The “Superman & Lois” – Ampersand & Sons Podcast (hosted by Neal Bailey and Julian Finn) is a regular podcast covering each episode of the “Superman & Lois” TV series airing on The CW.
As Julian becomes the Eradicator and Neal waxes about parrots in the explanation section, the gents vacillate wildly from dead serious rumination to jokes about ABVs, discussing the penultimate episode of the first season of “Superman & Lois”.
Subscribe to the “Superman & Lois” – Ampersand & Sons Podcast via iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio or your favorite Podcatcher.
RULE NUMBER 1 For Superhero Properties (especially live action): Don’t ask where the other heroes are in the middle of a major crisis. Audiences were asking where Iron Man was back during Captain America: The Winter Soldier when Helicarriers were crashing to the ground and toppling buildings. Why didn’t Steve call for Avengers backup at any point during that movie? A similar question was asked by some audiences about the end of the new Suicide Squad movie and why heroes like Wonder Woman, Shazam, The Flash or Superman didn’t show up. The point is you’re not supposed to ask, it’s… Read more »
JULIAN: You complained that Morgan/Eradicator resurrected his father in Jordan and not Zod. However Zod – or at least the copy that was stored in the Eradicator – is gone for good. Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 12 -Through The Valley of Death around the 34 minute 40-50 second mark. Morgan Edge is in his fortress using his super-hearing to eavesdrop on Superman and John Henry and realises that Superman has vanquished the Zod consciousness that was transferred into him. Morgan Edge then addresses the hologram of his father and says “He’s gone. For good.” To which Zeta-Rho queries… Read more »
NEAL: Re:Masters of the Universe Revelation I watched Masters of the Universe: Revelation (not Revelations which is a mistake some people keep making) on the day it came out. I thought it was OK but nothing special. Going in I wasn’t as hyped for it as a lot of OG fans were but afterwards I watched a fair few YouTube videos laying into Revelation and to be honest I could understand why. To be up front there was a lot of misogyny and a dash of racism in the mix with the word “woke” getting thrown around a lot. All… Read more »
Heya! I have now watched it, and I’ll be commenting on it next podcast at length, no doubt. I think it’s a bit of a tempest in a teacup, but then, that’s almost every “reaction” video on the internet, I find. I just keep clicking “SHOW ME LESS LIKE THIS!” until it’s only every other dang video I see, heh. I do thing that in answer to your questions: 1) I believe it was meant for the usual target demo, with the aging group of folks like me who watched the original, 18-40. I think that the controversy it generated… Read more »
I consider myself to be fairly progressive and left-leaning as well as being generally supportive of increased diversity and representation in media. I’ve had arguments with my brother because he stopped watching Supergirl after they added a transgender character. He also refuses to watch shows or movies where men are kissing other men because it grosses him out and I’ve told him to get over it. So when people complain about shows or movies being “woke” like it’s a bad thing I do not agree at all. What I do understand to a degree in part because I feel that… Read more »
This highlights one of the biggest problems generally with the “male gaze” argument, honestly. And to be clear before I get going, I’m agreeing with you. One, you’re right. Teela wasn’t incredibly sexualized in the original cartoon, whatever “sexualized” means, considering that for some people a balloon is that. And two, the changes were dramatic. But, having said that, the assumption that it was done with a bent or a goal or a political slant in mind, or to correct a wrong, is a faulty one. We don’t know. It could very simply be that what Teela looks like now… Read more »
I’m going to challenge your assertion that MOTU Revelation is a kid’s cartoon. This is an assumption on my part but just listening to you and Julian on this podcast it feels like you are often fairly out the loop when it comes to what is going on behind the scenes with shows in terms of their production and marketing as well as writing decisions. I wasn’t super invested in MOTU Revelation in the lead up to it’s release but I keep my ear to the ground about news and developments regarding sci-fi and fantasy properties for movies and television.… Read more »
Everyone is out of the loop, generally, in what is going on behind the scenes. It’s an error to assume that we know anything that’s going on. It’s all assumption. So yes, in a sense, I’m out of the loop. So are you, so is Julian, so are we all outside of interviews, which are often people lying to toe a line so they keep their jobs instead of being direct and honest. That much I AM in the loop on, because I’ve seen how a lot of sausage gets made, and if there’s one thing that’s true, it’s that… Read more »
What I meant was that I read interviews or excerpts of interviews with show and movie creators/executives on a regular basis and that I got the feeling that you don’t have as much spare time as I have to be across this material Of course you can’t take everything creators say as gospel and I don’t. Anything they say about what goes on behind the scenes with the creative process has to be taken with a grain of salt. However when it comes to marketing even if it lies about what the product is the fact of the marketing stands.… Read more »
That’s true, I don’t have too much spare time. But also, I used to be similarly quite abreast, and I realized it was a zero sum game when I realized that pretty much everyone in those interviews is lying to tell you what you want to hear, with rare exception, when it comes to things you don’t already know. It’s an ad, essentially. But to the point, even if I concede your point and say that yes, it was tailored to us as older farts, and hell, maybe it even was, it wouldn’t change necessarily the idea that it’s a… Read more »
Here’s the thing that confuses me about Jordan becoming Zeta-Rho. How can he become Zeta if Superman has Zeta’s crystal from a few episodes back when after he and Steel beat Edge for the first time? I remember specifically Edge taunting Superman to crush that crystal as revenge for what he did to Jor-el’s crystal. To which Superman tells him that he will never have that crystal again. Did Edge get the crystal back at some point and we missed it?
I’d say two things about that. The first is that I think the writers probably dropped the ball and forgot the need to explain that to the audience. Secondly it’s not that big a deal because there are any number of explanations you can come up with for yourself. It’s possible there were two copies of Zeta-Rho’s consciousness – one in the crystal and one in the Eradicator. It’s also possible that when Morgan/Eradicator freed Lesley Larr he also took back the crystal. Unless Superman was carrying the crystal around with him all the time it would probably either be… Read more »
True. Plus this might be a way for them to keep Zeta-Rho as a reoccurring or long term villain for the series. If Superman defeats Zeta this season, the crystal may be a way for him to return for later seasons and episodes.
I believe there is a history of large national and multi-national news/media organisations buying up smaller regional and rural news/media organisations. Then proceeding to sack all the local journalists and most of the local staff. After which they use the local news/media organisations letterheads to distribute the same centralised content rather than local content. They’re buying the letterhead and existing customer subscriber base. Since they aren’t producing any local content and just repackaging existing content the productions costs are lower and they might actually make money. Also if they buy up all the news/media organisations in a region they will… Read more »