Dreamland

You know how your subconscious makes connections between things as you slip into sleep? Dreamland helps you do this while you’re awake by mapping out surprising links and shining a light down the rabbit hole of hilarious and bizarre stories about the GenX pop culture phenomena you only thought you knew.

Death: The True Meaning of Christmas (80s Xmas Specials) 12/29/2023

Death: The True Meaning of Christmas (80s Xmas Specials) Melinda and Conrad put the Dreamland spin on Christmas and review three decidedly dark 80s Christmas specials featuring the dark spectre of death: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985, Rankin-Bass), The Snowman (1982, John Coates), and The Christmas Toy (1986, Jim Henson Productions). /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/29271908

Vampira vs Elvira - Horror Hosts History 10/28/2023

Vampira vs Elvira - Horror Hosts History Vampira and Elvira definitely didn't get off to a good start with each other, but they definitely changed the televised landscape for horror and instigated some of our favorite B-movie anthology shows. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/29274173

Charity Singles and the 80s Spectacle of Giving: Live Aid and We Are the World 09/09/2023

Charity Singles and the 80s Spectacle of Giving: Live Aid and We Are the World Conrad and Melinda discuss the onslaught of charity singles in the 80s: the concept, the dramas, and the impact. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/27987393

80s Movie Visions of AI - Melinda Reacts 08/06/2023

80s Movie Visions of AI - Melinda Reacts Conrad gets Melinda to watch THREE 80s movies she's never seen before to get her reaction to the 80s vision of our artificial intelligence future. Will she guess their plots correctly? Will she like any of them? Can Conrad predict her reactions? Movies watched: 2010: The Year We Make Contact, D.A.R.Y.L., and Electric Dreams /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/27674835

Stranger Danger and 80s Childhood Propaganda 07/20/2023

Stranger Danger and 80s Childhood Propaganda This month we're discussing the child safety panic of the 80s in the US and UK, the funny and the terrifying. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/27521913

DeLorean- The Story You Only Think You Know 06/07/2023

DeLorean- The Story You Only Think You Know Melinda and Conrad discuss DeLorean: the man, the car, the myth - and what it's actually like to be in one! /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/27071349

Classic Stallone Films: A Brit Reacts 05/17/2023

Classic Stallone Films: A Brit Reacts When Melinda discovered Conrad hadn’t seen any of Sylvester Stallone’s classic filmography, she had to take action. What will Conrad think of Rocky, Rambo, and Over The Top? Find out in our latest show! /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/26867004

Fairy Tale TV Shows of the 80s 04/02/2023

Fairy Tale TV Shows of the 80s Melinda and Conrad remember two fairy tale anthology shows from the 80s- Faerie Tale Theatre with Shelly Duvall and The StoryTeller by Jim Henson - and analyze the history of fairy tales in general. They also discuss their new obsession with the work of well-known Harvard folklore expert Maria Tatar. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/26417136

Generation X and the Nuclear Nightmare 03/05/2023

Generation X and the Nuclear Nightmare Growing up in the 80s for many of us meant a constant awareness and fear of nuclear war, along with everything that would follow. We explore the media of the decade and how it reflected these fears, with a focus on The Day After (US, 1983) and Threads (UK, 1984) - TV movies with a big message. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/26133048

Beanie Babies: From Boom to Bust 01/29/2023

Beanie Babies: From Boom to Bust We discuss Ty Warner, Beanie Babies, and the lasting impact to the collecting world. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/25763514

High (Grange Hill and Degrassi Jr. High) 12/29/2022

High (Grange Hill and Degrassi Jr. High) Melinda and Conrad explore the trailblazing teen shows Degrassi Junior High and Grange Hill. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/25451892

The Abyss (1989) with Movie Oubliette 07/07/2021

The Abyss (1989) with Movie Oubliette Melinda and Aaron take a journey back to 1989 and take a deep dive into the Abyss (pun very much intended) with special guests Conrad and Dan from Movie Oubliette. They may or may not be saved by benevolent aliens, but they’re guaranteed to spend longer underwater than they intended. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/19719341

Howard the Duck 05/09/2021

Howard the Duck We travel from the comic books of the 70s to George Lucas and Willard Huyck’s vision to Marvel’s current cinematic universe to discover Howard the Duck - trapped in a world he never made. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/19036115

Garbage Pail Kids 04/02/2021

Garbage Pail Kids Join Melinda and Aaron as they dive deep into the dumpster containing the Garbage Pail Kids- they discuss the cards, the film, the cartoon, and more! /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/18580064

Alien Autopsy 02/27/2021

Alien Autopsy Melinda and Aaron dive deep into the swirling vortex that is the history of Alien Autopsy, that crazy special from the mid-1990s. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/18113288

The Craft (1996) 01/26/2021

The Craft (1996) Dreamland goes goth and delves into the witchy world of The Craft from 1996. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/17696432

Twilight Zone 1985: Shatterday, A Little Peace and Quiet 11/01/2020

Twilight Zone 1985: Shatterday, A Little Peace and Quiet Melinda and Aaron recall a memorable remake of the classic Twilight Zone series from their childhoods... that scared them intensely. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/16635515

Xanadu (1980) 07/30/2020

Xanadu (1980) Join Melinda and Aaron as they descend into the somewhat cringey fever dream that is 1980’s Xanadu. Where roller skating, disco, and big Hollywood musicals crash head-on into Greek mythology and romance, you’ll find… Xanadu. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/15413009

The 'Burbs (1989) 06/27/2020

The 'Burbs (1989) We delve into the seedy underbelly of American suburbia, look at our neighbors’ house and ask, “What’s he building in there?” And we talk about the cult classic 80s film starring Tom Hanks. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/14987696

Cover Songs and Space Travel 05/04/2020

Cover Songs and Space Travel Melinda and Aaron have fought through the COVID-19 malaise and are each back with a surprise topic. Melinda delves into what makes a great cover song, with a handful of interesting examples, while Aaron recalls our hopeful visions of space travel from the 80s. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/14280962

Dot and the Kangaroo (1977 film) 02/09/2020

Dot and the Kangaroo (1977 film) In another fun foray into Australian pop culture, Melinda gets Aaron to watch one of her all-time favorites, Dot and the Kangaroo. Is it really as sad as she remembers? Does the Bunyip actually exist and is it coming for us? Will there be a special mention of Dead Can Dance? Listen and find out. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/13078409

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985) 12/22/2019

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985) Michael joins Aaron and Melinda to discuss his favorite Christmas special, the Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by Rankin-Bass from 1985. Based on the 1902 book by L. Frank Baum (you know, the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz), it adds a pagany, Tolkien-esque, Dickensian feel to the holiday in an animagical way. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/12499496

Secret of NIMH / Rocko's Modern Life 11/27/2019

Secret of NIMH / Rocko's Modern Life Melinda and Aaron delve into their favorite anthropomorphized cartoon animals in this 50/50 episode. First we reveal the origins and backstory of the groundbreaking animation classic The Secret of NIMH, followed by a discussion of themes in the 90s’ Rocko’s Modern Life. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/12204722

TerrorVision 10/30/2019

TerrorVision We’re still in 1986, this time with TerrorVision directed by Ted Nicolaou. This B-movie is filled with slimy space monsters, swinger parents, and machine guns. Melinda and Aaron ask the question, is there more to this 80s cult classic, or is everything exactly as it seems? /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/11839598

Crocodile Dundee 10/25/2019

Crocodile Dundee Melinda and Aaron revisit 1986, but a very different film this time! They discuss Crocodile Dundee - the good, bad, ugly, and possibly true story. Put on your teeth hat and grab your knife, we’re going back to the Bush! /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/11787473

Cobra 09/11/2019

Cobra Melinda and Aaron delve into the world of crazed cults, serial killers, and arguably the most underrated Cannon film ever made- Cobra, starring Sylvester Stallone from 1986. Also - Brian Thompson is in it! /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/11204408

Stingray (1985 TV Series) 08/02/2019

Stingray (1985 TV Series) Of all the amazing vehicle TV shows to choose from in the 80s, Stingray was the best one you probably didn’t watch. Featuring a classic ‘65 Corvette, a lone-wolf hero who is smarter and tougher than everyone and who has a heart of gold, and the most memorable music of any 80s show - if you haven’t seen it, you don’t know what you’re missing! Melinda and Aaron walk you through the pilot. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/10755209

HBO's Chernobyl / Satanic Panic Origins 06/30/2019

HBO's Chernobyl / Satanic Panic Origins This week Melinda and Aaron delve into the darkness and talk about two weirdly similar incidents from the 80s: Chernobyl, as seen in the HBO miniseries, and Mike Warnke as an originator of Satanic Panic. Note: while we don’t use profanity, due to content listener discretion is advised. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/10341305

In Search Of... Bigfoot 06/13/2019

In Search Of... Bigfoot From 1977 to 1982 Leonard Nimoy guided us through a wide variety of strange phenomena on the syndicated, half-hour show “In Search Of.” On this episode of Dreamland, Melinda and Aaron learn a ton about Bigfoot from Spock himself, as well as special guest Tom Berges from I Grew Up Star Wars. In this episode we discuss four episodes spanning “Bigfoot,” "The Swamp Monster," "Monster Hunters," and "The Abominable Snowman." /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/10137361

The Colbys 05/11/2019

The Colbys In the 80s, "primetime soaps” were definitely a thing, but you may not remember the 1985 Dynasty spinoff, “The Colbys.” An Aaron Spelling project, this show was Dynasty but more expensive, with slightly fewer catfights, but slightly more alien abductions. And let’s not forget that it starred none other than Charlton Heston. Melinda and Aaron marvel at this 80s masterpiece. /episode/index/show/dreamland/id/9742970

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