Pop My Culture

October13th

27 Comments

Curtis Armstrong and Savage Steve Holland

Cole, Vanessa and writer/director/animator Savage Steve Holland and brilliant actor Curtis Armstrong (“Better Off Dead,” “One Crazy Summer”) talk cult movies, Clan of the Cave Bear, Banksy, Bobcat Goldthwait, the brilliance of Joe Flaherty, improvisation, EEK! The Cat, Bruce and Demi’s wedding, Revenge of the Nerds, the Porky’s remake, Whammys, the Flintstones, the importance of casting, and Vanessa’s dream of being a puppy for an afternoon.

Tell us about the first cartoon you loved as a kid on the comment page on our website for a chance to win a “Better Off Dead” DVD autographed by Savage and Curtis!

 

Savage Steve Holland and Curtis Armstrong guests on Pop My Culture - interviewed by hosts Vanessa Ragland and Cole Stratton

27 Comments

  • Comment by Jay — October 13, 2010 @ 10:58 am

    Jem is my all time favorite cartoon because, bottom line, those bitches were badass. Not only did they play their own instruments and fight off the likes of the Misfits, they ran Starlight orphanage without fail. If neither of the those reasons do it for you, take into account that they did it all in style 🙂

  • Comment by Jeremiah — October 13, 2010 @ 2:51 pm

    The Jetsons, come on. It was the future! There were flying cars, Rosie the robot, and freakin jetpacks. I loved the clean lines and George’s amazing ability to offend Jane.

  • Comment by Matthew — October 13, 2010 @ 3:13 pm

    The first cartoon I loved as a kid was “Bobby’s World”. The voices cracked me up, and the plots were surprisingly good for an early morning cartoon. I’m sure this show made me late for school a lot.

  • Comment by monahan — October 13, 2010 @ 3:29 pm

    I loved Courageous Cat & Minute Mouse. That theme song was awesome! It was basically Batman.

  • Comment by ChelseaIRL — October 13, 2010 @ 3:47 pm

    i think it was Gummi Bears. though i liked Care Bears too. and Tale Spin. and Duck Tales. so bears and rodents and ducks. but yeah, i think Gummi Bears was first.

  • Comment by Joe — October 13, 2010 @ 6:01 pm

    SO glad to see Savage and Curtis getting some love! Wish the podcast was 20 mins long tho.

  • Comment by TJ — October 13, 2010 @ 6:45 pm

    I’m going to be showing my age (how young I am), but I have to go with Pokemon. That show defined years of my childhood. I can only imagine how much money I spent on frivolous Pokemon merchandise.

  • Comment by michelle — October 13, 2010 @ 7:07 pm

    I still love cartoons! i was in love with jonny quest. there. i said it. i loved jonny quest.

    side note: and i must say that eek! the cat is hilarious. There was an “elvis” episode that was hilarious. so happy that you had savage on your show. truly a great interview. curtis was also so much fun! thanks guys!

  • Comment by Mel — October 14, 2010 @ 1:32 am

    oh. My. GOD. I can’t believe that you not only got Savage Steve Holland and Curtis Armstrong, but you got them on together! Unless you can get a Leon/Eddie Deezen/Michael J. Fox Midnight Madness reunion, I don’t know how you could ever top this episode.

  • Comment by Mary — October 14, 2010 @ 3:05 am

    How funny I was just talking about this…I loved Schmoo! That loveable white bowling pin 🙂 And can’t forget Kimba the White Lion. One of the first ones I remember watching.

    What a great podcast! I always wondered why Moonlighting wasn’t in syndication either. Such a great show.

  • Comment by Terrance — October 14, 2010 @ 10:45 am

    I still remember growing up in Los Angeles and waking up early to watch Felix the Cat cartoons (which seemed odd juxtaposed with its lead-in of David & Goliath). I also loved Tom Hatten’s block of cartoons on the weekends with Popeye, George of the Jungle, Tom Slick and Super Chicken.

  • Comment by NL — October 14, 2010 @ 3:53 pm

    Like Cole often does, I have two answers:

    1. The Simpsons. I watched the Tracy Ullman shows with my parents and I loved those silly cartoons. It’s hazy now, but I still remember watching “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” when it debuted in 1989. I was 7 years old. I adored the show and watched it into adulthood, and still watch it now. That show informed a large part of my youth and my comic sensibility.

    2. The Thundercats. I wanted to *be* a Thundercat when I grew up, though now I don’t remember why. Because they were awesome, I guess.

  • Comment by VonRiesling — October 15, 2010 @ 10:18 am

    Great show. By the way…did you guys get permission from Scott Aukerman to use his “Would you rather” bit?

    http://www.earwolf.com/show/comedy-death-ray-radio-scott-aukerman

  • Comment by vanessa — October 15, 2010 @ 10:27 am

    good question von reisling! as you (may) know, it just began with five dumb questions from me, and then has sort of accidentally morphed into predominantly would-you-rathers. i just realized it seemed like a rip off this week! i’m going to start doing more scenarios. but i will still do would you rathers, because guess what? it’s been my favorite game for years and everyone’s allowed to play.

  • Comment by Tarpo — October 19, 2010 @ 8:08 pm

    Saturday Supercade was it for me. The first Cartoon I truly remember loving. The cartoons themselves weren’t even that memorable. Its just that the theme song worked its way into my head and never left. That and Kangaroo.

    Although the 1979 Godzilla cartoon was the first memory of a cartoon I have. But I don’t recall anything about the cartoon other than it existed.

  • Comment by Edward J Grug III — October 19, 2010 @ 8:12 pm

    I used to get up at a ridiculous hour (5:30AM, I think?) to watch the old minimal-animation Marvel Super Hero cartoons. I especially loved the Hulk, but Captain America came in a close second. I think maybe the theme songs were the nest thing about the cartoons though.

    And that was followed by the Scooby Doo Laff-A-Lympics, which I also loved.

  • Comment by Noah Kuttler — October 19, 2010 @ 9:17 pm

    First cartoon I remember was Godzilla (and Godzookie), but the first cartoon I loved was the Challenge of the Super Friends because it was every comic I loved reading, but on TV. Which is probably why I also liked the Hulk and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends when those started to air.

    I eventually found those Marvel Super Heroes cartoons at some point when they ran in syndication. Even with the limited animation, they were still pretty sweet.

    Honorable mention to G.I. Joe, Transformers and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

  • Comment by Brendan — October 19, 2010 @ 11:15 pm

    Although my mom hated the yellow people I freaking loved The Simpsons. I’d watch an episode every night at 7 when I was like 10 years old. I missed most of the jokes but stuff like the old jewish guy singing ‘That Old Grey Mare’ with his pants to his ankles cracked me up. Rewatching it now is like a whole new show. I wasn’t allowed to watch the one with Homer and Marge running around naked though.

  • Comment by Michele — October 20, 2010 @ 8:29 am

    The first cartoons that I remember watching are the Schoolhouse Rock. My favorite was “Figure Eight”, and I’d wait for that one to air. It wasn’t on very often, but it always pulled at my heartstrings. I sometimes didn’t pay attention to the shows, just wanted to see my Schoolhouse Rock. I would read a book until they came on. /nerd

  • Comment by Gretchen — October 20, 2010 @ 9:12 am

    Hong Kung Phooey! He was Snoop Dog before Snoop Dog was Snoop Dog. He could kick your ass in style and then make you want to be his friend. I sold my tin about 2 decades ago. I was the only one in school carrying a Phooey lunchbox. Everyone else, was sporting a Scooby.

  • Comment by Melissa W. — October 20, 2010 @ 9:38 am

    First I’ll say that this was a fantastic episode, they just keep getting better and better. There were plenty of cartoons I’d get up to watch on Saturday morning. But the memory of cartoons that really sticks out for me is being desperate to watch Jem but that was a Sunday morning cartoon but we had to go to church. This could very well be where my failure as catholic started…

  • Comment by Dan C — October 22, 2010 @ 4:18 am

    I’ve thought awhile about this and the answer surprised me. I grew up in a conservative christian home. I wasn’t allowed to watch alot pf popular cartoons. But the one I remember watching all the time was a video series called Superbook, which was about two kids and there futuristic/magic bible that sent them back time to live bible stories. I think I watched several different cartoon series with this same plot as a kid.

  • Comment by Chopper — October 24, 2010 @ 2:30 pm

    I know by not answering with a cartoon is a bullshit answer to this question, and will probably disqualify me but it’s the first thing I thought of and it’s my answer, so deal with it. I have fond memories of waking up early on Sundays to watch American Gladiators and eat dry, sugary (“weekend”) cereal before being forced to go to church. Oftentimes I would drift off during the sermon and recall that day’s Joust between some average-Joe contestant and the tower of muscle and steroids that was Nitro. Or Tower. Or even the ironically-named “Siren,” the deaf she-hulk. I loved that show, because it made church almost bearable.

  • Comment by Old School — October 25, 2010 @ 1:23 pm

    The first cartoons that I remember were the classics. I loved Tom & Jerry, Woody Woodpecker & all of the Hanna Barbera shows. But if I have to pick the first favorite it would have to be Looney Tunes with Bugs Bunny & the gang.

  • Comment by Rob — October 25, 2010 @ 4:14 pm

    I went through distinct phases of fictional characters I wanted to be. I remember playing C.O.P.S. on the playground (I was Longarm!), Robocop was important, as was Ghostbusters, but I suspect Thundercats (and then, Silverhawks) came first.

    I wanted to be called Lion-O at some point, which adults around me couldn’t understand at all. Maybe a decade later, looking through an old computer, I saw my aunt’s ‘Wheel of Fortune’ game still loaded, with a number of scores on the scoreboard attributed to relatives I recognized, and others I didn’t, because they were for a contestant called “Lionel.”

  • Comment by Matt B — October 25, 2010 @ 9:30 pm

    Probably Scooby Doo – the early pre-Scrappy episodes. I think that i liked it because they were out there solving mysteries.

  • Comment by admin — November 6, 2010 @ 1:16 pm

    Gretchen, you won! But your email address does not appear to be working. Email us at info@popmyculturepodcast.com with your address, and we’ll pop the DVD your way!

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