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It’s certainly not beyond criticism, but I’ll never tire of watching Prince perform. I rewatched it this weekend and it made me cry though I’m not a cryer. I just still am so sad he’s no longer with us.

LIsten I am the right age for this movie. I was 7 years old when this was in theaters, and yes I did eat it the fuck up. Did I think this was a masterpiece up until listening to this episode? Yes... Here's my actual question though - How can June and Jason destroy this movie so much and then turn around and pledge their love to something like Drop Dead Fred?! #TeamSanity

My favorite One Direction album would have to be the “North” soundtrack.

Evil weasels teased my beagle so I hired a paralegal. Now I’m living regally off this weasel fortune.

So I'm going to say the Tunes' comeback win over the Monstars isn't all that impressive. Why? Well, near as I can tell the Monstars are only fielding five players, the ones who stole the abilities of the NBA stars. Meanwhile, the Tunes seem to be rolling out a roster of 30 players or more, and all of them get on the court at some point (how referee Marvin the Martian is allowing this big a roster is unexplained). Of course the Monstars faded at the end of the game! Big scary monsters or not, anyone is going to get tired playing the full game with no one getting a break. Big tactical error by the Monstars there -- their coach should be fired.

I was going to recommend The Boys as well, even though I haven’t finished the season yet. Also Homecoming—from the creator of Mr. Robot and based on an excellent podcast—is supposed to be good. I’m looking forward to watching Purple Rain. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, but I remember it being a good match of performer and material.

Apples or Oranges, they’re all the same to me Doc. Can you get them out of my butthole or what?

I told my girlfriend I don't like blow jobs, and now she's taken up knitting. What should I do?

Just an FYI since I know you're not all sportos But Space Jam 2 is scheduled for 2021

I want to give a shout out to Isaac, the guy who sang the 2nd Opinions theme song. That was so subtle, I don't think Paul, June, or Jason caught what you were doing. That song was masterfully chosen. For those that didn't catch it, Isaac sang to the tune of "I Believe I can Fly" by R Kelly. Yes, the grammy-winning single was very apropos for parody in this episode bc the song was written for Space Jam. Its entry on the Billboard website even says so (see screen shot below). In light of recent revelations and less recent piss jokes, this was ripe for more ridicule. And it's a shame this connection was missing from the Podcast bc it would give so much more ammunition for Jason to rip on Chicago. Kelly was born/raised on the South Side and eventually moved out to the South 'burbs (aka, "Chicago" don't @ me). So, Jason, if you want more proof that Space Jam is just Chicago being obsessed with itself, despite obvious problems, there you go.

It's not quite the case that every film critic hated Space Jam. At least two of them gave it a big thumbs up: To be sure, Siskel and Ebert might be predisposed to see a movie-star quality in Michael Jordan since he's from their own Chicago, but they do mostly like the rest of the movie as well. And they bring up a comparison to another HDTGM movie that I don't recall was ever being mentioned in the episode: Kazaam! Which raises the question of whether Space Jam is at least better than that as a movie vehicle for a '90s superstar basketball player. I will say that it's kind of ironic to hear Siskel decry Kazaam making Shaq a "genie" as opposed to just playing himself to be a "manufactured" role, when convolutedly "manufactured" is exactly what every single thing about the premise of Space Jam is except Michael Jordan just playing basketball like he does in real life.

I think this is interesting in the context of Lola being a Looney Tunes character. The classic versions of Bugs, Daffy, etc. (especially the antagonist characters) are habitually self-centered, if not narcissistic. They are content to humiliate their opponents, deriving pleasure and comedy from their victories, with their end goal being to be left alone. The idea of actually stopping, say, Elmer Fudd from killing other sentient Tunes is totally against their nature. They actively turn his guns TOWARDS each other (see: Duck Season vs. Rabbit Season). Lola would be much more at home in the world of Tiny Toon Adventures or Animaniacs, where it was far easier to find altruism and friendship among the main characters.

I recognize this movie is a commercial, but aren't almost all kids movies, especially animated ones? Artistic merits notwithstanding, a movie like WALL-E presents itself as a cautionary fable, warning us about the dangers of rampant consumerism, cultural complacency, and excess waste, all the while generating thousands of individual products with adorable robots, complete with Disney and Pixar branding, all of which create their own waste. Don't get me wrong, WALL-E is a beautiful film, but at least Space Jam is honest about its blatant consumerism. It's not hiding behind a cute, doughy-eyed Pixar creation. No one is telling you can go "To Infinity And Beyond," as long as you buy this $25 action figure, they're just trying to get you to buy some fucking Gatorade.

I'm looking forward to when they cover Cabaret, which as Bleary said, is another musical with Nazis in it. I like the tone of Cabaret more than Sound of Music. Good 70's take on the Wiemar years.

Larry Bird retired in 1992, he wasn't current. Also a correction/omission: One of the people in the audience notes that the Bulls 72-10 season was the year of the film (1996), right after Jordan returned from baseball/forced retirement. He also said that "it's never been beat!" which isn't true: the 2016 Golden State Warriors went 73-9. They remain the only teams to crack 70 wins, though this year's Bucks seem to be heading there. The Clippers in 1996 went 29-63 and were owned by Donald Sterling (hi Paul!).

That soundtrack ruled, I completely ruined my cassette copy with how much I was playing it, though that was also of the times too because back in the 90s the soundtracks were as well, or at times, better received as the movies they were attached to. I mean can anyone here think of a recent soundtrack that got as much acclaim as the movie it was for, I think 8 Mile is the closest in the last 20 years. Karate: made to do it then my parents got divorced so that nixed the whole weekly lessons thing because it cut into visiting time Baseball: I was a good hitter but a shit fielder, played all the way up through coach-pitch Football: never got to play a game as I messed up my Achilles Tendon Basketball: tried out for the school team but didn't make the cut Wrestling: wrestled a couple matches and sucked out loud, then re-aggravated prior injuries So in regards to Jordan's rumored cheating/gambling issues, I found it odd that they made a decent-sized point about how he wouldn't take the easy route in his baseball game when the catcher is literally telling him what pitch is coming, which really stands out today with everything going on in the MLB and the Astros sign stealing scandal. I have to assume that was a Jordan note to make him look like the good guy and also fuck that catcher because if Jordan had slammed one out of the park due to the assistance he was being offered, it could only hurt the pitcher who is only trying to improve his ability and hopefully make it up to the big leagues. Also the Harvard College Sports Analysis Collective apparently had nothing better to do and went through every shot during the game to figure out the box scores for every player and overall stats. https://www.wired.com/2011/03/space-jam-box-scores/

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?

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.

The baby is ready!

Agreed. The Zouks remix was great. Really made me laugh (again). It does seem pretty quiet around here. But I don't use reddit either.

I didn't like it all that much, AMA