The Occasionalists Podcast

Franchise February: The Walking Dead

For our final episode of Franchise February, we are pulling out the big guns (perhaps a Colt Python, amirite?!) and going to one of the true juggernauts in TV history. The show that revolutionized what horror on television could be and kicked off a new wave of zombie entertainment worldwide: The Walking Dead.
Few shows have reached the heights the main series reached and dominated the pop culture landscape in such a profound manner. But even juggernauts fade, and we are here to discuss the good, bad and ugly of this iconic (and still running!) TV series.
But before we get started, I have three questions for you:
How many walkers have you killed? How many people have you killed? Why?

Franchise February: The Legend of Zelda

Another brand-spankin' new episode for Franchise February is here! What better way to work in a little video game talk than to bring Greg Cherry back to talk about an all-time great game franchise, The Legend of Zelda!
A childhood favorite and one of Nintendo's vanguard games since the 1980s, Zelda is still at the forefront of innovative gameplay mechanics, storytelling, and good old-fashioned fun!
But it's not without some notable shortcomings and some missing pieces to the bigger pop culture puzzle. Like I dunno...WHEN ARE WE GONNA GET A DANG MOVIE OR TV SHOW?
Fire up that ocarina and get your sword ready as we jump back into Hyrule.

Franchise February: Star Trek

Welcome back to the next installment of Franchise February: a deep dive into the Star Trek universe. 
WARNING: THIS IS FOR UBERNERDS ONLY!
Was Star Trek better back in the day? Or are we blinded by nostalgia? Is the current era of Trek too dark? Too violent? Not nerdy enough?! We answer all of these pressing questions and more.
Beam us up, Scotty!

Franchise February: MCU & DCEU

We're officially entering our first true theme month this year as we dive head first into franchise town with....drum roll!....FRANCHISE FEBRUARY! 
We are kicking off this month of critiquing massively successful works of commercial art with a deep discussion on the most profitable and popular movie franchise of all time: The Marvel Cinematic Universe.
We are also talking about one of the.....movie franchises of all time: The Detective Comics Extended Universe.
This isn't an MCU vs. DCEU discussion but rather a critique of their strengths and weaknesses, the current status of each franchise, their opportunities for growth and change, and how each will be remembered in pop culture history.
Remember kids: Podcasts aren't born. They're built. 
Or wait, was it: With great power comes great podcasts. I'm not sure, so why don't you just sit down and listen?

Loose Ends: Random Thoughts

One final Loose Ends episode finds us exploring the Random Thoughts of a podcasts past.
Basically, here's a bunch of stuff we thought about doing but never did for one reason or another.
Will we ever do it or will we just talk about doing it? Yes!

Loose Ends: CLE Sports

Cleveland sports is on the menu for the penultimate installment of Loose Ends. 
Because we really don't do that much sports talk on the pod, it felt like a good time, with football season winding down and basketball season heating up, to get a little talk in about the Cavs and Browns and how each franchise is trending in different directions.
Don't worry: the Guardians and Buckeyes were not left out! 
Not into the Cleveland sports scene? I guess we'll see you next week!

Loose Ends: Jock Jams

We are tying up another Loose End this month as a friend of the show and hockey correspondent, Rob Nugent, returns to talk about the marriage of sports and music. 
Which teams are making the grade when it comes to a rocking stadium experience? Who is failing? And who is trying to hard?
Plus, what would we do if we were in charge of the playlist for our favorite teams?
Press play and find out!

Loose Ends: Curtain Call

Happy 2025 everyone!
We are kicking off the new year with a more recent staple, Loose Ends. Despite having a full year-in-review episode, there's still stuff that we missed. Whether it's an idea that never came to fruition or a guest host that we couldn't pin down, something falls through the cracks.
Our first episode of the new year (and new musical theme!) revisits last year's theme, in which we did our best impression of other pop culture podcasts. The one thing we left off last year was discussing bad pieces of pop culture.
For Curtain Call—thank you, Eminem—we are discussing why we never really do too many deep dives into bad pop culture and then giving you a set of bad movies and bad songs to consider adding to your various playlists.
Press play, homies!