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Okay a few things about the episode. 1. When Paul said they stole the players souls and not their talent because of Charles Barkley walking into a wall, I think he got that idea from the episode of the SImpsons where Bart sells his soul and the doors don't open for him. Could be wrong, but that's why when he said stole their soul, I was like "Oh yeah. Makes sense because of Bart Simpson." Also, Jason's been on a real tear lately about souls not existing. I think it is weird that he can suspend his belief for so many things but seems to feel if a soul exists in a movie it must be pointed out that they do not exist. Nothing I love thinking about better during a comedy podcast than the finality of death and the pointlessness of life. I'm tuning in to forgot the likelihood of those things, Zooks! Jeez. 2. Somebody else pointed out the racist undertones of Bugs Bunny talking to Michael Jordan about slavery. Agreed. But even more racist was everything Foghorn Leghorn did. I know he's supposed to be an old Southern gent, but is it really necessary to have him sing the first line of Dixie, the anthem of the Confederacy? Who's that joke for? Young Richard Spencer? Also, I know one of his catchphrases is to say "boy" repeatedly. But if I'm making a movie with a black athlete, I'm not going to have a cartoon rooster hold a sign at him that says "I say 10, boy." If you need to know why that's problematic, ask Michael Evans in Good Times. https://mademoiselleclipon.tumblr.com/post/142445173366/good-times 3. As for the "Jam" party of space jam, Paul was right that "jamming' is synonymous with a slam dunk. In addition to NBA Jam, there was also Charles Barkley's Shut up and Jam (best game ever!). And in the early 80's, you had the University of Houston teams known as "Phi Slama Jama" featuring future NBA legends Hakeem "the Dream" Olajuwon and Clyde "the Glide" Drexler. 4. I did not remember how bad this movie was. But as a Knicks fan, it was pleasant to remember a time where we were good. Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, Derek Harper. And Larry Johnson was on Charlotte on that point, but I'll always remember him as a Knick. BTW, I thought he was better than all the other basketball players at acting. Probably all that experience playing Grandmama.

When Jordan is initially seized by the Tune Squad, he is informed by Bugs that they are mostly concerned that they will be forced to perform “the same jokes every night.” However, as Paul mentions in the episode, according to the movie’s universe, all Looney Tunes cartoons perform their respective cartoons live. So if Bugs Bunny’s first appearance was in 1940, by the movie’s logic, that means he’s already been performing the same act, non-stop, for 56 years. Aren’t they kind of already doing what they’re afraid they’ll be forced to do? Instead of the threat being “we’re going to make you keep doing what you love doing, at the same frequency you’re already doing it, just someplace else,” wouldn’t the more appropriate conflict for a movie like this be if the aliens wanted them to *stop* being Looney altogether? At least then the threat becomes existential. Either they win the game, or they cease to be. This also can extend the threat to our Earth by claiming that without their zany antics, our world will turn into dreary, garbage can fire lit dystopia. I don’t know, but “forcing me to do the thing I love to do forever” seems pretty weak as far as stakes go.

Do you think Marvin being the referee because he is both an alien and a Looney Toon and therefore impartial was intentional or is that giving this movie too much credit?

I wasn't much of a student-athlete unless you count debate and mock trial as sports. There was, however, a free public tennis court near my house, so my family and I would go there and play. I haven't seen this film in at least a decade, and all I remembered about it was that Michael Jordan plays basketball with Looney Tunes characters. Watching it now as an adult, it's truly a bizarre film. Am I the only one who thought there were some weird racial undertones to the premise of the Looney Tunes having to play basketball against their potential captors to get out of slavery? Also, I don't think we discussed enough how much of a creep Bugs Bunny was in this movie. Why is no one talking about the fact that he kissed Michael Jordan? That would not fly in a post-#metoo world. This guy's walking around fully nude, planting unwanted kisses on famous basketball players, and openly leering at another bunny who, for male gaze reasons, happens to have boobs and a big butt. Way to ruin my childhood. I also have a lot of questions about the mechanics of losing one's talent in this film. At the 24 minute mark, one of the players tries to drink from a water bottle and fails spectacularly. You can be bad at basketball and still be able to drink water! Additionally, the stolen talent made the monstars both taller and beefier than the actual players are, which is odd. Also, clearly that demonstrates that size is considered a contributing factor to the players' talent, and yet none of them shrinks when their talent is stolen. None of this makes much sense. Finally, there was a very disturbing moment at the 22-minute mark, where some of the aliens are bundled up in a coat and hat and go to watch a basketball game. The aliens are moving around and talking to each other and the woman beside them says to her male companion that "the guy next to us is doing something very strange in his coat." To me, that implies masturbation, and I don't know why the man doesn't seem to care or be bothered. I figure that most people if they thought someone was masturbating beside them at a basketball game might try to talk to one of the employees about it, or at least be concerned.

The Monstars only stole the talent from five NBA players. Why didn't the Looney Tunes recruit any of the other current NBA players? Why not get Larry Bird?

The baby is ready!

https://www.earwolf.com/episode/space-jam-live/ HOW DID THIS GET MADE? #233 FEBRUARY 13, 2020 Live from Chicago, Paul, June, and Jason discuss the 1996 live action/animated sports comedy Space Jam starring Michael Jordan. They talk about Michael Jordan being unfazed when he meets the Looney Tunes, horny Bugs Bunny, soul stealing aliens, Bill Murray elevating the movie, the definition of a “jam,” and much more. Subscribe to Unspooled with Paul Scheer and Amy Nicholson here: http://www.earwolf.com/show/unspooled/ Check out our tour dates over at www.hdtgm.com! Check out new HDTGM merch over at https://www.teepubli…wdidthisgetmade Where to Find Jason, June & Paul: @PaulScheer on Instagram & Twitter @Junediane on IG and @MsJuneDiane on Twitter

If two is company and three is a crowd, that explains why this orgy is way too loud.

I love a Cadbury's Caramel. You get a box of Minature Heroes, and the Caramel's have all gone, I'm gonna start swinging.

Well that ad makes sense because that's a fucking sexy chocolate bar.

If you thought Lola Bunny was weirdly sexualised for a kids movie about basketball... these were actual adverts in the UK, for a chocolate bar.

They say beauty is in the eye of the bee holder, but I tried it and they just stung my hands.

I think Jason may be traumatized from watching Jacob's Ladder and people forcing him to relive it almost every episode, so it makes sense to me that he rejects the idea of the soul.

First off I want qualify that I was not the adult man in a diaper. Secondly, I feel like there needed to be more discussion of Lola Bunny who launched a thousand furry fetishes; in a kids' movie no less. https://www.instagram.com/p/B5I_AfsgdPU/?igshid=yeoj6jsm0km4 Thirdly as a Chicagoan(suburbs count fight me) I feel like this episode totally counteracted the good will from taking down our collective cinematic villain (Blues Brothers 2000). The soundtrack was great, kids loved it, it's already a movie where cartoon characters exist in parallel to normal reality so why are you looking for plot holes in the sci-aspects? PS. Why no discussion of Wayne Knight's hero's journey? He follows Michael into Tune World when no one else will. He steps into the game against the Monstars knowing that they will annihilate him. He should be the protagonist of the movie.

Y’all can rewatch Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire, since baize is velvet-adjacent

As a fellow Gen Xer I'm surprised the hosts didn't make more mention of the voices of the Looney Tunes characters. In a movie with almost no redeeming qualities for me that part was the absolute worst and really makes this movie an.....abomination feels like a strong word. And the right word.

They are called Looney Tunes which was a play off of Merrie Melodies.

Why not Blue Velvet?

Being the big basketball fan that he is, I was surprised that Paul thought Patrick Ewing was the only one with acting experience. Larry Johnson had his alter ego character, ‘grandmama’ that he played in several Converse commercials and in an episode of Family Matters. And he should have remembered that Barkley has done acting before, including Look Who’s Talking Now, which they covered on the show. BTW, which is more insulting, having the dog in Space Jam named after him or that homemade doll of him in Look Who’s Talking Now?

I’m just confused as to how Jason and June are so lost on why the title works. Let’s break it down: Jam (noun) - an awkward situation or predicament -- The Tunes found themselves in a bit of a JAM when they are kidnapped by aliens from SPACE. Later, the basketball players who have their talent siphoned away are also in a jam, caused by the same space dwelling aliens. Jam (verb) - slang term for a slam dunk in basketball. --This is the reason for its use in the title of the popular video game NBA JAM. In Space Jam, we once again reference the aliens from space and the generally fun-to-watch action of the slam dunk. Jam (noun) - slang term for one of your favorite songs - “Yo! Hit ’Em High is my JAM!” -- The soundtrack for Space jam was quite popular, with a number of hits including R.Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly”, which people may shun now, but was enormously popular at release and for years after. The title works in many ways, none of which are that much of a stretch to reach. Jason, June, stop hatin’.

With those back problems? The Mon Stars would have ruined him.

Paul talking about the Monstars "stealing the soul" of the basketball players has made me realise something. This movie completely ripped off Mortal Kombat. Mortal Kombat, an otherworldly antagonist comes to earth, taking the souls of great fighters for himself, forcing Lord Raiden to put together a plucky team of heroes in an effort to defeat him In Space Jam, an otherworldly antagonist comes to earth, taking the souls of great basketball players for himself, forcing Bugs Bunny to put together a plucky team of heroes in an effort to defeat him. On top of that, Lola, the highly skilled female character has to rebuff the advances of Bugs Bunny, a super-famous male character, before realising that he's a great guy all along? SONYA BLADE AND JOHNNY FUCKING CAGE. Also, the importance of water. Showing that the Looney Tunes had the talent all along in Space Jam, and how Liu Kang defeat Sub Zero in Mortal Kombat! Mortal Kombat came out in 1995 Space Jam came out in 1996 More imporantly, Warner Bros, the company that owns the Looney Tunes, also own New Line Cinema, who made Mortal Kombat. That's why there wasn't a sequel, SPACE JAM: ANNIHILATION, because Michael Jordan found out that Shao Kahn was gonna break his neck 10 minutes into the movie, and Bugs Bunny was going to be played by James Remar.

Surprised the soundtrack didn’t come up at all. “The soundtrack peaked at #2 on the US Billboard 200. It was certified double platinum in January 1997. In 2001, the soundtrack was certified 6x Platinum” Seal - Fly Like An Eagle R. Kelly - I Believe I Can Fly (separate the art from the artist...) LL Cool J, Method Man, Coolio, Busta Rhymes, B-Real - Hit ‘Em High Quad City DJ’s - Space Jam Monica - For You I Will Some great songs on this soundtrack for sure.

My favourite part of this episode is when Paul started talking about sports, and most of the audience had no idea what he was talking about. Then I realised that must be what it's like when I talk about Mortal Kombat. "You see, that's this woman named 'Kronika', she's the keeper of time, and she's pissed at Raiden for fucking with the timeline in MK9, so she's coming after him, and brings people from the past to help her..."