Fanthropological

After more than 40 years, what keeps fans interested in the band (and why on earth is there convention for them)? ## Episode Outline **Topics:** RushCon, Female fans in Progressive Rock, Ayn Rand, Fan Loyalty, Geddy Lee, Lyricism ### First Impressions #### Z: This is difficult for me to really pin down. I've been a Rush fan since high school, maybe since I had an internet connection at home. My earliest memory of encountering the band was downloading their stuff song by song from early music sharing websites and things like Limewire and Kazaa. I also remember making a website all about the band in a high school computers class and getting 100% on it. But, at least speaking to the topics we tried to focus on in this episode, I never knew the band had a convention, and I always figured that the fandom wasn't any more heavily male than any other band; I remember talking to someone on the Carousel magazine staff at the university of Guelph about Rush and hearing her talk about getting high with her high s

The Office is a phenomenally popular show and fans can't seem to get enough, even after its 9 seasons ended in 2012. Is it the best show ever made or a moment in time that's shown itself to be problematic? ## Episode Outline **Topics:** The Office, Sitcoms, Long-Running Shows, Problematic Characters, Feel-Good Shows, Cringe Comedy ### First Impressions #### Z: Honestly, this wasn't a show that I thought about much when it was first airing and I'd hear people talking about it. I'd watched the UK version of Life on Mars around that time, and after hearing about how it had been butchered in its American adaptation, I was skeptical about the US The Office's quality. This impression only strengthened after I binged my way through the UK version of the show, and was completely and utterly impressed by just how hilarious it was while centring on Ricky Gervais' utterly despicable and inept David Brent. There was no way an American adaptation could take this witty and dry show and make something good -- plu

The explosive growth of fortnite is undeniable, but is it because it's the latest battle royale / minecraft mashup, or because it is a place where folks (especially kids) can actually hang out? ## Episode Outline **Topics:** Fortnite, Video Games, Youth Culture, Growing Up, Battle Royale Games, Sandbox Games, Third Space, Society ### First Impressions #### Z: I first encountered Fortnite in some graffiti on a telephone pole outside of a local high school. It simply read "Fortnite Forever," and my first thought was "either that's a new game, or a terrible speller really loves talking about two week spans of time." So my first impression of the fandom was that it's mostly younger people (mostly high school-aged). Also, after running across some youtube videos about the game in my day-to-day, I guessed that It's probably the 2nd big gaming trend to hit the generation that went through elementary school with Minecraft (which was released in 2009,[ popularity peaked July 2013](https://trends.google.com/tre

It's season 10 and well past our 100th episode! Why not celebrate by looking at fans... of Fanthropological? We cover trivia of all 99+ episodes in an all-out battle to knock-the-other-Nick-out... or at least see who is the biggest Fan in Fanthropological. **Sources** - [ReMix: Sonic the Hedgehog "Gotta Start from Somewhere"](https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03573) by [Jorito](https://ocremix.org/artist/14461/jorito), [Hank "The Spank Tank" Jankerson](https://ocremix.org/artist/15618/hank-the-spank-tank-jankerson), [Trev Wignall](https://ocremix.org/artist/15682/trev-wignall), [The Nikanoru](https://ocremix.org/artist/15840/the-nikanoru) from [http://ocremix.org](http://ocremix.org/) used under [ocremix.org content policy](http://ocremix.org/info/Content_Policy#If_you.27re_using_our_content_elsewhere_.28.22Terms_of_Use.22.29...) - [ReMix: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening "OMG Mr. Write"](https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03479) by [nelward](https://ocremix.org/artist/15315/nelward) from [http://ocremix.org](ht

What do you do... when the work you love is created by a racist? Or when a work is misogynistic? We dip our toe into the new criticism to talk about the role between creative works, their creators, and fans in fandom... and hopefully aren't problematic ourselves along the way! It's the holidays, which means we are taking a break, AND making time to plan for a great new season! Next season starts next week with a 100th episode extravaganza! All this in 20 minutes or less! **Sources** - Opening music, ["Diggin' til the Very End"](http://music.djcutman.com/album/volume-iv) by Dj CUTMAN used under [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) - Ending music, ["Bounty Hunter"](http://music.djcutman.com/album/volume-iv) by Dj CUTMAN used under [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/)

Do fans really vote with their dollars, in terms of endorsing creator behaviour? And can fans just enjoy a thing without projecting criticism (positive or negative) onto it? We're going to try to argue one way or the other (well, we'll definitely succeed at the arguing part). It's the holidays, which means we are taking a break, AND making time to plan for a great new season! All this in 20 minutes or less! **Sources** - Opening music, ["Diggin' til the Very End"](http://music.djcutman.com/album/volume-iv) by Dj CUTMAN used under [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) - Ending music, ["Bounty Hunter"](http://music.djcutman.com/album/volume-iv) by Dj CUTMAN used under [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/)

Where is the fandom today, and would they even want a M*A*S*H reboot? What would that even look like? We're giving you the best care anywhere* (as far as a podcast goes) on this week's episode! *Please consult with your physician for any actual medical care you may need. We are not doctors. ## Episode Outline ### Fandom Facts **History and Origins:** > M*A*S*H is an American war comedy-drama television series that aired on CBS from 1972 to 1983. It was developed by Larry Gelbart, adapted from the 1970 feature film M*A*S*H, which, in turn, was based on Richard Hooker's 1968 novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors. The series, which was produced with 20th Century Fox Television for CBS, follows a team of doctors and support staff stationed at the "4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital" in Uijeongbu, South Korea, during the Korean War (1950–53). The show's title sequence features an instrumental-only version of "Suicide Is Painless", the original film's theme song which was popular enough to become the

Why do people care so much about whether or not wrestling is fake? And what is it about pro wrestling that reels fans in? All this and more on this week's episode with our own resident expert, G! ## Episode Outline ## Fandom Facts ### [Last Episode's](https://fanthropological.com/earthbound) Famous Last Words What did we have to say before doing the preparation for this week's episode? **G:** < Abstained > **T:** Why do people enjoy watching bad wrestling? [// Seems partially nostalgia: period where it was cool. lack of competition or desire to find other sources.]: # **Z:** Wrestlers are pretty great show people, performing for the back of the room... have there been wrestlers that were not fans before they got into it (or ever during)? Is every pro-wrestler a fan? **Guest(s):** Statement ### Main Discussion **Topics covered in this episode:** TBD ### Famous Last Words Our chance (and yours, if you're watching on [twitch.tv/thenickscast](https://twitch.tv/thenickscast)) to have some (in)famous l

How does such a small franchise maintain a strong fanbase almost thirty* years later? And just what is it about fuzzy pickles and odometers that reel people into the games in the first place? ## Episode Outline ### Fandom Facts **History and Origins:** > The Mother series ... consists of three role-playing video games: the 1989 Mother for the Famicom, the 1994 Mother 2, known as EarthBound outside of Japan, for the Super NES, and the 2006 Mother 3 for the Game Boy Advance. Written by Shigesato Itoi and published by Nintendo, and featuring game mechanics modeled on the Dragon Quest series, the Mother series is known for its sense of humor, originality, and parody. The player uses weapons and psychic powers to fight hostile, everyday objects, aliens and brainwashed people. Signature elements of the series include the lighthearted plots, the battle sequences with psychedelic backgrounds, and the "rolling HP meter": as player health ticks down like an odometer (damage doesn't instantly subtract HP), players c

The Nicks dive deep into personal nostalgia (that's good), the divide between fans (that's bad), the different shows that the Simpsons has been (that's good), and more for this long running (that's bad) media franchise! Can I go now? ## Episode Outline ### Fandom Facts **History and Origins:** > The Simpsons is a long running animated TV show, spanning 27 seasons over as many years, and counting (As of Dec 2016). It revolves around the lives of a supposedly average American middle class household; Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. > > Over the years, The Simpsons' cast grew from the original five family members into over a hundred unique characters, along with numerous cameos. > — [Fanlore - The Simpsons](https://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Simpsons) Created by Matt Groening, _The Simpsons_ debuted as a series of shorts on the _Tracy Ullman Show_ in 1987 and since then has become a worldwide cultural phenomenon spanning hundreds of episodes and many comics, video games, and so much more. It is the lon

How does the Alien cinematic universe fit together (and do fans care... about Predator)? How important is Ripley to the series? Is feminism an important part of the series? All this and more as Jaime of [Perfect Organism](https://www.perfectorganism.com/), an Alien Podcast, helps us to better understand the fandom around the Alien films! ## Episode Outline ### Fandom Facts **History and Origins:** > Alien is a science-fiction horror media franchise centered on the film series depicting Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver) and her battles with an extraterrestrial lifeform, commonly referred to as "the Alien". > > Produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox, the series began with Alien (1979), directed by Ridley Scott. It was followed by three sequels, Aliens (1986), Alien³ (1992), and Alien Resurrection (1997), directed by James Cameron, David Fincher, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, respectively. Scott also directed a prequel series, composed of Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017).

Does Pinball really go back to the 1700s? Why the resurgence recently? And is it more about playing, collecting, or building? We've got special guest, Jessica, from the Pinball Podcast to help us out! ## Episode Outline ### Fandom Facts **History and Origins:** > Pinball is a type of arcade game, in which points are scored by a player manipulating one or more steel balls on a play field inside a glass-covered cabinet called a pinball table (or "pinball machine"). The primary objective of the game is to score as many points as possible. Many modern pinball machines include a story line where the player must complete certain objectives in a certain fashion to complete the story, usually earning high scores for different methods of completing the game. Points are earned when the ball strikes different targets on the play field. A drain is situated at the bottom of the play field, partially protected by player-controlled plastic bats called flippers. A game ends after all the balls fall into the drain a certa

What happens when you take strong subtext, immortal beings, and over forty years of writing? It's not fanfic, but it is a fascinating history of the Vampire Chronicles fandom! **History and Origins:** > The Vampire Chronicles is a series of novels by American writer Anne Rice that revolves around the fictional character Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman turned into a vampire in the 18th century. > > — [Wikipedia - The Vampire Chronicles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vampire_Chronicles) The book series encompasses 16 separate novels (including crossovers) from 1976 to 2018, and has been adapted into films—Interview with the Vampire in 1994, starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater, and Kirsten Dunst; and The Queen of the Damned in 2002—and as of July 2018, it was announced that a TV series adaptation of the novels is in development by Hulu. **Search Data:** Interest in _The Vampire Chronicles_ [has been on a slow decline since 2004](https://trends.goo

Are you ready to give up your mundane life and explore a world of unimaginable possibilities, all while learning the values of friendship and becoming a pirate (possibly with some wacky abilities but definitely a quirky crew)? We're not _quite_ there, yet, but we _are_ talking about the fans and fandom of this beloved show, _One Piece_. Plus, we have special guest, Greg Werner (from the [One Piece Podcast](http://www.onepiecepodcast.com/)) to navigate us all the way to the Grand Line, and beyond! ## Episode Outline ### Fandom Facts **History and Origins:** > One Piece is a long-running shounen manga series created by Oda Eiichiro (Odacchi to his fans) that is serialized in Weekly Shounen Jump. The story chronicles the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a boy who gained a rubber-like body after eating a cursed fruit as a young child, and his quest to find the One Piece and become the Pirate King. Along his journey, he fights many villains, makes new friends, and finds his nakama, most of whom join his crew, t

When you find yourself in a universe (or franchise) that's constantly expanding, filled with horrifying zombie aliens, a religious war, and ancient alien technology (and even more ancient-er aliens)... it's time to sit back, read a million books, and learn about the lore, universe, and fandom of Halo! ...And we couldn't be in better hands as Krysta of [Halo: Podcast Evolved](https://www.halopodcastevolved.com/) guides us through the vast lore that is in store! ## Episode Outline ### Fandom Facts **History and Origins:** > Halo is a military science fiction first-person shooter video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed and developed by 343 Industries, a subsidiary of Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and an alliance of aliens known as the Covenant. The Covenant, led by their religious leaders called the Prophets, worship an ancient civilization known as the Forerunners, who perished in combat with the parasitic Flood. The central focus of the franch

What happens when you find yourself in a beautiful world as a silent protagonist and a non-verbal story? You _might_ end up getting into a "games as art" discussion with a special guest Nick! We're talking about fans of the works of Team ICO (i.e. ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian)! Fortunately, we have [Nick Suttner](https://twitter.com/nsuttner), author of [the Boss Fight Books book on the subject](https://bossfightbooks.com/products/shadow-of-the-colossus-by-nick-suttner) to help us out! ## Episode Outline ### Fandom Facts **History and Origins:** > Team Ico was a Japanese video game development studio led by game designer Fumito Ueda. It was part of Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Studio's Product Development Department #1, and had developed the games _Ico_ and _Shadow of the Colossus_, both for the PlayStation 2. The team was also initially responsible for _The Last Guardian_ before Ueda's departure in 2011 and the formation of a new company taking over development in 2014. Their g

SOMEbody once told me this podcast's gonna roll me. I ain't the sharpest ogre in the swamp. Er, we're trying to find out what's under the various layers of the Shrek fandom. Memes? Sincerety? More memes? Is it infinite? PLUS, we have special guest Alicia Kraft of the Ogrecast to help us out! ## Episode Outline ### Fandom Facts **History and Origins:** The Shrek franchise traces its origins back in 1990 with a picture book titled _Shrek!_ by William Steig. It wasn't until 1995 that the first film was put into active development: > "Every development deal starts with a pitch and my pitch came from my then kindergartner, in collaboration with his pre-school brother. Upon our second reading of Shrek, the kindergartner started quoting large segments of the book pretending he could read them. Even as an adult, I thought Shrek was outrageous, irreverent, iconoclastic, gross, and just a lot of fun. He was a great movie character in search of a movie." > > — [Wikipedia - Shrek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wi

Long ago in a distant land, we, the Nickscast, reminisced about the changing landscape of anime fandom from time immemorial to the present, and, in particular, the rivalry of subtitled and dubbed anime... and why it was never about either format. We're back with new content and a new season starting next week! All this in 20 minutes or less! **Sources** - Opening music, ["Diggin' til the Very End"](http://music.djcutman.com/album/volume-iv) by Dj CUTMAN used under [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) - Ending music, ["Bounty Hunter"](http://music.djcutman.com/album/volume-iv) by Dj CUTMAN used under [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/)

When you've got nothing else to argue about, why not be pedantic on the internet? For once, T and Z are not arguing against each other but instead, trying to dig into the etymological and psychological distinction between Anime fan and Otaku. G avoids bringing up Japanimation... crap. We're taking a short break between seasons, but the content still keeps coming! All this in 15 minutes or less! **Sources** - Opening music, ["Diggin' til the Very End"](http://music.djcutman.com/album/volume-iv) by Dj CUTMAN used under [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) - Ending music, ["Bounty Hunter"](http://music.djcutman.com/album/volume-iv) by Dj CUTMAN used under [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/)

What kind of obscure lore will we unearth about Sonic "the" Hedgehog (Or is it Sonic "Maurice" Hedgehog)? Only time will tell, unless you're too slow! Fortunately, we have special guest Matt (AKA SonicMTD) to help us out! And that wraps up Season 8! Join us in a few short weeks as we return with the beginning of Season 9! What changes will occur? How rad will our beards be? Do people say rad anymore? In any case, the episodes will keep on coming, they just won't be live until we're back. So until next time... we'll see you next time! ## Where can I learn more about Matt (AKA SonicMTD)? If you'd like to hear more from Matt or check out his work, you're in luck! - His YouTube: https://youtube.com/SonicMTD - His Twitter: https://twitter.com/SonicMTD - His Facebook: https://facebook.com/SonicMTD ## Episode outline ### Fandom Facts **History and Origins:** > Sonic the Hedgehog is a media franchise created and produced by Sega. It is primarily a video game franchise, centering on a series of speed-based p