Geek TV: 3rd Rock From the Sun!

Concept: Four aliens come to earth, taking human identities as a family, to study our civilization. Hilarity ensues.

Total Episodes: 139

Original Air Dates: January 9, 1996 – May 22, 2001

Original Network: NBC

Characters:

Dick Solomon (John Lithgow): High Commander and head of the expedition. He is actually the youngest member of the expedition, although his earth identity is the oldest. He tends to act very juvenile. During the course of the show, he falls in love with Dr. Mary Albright.

Sally Solomon (Kristen Johnston): Security officer and second-in-command. Her pose in the “family” is as Dick's sister, and sometimes as Tommy's mother. She was chosen to be female despite her species being asexual. She has a harder time playing a female than the other aliens have playing male. Despite this, she ends up becoming involved with Officer Don Leslie Orville.

Harry Solomon (French Stewart): The Communicator or Transmitter of the group, Harry just came along for the ride, not having been originally assigned. He fits in better than the rest, although it's implied because he's not as intelligent as the others. He poses as Dick and Sally's brother, and Tommy's uncle. When an incoming message arrives from the Big Giant Head (their species' leader) he shakes violently and squats down, declaring “Incoming Message from the Big Giant Head” before delivering the message. Impulsive and prone to misfortune. He has an on-again off-again relationship with Vicki Dubcek, the daughter of their landlady.

Tommy Solomon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt): Second in command and Information Officer. He's actually the oldest and smartest of the group, and poses as Dick's son.

Dr. Mary Albright (Jane Curtain): Dick's colleague and sometimes girlfriend. While she sees Dick as an insensitive idiot, she can't avoid being infatuated with his quirkiness.

Nina Campbell (Simbi Khali): Dick and Mary's administrative assistant. Dick tends to demand her to do things that aren't part of her job assistant, and she considers Dick to be an idiot, a sexist, and a jerk.

Mrs. Mamie Dubcek (Emarie Wendel): The Solomon's landlady, rather loose, clueless and carefree. She usually appears holding a cigarette and a Bloody Mary.

Officer Don Leslie Orville (Wayne Knight): A police officer for the city of Rutherford, and Sally's boyfriend. Excels at bowling, and easily manipulated by Sally.

Geek Pedigree:

Terry Turner, who directed 100 episodes of the show and wrote a few of them, was previously a writer for Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1993. He also wrote Wayne's World and Coneheads. Series co-creator Bonnie Turner shares the same writing credits, as well as writing Wayne's World 2. The Turners also co-created That '70s Show.

John Lithgow had previously played Wally in the 1980 TV Movie Mom, the Werewolf and Me, and of course played John Valentine in Twilight Zone: The Movie. He also played Joe Huxley in The Day After, Lord John Whorfin/Dr. Emilio Lizardo in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8^th Dimension, Dr. Walter Curnow in 2010, John Walters in “The Doll” episode of Amazing Stories, George Henderson in Harry and the Hendersons, Dr. Oscar Charles in the “You, Murderer” episode of Tales From the Crypt, voiced Lord Farquaad in Shrek, and later played Charles Rodman in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The White Rabbit in Once Upon A Time in Wonderland.

Jane Curtain, of course, is best remembered for being in the original 1975-1980 cast of Saturday Night Live, returning to her role as Prymatt Conehead from that show in Coneheads. And then provided the voice of Hippolyte in the 1998 Hercules TV series. Later, she played Judge Claire Whittaker in the remake of The Shaggy Dog, and Charlene in The Librarian TV movie series.

While Kristen Johnson didn't have any geek creds prior to 3^rd Rock, she did concurrently play Ivana Humpalot in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Wilma Slaghoople (the future Wilma Flintstone) in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas.

French Stewart, on the other hand, played Lieutenant Ferretti in Stargate, guested on an episode of Space: Above and Beyond, played Icarus in 33 episodes of the 1998-1999 Hercules, did the voice for Rentwistle Swack in three episodes of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, and also later provided the voice of Bob Allman on the all-too-shortlived God, the Devil and Bob, and guested on an episode of Psych.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt played David and Daniel Collins in the 1991 Dark Shadows, guested in a 1991 episode of Quantum Leap, played Jimmy Howell in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, and guested in a 2000 episode of The Outer Limits. Later, he played The Doctor in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and played Blake in The Dark Knight Rises. He will shortly be seen in 2014's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For paying Johnny.

Wayne Knight may be best known for playing Newman in Seinfeld, but he also played Stan Podolak in Space Jam, was the voice of Microwave in The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars, Igor in Toonsylvania, Tantor in Tarzan (1999), Al the Toy Collector in Toy Story 2, Emperor Zurg in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, and of course played Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park. Later, he gueste din a 2003 episode of The Twilight Zone, voiced Abnegazar in “The Balance” episode of Justice League, played Micro in Punisher: War Zone, voiced Egghead in three episodes of Super Hero Squad, as well as Captain Goray in an episode of Green Lantern: The Animated Series.

Danielle Nicolet doesn't have any prior geek creds from before her 42 episodes as Caryn, one of the students at the university in the show, but I can't let it pass without noting that she voiced Storm in the 2011 X-Men animated series.

Geek Guests:

William Shatner appeared in five episodes playing the Big Giant Head... do I really need to point out that he was Captain Kirk on Star Trek? Another big guest star was John Cleese, who appeared in four episodes playing Dr. Liam Neesam.

Richard McGonagle appeared in five episodes as Dr. Howard, he'd appeared in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation prior to that, as well as an Adventures of Brisco County Jr., but he may be better known for his voice work, voicing Dr. Franklin Storm in an episode of the 1996 The Fantastic Four, various voices in Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Duck Dodgers, Ben 10, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Legion of Super Heroes, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and many other programs.

John D'Aquino appeared in four episodes as Kevin Randell, he'd previously played Lt. Benjamin Krieg in SeaQuest 2032 and guested in three episodes of Quantum Leap. Laurie Metcalf, who played Jennifer Ravelli in three episodes, is best known for playing Jackie on Roseanne, but she also provided the voice of Mrs. Davis (Andy's mom) in Toy Story and the sequels Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3, voiced Donna in God, the Devil and Bob, and is known these days to geeks for playing Sheldon's mom on The Big Bang Theory.

Harry Morgan appeared in a trio of episodes playing Professor Suter, and is probably best known for playing Col. Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H, or Officer Bill Gannon in Dragnet 1967, but he'd also guested on an episode of Rod Serling's Night Gallery in 1972, but his geekier credits include playing General Stilton in The Cat From Outer Space, and Robert T. “Skinny” Malone in The Wild Wild West Revisited and More Wild Wild West.

Beverly Johnson appeared in two episodes of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman playing Mrs. Cox prior to playing Prell in two episodes of 3^rd Rock.

The sorely missed Phil Hartman appeared in two episodes of 3^rd Rock, playing a different character each time. You no doubt know him from Saturday Night Live and NewsRadio, but did you know he did voices on Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, The Dukes, Challenge of the Go-Bots, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, and the 1986 animated Dennis the Menace, as well as playing Captain Carl on Pee-Wee's Playhouse? You can also hear him in episodes of many other animated shows if you listen carefully, such as on The Ren & Stimpy Show. He was also known for providing the voice of Troy McClure and other characters in 52 episodes of The Simpsons, but you probably knew that already.

Star Trek's Mr. Sulu, George Takei, appeared in an episode playing himself! But did you know that among his animation voice work he also voiced Galactus in The super Hero Squad Show, or that he did some of the voice dubbing for Godzilla Raids Again and Rodan? Star Trek: The Next Generation's William Riker, Jonathan Frakes, guested in an episode as well, but not playing himself.

Tara Strong appeared in a 1996 episode as the Exercise Lady, a rare opportunity to see her on-screen, as her career is mostly in voice work (at least, her geek credits tend to be). Her prior voice roles included characters in Beetlejuice, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures, Captain N and the New Super Mario World, Bubbles in The Powerpuff Girls, the 1993-1997 X-Men, Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in The New Batman Adventures as well as other characters, and later provided voices on Clerks, Gotham Girls, Samurai Jack, King of the Hill, What's New, Scooby-Doo?, Duck Dodgers, Raven on Teen Titans (as well as Gizmo and others), Batman: The Brave and the Bold, The Super Hero Squad Show, and way, way too many others to list here!

Olivia d'Abo guested in a 2000 episode, she had previously been in Conan the Destroyer, guested in a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, and later voiced a number of characters in Justice League, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Ultimate Avengers: The Movie. Miguel Ferrer guested in a 2000 episode, he'd previously appeared in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, played Bob Morton in the original Robocop, Snyder in DeepStar Six, Lloyd Henreid in The Stand, guested on three episodes of Tales From the Crypt, played The Weather Man in the TV Movie Justice League of America, voiced Aquaman, De'Cine and Weather Wizard in Superman: The Animated Series, and later voiced Tarakudo and others in Jackie Chan Adventures, played Jonas Bledsoe in the 2007 Bionic Woman TV series, voiced Sinestro on The Batman, J'onn J'onzz in Justice League: The New Frontier, Vandal Savage and others in Young Justice, played Vice President Rodriguez in Iron Man 3, and will be seen this year as Vallon in the new version of RoboCop.

David Hasselhoff guested as Dr. Lasker in one episode, and of course he's best known for playing Michael Knight on Knight Rider. Mark Hamill played himself in a 1997 episode, and of course you know him as Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as voicing the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series and the various spin-offs of that... and he's done a whole mess of other voicework as well! James Earl Jones was the Narrator on two episodes, but he'll always be remembered as the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars.

DVD Release: All six seasons have been released on DVD, with a Complete Series boed set released in 2014.

Website: http://www.3rdrockfromthesun.net/ is a fan site that is worth checking out!

Notes: I came kind of late to this show, probably in the third season or so. My first wife, Barbara, introduced me to it, and although I initially dismissed it as being Mork and Mindy with four Morks, I soon became a fan!

Book and Record: Escape From the Planet of the Apes!

Geek Memories: Discovering Star Trek!

I've been a fan of Star Trek for almost as long as I can remember. While it wasn't my first introduction to science fiction (I'd have to put the Space Cat books in that spot), nor my first introduction to sci-fi on TV for that matter (that might have to go with some Saturday morning show, probably either Filmation's Fantastic Voyage or Journey to the Center of the Earth), it's probably one of the most personally influential shows in my life.

When Star Trek first aired in 1966, I didn't get a chance to see it. According to my mom, she did watch the first aired episode, “The Man Trap,” but the appearance of the salt vampire made her think that it was going to be a “monster of the week” show, like she perceived The Outer Limits to be, so we weren't allowed to watch it (like most prime-time sci-fi at the time... I only got to see Land of the Giants by being sneaky, for example).

Fortunately for me, it wasn't very long after NBC cancelled Star Trek that it went into syndication. I recall that channel 11 around here started showing Star Trek Monday through Friday, either at 6:00 or 7:00 pm, and that's when I discovered it for the first time, and instantly became a fan.

Fandom Library: Bubble Funnies!

Here's something different this time around... Bubble Funnies were mini-comics that came with bubble gum, and they came out in 1981.

The Fleischer Popeyes #15: "A Dream Walking"!

This installment of the Fleischer Popeye cartoon series opens as Popeye is sleeping, his snoring causing his mattress to rise and fall. In the apartment next door, Bluto is also sleeping, and his snoring causes his blanket to furl and unfurl. In the apartment above, Olive Oyl is sleeping, but then she gets up out of her bed and starts sleepwalking... out of the window and onto the flagpole! Fortunately, when she gets to the ball on the end, she does a 180 and turns back, then starts walking along the edge of the building, knocking a few potted plants down to the street below, which wake Popeye and Bluto. The two look out of their respective windows, see Olive's in trouble, and start arguing over who will save her.

Comics They Never Made!

Time for another parade of mocked-up comic book covers, all created by me of licensed comics that never existed!


At first, you might  look at this one and think, "Hey, there have been all kinds of Dick Tracy comics published," and you'd be correct -- except that this one is based on the animated series, in which Dick Tracy played what can generously be described as a minor supporting role, appearing only at the beginning to hear about a crime and who's committed it, and then calling in one of his deputies (Joe Jitsu, Hemlock Holmes, etc.)... and then later, when the deputy's found the crooks, he'll yell "Hold it!" or "Hold everything!" so he can check in with Tracy... and then again at the end, when the crooks are arrested.


When I started researching popular TV shows that weren't ever done as comics, I was surprised to find that Davey and Goliath was one that had never been done as a comic before! As a kid, I loved this show, although I didn't really catch on that there was a huge religious message in each episode (it must've been the combination of the stop-motion animation and talking dog that got me hooked). I've yet to watch it as an adult, it's probably a lot preachier than I recall.


Another show that I'm surprised never had a comic spin-off is Diff'rent Strokes, which was amazingly popular for quite a few years, even spawning a spin-off of its own, The Facts of Life (another show that could've easily been done as a comic book). I'd imagine this would be a pretty easy book to write, as the personalities of the characters were pretty well-defined, and it would mainly be a matter of coming up with situations for them!


The final cover in this installment features the animated version of Doctor Dolittle, a show that is only available to watch if you search properly on YouTube. I only vaguely recall seeing this as a child, and watching an episode on YouTube convinced me that I recalled pretty much nothing about the show!

Government Comics!

Time for another installment of Government Comics, featuring a comic sponsored by the US Government!

Comic Book Ads: More Miscellaneous Fawcett Comics Ads!

At least the first few ads this time will feature famous cowboys of the silver screen hawking various products, like this one with Roy Rogers!

My Latest Pitch: Marvel Universe – The Ride!

This pitch is aimed squarely at the Disneyland people – not that any of them read this blog, but I'm putting this out there anyway.

Marvel Universe – The Ride would be a great addition to Disneyland, I believe. With Disney owning Marvel, there needs to be a presence there more than just some items in the gift shops and perhaps people dressed as the Marvel superheroes (although there'd best be that, too!).

Marvel Universe – The Ride could be done one of two ways; it could either be a motion simulator ride, or a full-fledged roller coaster, depending on what kind of money they want to throw at it. The idea is that you'd ride in a Fantasti-Car (or perhaps a Quinjet) on a tour of the Marvel Universe, kind of like Star Tours. You'd take off from either the Baxter Building or Avengers Mansion (as appropriate, based on which vehicle is used for the ride) and go on a flying tour of Marvel's New York, seeing all the sights there with the superheroes. Maybe you'd see the Mole Man attacking the surface world, and the Fantastic Four battling him... the Avengers fighting the Masters of Evil... the X-Men fighting Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants... Spider-Man fighting Doctor Octopus... and so forth. You'd only get a few seconds' look at each of these scenes, along with flybys of the various landmarks we've come to expect from Marvel's New York.

If we go virtual ride, from New York we could dive underwater for a quick visit to Atlantis, and then up into space for an invasion of the Skrulls or Kree, with appropriate heroes battling that. We could get a flyby (and fly around) the SHIELD helicarrier.

All of these things could involve some kind of interaction with what's going on, so that you feel a part of what's happening.

What would be even cooler would be if there were multiple sequences, so that every ride would be different... i.e., one time you ride it could be the FF vs. Doctor Doom, or even Galactus! You'd never know what was going to happen until you got there.

I'm kind of thinking that a Fantasti-Car would work the best, and they could even have HERBIE the Robot being the host of the tour.

What do you think? I'd love to see this happen before my family's next visit to the Magic Kingdom!

Comic Reading Library: Lawbreakers #10!

Fandom Library: The Comic Reader #129 and 130!

Character Collectible Spotlight: Top Cat!

Time for another parade of collectibles on a specific subject, and this time it's Hanna-Barbera's Top Cat! We'll start with a few coloring and activity books, and then go on to more after the jump!

Choo-Choo's Party Sticker Fun Book!


Top Cat Coloring Book!


Choo Coo Coloring Book!


Benny the Ball and Spook Coloring Book!


Top Cat Punch-Out Book!


Yet another Top Cat Coloring Book!



Two different Top Cat Sticker Fun Books!

Old Time Radio Spotlight: Fibber McGee and Molly!

Fibber McGee and Molly may well be my favorite of old time radio's situation comedies. It starred James Jordan as Fibber McGee and Marion Driscoll as Molly, Fibber's wife. There were 1,611 episodes produced, and aired from April 16, 1935 to October 2, 1959 -- that's 24 years! James and Marion were a real-life husband and wife, who met at choir practice at the Catholic church they both attended in Peoria, Illinois. Jim, as he was better known, originally wanted to be a professional singer, while Marian had opes of being a music teacher. They married in 1918, with Jim being drafted five days after their wedding, being sent to France. Apparently, Jim saw no action in World War I, instead becoming part of a military touring group. After his tour of duty, Jim and Marian decided to start a vaudeville act.

They had two children, Kathryn Jordan (born in 1920) and James Jordan (born in 1923). After the birth of their daughter, Marian went back on the road with Jim, leaving Kathryn with Jim's parents, but after James Jr. was born, she stayed home with the kids for a time. The children joined them on the road, but in 1923, they found themselves stranded in Lincoln, Illinois with the kids and no money. Their parents wired them money to get home, but after Jim went to work in a local department store, he still wanted to be in show business, and the couple went back to vaudeville.

In 1924, they were staying with Jim's brother in Chicago when, while listening to the radio, Jim said he and Marian could do better than the act on the air. His brother bet him $10 they couldn't, so the couple went to WIBO in Chicago, where they were put on the air, and after their first show, were offered a contract for a weekly show, sponsored by Oh Henry! candy. For the next six months, they appeared on the Oh Henry! Twins show, switching to station WENR by 1927. They built a home on a lot next door to the house they were renting, and in 1939, they moved to the West Coast, buying a home in Encino. During this time, Jim invested in the bottling company for Hires Root Beer!

It was during the third year performing in Chicago radio that Fibber McGee and Molly originated. The characters were variations on characters they'd earlier performed in Luke and Mirandy, where Jim played a character similar to Fibber, and The Smith Family, where Marian played a character similar to Molly. Harry Lawrence was the original writer of the show, later hiring Donald Quinn to write it. They considered Quinn's contributions important enough that the salary for the show was split between the couple and Quinn! Around this time, Marian developed her little girl voice for a character named "Tini." Along with Fibber McGee and Molly, they also started a show called Smackout, a 15-minute daily program that aired on WMAQ in Chicago from 1931 until 1933, when it was picked up by NBC for two years. The show was called Smackout because Jim's character ran a general store that never had what his customers wanted -- they were "smack out" of it.

It was when Henrietta Johnson Lewis, one of the owners of the S.C. Johnson company, suggested to her hsuband, Johnson Wax advertising manager, to try Fibber McGee and Molly on a national network that their signature show went national. The agreement gave Johnson ownership of the character names.

The show debuted on NBC on April 16, 1935, and in three seasons, it became the country's top-rated radio series. Fibber was foible-prone, and also had a habit of telling tall tales and speaking lines that were very alliterative. Molly was Fibber's patient wife who tried to keep him down to earth. In the 20th show, Fibber and Molly's home address was mentioned for the first time; 79 Wistful Vista would become one of the more famous addresses in pop culture history. They got the house by winning a raffle.

From November 1937 to April 1939, the show briefly metamorphosized to Fibber McGee and Company, as Marian Jordan took an absence from the show to deal with a lifelong battle with alcoholism. The scripts at this time were often built around Molly's absence.

The most famous recurring gag (in nearly every episode) involved the hallway closet. At some point in an episode, Fibber would realize that something he was looking for was probably in there, and despite Molly's protests, would open the door -- causing every single item to fall out. There was even one episode that revolved around cleaning up the closet! This closet became so popular that "McGee's closet" became slang terminology for any closet that was overpacked with stuff.

Regular characters on the show included Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, first introduced as a dentist, and then later he's the owner of Gildersleeve Girdles. He proved to be the most popular character of the supporting cast, played by Harold Peary, and would be spun off into his own show. Gildersleeve and McGee were friendly enemies, often engaging in arguments, which usually had Gildersleeve (whom Fibber called "Gildy") ruefully remarking, "You're a hard man, McGee." He had a wife mentioned on the show, but never heard, and this wife was dropped when he got his own show.

While the Johnson Wax Company and, later, Pet Milk, was the show's sponsor, announcer Harlow Wilcox, the announcer, would often appear in the storyline itself. Often, his interactions with the McGees would incorporate the second commercial in the program -- mostly sneaking it into the conversation, to McGee's annoyance.

The Old-Timer was played by Bill Thompson, a hard-of-hearing senior citizen who called Fibber "Johnny" and Molly "Daughter." He refuses to tell his real name, although at various times he's called "Roy," "Rupert Blasingame," "Mr. Fumble" and "Mr. Sims." When McGee tells a joke, the Old-Timer often replies, "That ain't the way I heard it," and retells the joke, usually in distorted fashion.

The Little Girl, based on the Tini character, was played by Marian, and called "Sis" by Fibber. Most often, the little girl would appear in an episode after Molly leaves the room, although sometimes the two characters would interact. She'd often make statements ending with the phrase, "I betcha!" and when food would be mentioned, she'd say, "I'm hungry!" She'd also lose track of her conversations with Fibber, requiring Fibber to reiterate the story told to him so far.

Mayor LaTrivia, played by Gale Gordon, was inspired by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia. When he appeared, the usual gag involved Fibber and Molly misunderstanding a figure of speech, sparking a routine similar to those found on Abbott and Costello, and resulting in LaTrivia's getting angry at them -- once he left, it would be revealed that Fibber and Molly were just winding him up.

Foggy Williams (also played by Gordon) was a local weatherman and next-door neighbor who'd let Fibber borrow his tools, and take credit or blame for the current weather. Billy Mills was the leader of Billy Mills and the Orchestra, who played the music for the show. He'd crack wise in the show, and sometimes his interactions would make it clear that Fibber and Molly knew they were characters in a radio show!

Dr. George Gamble was played by Arthur Q. Bryan, who originated the voice of Elmer Fudd in the Warner Bros. cartoons. He and Fibber have been friends and rivals for a long time. The two would often insult each other about their weight. Ole Swenson, played by Richard LeGrand, was the janitor at the Elks Club.

Mrs. Abigail Uppington (Isabel Randolph) was a snooty society matron, called "Uppy" by Fibber, who liked to deflate her ego. Another high society matron of Wistful Vista was Mrs. Millicent Carstairs, played by Bea Bernaderet (who originated the voice of Betty Rubble).

There were several other recurring characters, such as Myrt the telephone operator (usually not heard, Fibber would recognize her voice when he'd use the phone and have a conversation with Myrt (when McGee would say, "Myrt, is that you?" Molly would usually say, "Oh, dear."). Beulah was the McGee's black maid, voiced by a Caucasian male, Marlin Hurt! Beulah was later spun off into her own series.

The running gags in the show, other than the hallway closet, included Molly's "T'aint funny, McGee!" when Fibber would tell a bad joke; Molly's Uncle Dennis who lived with the McGees and was rarely seen (Fibber constantly wanted to get rid of him); Fibber's lack of a regular job, often involving Mayor LaTrivia giving him a job at City Hall that ends up being mundane; and Fibber's tall tales involving his past deeds, leading to a punning nickname for himself.

The characters of Fibber and Molly were seen in four movies, the first one as supporting characters. In 1959, the show was brought to television, but only lasted a year.

One of the things about this show that I love is that you can tell that for all the ribbing Molly gives McGee, she clearly and dearly loves an cherishes him, and the feeling is mutual. Listening to the series, you can't really help but feel like you're listening in on friends of yours. The usual episodes don't have a whole lot in the way of a plot (honestly, some of the show's plots seem almost shoehorned in between the gags), and this makes the show feel much more real to me than many other radio sitcoms (and especially TV sitcoms). Sometimes, the plots could be extended over several episodes, such as when the McGees go on a vacation trip. During these episodes, you wouldn't get the regular recurring characters, naturally.

You can listen to the show for yourself by downloading MP3s, such as from this site, which has them sorted by year (a great way to get into the show). You can also listen to the show and find out much more about all the characters by going to the "official" website, www.fibbermcgeeandmolly.com.

Puzzle Time!

Solutions after the jump!