It's a very special Saturday Morning Deathgrip, as this serves as our finale. We watched the final episode of 'David the Gnome' in which he and his wife decide that they're too old and need to die. Yep. That happened. We are also joined by ALMOST EVERY GUEST WE'VE EVER HAD. Our booking agent, Mort Fischerman, decided to sacrifice his spirit in orde…

It might be New Years, but according to the Catholic calendar, it's still Christmas until January 4, so we're still celebrating. And how are we doing it? Disney Afternoon-style, with Talespin and the episode "A Jolly Molly Christmas". Listen in as we discuss such topics as what David Lynch's Talespin would have looked like, the actual failures of t…

We're back, with SLEIGHbells on. That's right- we celebrate the Holidays (all of them, Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza, Memorial Day...) by watching a Christmas epsidoe of one of the greatest shows ever produced, Batman: The Animated Series. Call it a present to ourselves, but we just decided to wtach a legitimately good show. And we were not disappoin…

Well, it's a tiny bit past Thanksgiving, but that won't stop us from "celebrating" with a Thanksgiving episode of a show none of us wanted to watch: Life with Louie! While none of us could tell you exactly what Louie Anderson's standup involves, we can tell you we thought his voice was already the worst, until we remembered his voice as a child. In…

Great Scott! It's a trite intro! Yes this month we sat down and brought back from the past... Back To The Future the Animated Series. A show that was made after a great movie, but as we learned, unlike Scott, not all things are great. We also learn that Giancarlo could not be a part of the episode because of an acute case of being lazy, a condition…

As we come to the climax of this month of terror, we watched the scarily insane "Attack of the Jack O'Lanterns" from the 90s live-action Goosebumps. Actually, Tim might not like our use of the word "climax." There are a lot of things Tim might not like in this episode, seeing as he has the sensibility of a normal human and it's possible that the re…

As the air turns crisps and people start putting cooky faces on pumpkins, it can only mean one thing- we have to check our episodes from last year to figure out how we do Halloween episodes. And this time, we do Halloween with The Real Ghost Busters (the space is canonical, look it up!) and the episode "When Halloween Was Forever." In this episode,…

On this week's episode of Saturday Morning Deathgrip, we watched a true rarity- the much beloved but oft forgotten animated gem - Columbo Jr. That's right, Hollywood allowed the fantastic team up of Hanna Barbera and the late, great Peter Falk and produced a Saturday morning cartoon based on LA's best homicide detective and his precocious nephew. I…

After a short summer break, SMDG is back and we treated ourselves to a cartoon that is made by people who had bother resources and evident desire to make a quality program, the fine folks who brought us Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers, a show that feels like it should have a colon or a possessive in the title, but doesn't! And it's Tim's favorite RR e…

For this week's Saturday Morning Death Grip, to the delight of everyone but a deeply indifferent Andrea, we watched an episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, "Convicts from Dimension X." And for that, we can also be considered heroes (though sadly we are not in half-shells). Should you decide to hit "play," you'll be treated to VERY accurate impr…

Our long plugged, much anticipated live show came and went on July 12. We had a warm yet intimate (gross) audience come out and join us, and we appreciate it! We were also joined by Pete Lepage (Comic Book Club Live). This episode's format was a tiny bit different, as rather than review a single episode of anything, we pulled some of the most insan…

In this week’s episode of Saturday Morning Deathgrip, the gang is once again tortured by another of Giancarlo’s terrible suggestions – My Little Pony Tales. At this point, we’re relatively certain that Giancarlo’s entire being goes against the Geneva Convention. And, as soon as this post goes live, we will look into having him charged with some war…

On this week's episode of Saturday Morning Deathgrip we watched C.O.P.S. and unlike many of cartoons we put ourselves through, this show was surprisingly un-horrible for a change. In addition to learning about Empire City and it's cybernetic team of law enforcers, we also learned that Giancarlo doesn't know what the word "slobberknocker" means and …

In this latest episode of SMDG, Giancarlo manages to trick the rest of the gang into watching a cartoon version of the comic strip Blondie. We quickly discover why only two episodes were ever produced. And we come to the conclusion that Giancarlo is never to be trusted again (in fairness, we should have come to this realization years ago). As Gianc…

In this latest episode of SMDG, we continue paying homage to upcoming films (we are addicted to homage!) as we subject ourselves to the cartoon version of Godzilla, co-produced by Tim's beloved Hanna-Barbera. The only bright spot is that the show might have helped to curb our aforementioned homage addiction. In other words, Godzilla could possibly …

In honor of the upcoming films Amazing Spider-Man 2 and X-men: Days of Future Past, we (foolishly) decide to once again test the waters of Spider-man and His Amazing Friends. We were promised a crossover with X-men. And, as you can imagine, this promise was only partially delivered. However, we do manage to push through the heartbreak to discuss th…

For today's episode we watch the 90's camping "classic" Camp Candy, a show about a camp owned by Canadian comediean John Candy with no explanation as to why Canadian comedian John Candy owns a camp. It's a real doozy! And by "doozy" we mean, "Uuuuugh." Join us as we discuss how to actually pronounce M. Nigh Shyamalan's name properly. Giancarlo pitc…

For today's epsiode, we watched the "classic" animated series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. And we can all thank Filmation for making the term "classic" hold no meaning for us. Listen in as we discuss the complexities of smartphone map systems. We also learn about Giancarlo's (not so) secret fantasies about robot horse/non-robot human re…

In this episode, we return to the unrelenting mediocrity of Hanna-Barbera in the 80s by watching The Snorks. This time around, we talked about a terrible clarinet and snare drum quartet Andrea was in in 6th grade that played Bryan Adams "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)", Tim and GC play by the syntactical rules of The Snorks while singing the the…

In honor of the new Robocop, we watched an episode of the animated Robocop, our second straight R-rated movie turned into a kids cartoon. What a world we live in, right? This time around, we learn Andrea's nickname, which has led her to legal trouble, Giancarlo fantasizes about some sexy cartoon ladies (never done that before, right?), some of us t…

We are back and we are once again down one host. But luckily, we have four hosts normally, so it's not like there are awkward pauses. And one of the remaining host most certainly doesn't leave in the middle of the recording but gets edited in a way that makes it appear that she is there the whole time... certainly not! In this week's episode, we wa…

Hey everybody, we're back with a new episode. We really turned our formula on its ear by watching something we enjoyed, an episode of Muppet Babies. During this episode, we're a man down, as someone had the unmitigated gall to be sick and not present. But the remainder of the team carried on, stalwart and bold, like the fearless troopers we are. An…

Hello there Grippers (a new name for our fan base, we’re just trying it out), because if there is anything we learned from this cartoon, it’s how much nicknames help make sense of everything. In today’s episode we watched the pilot episode of the 1985 Ewoks cartoon/forest fire PSA entitled, “The Cries of the Trees.” Listen as we talk about the Ewok…

We extend a belated (thanks to some computer issues) Christmas present to everyone, a second holiday episode of Saturday Morning Deathgrip. For this episode, we watched the episode of Alvin & the Chipmunks called "Merry Christmas, Mr. Carroll" which you'd never guess from the title, but it's an adaptation of Dicken's A Christmas Carol. In this epis…

In this excerpt from episode 14, we have an interview with two-thirds of the Chipmunks- Simon and Theodore. We hear about their take on thier films, reading in English, chemical weapons to protect America's freedoms, and the beauty of the holiday Chipmunkakah. If you enjoy this, why not listen to all of episode 14?…

We sure do love Holiday episodes, don't we? Because here we are with a Christmas episode of SMDG. And what a Christmas it is. We, in fact, had ourselves a Morlock little Christmas, as we watched the episode of X-men "Have yourself a Morlock Little Christmas". We bucked our normal trend of watching things we despise by watching something we (at leas…

Excerpt from Episode 13 in which we interview Callisto, leader of the Morlocks, from the "X-men". Callisto is doing about as well as you'd expect from a physically scarred, one-eyed, sewer-dweller. We even find out what happened to her eye, and her Twain-like origins from before she made it to New York and moved into the realm of the DPW. If you en…

Hey folks. It's late November, the trees have all changed, there is turkey on our tables, Black Fridays that for some reason start on Thursday or even Wednesday at K-Mart, and we watched a Thanksgiving episode of an 80's classic, Care Bears. By classic, we mean, why did anyone watch this ever? In this episode we discuss at length the horrible idea …

An excerpt from Episode 12 of Saturday Morning Deathgrip, wherein we watched a Thanksgiving episode of Care Bears. Mort Fisherman, our booking agent, landed us not one, but two stars of the show, the baby Care Bears, Hugs and Tugs. We got some milage out of their names on the actual show, but here we just learn what the two tikes have been up to, w…

Friends, we are back and we watched the most Eighties show that ever Eightied, "Jem and the Holograms." We watched the pilot episode, which, unbeknownst to us, was a two-parter, so we have no clue how the story ends. I don't know when our collective rear ends will be off the collective edges of our collective seats, but, boy oh boy, cliffhanger ten…

An excerpt from Episode 11. Here our booking agent booked the mastermind behind Jem and the Holograms, The X-Man Morph Synergy the computer. We get some great updates on what she's been doing, and she's really branched into a more hands-on role in the music production world. We also learn that Jem and the Holograms are big on the N.K-pop scene, but…

Episode 11 is slightly delayed (look for it soon, though). But there was a moment that fit nicely as a peek behind the curtain at SMDG- the struggles of coming up with unscripted procedural material! Thrill as we all cheer Andrea on as she attempts valiantly to introduce Episode 11. She getst here. She's a trooper.…

It's still Halloween season so our spooktacular celebration of Halloween continues with Garfield's Halloween special "Garfield's Halloween Adventure" aka "Garfield in Disguise". Our discussion (for some reason) begins and ends with ABC TV's "The Middle" but also how terrifying this special actually was to a five year old kid (extremely), the deligh…

This is the interview excerpt from our Spooktacular Halloween Episode 10 "Garfield in Disguise" where we interview our biggest star yet, Odie! Our booking agent, Mort Fisherman, the details of whom get darker and darker and each time we chat, secured for us Odie, Garfield's canine friend. We find out so much about the loveable dog, who is surprisin…

It's Halloween season, which means only one thing- it's mid- to late- October! In honor of the season, we watched the Halloween episode of Pac-Man which had the segments "Pacula" and "Trick or Chomp." In this episode, we compare Andrea to Vincent D'Onofrio in Full Metal Jacket, we name-check some listerners, and discuss the seasonally-appropriate h…

This is an excerpt from Episode 9, with an interview with Inky the Ghost Monster from the animated series "Pac-Man" (not to mention some video games). Mort Fisherman, our booking agent, is praised, and then Inky dishes on what it's like to be a Ghost in the Pac-World and how that differs from the ghosts of our world. as well as who the living versi…

We're back with a new episode. It is the very first episode that features fewer than the full lineup of Deathgrippers. But Sean, Andrea and Giancarlo do tell you where Tim is. He's not dead, that much this podcast description can tell you. In today's episode, we watched the pilot episode of "Captian N: The Gamemaster," which is either a big Nintend…

Excerpt from Saturday Morning Deathgrip Episode 8 in which we interview Megaman, costar of "Captain N: The Gamemaster." Megaman tells us what he's been up to since the end of the show, how he got the part, his litigious lifestyle, as well as his possibly overly suggestive lifestyle with his robot dog. He also talks about the difficuties of being an…

Welcome back, we sound semi-professional now! For today's episode, we watched "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" episode "Video Man". We talked about overly complex death traps, the awful Miss Lion, tight cartoon buns, an important PSA about the scourge of "razorballs", and a visit from star of "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends", Flash Thompson…

In this excerpt from Episode 7 of Saturday Morning Deathgrip, we interview Flash Thompson from "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends". Of course Flash, being the bully and overall jerk, is neither "amazing" or a "friend" to "Spider-Man" (who is also not). But Flash does share with us where he's been the last few years, as well as his undying love of …

We are back with audio that sounds competent! The show we watched was 1985's "Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling" which is not as good as we remembered, and most of us didn't remember it being good. In the course of our discussion, we talk about just how terrible animation and writing can be, Sean breaks down the anatomy of terrible sketch, using the …

An excerpt from Episode 6, where we talk with cartoon 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper, the primary villain (or heel, if you will) of the 1985 cartoon "Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling". There are a few jokes which you may not understand if you don't listen to the whole episode. Like when Giancarlo asks for a "rubdown". It's not as gross as it sounds.…

We're back with another edition of Saturday Morning Deathgrip. Courtesy of Giancarlo's apparently demented childhood, it was Laser Time as we watched the pilot episode of "Bots Master," a show designed for people who loved early 90s hip hop but may have thought that "Do the Urkel" was both too risque in lyrical content and too subdued in musical co…

In this excerpt from Episode 5, our agent, Mort Fisherman, landed us interviews with two of the heavies from "Bots Master", Lady Frenzy and Doctor Hiss. A real coup, even though, sure, not everyone remembers Bots Master and sure, these two seem to have fallen on some rough times. Everything we do here makes sense, don't question it.…

In our latest episode, we turn our attention (and our occasionally wonky audio) to the 80s biggest innovation in television animation: the syndicated cartoon. The honor goes to none other than the Denver the Last Dinosaur episode, "Chinatown Caper." We talk a lot about Chinatown architecture, cats shaped like Rihanna and we get to sit down for a ve…

We've added a new section to the podcast, the character interview. We've decided to excerpt it, to act as a sort peak into our 55 minutes of rambling, without having to listen to the whole thing! You know- for the kids! If you are listening to or you plan on listening to Episdoe 4, this is a direct excerpt, so feel free to pass by this one. If you'…

Our third episode, with more marginally improved sound quality! Today, we watched the 1992 special "Monster in my Pocket" (a title we may or may not struggle to get 100% correct). Not only do we discuss the reasons this might not have made it as a series, we also talk about some bizarre interpretations of classic monsters (Dracula hypnotizing throu…

We're back with episode 2- now with slightly better audio quality (we're gettig there; give us a break, we're new at this). For episode 2 we watched the 1987 pilot for a unproduced X-men series "Pryde of the X-men". The conversation includes a LOT about the X-men, what circuits looks like, the sensibility of destroying a planet you want to conquer,…

The very first Saturday Morning Deathgrip- a podcast where four adults watch and discuss saturday morning cartoons from the 80s and 90s. Today, we discuss "Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue," the 1990 anti-drug PSA featuring stars of the era's most popular cartoons. Topics include an awful lot on the plot of the show, how poor our Winnie the Pooh imp…