Episode 8: Cereal blitz!

SNL celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2025 but we didn't start watching it until the 1990s. As Canadian kids with bedtimes in the 80s, we had more exposure to SCTV, the incredible sketch comedy show that featured an outrageously talented cast from Second City. Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, John Candy and Harold Ramis and later Rick Moranis and Martin Short on one show! In this episode, we reminisce with our good friend, Marcus J, and revisit our favourite movies featuring SCTV alumni. It's a beauty, eh!

Comics were huge in the early 20th century. Superheroes came to life on the radio in the 30s before movies and then TV in the 60s. They appeared to experience a resurgence in the 80s as film companies re-discovered this treasure trove of beloved characters and stories (decades before the onslaught of the MCU). We take you back to our childhoods of buying comics and watching our favourites (Batman, Superman, the Hulk and more) on the silver screen with our guest and long-time friend, Casey Parsons. Casey has been drawing since he was two years old and has become a well-known comic book artist, drawing covers for several titles (including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Haha, Little Bird, Swamp Dogs, Creepshow and Department Of Truth) and was featured in multiple Marvel trading card series (including the box art for one set)! He also loves movies so brings a wealth of knowledge on both fronts.

Every generation dreams about the future and what advances will be made. In the 80s, we were wondering about the new millenium and whether we would have alien or robot overlords. Join us and our special guest, Doug Nagy, as we explore the roots of humanity's dystopian fascination, what they say about us and what some of our favourite films in this genre got right in their future predictions. Shortly after this was recorded, Doug was named Hamilton's Funniest Comic! We got little glimpses of his humour while also learning a lot about his favourite movies outside of 'Roadhouse'.

No writer and director spent more time mining adolescence in the 80s than the eternal teenager, John Hughes. Join us and our guest, Mary Kennedy, as we dig into his six teen films and explore what we feel has remained endearing and valuable and what has lost its lustre with the passage of time and growth (or maybe was problematic back then too but wasn't spoken). We try to cover it all before we decide which film belongs in the Cinema Time Capsule.

Happy holidays, viewers! Join us as we travel back to 1985 to pick our 'top five' toy requests to Santa and our parents based on the Sears Wishbook while reminiscing a bit on Eaton's and Consumers Distributing. A lot of you sent in messages about your favourite Christmas toys too so thank you! We also revisit a couple of our favourite 80s holiday TV specials and hope you will watch with us.

You want more terror? Ahhhhhh! Lock the doors and do not invite in any stranger that show up (they are vampires, for sure). Here's the second half of our horrifying conversation with Mike Trebilcock in which we revisit some of our favourite frightening flicks of the 80s.

Who likes being scared? Child Of The 80s does, that's who! The Doctor Of All Things Retro maintains he does not in spite of his co-host's insistence otherwise! We had the pleasure of watching some horror films with Mike Trebilcock, frontman of Canadian music legends, The Killjoys, and composer of film scores for current horror movies. Mike and Jeff bond over their love of this genre, Joel warms to the idea that he might not dislike it as much as he originally thought and Producer Simon tries to keep them all from being lost in the woods (nothing good ever comes of that in a horror film).

Waking up in the morning was/is a drag but filling a bowl with your favourite sugary cereals can turn that frown upside down and get you running. Free toy inside! Free toy inside! So many good cereals with great commercials and false promises of healthy eating were part of our 80s childhoods. We bought a lot of our favourites to reminisce and see if they were as good in 2023 as they were in 1983.

We are long-winded and we enjoy talking movies so here is the second half of our conversation with Dr. Sean Springer on our selections for 80s buddy movies! We also check the answering machine for your messages and give you the results of the poll!

Dynamic duos have often been featured in movies since they began (and go back into radio and theatre). They share a strong bond of trust but may have similar or opposing strengths and they understand each other better than the people around them due to their shared experiences or some apparent mental connection. There were some great partnerships in 80s movies and we looked at six movies that featured them with our special guest, Dr. Sean Springer, a professor of film studies and a fellow 80s kid. This is part 1 of 2 for this episode.