Prodigious Saps
Chad Smalley and Brendan Jones (friends for more than 30 years) reflect on movies, TV, music and comics… with a special focus on their shared love of Superman.
Episodes
September 13, 2025 • 153 mins
This week, P-Saps dive into Tim Burton’s BATMAN (1989). We revisit the movie’s cultural earthquake—how it reshaped the superhero genre, influenced blockbuster marketing, and gave us a darker Gotham than audiences had ever seen.
We unpack Michael Keaton’s unlikely casting and why it works, Jack Nicholson’s show-stealing Joker, Danny Elfman’s now-iconic score, and the film’s role in paving the way for modern superhero epics. Along th...
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August 28, 2025 • 63 mins
Here's our review of FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS
Brendan LOVED it immediately, while Chad had to chew on it for awhile... but we're pretty much in full agreement about this one: it's pretty damn great.
SPOILERS ABOUND... so proceed with caution.
Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/1pXIVbAJ80U
Prodigious Saps: profusive nerdery from Chad Smalley of Blaggards and Brendan Jones of Tesla City Stories.
https://linktr.ee/pr...
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August 19, 2025 • 125 mins
We are currently on a brief hiatus as Chad is on tour with his band, Blaggards... so in the meantime we're putting out this audio-only version of our long-awaited SUPERMAN RETURNS breakdown. The final YouTube edit will likely wind up being somewhat shorter.
ENJOY, P-Saps!
Prodigious Saps: profusive nerdery from Chad Smalley of Blaggards and Brendan Jones of Tesla City Stories.
https://linktr.ee/prodigioussaps
RELATED LINKS:
Blagg...
Mark as Played
July 24, 2025 • 75 mins
Here's our FULL review of James Gunn's SUPERMAN, starting with a non-spoiler segment. FULL SPOILERS start at 15:15.
Watch on YouTube:
Non-Spoiler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqA1mtbsh-s
Spoiler Discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymXSlCxH1qk&t=63s
Prodigious Saps: profusive nerdery from Chad Smalley of Blaggards and Brendan Jones of Tesla City Stories.
https://linktr.ee/prodigioussaps
RELATED LINKS:
Blaggards
https:/...
Mark as Played
June 27, 2025 • 65 mins
Prodigious Saps No. 60: "The Day Superman Kissed the World"
Our friend DC comics artist CHRISTOPHER JONES (perhaps most famous for his work on Young Justice) joins us again for a GREAT conversation about the upcoming SUPERMAN and James Gunn's vision for the DCU.
We talk about all the stuff we're excited for, take some wild guesses at what's coming next, take a look back at past SUPERMAN films and tv shows, and geek out about stuff ...
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May 18, 2025 • 66 mins
Here's our breakdown of the first full-length SUPERMAN trailer with all kinds of nerdy theories about everything we've seen so far.
Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/po8akuYitHc
Prodigious Saps: profusive nerdery from Chad Smalley of Blaggards and Brendan Jones of Tesla City Stories.
https://linktr.ee/prodigioussaps
RELATED LINKS:
Blaggards
https://blaggards.com/
SlapperCast: a weekly podcast/road diary from Blaggar...
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May 9, 2025 • 35 mins
Here is our review of Marvel's THUNDERBOLTS. ALSO: weird similarities to SUPERMAN IV and the post-credits scene BOMBSHELL.
00:00:00 — THUNDERBOLTS review
00:23:14 — Superman IV connection #1
00:25:12 — Superman IV connection #2
00:26:12 — "New Avengers"
00:27:05 — The big post-credits scene!
There's a much longer version of this review on Patreon and Channel Memberships:
PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/posts/thunderbolts-128323873...
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April 27, 2025 • 58 mins
Prodigious Saps No. 58: "Embrace Comics or Go Away"
Here is our breakdown of the latest FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS trailer, plus more SUPERMAN speculation.
Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/Faxo_2JnUuw
00:00:00 — Overview
00:03:03 — Why Fantastic Four is so important to MARVEL
00:05:16 — FF trailer breakdown and theories
00:36:05 — When did Hollywood get poisoned with "Comic Book Shame"?
00:40:30 — Metamorpho in SUP...
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April 17, 2025 • 46 mins
SUPERMAN theories and speculation based on recent interviews with Gunn, Corenswet, Brosnahan, and Hoult.
PATREON : https://www.patreon.com/ProdigiousSaps
JOIN: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJaU6rw754l-Z0HQ4SB3gwA/join
SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/@prodigioussaps?sub_confirmation=1
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/IULoJ_gKvBk
Here's our latest nerdy discussion on SUPERMAN, based on details revealed in recen...
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April 7, 2025 • 23 mins
This is our breakdown of the SUPERMAN Sneak Peek that came out last week.
Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/0bs4uTNOe80
The UNCUT version on Patreon and YouTube channel memberships is almost twice as long:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/superman-sneak-125892919
Here are the two interviews referenced in the breakdown:
The cast of 'Superman' chats with ET at the CinemaCon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by3SyZSSb2o
David...
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April 2, 2025 • 58 mins
Here is our review of SEVERANCE, mostly centered around the season 2 finale.
PATREON : https://www.patreon.com/ProdigiousSaps
JOIN: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJaU6rw754l-Z0HQ4SB3gwA/join
Prodigious Saps No. 58: "The Dumb Person's Smart Show"
SEVERANCE is not our usual fodder, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk about this amazing show now that the long-awaited second season has wrapped up.
SPOILER WARNING
We ca...
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March 20, 2025 • 65 mins
Prodigious Saps No. 57: "The Devil You Say, The Devil You Know"
DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN (Episodes 1-3) | SEVERANCE | SUPERMAN III | SUPERMAN 2025
So far we've only seen the first three episodes of DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN, but we're digging it so much we couldn't wait to start talking about it.
** SPOILER WARNING for the first three episodes of DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN! **
ALSO: SUPERMAN |||, SUPERMAN 2025, and SEVERANCE.
Prodigious Saps: ...
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March 5, 2025 • 65 mins
Here is our review of CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD. It's been getting mixed reviews, but we both dug it... while also acknowledging its faults. Did you see it? What did you think?
00:00:00 — Captain America: BNW Review
00:52:40 — Guy Gardner in Super Bowl teaser
00:53:24 — "A Complete Unknown"
01:00:06 — BATMAN breakdowns are coming
01:02:58 — To our viewers who don't understand sarcasm...
Prodigious Saps: profusive nerdery fro...
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February 20, 2025 • 73 mins
Here is our breakdown of SUPERGIRL (1984)
PATREON : https://www.patreon.com/ProdigiousSaps
JOIN: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJaU6rw754l-Z0HQ4SB3gwA/join
SUBSCRIBE on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@prodigioussaps?sub_confirmation=1
Prodigious Saps No. 56: "Zip ZAP!"
Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/5w-wB04kNrk
This movie is so weird! Which is something you will hear us say about a dozen times in the episode, ...
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January 9, 2025 • 100 mins
At long last, here is our breakdown of SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE. The last time Christopher Reeve portrayed Superman. Yeesh.
Needless to say, neither of us like this movie, but we did have a lot of fun talking about it. We also talk about some recent James Gunn/DCU stuff towards the end.
00:00:00 — Overview
00:08:54 — Breakdown
01:24:27 — James Gunn SUPERMAN & DCU news
Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/To1R2QiI...
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December 21, 2024 • 104 mins
CHRISTOPHER JONES is perhaps most well-know for his work on YOUNG JUSTICE, but he's also done BATMAN STRIKES!, AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES, and DOCTOR WHO, among many, many other titles.
We talk about his experiences working in the comics industry, and also (of course)... SUPERMAN! We talk about the movies, the radio show, the George Reeves tv series, the animated universe, and of course James Gunn's upcoming SUPERMAN (2025)...
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December 7, 2024 • 73 mins
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-GIoV9LNWSU
First up: we touch on a few SUPERMAN-related topics and poke fun at our "It's just a movie" critics in the comments of our YouTube channel. We also wrestle with a couple of technical glitches right at the top, but it made for some funny so I left it all in.
Then we move on to our reviews of THE PENGUIN and AGATHA ALL ALONG. SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT watch the second half of th...
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November 26, 2024 • 96 mins
Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/EBP1jZH08Qg
Well, here we are. The people asked for it, and today we deliver. Brendan has finally watched Superman III. But... he's not happy about it.
Our opinions of the movie are fairly similar, only I am much softer on it because I saw it so many times on cable TV when I was a kid, and came to terms with its mediocrity decades ago. Brendan is still reeling from it, as you will see...
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November 8, 2024 • 58 mins
Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/TpGSm3C09i4?si=huRxnFH4zTo5sJ61
SORRY for the lateness on this getting this one out! Several clips have been culled from this episode already, but there's still plenty of fun stuff in here that y'all haven't seen yet.
Several things on the agenda this time:
Following up on the commotion stirred up in the comments section on a recent clip from P-Saps No. 49 about the time travel sequen...
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November 1, 2024 • 98 mins
Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/kpf3hCUpZKc
Here is the second installment in our SUPERMAN rewatch series! And this one is a doozy, because we're covering two very different versions of the same movie.
If you're unfamiliar with either version of SUPERMAN II, as usual we're spoiling pretty much everything, so be warned!
The story of these two cuts is pretty legendary, but in a rambly nutshell: Richard Donner was hire...
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