistletoe help you press play!

You know, 2004 doesn’t seem that long ago. . .until you start discussing the songs that came out back then. And that’s precisely what we’re doing on this episode of Baconsale. Joel, Kent, and Zack are going to relive their college and teenage years through music. We’re picking our favorite and least favorite tunes for categories such as There’s No Way It’s 20 Years Old, Iconic Angsty Student/Teen Song, It's Grown on Me, I Hate It Still, and more. There will be some repeated answers, more than a few honorable mentions, and plenty of references to Hoobastank, but you can rest assured that most of these artists are still alive.   Hey, hey, Luda! Press play!   You can also find our official Spotify playlist of songs we discussed on this episode at Baconsale.com.

Are we not merciful that we decided to do another BaconBit for you, our listener? Are you not entertained that Ridley Scott decided to do a sequel to his own Oscar-winning film over 20 years later? Joel hasn’t seen the movie yet, but Kent and Zack watched Gladiator II and they’re ready to give their review. The first part will be spoiler-free, except for a few plot points they already gave away in the trailer. After that, Joel will exit the arena so that Zack and Kent may unleash the full force of their GladIIator thoughts.   Use those fantastic arms of yours to press play.

The Hot Light is on, which means it’s time for Baconsale to discuss Krispy Kreme doughnuts! Or are they donuts? Regardless, Joel, Sprinkles, and Zack have tried over 20 different flavors of yeast-raised, fried, filled, and glazed treats and they’re ready to rank them, top to bottom. We’ll start with a discussion about the seasonal and limited-time offerings before moving along the icing-caked conveyor belt to our ratings for a baker’s dozen of core confections. We may unleash some kontroversies as we chat about the history of the Krispy Kreme chain and offer our opinions, but don’t worry, we’ll do our best to keep things sweet, light, and fluffy.   Press play to microwave this podcast for 8 seconds.