Episode 1692 - K-Pop Demon Hunting in Jacksonville/Nerd Culture in the 80s vs Now!

Jimmy jaunts down to his old hometown of Jacksonville, FL for a short mental health break. He meets up w/ childhood pals Ted and Edward along w/ Edward's son Evan for some podcasting. First, the 3 olds discuss access to nerd culture growing up in the 80s and compare it to growing up now. Evan talks about how he discovered his love of nerdy things and the ease of access to it all.  The main chat is a revisit to K-Pop Demon Hunters. Ted had never seen it. So Jimmy badgered him into watching it w/ him the night before the recording. Jimmy and Evan have seen it many many times and Edward a couple of times. They see if Ted likes it or not which ultimately will decide if they remain friends. ;) Ted gives his true feelings about it, what it was like watching it with Jimmy and if it lives up to the hype.  www.comicnewsinsider.com

Top 3…uh…6!: One Battle After Another, This Is Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, Left-Handed Girl, Adolescence s1, The Elixir, Once Upon A Dance Time: Peach Boy Jimmy is back with some more great recommendations for you to check out! Check them out if you haven't. And if you have, let us know what you thought. 

Reviews​: Fionna and Cake s2​, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Stranger Things series finale, Avatar: Fire and Ash, Dust Bunny​, Predator: Badlands​, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple​, Wicked: For Good Another TV/film/streaming review catch-up! Some recent ones and some from end of last year for your listening pleasure. Did you check any of these out? Let us know your thoughts and if you agree/disagree with Jimmy. 

Hope you enjoyed our Best of 2025 and Jimmy's extra picks! We reached out to CNI pals to get them to send in some of their fave 2025 pics, Thanks to friends Monica Gallagher, Kathy Kim, Waverly Lim, Marta Balusek, Jenna Cha, Maria Hoey, Jonathan Baylis, David Monteith, Corey Brotherson, Melissa Bleier, Steph Crawford and Bre Sarpy! So many great choices to check out.

Hope you enjoyed our Best of 2025! Jimmy still had more picks to recommend so he thought he'd do a solo show to tell you all about them. Some comics, TV, film, streaming & more. Were any of these on your list? What other ones did you love?

It's our BIG Best of 2025 podcast! In the annual very lengthy podcast, Jimmy and Producer Joe welcome back friends Heidi MacDonald (The Beat EIC) and Avery Kaplan (The Beat Features Editor) to join in the fun. They each talk about their favorite picks of 2025 in comics, TV, streaming and film. There will be multiple great picks per category from some of them as well. Hang in there for the ride! As we always say, these picks are what we read/saw and we didn't read/see EVERYTHING. What are some of your faves of last year? 

Jimmy ends the year with some recent favorite picks in an extended Top 3 segment. 12 picks in comics, movies, TV, streaming & music! The Great Flood​, Good Tickle Brain​, Snoop's Holiday Halftime Party​, U​nfolding musical, Paddington the Musical, Daddy Issues​, Inside of You w/ Michael Rosenbaum podcast: Allison Mack episode, Culinary Class Wars s2, Cashero​, My Daughter is a Zombie​, K-Pop Demon Hunters: For the Fans​ Little Golden Book, Hazbin Hotel: Live on Broadway. Hear his thoughts on all of them and go check them out. Happy New Year! www.comicnewsinsider.com

Reviews: DC's I Saw Ma Hunkel Kissing Santa Claus​, Spider-Man: Holiday Spectacular, Sanda, Disney's Hulu's Family Guy Hallmark Channel's Lifetime's Familiar Holiday Movie​, Tinsel Town​, A Very Jonas Christmas Movie​, Shin Wooseok's Urban Fairy Tale: The Christmas Song - Part 1 & 2 Jimmy does his annual review of Christmas comics, TV and film. What's new this year? What's good? There's Santa, super-superheroes, angels, K-pop idols, pop stars and Kiefer Sutherland! Some of these reviews may surprise you as well as what Jimmy thiinks of them. Check them out if you haven't! 

We interrupt the Thought Bubble Festival coverage once more. This time for a last minute holiday gift guide! Jimmy gives out some good suggestions of what to buy for the nerd in your life. And if that nerd is you, then that's great too! From comics to merch to gift cards, he has some awesome ideas for you. So give it a listen and get shopping before time runs out! 

Reviews: DC KO #1/#2, DC/Marvel Batman/Deadpool #1, 1776 #1, Bat-Fam, Hazbin Hotel s2, Stranger Things vol 5, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, In Your Dreams, Zootopia 2 We interrupt all of the Thought Bubble Festival interview goodness to review some recent comics, TV, film, streaming. Let us know if you've checked any out and your thoughts on them. And come back later this week for more Thought Bubble Fest interviews!