The Omega Beam

Join host Orren Merton and other panelists for entertaining and insightful discussions of today's science fiction, fantasy, and comic-based TV and movies.

Special Episode: Toxic Fandom and AI in Sci-Fi 03/04/2024

Special Episode: Toxic Fandom and AI in Sci-Fi Appropriately for a special 200th episode in which David Raiklen and Orren Merton discuss AI, we've decided to see what AI has to say about the content. AI says: *In Episode 200 of The Omega Beam, the hosts discuss two key topics: toxic fandom and artificial intelligence in entertainment. They reflect on the impact of toxic fandom on well-integrated projects and the effect of AI on the movie industry. The discussion draws connections to acclaimed sci-fi literature and recent media releases. They conclude by introduce a new segment to their show, where they share what they're currently watching.* We also used the image prompt "a benign robot calms angry science fiction fans in a movie theater" to generate the thumbnail and show note art for the episode. What do you think? /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/30214393

The Marvels and 2023 Wrap Up 12/30/2023

The Marvels and 2023 Wrap Up Join Orren Merton, Golden, and David Raiklen for an in-depth discussions about 'The Marvels', lauding the film's character-driven plot, fun and engaging narrative structure, and its prime acting. They also discuss the unfair criticism the movie received and the narrative of superhero movie fatigue that was in play during its release. During their 2023 wrap up hosts also touch upon the surprising and innovative 'Barbie' film, and the visually stunning 'The Boy and the Heron,' and 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.' /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/29282093

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 04/04/2023

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Paramount has just released , based on the popular role-playing game set in a fantasy world of knights and monsters and magic. As fantasy buffs and D&D players, you knew we had to discuss this one! We start out spoiler free and give you warning before we get spoilerific. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/26442321

Lockwood & Co. - Season 1 03/12/2023

Lockwood & Co. - Season 1 This week we talk about the new Netflix series , now airing in its entirety. And we keep the entire episode spoiler-free! /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/26204298

Everything Everywhere All At Once 02/12/2023

Everything Everywhere All At Once If you pay attention to genre news, you've heard of the independent sci-fi multiversal romp . We give it The Omega Beam treatment, with a non-spoiler section up front and spoilers after our spoiler warning. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/25901697

Black Adam 01/30/2023

Black Adam Time to discuss a DC movie for a change! Late last year, hit the theaters, and now that it's available for streaming, it's time for us to discuss it. We start spoiler-free, and give ample warning before we start going into spoilers. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/25766802

Wednesday - Season 1 01/15/2023

Wednesday - Season 1 Tim Burton co-created this series featuring Wednesday Addams, previously portrayed only as a child, now a teenager attending Nevermore, a creepy high school for "misfits" and people with supernatural abilities. The first season of is streaming in it's entirety, so that means it's time to discuss it! Since it's a mystery, we didn't want to give *too* much away, so while we do go into spoilers at the end, we keep them generally lighter. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/25615881

Andor - Season 1 12/15/2022

Andor - Season 1 Golden and I discuss season 1 of the latest Star Wars show on Disney+, . We start spoiler-free, and give you warning before we get spoilerific. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/25331946

Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season 3 11/29/2022

Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season 3 Season three of is now streaming on Paramount+, which means it's time for us to discuss it! We start spoiler-free, and give ample warning before we dive in with spoilers. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/25165650

Werewolf by Night 11/21/2022

Werewolf by Night Marvel Studios released a one-off Halloween special on Disney+ called , and in this episode we discuss it. First spoiler-free, then with some spoilers. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/25090608

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Season 1 10/30/2022

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Season 1 It took years to get to the screen, but all eight episodes comprising the first season of Amazon Prime Video's are available to stream. We start spoiler-free, and give ample warning before we dive deep into this first TV series adapted from JRR Tolkien's epic. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/24842418

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law 10/20/2022

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law There's a new lawyer in town, and she's a Hulk! All nine episodes of are now streaming on Disney+, which means it's time for it to get The Omega Beam analysis. We start out spoiler-free, and give you warning before we go full-spoilers. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/24749094

Love Death and Robots - Volume 3 10/11/2022

Love Death and Robots - Volume 3 We give our impressions of the nine episodes in volume 3 of Netflix's , without giving any spoilers. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/24657507

Halo - Season 1 10/04/2022

Halo - Season 1 Star Trek may be Paramount+ major science fiction franchise, but that doesn't mean that they aren't trying for another! The first season of , based on the video game of the same name, is available to stream in its entirety, which means it's time for us to discuss it! Spoiler-free first, then spoilers. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/24583497

The Umbrella Academy - Season 3 09/26/2022

The Umbrella Academy - Season 3 We finished watching season 3 of on Netflix, which means it's time for a short discussion of our thoughts. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/24487320

The Flash - Season 8 09/18/2022

The Flash - Season 8 The last Arrowverse show standing, CW's is now streaming it's 8th season on the CW site and app, which means it's time to discuss it. We start spoiler-free, then get into spoilers. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/24411951

Superman & Lois - Season 2 09/04/2022

Superman & Lois - Season 2 The CW is now streaming season 2 in it's entirety, which means it's time for us to discuss it! We start spoiler free before going into full spoilers. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/24270447

The Sandman - Season 1 08/22/2022

The Sandman - Season 1 Neil Gaiman's epic graphic saga finally makes it to live action! Netflix has dropped both the 10-episode first season, and a bonus episode consisting of two short stories. We dive into both! Fair warning: while we don't go into massive spoilers, because the story itself is over 30 years old, we don't adhere as tightly to our usual "spoiler-free up front, spoilers in the back" organization. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/24127263

Lightyear 08/08/2022

Lightyear We discuss the latest Pixar movie, . The whole conversation is very short, but the first minute or so is spoiler free, then we get into the movie as a whole. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/23983884

Ms. Marvel 08/01/2022

Ms. Marvel We discuss the latest MCU series on Disney+, . Spoiler-free up front, then spoilers. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/23915637

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season 1 07/24/2022

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season 1 We discuss the first season of , now streaming on Paramount+, with friend of the show . First spoiler-free, then with full spoilers. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/23840261

Thor: Love and Thunder 07/17/2022

Thor: Love and Thunder We discuss the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, , with friend of the show . We start spoiler-free, then go full-spoilers. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/23768759

Stranger Things - Season 4 Volume 2 07/10/2022

Stranger Things - Season 4 Volume 2 The wait is over: , Season 4, volume 2, is now streaming on Netflix, and that means it's time for us to discuss it! We start out spoiler-free, but then discuss the whole thing, spoilers and all. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/23699471

Obi-Wan Kenobi 06/27/2022

Obi-Wan Kenobi We discuss the latest Star Wars series streaming on Disney+, . First spoiler-free, then with spoilers. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/23545277

Encanto 06/19/2022

Encanto We discuss the Disney Pixar animated musical , now streaming on Disney+. Our conversation was recorded when Orren had a cold, sorry for the state of his voice! /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/23476823

Stranger Things - Season 4 Volume 1 06/12/2022

Stranger Things - Season 4 Volume 1 Netflix has just dropped , Season 4, volume 1, and that means it's time for us to discuss it! We start out spoiler-free, but then go into the full season. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/23403767

Morbius 06/05/2022

Morbius We discuss , Sony's latest film to feature a Marvel character that is part of Spider-Man's rogue's gallery and adjacent characters. Spoiler-free first, then spoilers. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/23331389

Star Trek: Picard - Season 2 05/22/2022

Star Trek: Picard - Season 2 All ten episodes of are now streaming, which means it's time for us to give you our thoughts! We start out spoiler free, and warn you before we go into spoilers. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/23192330

Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 05/15/2022

Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Friend of the show joins us to discuss the latest MCU movie, . We don't do a very good job of sticking to our "first no spoilers and then spoilers" routine, so a general spoiler warning is in effect. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/23115533

Moon Knight 05/08/2022

Moon Knight The latest Marvel TV series, , is now streaming in it's entirety on Disney+. We begin our discussion spoiler-free, then go full-spoilerific. /episode/index/show/theomegabeam/id/23044160

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