What A Cartoon!

Years before The Simpsons made Fox a household institution, the network succeeded in its first era thanks to another cartoony family that just happened to be living, breathing human beings. In mid-1987, Fox kicked off its prime-time programming with Married... with Children, a bawdy domestic farce with characters far meaner and stories far cruder than your average sitcom. And over its healthy eleven seasons, this humble show grew from an inspired satire to a broad, gleefully silly series of adventures for its unwitting folk hero, Al Bundy. On this special live-action edition of What A Cartoon, join us as we take a look at this early Fox hit that paved the way for our bread and butter—but please, no obnoxious hooting and hollering. Support this podcast and get over 200 full-length bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow us at @TalkSimpsonsPod on Bluesky!

Another month has passed at the Talking Simpsons Network, and that means we've got another awesome podcast about an animated feature film! This month, our $10 Patreon subscribers get to hear us talk about 1996's James and the Giant Peach! Listen now to this free extended preview, and then subscribe at the $10 level (or up your current pledge to $10) to hear the whole thing and all of our previous What A Cartoon Movie podcasts. Sign up today!

Adult Swim is typically known for cynical, vulgar, and gross shows about irredeemable sociopaths—shows that we absolutely love, mind you. But late last year, the programming block unveiled a wonderful new creation that's completely antithetical to their general philosophy. A sendup of TGIF sitcoms from the '90s, Haha, You Clowns centers around three large sons and their also large dad, and each episode focuses on a very small problem that usually gets blown way out of proportion. The pitch may sound very simple on paper, but the execution, with its incredibly observational humor and cast of lovable goofs, makes this little series both heartwarming and hilarious. So sit back and keep a close eye on your favorite garment as we jump into the weird but welcoming world of these three yoked-up brothers. Support this podcast and get over 200 full-length bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow us at @TalkSimpsonsPod on Bluesky!

Another month has passed at the Talking Simpsons Network, and that means we've got another awesome podcast about an animated feature film! This month, our $10 Patreon subscribers get to hear us talk about 2004's Shrek 2! Listen now to this free extended preview, and then subscribe at the $10 level (or up your current pledge to $10) to hear the whole thing and all of our previous What A Cartoon Movie podcasts. Sign up today!

In the mid-80s, the people who brought us cartoons like G.I. Joe and Transformers asked themselves an important question: Why don't we try selling toys to girls? And sell they did via the magic of Jem: a truly outrageous animated series about a glam-rocking girl group at odds with their bitter rivals, The Misfits. While the series burned fast and bright—and failed to make waves with a revival 30 years later—Jem lives on in our hearts as one of the most delightfully '80s creations ever made (that also happens to be anime). This month, bust out the mascara and fright wigs and get ready to take a trip to the totally radical Reagan era as we look at one of this series' most twisted episodes. Our guest: Dan McCoy from The Flop House podcast Support this podcast and get over 200 ad-free bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow the official Twitter, @TalkSimpsonsPod, not to mention Bluesky and Instagram!

Another month has passed at the Talking Simpsons Network, and that means we've got another awesome podcast about an animated feature film! This month, our $10 Patreon subscribers get to hear us talk about 1959's Sleeping Beauty! Listen now to this free extended preview, and then subscribe at the $10 level (or up your current pledge to $10) to hear the whole thing and all of our previous What A Cartoon Movie podcasts. Sign up today!

The Talking Simpsons Network is taking a week off for the holiday season, so to fill the content gap, we've decided to post an episode of our Patreon-exclusive Talking Futurama podcast miniseries! If you like this episode and want to hear the rest (with more to come every month), head over to Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and sign up at the $5 level. Once you do, you'll have immediate access to all of our limited miniseries, covering animated shows like King of the Hill, Mission Hill, The Critic, and Batman: The Animated Series. (That's over 200 bonus episodes to date!) So visit Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and sign up today! This episode was originally posted on December 8, 2024.

Happy New Year! In case you didn't know, every month we release the premium podcast, What A Cartoon Movie. And, as we take a week off to rest and recharge, we're giving all of our listeners a chance to hear a free sample of this Patreon-exclusive series. So please, enjoy our ultra-long look at Toy Story! And if you'd like to hear 85 more episodes of What A Cartoon Movie—with a new one to come every month—simply head on over to the Talking Simpsons Network and sign up at the $10 level. If you enjoy hearing us talk about cartoons, you'll be glad you did! This episode was originally posted on November 30, 2019.

Another month has passed at the Talking Simpsons Network, and that means we've got another awesome podcast about an animated feature film! This month, our $10 Patreon subscribers get to hear us talk about 1988's My Neighbor Totoro! Listen now to this free extended preview, and then subscribe at the $10 level (or up your current pledge to $10) to hear the whole thing and all of our previous What A Cartoon Movie podcasts. Sign up today!

Another month has passed at the Talking Simpsons Network, and that means we've got another awesome podcast about an animated feature film! This month, our $10 Patreon subscribers get to hear us talk about 1988's Christmas at Pee-Wee's Playhouse! Listen now to this free extended preview, and then subscribe at the $10 level (or up your current pledge to $10) to hear the whole thing and all of our previous What A Cartoon Movie podcasts. Sign up today!  

Rats off to ya, What A Cartoon listeners! This month, we're returning to picturesque Jefferton to discuss an Adult Swim holiday classic that's filled our cups with yuletide brine for more than two decades. It's been over six years since we last checked in on Tom Goes to the Mayor, and this Christmas season is the perfect opportunity to look into yet another misguided entrepreneurial effort from the one and only Tom Peters. So put on your decorative wristlets and blast your favorite ZaZu album as we explore this yuletide tale of capitalism run amok. Support this podcast and get over 200 ad-free bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow the official Twitter, @TalkSimpsonsPod, not to mention Bluesky and Instagram!

In 1990, Fox aired a pilot that then went unseen for over 26 years. Its name? Hollywood Dog. And while it isn't very good, this live-action/animation hybrid—developed at the same time as The Simpsons—features some truly ambitious special effects for a network that had barely gotten off of the ground. We could only rely on fuzzy memories for the nearly three decades Hollywood Dog remained unavailable, but thankfully, some kind maniac discovered a clean copy, and it's currently available for all to see on Youtube. Now, three entirely different maniacs can discuss it on this very podcast! This week on What A Cartoon, join us and special guest Drew Mackie (of Gayest Episode Ever) as we gaze in terror at Hollywood Dog: the Poochie-fied character who threatened to kick off the '90s, but instead kicked the bucket and faded into obscurity. Support this podcast and get over 200 full-length bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow us at @TalkSimpsonsPod on Bluesky!

Another month has passed at the Talking Simpsons Network, and that means we've got another awesome podcast about an animated feature film! This month, our $10 Patreon subscribers get to hear us talk about 2009's Fantastic Mr. Fox! Listen now to this free extended preview, and then subscribe at the $10 level (or up your current pledge to $10) to hear the whole thing and all of our previous What A Cartoon Movie podcasts. Sign up today!

The Halloween season is upon us once again, and this time around, we've stumbled into a big pile of doo—Scooby-Doo, that is! Five years after we first explored the Doo-niverse, we're back to cover the smart, self-aware late '80s reboot that fully exploited—and poked fun at—the accumulated tropes from 20 years of those meddling, mystery-solving kids and their somewhat helpful dog. So sit back, ignore any Red Herrings, and listen in as we explore this vital piece of the TV animation renaissance puzzle! Support this podcast and get over 200 full-length bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow us at @TalkSimpsonsPod! on Bluesky!

Another month has passed at the Talking Simpsons Network, and that means we've got another awesome podcast about an animated feature film! This month, our $10 Patreon subscribers get to hear us talk about 2014's The Lego Movie! Listen now to this free extended preview, and then subscribe at the $10 level (or up your current pledge to $10) to hear the whole thing and all of our previous What A Cartoon Movie podcasts. Sign up today!

The anime drought officially ends on this month's What A Cartoon podcast with a VERY long episode about that '90s VHS fantasy/comedy classic, Slayers! While this charming series tragically never found a home on American television, it still thrived in its own bubble; and if you were part of the anime subculture around Y2K, it's likely you were briefly involved in Slayers-mania. It's a series worthy of exploration, and to fully plumb the depths of this animated D&D session, we've recruited Slayers fan and Wife of the Show Nina Matsumoto to help out—and she's brought some original research never-before-heard by an English-speaking audience. So listen in as we transport you back to an era when Pocky was still an incredibly rare and valuable commodity. Support this podcast and get over 200 full-length bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow us at @TalkSimpsonsPod! on Bluesky!

Another month has passed at the Talking Simpsons Network, and that means we've got another awesome podcast about an animated feature film! This month, our $10 Patreon subscribers get to hear us talk about 2002's Treasure Planet! Listen now to this free extended preview, and then subscribe at the $10 level (or up your current pledge to $10) to hear the whole thing and all of our previous What A Cartoon Movie podcasts. Sign up today!

Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's another podcast about Superman! (Please have your eyes examined.) Yes, we last checked in on the Man of Steel's '90s adaptation during the dawn of COVID, but with Superman fever currently sweeping the nation, there's never been a better time to discuss one of this underappreciated series' finest episodes. So listen in as Superman goes toe-to-toe with one of his most insidious foes: the carceral state!

Another month has passed at the Talking Simpsons Network, and that means we've got another awesome podcast about an animated feature film! This month, our $10 Patreon subscribers get to hear us talk about 2001's Atlantis: The Lost Empire! Listen now to this free extended preview, and then subscribe at the $10 level (or up your current pledge to $10) to hear the whole thing and all of our previous What A Cartoon Movie podcasts. Sign up today!

The Talking Simpsons Network is taking a week off, so to fill the content gap, we've decided to post an episode of our Patreon-exclusive Talking Futurama podcast miniseries! If you like this episode and want to hear the rest (with more to come every month), head over to Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and sign up at the $5 level. Once you do, you'll have immediate access to all of our limited miniseries, covering animated shows like King of the Hill, Mission Hill, The Critic, and Batman: The Animated Series. That's over 200 bonus episodes to date! So visit Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and sign up today! Episode originally posted on April 13, 2025.