The Incomparable Mothership

In the spirit of coming downstairs and finding presents waiting under the tree, we offer the Incomparable Toy Draft. It’s not just a story about our favorite childhood toys—it’s also a story about the toys we desperately wanted and never got. Toy Draft Jason Snell with Shelly Brisbin, Lisa Schmeiser, Kelly Guimont, Moisés Chiullán, David J. Loehr, Chip Sudderth, Monty Ashley, Philip Michaels and Annette Wierstra Show Notes & Links Shelly: Easy Bake Oven Lisa: Playskool Bristle Blocks Kelly: Speak & Spell Moises: Skeletor Action Figure David: MEGO 1973 Mr. Scott Chip: Big Wheel Monty: Waterful Ring Toss Phil: Subbuteo Annette: Fashion Plates Jason: Micronauts Shelly: Water Wiggle Lisa: Barbie Styling Head Kelly: Weebles Tree House, Chief Cherpa of the Ewoks Moises: Boo Berry Action Figure David: 1979 Eden Toys Paddington Bear Chip: 1979 Kenner Star Wars Droid Factory Monty: Soma Cube Phil: Snoopy Snow-Cone Machine Annette: Barbie Star Traveler Motorhome Jason: 1977 Battlestar Galactica mail-away space station kit Shelly: Barbie Dream House, GI Joe Helicopter, Creepy Crawler Workshop, Matchbox Parking Garage Lisa: Crayola Caddy Kelly: Crossbows and Catapults, MicroMachines, Monchichi Moises: Snowth Funko Pop, Lego BD-1, Lego Super Mario Brothers Piranha Plant, Jimmy Woo action figure, Marvel Legends Classic Loki and others David: Playskool Gilligan’s Island Floating Playset, Colonial Scarab, Fisher-Price Sesame Street Playset, Space: 1999 Moonbase Alpha Playset + actors Chip: Soul of Chogokin Vehicle Voltron, 12” Kenner Star Wars - Specifically Darth Vader and R2-D2, Character Options Doctor Who Action Figures, Transformers Jetfire, Lite-Brite, Puzzletown, Spock Helmet Monty: 2 foot high Shogun Warriors, Star Wars Action Figure Sized Millennium Falcon, Things that have strings and you push on the bottom and they collapse Phil: Playskool McDonald’s playset, ABC Monday Night Football truck, Pete Rose score baseball game, Worm Wrestle Annette: Etch a Sketch, Playmobil Pirate Ship, Lego Typewriter, GT Snow Racer Jason: Atari 2600, Lime Limo Go Kart, hippity hop/hoppity horse, A bicycle, A basketball, A Nerf football Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

50 years later, “Soylent Green” is still made of people—and its futuristic setting of 2022 is shockingly relevant! But having given this film a full viewing, we think it’s also a pretty good example of ’70s eco sci-fi with a little noir detective flavoring. (Not that kind of flavoring.) "Soylent Green" Jason Snell with Jean MacDonald, Monty Ashley, Annette Wierstra, Dr. Drang and Philip Michaels Sponsors Wildgrain: Get FREE croissants in every box and $30 off your first box. Referenced Works Soylent Green Show Notes & Links Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Almost 100 episodes later, we reconvene (most of) our original panel to discuss season two of “The Wheel of Time.” How does it fit into the current set of big fantasy TV shows? Team Didn’t-Read-the-Books seems to be in agreement with Lady Dragonmount that it helps when a fantasy saga’s book series is complete before it’s adapted for the screen. "The Wheel of Time" season 2 Moisés Chiullán with Kathy Campbell and John Siracusa Referenced Works The Wheel of Time Show Notes & Links Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

We don’t care what the box office says! We saw “The Marvels” and thought it was a lot of fun. And we worry that Marvel may take the wrong lessons from its box-office failure. "The Marvels" Jason Snell with Chip Sudderth, Shannon Sudderth, Sarah Hendrica Bickerton, James Thomson and Kelly Guimont Referenced Works The Marvels Marvel Cinematic Universe Show Notes & Links Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! For the holiday, we give you a turkey of a movie about a duck. It’s 1986’s “Howard the Duck.” (No way to conceal it.) "Howard the Duck" Jason Snell with Annette Wierstra, Erika Ensign, Moisés Chiullán, Monty Ashley, Steve Lutz and David J. Loehr Sponsors Wildgrain: Get FREE croissants in every box and $30 off your first box. Referenced Works Howard the Duck Show Notes & Links Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Dan Moren’s new novel ‘All Souls Lost’ is a departure from his previously published work, but not as much as you might think. Antony talks to him about the book, how it came to be, and why it was a long time in the making. Dan Moren's "All Souls Lost" Antony Johnston and Dan Moren Referenced Works All Souls Lost [Amazon] [Apple] Author Interviews Show Notes & Links Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

We have some suggestions for the next round of “Star Trek” TV series. "Star Trek" pitch draft Jason Snell with Monty Ashley, Moisés Chiullán, Joe Rosensteel, David J. Loehr and Heather Berberet Referenced Works Star Trek (franchise) Show Notes & Links Monty - Star Trek: Alternate Universe (R-Rated) Moises - Star Trek: Sector 001 Joe - Lower Decks live-action follow-on (Jason’s: Beta Shift) David - Star Trek: Borderlands Heather - Lives of a Trill Jason - Starfleet Medical Monty - Star Trek: Future Marvels (history of things in star trek) Moises - Star Trek: Trekballs Joe - Drunk Star Trek History David - It Treks a Thief, with Harry Mudd Heather - Georgiou, Mariner, Section 31 Jason - Star Trek: Galaxies / Andromeda Explorer (maybe anime style?) Monty - mirror universe, babies, what’s going on at the gangster planet Moises - Star Trek: Grissom, Engineering Joe - Star Trek: Reliant, Quark’s Kitchen Nightmares David - Looking Glass War, Travelers, Cetacean Ops, Orion’s Flag Means Death Heather - Family focused show, think “Army Wives”; Captain Emergency Hologram Jason - Guardians of Forever, Space Archaeology! (Dead civilizations that build larger mystery but with Raiders feel), Geordi LaForge’s Tales From the Fleet Museum!, Beta shift (lower decks live-action follow on) Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

A mother seeks help for her troubled daughter from a medical profession that’s unable to find an answer it can believe. A priest questions his faith, until he gets projectile vomited in the face by a 12-year-old girl with her head spinning around. It’s a horror classic. We celebrate the 50th anniversary of “The Exorcist”! "The Exorcist" (1973) Jason Snell with Steve Lutz, Tiff Arment, Brian Hamilton, Moisés Chiullán and Dr. Drang Referenced Works The Exorcist (1973) Show Notes & Links Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Grab some kindling and prepare to board up a window! Old Movie Club gets in the spirit of the spooky season with the 1969 movie that started it all—and by “all” we mean what we now think of as zombies—“Night of the Living Dead.” For a low-budget movie that features mostly amateur actors and fell out of copyright, it’s a certifiable classic. We’re certifying it right now. If you don’t like it, go back down to the basement, because we’re the boss of the upstairs. "Night of the Living Dead" Jason Snell with Tiff Arment, Steve Lutz, Philip Michaels and Erika Ensign Sponsors Wildgrain: Get FREE croissants in every box and $30 off your first box. Referenced Works Night of the Living Dead (1969) Show Notes & Links Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

The Book Club closes the door on this year’s awards shortlist with some lively book ranking and a tour of the nominated short fiction. Awards novel wrap and Hugo short fiction! Jason Snell with Aleen Simms, Erika Ensign, Scott McNulty and Heather Berberet Referenced Works Legends & Lattes [Amazon] [Apple] Spear [Amazon] [Apple] Babel [Amazon] [Apple] Mountain in the Sea [Amazon] [Apple] Nettle & Bone [Amazon] [Apple] The Spare Man [Amazon] [Apple] The Daughter of Doctor Moreau [Amazon] [Apple] Nona the Ninth [Amazon] [Apple] The Kaiju Preservation Society [Amazon] [Apple] Show Notes & Links Our collective Hugo & Nebula shortlist rankings: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree Spear by Nicola Griffith Babel by R. F. Kuang The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler / Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher (tie) The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi Novellas Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow Ogres by Adrian Tchaikovsky What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire Best Novelette “The Difference Between Love and Time” by Catherynne M. Valente “A Dream of Electric Mothers” by Wole Talabi “If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You” by John Chu “Murder By Pixel: Crime and Responsibility in the Digital Darkness” by S.L. Huang “The Space-Time Painter” by Hai Ya “We Built This City” by Marie Vibbert Best Short Story (Our apologies that some of these stories aren’t available anywhere on the Internet in English… hopefully the attention given by the Hugo nominations will lead to them being available eventually.) “D.I.Y.” by John Wiswell “On the Razor’s Edge” by Jiang Bo “Rabbit Test” by Samantha Mills “Resurrection” by Ren Qing, translated by Blake Stone-Banks “The White Cliff” by Lu Ban “Zhurong on Mars” by Regina Kanyu Wang Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.