The Nerd Bliss Podcast

The Skywalker saga has ended, for better or worse. No need in putting off the inevitable any longer. We give our thoughts on The Rise of Skywalker. What did we like? What didn't we like? Was it a fitting farewell to Carrie Fisher? Did J.J. try to undo The Last Jedi? You may or may not agree with us, but here is our verdict.

This session was recorded on 12/29/2019. In this episode, we continue our discussion of The Mandalorian after the first season finale aired. But before we get to that, Tina and Chris talk about seeing Cats The Movie. As a fan of the original London stage show, Chris has some rather strong feelings about this movie as well as its overall reception. Only then do you get to hear our thoughts on all that Mandalorian goodness. CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE MANDALORIAN, SEASON 1  Call or text us 24/7 at (864) 715-9446 and leave us feedback on this or any other episode. We might play or read your message on the show!

We're back, if a little late to the game. We're going to play a little catch-up. We recorded this episode on 12/1/2019. Disney+ had been with us less than a month, and already we were gorging ourselves on the likes of The World According to Jeff Goldblum and the Ducktales reboot. But of course, the real Disney+ payload was the first live-action Star Wars series, The Mandalorian. We had four episodes under our belts and we gave our first impressions...as if you can't guess what they are.

On its face, Netflix's adult animated series BoJack Horseman appears to be typical of the genre, using the inexplicable incorporation of anthropomorphic animals with humans as its apparent hook. Once you get beyond that particular oddity, you will get a show that is not only a very good comedy, but that goes into some very real, and very dark places. Chris, Tina, and Heath watched the show up to the end of the first half of Season 6, (with the final episodes of the series set to go live in January 2020) and discuss how this very funny and somewhat trigger-y show affected them. SPOILER WARNING - BOJACK HORSEMAN SEASON 6. We recommend watching at least some of the series to get the most out of this podcast episode. It contains MANY SPOILERS. If you're planning to watch the show with no knowledge of what's to come, skip this episode and come back to it once you're caught up.

After DragonCon 2019, we had a chance to meet up with our good friend Eric L. Watts, Chairman of Treklanta and C.O. of the U.S.S. Republic, the Atlanta chapter of Starfleet International. In this completely candid conversation, Eric takes the gloves off and tells the unvarnished truth about the state of Treklanta. If you are a Star Trek fan in the southeast United States (or anywhere), you need to hear what Eric has to say.

We had a great time at DragonCon 2019. We talked to some of our geek friends and to some of the other con-goers and met with our fellow ESO Network hosts. Take a listen and get to know the other awesome ESO show hosts. You'll like them, we promise. 🙂

The agreement between Marvel and Sony that allowed Spider-Man to be a part of the MCU has come to an abrupt end. Is the arrangement really over, or will Sony and Marvel come back to the table? What would it mean if the arrangement really is over? We also talk about the Amazon Prime series The Boys and give our reactions to the teaser trailer for The Mandalorian. Call or text us 24/7 at (864) 715-9446 and leave us feedback on this or any other episode. We might play or read your message on the show!

We've been talking a lot about guitars lately. You can blame Chris for that. Since he's learning to play, he's done a lot of research on the topic and he just uses this show to let it spill over. Besides that, we talk about Millennials and hipsters while trying to find adequate definitions for each. We discuss whether or not vinyl is superior to digital as a music medium, and the differences in production between classic rock and modern rock.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic exploded in popularity in ways that no one could have predicted. It ended up having an appeal that transcended ages and genders. As this episode was recorded the ninth and final season of the show was airing. We look back at the show as a whole and what we loved about it.

What started out as an intended discussion on some of the reveals and news from San Diego ComicCon, turned mostly into a discussion about Top Gun: Maverick, Star Trek: Picard, Stranger Things 3, and the trailer for Cats.

Heath & Chris engage in guitar-related geekery that quite honestly could have gone on all day. Rather than that, we'll just call this part one. We also make some predictions about San Diego Comic-Con 2019 (which will be over by the time you hear this).

We had the tremendous privilege to talk with Mark McCray. Mark is a senior programming manager at Adult Swim and the author of the book The Best Saturdays of Our Lives. During the 70's, 80's and 90's, Mark wrote a newsletter that provided commentary and reviews on the various shows that were aired on Saturday mornings, which he sent to some of the biggest names in the cartoon world. The book is a collection of the best of those newsletters as well as memoirs and interviews that any fan of Saturday morning cartoons is sure to love.

In this episode we welcome our friend from Treklanta, Tasheka Gipson. Tasheka works as a speech pathologist and has degrees in Molecular Biology, Speech Pathology, and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). She was inspired by Star Trek at a young age to explore and study science, and was a recipient of a scholarship to attend Space Camp. It was our great pleasure to have her as a guest.

Phillip Coss is one of our many new friends from Treklanta 2019. He lives in Puerto Rico and is a member of Starfleet International aboard the USS San Juan. Phillip tells us about the crew of the San Juan and shares his experiences with fandom. He also gave us a very frank assessment of the state of Puerto Rico, which is still recovering from Hurricane Maria which struck land in September 2017.

NOTE: This episode does not meet our usual standard for audio quality. Some segments contain mic noise and distortion. We apologize for the low audio quality on what is otherwise a great episode. Right on the heels of Treklanta, Chris & Tina went to ConCarolinas 2019 and talked to many of the artists, authors, and guests including Valentine Wolfe, Mikey Mason, Podcasting's Rich Sigfrit, and Dacre Stoker, great grand nephew of Bram Stoker! Meanwhile, Dan covered the House of Mann Fashion Show at the Spartanburg Fringe Festival!

Chris and Dan recap their experience at Treklanta 2019 in Atlanta, GA over Memorial Day weekend. We would like to thank Eric L. Watts, Chairman of Treklanta, for allowing us to be a part of this awesome event. We have an interview with the winner of the 2019 Miss Klingon Empire Beauty Pageant, Leila McMicheal (a.k.a. Keela). Hear about the much anticipated In Defense of Star Trek: Discovery panel, which Chris and Dan presented at the con. Hear us talk about the amazing people we got to meet. And by the way, this is Dan's first Star Trek convention ever!

This episode was recorded before our trip to Treklanta 2019. By the time you hear this, Treklanta 2019 will have already ended. But, there is still plenty to enjoy about this discussion. We hope we saw you there.

The hosts of The NerdBliss Podcast, Thunder Talk, and The History of Comic books shot tequila, ate chicken wings, and discuss emotional intelligence in animals, a Star Wars fanfic, variety shows, and Chevy Chase reportedly being a jerk. Dan and Wheatley remember the movie Follow That Bird. Also...look it kinda goes everywhere, okay?

Almost a year to the day after their previous appearance on the show, Michelle Shara and Brandon Hilton return to the studio. When we last had them as guests, Queens to the Rescue, a charity drag show that benefits local animal rescues, had not happened yet. QTTR is now about to have their fifth show, with more to come in 2019. Michelle and Brandon tell us about the journey.

You knew we'd dedicate an episode to Avengers: Endgame, right? And with the spoiler frenzy surrounding this movie, you can bet your ass we're not revealing anything in this paragraph. But in case we haven't beaten you over the head with this enough, this episode contains spoilers. Repeat. This episode spoils Avengers: Endgame. That means if you listen to this episode before seeing Avengers: Endgame, you will learn things about the movie you might not have wanted to know going in. To put it another way, spoilers for Avengers: Endgame are in this episode. Have we made ourselves clear?