Well, technically it's a PlayStation emulator on a Raspberry Pi, but I've probably purchased Metal Gear Solid on four different occasions in 20 years, so Konami already has my money. And then some!

Why would you buy a game four different times? Well, because it's amazing (and because Sony and backwards compatibility don't mix). I played this game upon its initial release and have some incredibly fond memories of it, which we'll get into in the show. This makes this episode the first time one of us is sharing a personal pop culture touchstone that the other had missed, which we'll be doing more of as we go. As you'll learn in the episode, Matt's experience with the game wasn't ideal, but I think he gets it.

Here are some articles I found while researching the episode, plus some clips from the game, some guy trying to explain the ENTIRE Metal Gear timeline, and of course, Jill Sandwich.

EUROGAMER - Metal Gear Solid: The First Modern Video Game

POLYGON - Metal Gear Solid Defined Gaming's Future, But Couldn't Escape Its Past

A lot of the show was pretty forward thinking, if not groundbreaking for the time. Character's like the bum-boxer Tony Banta (Tony Danza) was one of TVs first Vietnam vets, while Reverend Jim (Christopher Lloyd) was one of the first counter culture "drug casualties" to make a weekly appearance on TV screens. Elaine Nardo (Marilu Henner) was a strong, single mother who found time to pursue her true passions while providing for her kids. Though some of it wasn't very forward thinking, but we get into that on the ep.

But more importantly: was it funny? Hell yes! There's a reason so many of the performers went on to do great things. This is a stacked deck of comedic performers who brought to life some iconic characters. While Andy Kaufman's naive Latka (and Kaufman's tragic death at a young age) tends to loom large over the show's legacy, Taxi is more than any single performer. It is a true ensemble comedy where the rich, individual parts come together like a sitcom Voltron to make one hell of a show.

Here are some links to articles we referenced and researched for this episode:

From the A.V. Club: 10 Episodes of Taxi that find heart and humor in a dead-end job
From The Hollywood Reporter: Taxi Turns 40 - A Wild Ride Down Memory Lane with the Cast and Creators
From New York Magazine: Night-shifting for the Hip Fleet (The 1975 article that inspired the show's creators)

One thing Matt and I realized is that we can't point to the first time we heard any of their music. Was it Wayne's World? Probably. They were a force of pop culture that transcended media -- from their world-wide hit singles, to soundtracks, to hockey arenas everywhere (stomp stomp clap! stomp stomp clap!) there was no escaping Queen. Which made this second episode a bit of a challenge in the sense that, due to their ubiquity, Queen is a tough sell as a blindspot. But thinking about it now, weeks after recording the episode, there are two Queens:

1) Queen the pop culture force of nature.
2) Queen the band.

That second Queen is what this episode is all about. Getting to know who these four musicians were, what they were pouring their hearts into, and, most importantly, what was going on on the tracks between the We Will Rock Yous and Under Pressures. What we found in the albums Sheer Heart Attack (1974), A Night at the Opera (1975), News of the World (1977), and Hot Space (1982), was evidence of a band even wilder, weirder, and sexier than even their eclectic singles suggest.

This week we tackle George Lucas' feature length debut, the dystopian romp THX 1138. That's right, those letters and numbers that keep popping up in Star Wars and Lucasfilm productions aren't as random as you thought!

Listen to the episode here -- or wherever you subscribe -- and check out the links below for clips, articles, and more research we referenced in our talk. And let us know what you think Have you seen THX 1138? Or are you, like us, a lifelong Star Wars fan who has yet to take the plunge into George's depressing, yet robot filled, first movie?

Theatric Trailer

The Confessional Scene

The White Void Torture Scene

Lucas' 1967 USC Student Film -- Electric Labyrinth THX 1138 EB

Lucas discusses THX 1138 and American Zoetrope

Roger Ebert's 1971 review
A full list of changes in the 2004 home video release via movie-censorship.com
An Essay on Georgle Lucas' personal revisionism via Stand By For Mind Control