“The Wizard of Odds”! “Don Adams’ Screen Test”! Bouncing Bobby Van! And the rise (and fall) of Allan Sherman!

Breaking windows with Greg Behrendt.

This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron (www.blueapron.com/NEVER) and Casper Mattresses (www.casper.com/PARDO code: PARDO).

Joel Spence, Colton Dunn, and Johnny Meeks join Matt Besser for this week’s episode of improv4humans. They perform scenes about a ragtag group of retail freedom fighters, children’s books that teach harsh life lessons, and a town up in arms about progressive snowmen. Later, they set unrealistic goals on their wish-boards, visit a shoe outlet that enforces a sock policy, and rescue their dogs from a rhino’s headlock.

This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron (www.blueapron.com/improv) and HBO’s “Crashing.”

Comedy duo and twin brothers Randy and Jason Sklar join Kevin for some good old-fashioned Denzel talk. They swap Denzel interaction stories and Jason explains how he found common ground with the man himself before they review the Top 5 Best (and Worst) Denzel Performances. The boys touch on the fallabilities of Denzel’s characters and the power coupling between him and Spike Lee, culminating in a discussion about the 1998 film “He Got Game.”

Check out Jason’s encounter with Denzel here: https://youtu.be/BycbbR6D7Yg

This episode is sponsored by Blue Apron (www.blueapron.com/denzel).

Casey and Danielle delve into Hotlanta, the force of nature that is Marlo and Sheree’s looming yeast infection. Then they head down south Punta Mita way for an hour long advertisement for The Agency that finds Rinna in the hot seat and Eileen in the diarrhea seat. They are joined for a special segment by poet and playwright Dan O’Brien who unpacks a few famous scenes and enlightens the girls on Danielle Staub’s (long) sex tape. 

This episode is brought to you by The Skimm (www.theskimm.com/HOUSEWIVES).

Comedian, writer, actress Danielle Radford (Tights and Fights podcast) joins Andrew to discuss the recent wave of whitewashing of Asians in upcoming films and television including The Great Wall, Ghost in the Shell, and Iron Fist. As always, leave us a message about anything you think is racist at (323) 389-RACE.

This Valentine’s Day, Hard Nation welcomes Jean & Howard DiTillo (Mary Sasson & Matthew Brian Cohen), a loving couple who disagree politically. They plug their book “Love Your Body, Hate Your Guts,” recount their trip to ‘gay California,’ and explain why Desert Storm was ‘lots of fun.’ Plus: Are Mark & Pete living in a bubble universe?

This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron (www.blueapron.com/hardnation) and Casper Mattresses (www.casper.com/HARD).

55 years after the Boston Strangler murders first began, and despite decades of investigation, the search for answers continues. Although we may never know the truth about what happened to these women, we can draw some conclusions about the likely killers, and we can reach a new understanding about how crimes like this occur. In our final episode, Adele Roof, once nearly a victim herself, joins host Portland Helmich on a touching, thought-provoking journey back to Boston.

This episode is brought to you by Squarespace (www.squarespace.com code: Stranglers), Casper Mattresses (www.casper.com/Stranglers), Blue Apron (www.blueapron.com/stranglers), Audible (www.audible.com/stranglers), and Investigation Discovery.

Actor and artist Tom Wilson joins Matt this week to discuss being present (but also past and future) in the Back to the Future Trilogy as Biff Tannen, among other members of the Tannen clan. Tom tells us about finding a creative way to approach being asked the same questions about the films, which includes creating a handy postcard to present to anyone on the street that asks him the same questions over and over. We also hear what it was like for him – as someone who was bullied – to play a bully himself, being paired off to rehearse his scenes with Crispin Glover, and what he believes to be the heart of all the movies. Plus, Tom talks about being on a debate team with David Brooks of the NY Times, the inspiration for his ‘Pop Fugue’ paintings, and various roles he’s played over the years including one of his earliest on The Facts of Life.

Los Angeles: On February 28th there will be a LIVE I Was There Too at The Regent Theater with legendary screenwriter Steven de Souza (Die Hard, Commando) along with a screening of The Running Man (celebrating it’s 30th Anniversary). Get tickets at http://www.theregenttheater.com

This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron (www.blueapron.com/IWasThereToo).

Biff’s Question Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmjYimspW-4

What do you do when you realize you’re more like your parents than you want to be? Hillary’s friend Kirsten tackles the problem head-on. The 2nd in a two-parter. To join the conversation go to longestshortesttime.com!

This episode is brought to you by Madison Reed, Aeroflow Breastpumps, Third Love, Yogi Teas, and Wunder Capital.

Howard and Kulap welcome comedian, actor, and musician Henry Phillips to talk about celebrity toothbrush caches and the Lady Gaga/Metallica Grammys performance. Henry talks about working alongside an all-star comedy cast in the new film “Punching Henry” before sharing his passion for radio on a special Valentine’s Music Chart. Then, he reminisces with Howard about the good old days during the Movie Chart, and Stard shares his childhood summah memories on Two Charted.

This episode is sponsored by Squarespace (www.squarespace.com code: CHARTED) and HBO’s “Crashing.”

When you think about ancient human history, you probably think about sex, right? Who doesn’t? And when you do, you probably imagine in your head (because you love envisioning your eldest relatives gettin’ down) a very bland, puritanical form of sex where they do it through a sheet once every other year and only to conceive, right? Well, sorry to make you throw up in your mouth a little bit, but your ideas of chastened ancestors living repressed lives are as wrong as the next images we’re about to put in your mind: ancient humans were nasty little horndogs. In fact, the basically standard modern ideas of monogamy and fidelity are extremely recent developments in human history. They’ve only been around for about 10,000 years — a blink of the evolutionary eye.

So what was the ancient hunter-gatherer love like actually like? And what can we learn about our own sex lives from looking at how the cavemen got down? A lot, actually. So we asked an expert. By studying prehistoric human cultures and the sex lives of our two closest genetic relatives, chimps and bonobos, Dr. Christopher Ryan has some pretty eye-opening stuff to share about human sexuality. So Jack O’Brien welcomes Dr. Ryan on this bonus episode of The Cracked Podcast to talk with Teresa Lee and Michael Swaim about swinging tribes-people, primitive vibrators and ape balls in a conversation that is bound to make you rethink everything you know about love and sexuality.

Footnotes:

Book: Christopher Ryan & Cacilda Jetha: Sex At Dawn: https://goo.gl/NkZVye

Podcast: Christopher Ryan: Tangentially Speaking: https://goo.gl/uWl7mK

Scholarly Article: Michael Gurven & Hilliard Kaplan: Longevity Among Hunter-Gatherers: https://goo.gl/9LXdBo

Article: Jared Diamond: The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race: https://goo.gl/4k9zM

Article: Cracked: 5 Gender Stereotypes That Used To Be The Exact Opposite: https://goo.gl/zgnNG

Article: Cracked: 6 Horrifying Facts That Get Left Out Of History: https://goo.gl/ItWwcK

Article: Cracked: 7 X-Rated Traditions That Prove History Was Horny As F*$&: https://goo.gl/9XxknD

Article: Cracked: The 6 Most Cynical Exploitations of Romantic Love in History: https://goo.gl/Hik16

Article: Cracked: 6 Factors That Secretly Influence Who You Have Sex With: https://goo.gl/oIAFD

Article: Cracked: 5 Insignificant Things That Determine Who You Have Sex With: https://goo.gl/0i8cQ

Interested in the intricacies of how the US electrical grid functions? No? Well, you will be interested in hearing about how the caller wants to “disconnect from her ex-boyfriend’s power grid”. Love, in the language of electricity. Sit back and soak up the metaphors.

This episode is brought to you by Squarespace (www.squarespace.com code: CG), Mailchimp (www.mailchimp.com), Blue Apron (www.blueapron.com/beautiful), and Casper Mattresses (www.casper.com/beautiful).

Join Kevin as he sits down with comedic actor Rob Riggle (The Hangover, 21 Jump Street). Rob, the self proclaimed Hollywood Clydesdale, chats about grinding it out at UCB for 7 years to almost being broken by a commercial audition.

Singer-songwriter Dia Frampton joins Jensen and Matty to talk about her band with her sister Meg & Dia, being the runner-up in the inaugural season of The Voice, her new album Bruises, Syd’s solo debut “Fin,” alarm clocks, Nioh, how we were late on Last Chance U, and many more things you should know about.

Sean and Hayes provide a tutorial on a difficult subject they’ve studied. Then MIKE MITCHELL of the famous Doughboys joins the discussion to reveal whether he eats the food.
This episode is sponsored by Casper Mattresses (www.casper.com/handbook code: HANDBOOK) and ZipRecruiter (www.ziprecruiter.com/first).

Emily and Deanna celebrate the love-liest day of the year by talking with OMFG all-stars Daliya Karnofsky and Yimu Xue about Valentine’s Day yays and nays, why being single for Valentine’s can be a blessing, getting locked down with an older gentleman, and much more. Plus, the girls pay a visit to the “Bye Felipe” Instagram page.

This episode is sponsored by ThirdLove (www.thirdlove.com/omfg).

We have an extra MONDAY episode of Bitch Sesh live from New York City!! In the city that gave us The Countess and The Regency, the ladies talk about Casey’s harrowing flu nightmare, Danielle’s Hamilton thoughts, and an Angel in the form of a Crystal. Plus, a very surprising guest joins the ladies to talk about pussy grabbing and housewives, and pussy grabbing of housewives.  

This episode is brought to you by Home Chef (www.homechef.com/BS).

Did you ever notice how every movie villain is just really ugly beyond belief?

Emperor Palpatine? WRINKLED UP UGGO.

Jafar? POINTY FACE.

Scar? LITERALLY NAMED AFTER HIS FACIAL DEFORMITY.

It’s fucking dark when you think about how many movies this applies to; how the villain is usually someone trying to live a normal or equal life, but their ugliness just gets in the way. ‘The Incredibles’ is a perfect example. The villain is an ugly-little redhead kid who just wants for everybody to be a superhero, but the Incredibles are like NNNNNNOPE and throw him into a jet engine because only they should get to be superheroes.

Yeah, of course Syndrome kills like 30 other superheroes and sets a giant death robot loose on a major metropolis, but just go with us for this thought experiment. His heart was in the right place. On this week’s podcast Jack O’Brien welcomes Cracked’s own Katie Goldin and Michael Swaim to unpack this trope and how you can see ugly bad guys ostensibly trying to do the right thing in franchises from Disney to The Lord of the Rings.

Footnotes:

Video: Cracked: 4 Disney Movie Villains Who Were Right All Along: https://goo.gl/ddcdE7

Article: Cracked: 9 Famous Movie Villains Who Were Right All Along: https://goo.gl/YHj25

Article: Cracked: 5 Movie Villains Who Were Right The Whole Time: https://goo.gl/2P99EY

Article: Cracked: 6 Reasons The Jedi Would Be The Villain In Any Sane Movie: https://goo.gl/rPHaAO

Article: Cracked: You Really Have No Idea Who The Villain Of Frozen Is: https://goo.gl/SsbdFm

Book: Chuck Klosterman: I Wear the Black Hat: https://goo.gl/oxij5c

Video: Kanye West: All Day (Live at the 2015 BRIT Awards): https://goo.gl/xeDgWu

This episode is brought to you by ZipRecruiter (www.ziprecruiter.com/cracked) and Harry’s (www.harrys.com/cracked).

We’re leaving on our quest in one week. But first… we talk to a butterfly and a reverse mermaid.

Credits
Arnie: Arnie Niekamp
Chunt: Adal Rifai
Usidore: Matt Young
Tabula the Butterfly: Michael Hitchcock
Erin the Reverse-Mermaid: Erin Whitehead
Mysterious Man: Tim Sniffen
Craig: Ryan DiGiorgi

Producers: Arnie Niekamp, Evan Jacover, Ryan DiGiorgi
Editor: Ryan DiGiorgi
Theme Music: Andy Poland
Magic Tavern Logo: Allard Laban
Audio Assistance: Jason Knox
Production Assistance: Garrett Schultz
Photo Credits: Shawn Robbins

Special Thanks to SF Sketchfest

This episode is brought to you by ZipRecruiter (www.ziprecruiter.com/first) and Casper Mattresses (www.casper.com/magictavern code: MAGICTAVERN).

Gilbert and Frank talk to screen icon and animal activist Tippi Hedren about her absorbing new memoir (“Tippi”), her collaborations with co-stars Marlon Brando and Rod Taylor, her turbulent relationship with Alfred Hitchcock and her fifty-year mission to rescue and protect wild cats. Also, Cary Grant pays a visit, Sean Connery pays a compliment, JFK makes his move and Tippi befriends a raven from “The Birds.” PLUS: “The Harrad Experiment”! The legendary Edith Head! Charlie Chaplin saves the day! Young Gilbert checks out “Marnie”! And the (arguably) most dangerous movie ever made!

Los Angeles based band Electric Guest joins Scott to play songs off their new album “Plural” on this week’s musical episode of Comedy Bang! Bang! Singer-songwriter Brandon Potter (no relation to Harry Potter) also arrives to perform some of his personal flute songs. Plus, internet personality Janelle Jinx stops by to promote her popular YouTube channel.

This episode is brought to you by Last Week Tonight on HBO, ZipRecruiter (www.ziprecruiter.com/cbb), Legal Zoom (www.legalzoom.com code: BANG BANG), and Stamps.com (www.stamps.com code: BANGBANG).

Jamie Denbo (Ronna & Beverly) and John Ross Bowie (The Big Bang Theory) aren’t the only Hamilheads in their household: their 9-year-old daughter, Nola, loves Hamilton, too. This enthusiastic Ham fam joins Travon and Mike to talk about “A Winter’s Ball” and their favorite parts of seeing the show live in New York City. Plus, they discuss how some people can harness their narcissism for the greater good.

This episode is brought to you by Zola (www.zola.com/HAMILTON).

Paul F. Tompkins welcomes everyone in these unwelcome times back to Spontaneanation! This week, Paul’s special guest and SOLE improvisor is Spontaneanation’s good friend Craig Cackowski! They chat about what rating Craig’s kitchen would receive if a health inspector were to enter his home, Craig’s unexpected responsibilities as a bartender at a mall deli, and the lovely compliment paid to him by his dentist. They then improvise a story set in an Ice Cream Parlor. And as always, Eban (only the best) Schletter scores it all on piano!

This episode is brought to you by Crashing on HBO.

Actor Jason Schwartzman (Mozart in the Jungle) sits down with Randy and Jason on this week’s Sklarbro Country! The Bros listen in on Ray Lewis’s pump-up psych out speeches before getting into it with Jason about his Sirius XM show “Coconut Radio,” identifying your musical pillars, and childhood sensitivities. Then, Jason reflects on his working partnership with Wes Anderson and dealing with family fame. Finally, the Sklars welcome back Christoph Waltz to hear his take on Charles Oakley’s recent altercation.

This episode is sponsored by ZipRecruiter (www.ziprecruiter.com/happy).

Saved by the Bell, the Collateral Beauty of Will Smith’s mind, and plants. All of this and more is covered on this week’s mini-sode! Paul goes through Corrections and Omissions for Airborne and we hear Blake J. Harris interview Shane McDermott aka Mitchell Goosen, star of Airborne (go to www.slashfilm.com to read the whole thing) and the Movie Bitches review Collateral Beauty. Plus, we find out what bad ass sequel we’ll be hearing on next week’s episode!

Where to Find Jason, June & Paul:

Paul’s new comedy Drive Share is available on Go90. You can see June and Paul on NTSF:SD:SUV:: on HULU. June stars in Grace and Frankie on Netflix, as well as Lady Dynamite alongside with Jason.

Jason can be seen in The Lego Batman Movie, How to Be Single, Sleeping with Other People, and is still indeed in The Dictator.

David Feldman (Triumph The Primary Election Special 2016) and Kaitlin Fontana (The Box) join Negin for a snow day conversation about Elizabeth Warren and other progressive leaders to watch, and Trump’s travel ban, which is winding its way through the courts. Plus, they share tips for making phone calls to Congress.

This episode is brought to you by DecodeDC podcast, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO.

Ronna & Beverly pay a visit to San Francisco for the annual SF Sketchfest! They welcome very talented actors James Urbaniak (Difficult People) and Arden Myrin (Shameless) to chat about drag queen leisure wear, the whole refugee project, on-stage engagements, old-timey podcasts, Ambien Santa, and much, much more.

This episode is sponsored by ThirdLove (www.thirdlove.com/shalom) and Keepsake (www.keepsake.us/shalom).

This week: Allan Sherman branches out! Ethel Merman buys in! Richard Dawson jumps ship! And the versatility of Bert Convy! 

Vanessa and JR Ford didn’t know their youngest child was a girl until she told them on her fourth birthday. “Mom, I’m not a boy,” she said. “I’m a girl in my heart and in my brain.” As the parents of a transgender daughter, Vanessa and JR are at the epicenter of today’s changing terrain when it comes to gender. The Fords are just one of the families featured in Katie’s new documentary, Gender Revolution: A Journey With Katie Couric. In this companion podcast, Katie and Brian dive deep with the Fords and two others featured in Gender Revolution: Georgiann Davis, a sociologist and intersex activist, and Dr. Joshua Safer, who runs the Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery at Boston Medical Center.

This episode is brought to you by Gender Revolution on demand (www.NatGeoTV.com/GenderRevolution), Toyota Highlander 2, and Hello Fresh (www.hellofresh.com code: COURIC35).