July 11, 2025 • 10 mins
Dr Bob Thompson on the new Superman movie, and the 3rd Big Bang Theory spin-off. Plus, Disneyland turns 70!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's go over to the Legacy Retirement Group dot com
phone line and welcome in one of our favorites on
a Friday. It is doctor Bob Thompson, Professor of Pop Culture,
Sarah Hughes University. Bob, have you ever seen Paul McCartney.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
You know, we have. He's been to Syracuse twice in
the last I don't know, seven or eight years, and
the first one about eight years ago we went to.
It was in the Dome of course, huge whatever, forty
fifty thousand, and he did it must have been three
hours and twenty minutes, no intermission, that's right straight through.
(00:32):
I forget how old he is now, how old he
was then, but I couldn't have done that then, and
I'm younger than he is.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
He's eighty three now.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yeah, we saw he was probably about seventy five when
we saw him, but straight through, no intermission. One of
the most kind of meticulously executed live performances I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
It's well said, because we Ellen and I were talking
about this. I think his last tour, his last big tour,
was in twenty five teens, about ten years ago, so
it's probably the same tour that you saw him but yeah,
and he had as much pyrotechnics on stage in the
show that we saw. It rivaled like an eighties hairband show.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
It was sad. I don't remember really. Of course, we
were so far back that I may out have noticed
as much, but I remember the performance. Well, I don't
remember the kiss element.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
There was definitely a kiss element. Either way. He is
back on the road at eighty three, which is pretty remarkable. Bob.
There have been a number of big blockbuster movies in
the month of July. I kind of started with the
F one racing movie, and then last weekend was the
Jurassic World movie, and now Superman in theaters this weekend.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Have you seen it. I haven't seen it yet. I
think tonight or tomorrow night. Although I'm teaching my summer
class started in A whole group of my students were
going last night when it first opened. This is kind
of a deal, not just as a movie. People like Superman,
but there's a lot at stake. I mean, this is
we're trying now to see whether this whole effort to
(02:09):
reboot the d C. Of course, the DC comic characters
have never really competed in the box office with the
Marvel Universe, as everybody's calling it. And it's not like
they don't have some characters. They've got Superman and Wonder
Woman and Batman and all the rest. But DC has
never seemed to be as coordinated as Marvel has been,
(02:31):
and this movie is an attempt to kind of start
that new thing. And we're gonna have what Supergirl and
Playface and dynamic duo. A dog plays a major role
in this crypto, which we've been seeing since the trailers
started coming up. PG. Thirteen and apparently pretty kid friendly,
which I think is probably a good idea, But it's
(02:55):
had a little you know, not only is it competing
in a box office filled with big blockbusters you just
named a bunch of them, not only is it competing
with kind of trying to restructure this DC universe against Marvel,
but there's a little bit of a political controversy the
whole James Gunn, the director, came down and came out
(03:16):
and called it an immigrant story, which I think makes sense,
and that of course got all kinds of people sure exercise,
including Dean Kine who played Superman in Lois and Clark
Once upon a Time.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, I was just thinking about that you mentioned kid friendly.
I mean, I think I was probably eleven or twelve
when the original Superman movie came out in I think
nineteen seventy eight, of course, the classic Christopher Reeve and
you know Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, Margo Kidder as
Lois Lane, and I forgot Marlon Brando was in that
movie as Jarrel. I.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
When my students were telling me they were going to
see Superman, I brought up seventy I was eighteen when
that came out, and remember what a how excited we were.
I mean, when you watch that now, it's it's an
old movie, but that was a big deal with came out.
I remember right around the same time as when Star
Wars came out the year before it. And I have
(04:13):
to say I was much more impressed by, moved by
and excited when I walked out of the theater having
seen that first Superman that I had been with Star Wars.
And I know this is a blasphemy, but which at
the time I thought was kind of goofy to tell
you this.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
That's really funny because I think I felt the opposite
as a little bit younger, but I was way more
enthralled with Star Wars, it was just otherworldly versus you know,
a guy in tights in a capeh.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Versus the realism of Superman.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Either way, it's probably going to be number one at
the box office, I would think this weekend. The other
story is Disneyland. Now, Disneyland is in California, right, that's
Disney World's in Orlando.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Disneyland is in capland was the first one.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Yeah, I get them confused, but it's turning seventy years
old this year.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yeah, and this was a big moment. So it wasn't
the first theme park ever up here in the Adirondacks.
Santa claus Land or whatever it was called in the
North Pole, New York predated, as did others, and of
course all the Coney Islands and those Trieste in Europe
go back to the nineteenth century. But this was the
(05:24):
first kind of modern, fully integrated, whatever you want to
call it. And it was tied into this whole synergy
from the beginning. In order to get the money to
do Disneyland, Disney got ABC to give a whole bunch
of capital, and ABC owned the portion of the company
that made Disneyland for like five years, so long before
(05:48):
the current ABC Disney merger they had temporally gotten together,
and what Disney gave ABC then is all that material
that they could play for that series called first it
was called Disneyland, The Wonderful World of Disney, The Wonderful
of Color. And they also broadcast opening day on primetime
on ABC three hour long thing. And the opening was
(06:11):
a disaster. It was eighty six degrees, which was really
really hot for Anaheim. Women's shoes were sinking into the
new asphalt, the rides were breaking down, the traffic was
backed up for miles. It was not a and this
was all televised live, so kind of an exciting pre
(06:33):
opening day would have been be seventy years ago Thursday,
I think, and then seven years ago Friday, they opened
it to the full public and got their act together
pretty quickly, and of course it became a phenomenon that
then grew to Disneyland two point zero, which is of
course disney World planned with much more real estate. And
(06:55):
you know what else is seventy years sold this year
back in April is the McDonald's franchise. McDonald's of course
has been around with those you know brothers who made it,
but Ray Kroc takes over as a franchise and opens it.
So we're at seventy years of two of the institutions
that have totally transformed American life. I mean the disney
(07:19):
Land theme park idea, and of course McDonald's changed more
of our culinary behavior than anything since what the discovery
of fire.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Well, and now you need a home equity loan to
go to either Disney's.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yeah, and unless you get a value meal, you need
one to go to McDonald's.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
That's right. Well, McDonald's used to be a treat, Bob.
I mean that would be my dad. Mom was working
late and dad would be home and you know what,
we're not going to cook tonight. Boys, get in the car.
We're going to McDonald's. And it was like, oh my gosh,
we're going to McDonald's. And it was a big deal.
Now it's just an afterthought. You both to drive through,
get a burger and a fry, and you know, you
get a full belly for a couple of bucks and
(07:57):
you're out of there. But seventy years old, that's that's
pretty remarkable. Speaking with doctor Bob Thompson, Professor of Pop Culture,
Sarah Hughes University, and I see the Big Bang Theory.
This show has been spun off at least two or
three times, I think, and it's getting another one.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah. So Young Sheldon Big Bang Theory was an enormous hit.
We don't talk about it as groundbreaking television, but it
was way, way, way, way more popular than all the
stuff getting Emmys together. And then Young Sheldon spun off
of it, also enormously popular, both when it was on
regular and on streaming. And then George and Mandy's first
(08:37):
marriage also very popular. This one is about the comic
bookstore owner going to be filled with science fiction stuff,
going to be on HBO Max lots of CGI, so
a very different kind of approach. But yeah, it'll be
the fourth Big Bang Show. And you know, the spinoffs
that are very very different are kind of unusual. I mean,
(08:59):
you get a spin off and it's just one of
the characters go somewhere. But I was trying to think
of some of the others. Remember when Lou Grant spun
off of Mary Tyler Moore. Yes, in Mary Tyler Moore,
Lou Grant was kind of he had been sort of
a drunk, his marriage had falled apart. He was kind
of a mess and he was a TV producer. It
spins off to Lou Grant. It's no longer in a
(09:21):
half hour comedy, it becomes an hour long drama. He's
this competent visionary journalist of a big LA newspaper, not
TV show. So same actor, same character, but very different.
Trapper John m d not only went from a half
hour of mash to an hour trapper John MD it
was a totally different actor.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
That's you got me now thinking about spinoffs, and I
keep going back to The Simpsons. People don't realize that
was actually a spinoff that was originally with the Tracy
Allman Show, right, That's right, and four of the cast
members on Tracy Allman the Show were the voices of
the Simpsons.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
The Andy Griffiths Show, which we think of as one
of the basic foundational classics of American TV, was I
believe the spin off of the Danny Thomas Show, right right.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
I mean, then you go Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley.
I mean, you could go Indy, It's right. I mean
some of the some of the very successful TV shows
have been spinoffs. It's pretty crazy.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Okay, you might actually know this because you know everything
about television, but everybody talks about. Happy Days gave birth
to Morgan, Mindy and Laverne and Shirley. There was another
one called Blanski's Beauty starring no less than Nancy Walker.
Was also a spinoff of Happy Days.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
I don't remember you set me up on that one.
I'm like, Okay, maybe I got one here, but no,
not even close. Great stuff, as always, Doctor Bob Thompson,
Professor of Pop Culture, Sarah Hughes University. Have a great weekend, Bob,
Let's go over to the Legacy Retirement Group dot com
phone line and welcome in one of our favorites on
a Friday. It is doctor Bob Thompson, Professor of Pop Culture,
Sarah Hughes University. Bob, have you ever seen Paul McCartney.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
You know, we have. He's been to Syracuse twice in
the last I don't know, seven or eight years, and
the first one about eight years ago we went to.
It was in the Dome of course, huge whatever, forty
fifty thousand, and he did it must have been three
hours and twenty minutes, no intermission, that's right straight through.
(00:32):
I forget how old he is now, how old he
was then, but I couldn't have done that then, and
I'm younger than he is.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
He's eighty three now.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yeah, we saw he was probably about seventy five when
we saw him, but straight through, no intermission. One of
the most kind of meticulously executed live performances I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
It's well said, because we Ellen and I were talking
about this. I think his last tour, his last big tour,
was in twenty five teens, about ten years ago, so
it's probably the same tour that you saw him but yeah,
and he had as much pyrotechnics on stage in the
show that we saw. It rivaled like an eighties hairband show.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
It was sad. I don't remember really. Of course, we
were so far back that I may out have noticed
as much, but I remember the performance. Well, I don't
remember the kiss element.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
There was definitely a kiss element. Either way. He is
back on the road at eighty three, which is pretty remarkable. Bob.
There have been a number of big blockbuster movies in
the month of July. I kind of started with the
F one racing movie, and then last weekend was the
Jurassic World movie, and now Superman in theaters this weekend.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Have you seen it. I haven't seen it yet. I
think tonight or tomorrow night. Although I'm teaching my summer
class started in A whole group of my students were
going last night when it first opened. This is kind
of a deal, not just as a movie. People like Superman,
but there's a lot at stake. I mean, this is
we're trying now to see whether this whole effort to
(02:09):
reboot the d C. Of course, the DC comic characters
have never really competed in the box office with the
Marvel Universe, as everybody's calling it. And it's not like
they don't have some characters. They've got Superman and Wonder
Woman and Batman and all the rest. But DC has
never seemed to be as coordinated as Marvel has been,
(02:31):
and this movie is an attempt to kind of start
that new thing. And we're gonna have what Supergirl and
Playface and dynamic duo. A dog plays a major role
in this crypto, which we've been seeing since the trailers
started coming up. PG. Thirteen and apparently pretty kid friendly,
which I think is probably a good idea, But it's
(02:55):
had a little you know, not only is it competing
in a box office filled with big blockbusters you just
named a bunch of them, not only is it competing
with kind of trying to restructure this DC universe against Marvel,
but there's a little bit of a political controversy the
whole James Gunn, the director, came down and came out
(03:16):
and called it an immigrant story, which I think makes sense,
and that of course got all kinds of people sure exercise,
including Dean Kine who played Superman in Lois and Clark
Once upon a Time.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, I was just thinking about that you mentioned kid friendly.
I mean, I think I was probably eleven or twelve
when the original Superman movie came out in I think
nineteen seventy eight, of course, the classic Christopher Reeve and
you know Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, Margo Kidder as
Lois Lane, and I forgot Marlon Brando was in that
movie as Jarrel. I.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
When my students were telling me they were going to
see Superman, I brought up seventy I was eighteen when
that came out, and remember what a how excited we were.
I mean, when you watch that now, it's it's an
old movie, but that was a big deal with came out.
I remember right around the same time as when Star
Wars came out the year before it. And I have
(04:13):
to say I was much more impressed by, moved by
and excited when I walked out of the theater having
seen that first Superman that I had been with Star Wars.
And I know this is a blasphemy, but which at
the time I thought was kind of goofy to tell
you this.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
That's really funny because I think I felt the opposite
as a little bit younger, but I was way more
enthralled with Star Wars, it was just otherworldly versus you know,
a guy in tights in a capeh.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Versus the realism of Superman.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Either way, it's probably going to be number one at
the box office, I would think this weekend. The other
story is Disneyland. Now, Disneyland is in California, right, that's
Disney World's in Orlando.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Disneyland is in capland was the first one.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Yeah, I get them confused, but it's turning seventy years
old this year.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yeah, and this was a big moment. So it wasn't
the first theme park ever up here in the Adirondacks.
Santa claus Land or whatever it was called in the
North Pole, New York predated, as did others, and of
course all the Coney Islands and those Trieste in Europe
go back to the nineteenth century. But this was the
(05:24):
first kind of modern, fully integrated, whatever you want to
call it. And it was tied into this whole synergy
from the beginning. In order to get the money to
do Disneyland, Disney got ABC to give a whole bunch
of capital, and ABC owned the portion of the company
that made Disneyland for like five years, so long before
(05:48):
the current ABC Disney merger they had temporally gotten together,
and what Disney gave ABC then is all that material
that they could play for that series called first it
was called Disneyland, The Wonderful World of Disney, The Wonderful
of Color. And they also broadcast opening day on primetime
on ABC three hour long thing. And the opening was
(06:11):
a disaster. It was eighty six degrees, which was really
really hot for Anaheim. Women's shoes were sinking into the
new asphalt, the rides were breaking down, the traffic was
backed up for miles. It was not a and this
was all televised live, so kind of an exciting pre
(06:33):
opening day would have been be seventy years ago Thursday,
I think, and then seven years ago Friday, they opened
it to the full public and got their act together
pretty quickly, and of course it became a phenomenon that
then grew to Disneyland two point zero, which is of
course disney World planned with much more real estate. And
(06:55):
you know what else is seventy years sold this year
back in April is the McDonald's franchise. McDonald's of course
has been around with those you know brothers who made it,
but Ray Kroc takes over as a franchise and opens it.
So we're at seventy years of two of the institutions
that have totally transformed American life. I mean the disney
(07:19):
Land theme park idea, and of course McDonald's changed more
of our culinary behavior than anything since what the discovery
of fire.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Well, and now you need a home equity loan to
go to either Disney's.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yeah, and unless you get a value meal, you need
one to go to McDonald's.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
That's right. Well, McDonald's used to be a treat, Bob.
I mean that would be my dad. Mom was working
late and dad would be home and you know what,
we're not going to cook tonight. Boys, get in the car.
We're going to McDonald's. And it was like, oh my gosh,
we're going to McDonald's. And it was a big deal.
Now it's just an afterthought. You both to drive through,
get a burger and a fry, and you know, you
get a full belly for a couple of bucks and
(07:57):
you're out of there. But seventy years old, that's that's
pretty remarkable. Speaking with doctor Bob Thompson, Professor of Pop Culture,
Sarah Hughes University, and I see the Big Bang Theory.
This show has been spun off at least two or
three times, I think, and it's getting another one.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah. So Young Sheldon Big Bang Theory was an enormous hit.
We don't talk about it as groundbreaking television, but it
was way, way, way, way more popular than all the
stuff getting Emmys together. And then Young Sheldon spun off
of it, also enormously popular, both when it was on
regular and on streaming. And then George and Mandy's first
(08:37):
marriage also very popular. This one is about the comic
bookstore owner going to be filled with science fiction stuff,
going to be on HBO Max lots of CGI, so
a very different kind of approach. But yeah, it'll be
the fourth Big Bang Show. And you know, the spinoffs
that are very very different are kind of unusual. I mean,
(08:59):
you get a spin off and it's just one of
the characters go somewhere. But I was trying to think
of some of the others. Remember when Lou Grant spun
off of Mary Tyler Moore. Yes, in Mary Tyler Moore,
Lou Grant was kind of he had been sort of
a drunk, his marriage had falled apart. He was kind
of a mess and he was a TV producer. It
spins off to Lou Grant. It's no longer in a
(09:21):
half hour comedy, it becomes an hour long drama. He's
this competent visionary journalist of a big LA newspaper, not
TV show. So same actor, same character, but very different.
Trapper John m d not only went from a half
hour of mash to an hour trapper John MD it
was a totally different actor.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
That's you got me now thinking about spinoffs, and I
keep going back to The Simpsons. People don't realize that
was actually a spinoff that was originally with the Tracy
Allman Show, right, That's right, and four of the cast
members on Tracy Allman the Show were the voices of
the Simpsons.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
The Andy Griffiths Show, which we think of as one
of the basic foundational classics of American TV, was I
believe the spin off of the Danny Thomas Show, right right.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
I mean, then you go Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley.
I mean, you could go Indy, It's right. I mean
some of the some of the very successful TV shows
have been spinoffs. It's pretty crazy.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Okay, you might actually know this because you know everything
about television, but everybody talks about. Happy Days gave birth
to Morgan, Mindy and Laverne and Shirley. There was another
one called Blanski's Beauty starring no less than Nancy Walker.
Was also a spinoff of Happy Days.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
I don't remember you set me up on that one.
I'm like, Okay, maybe I got one here, but no,
not even close. Great stuff, as always, Doctor Bob Thompson,
Professor of Pop Culture, Sarah Hughes University. Have a great weekend, Bob,
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