Connect with us!

Predator: Badlands didn’t just land as another sequel — it cracked open a much bigger conversation about what the Predator franchise actually is, where it’s been, and where it might be going next.

In this episode of Original Geek, we use Badlands as a jumping-off point to explore the entire Predator timeline — from the 1987 original and its slasher-movie roots, through Predator 2, Predators, The Predator, Prey, and the long, messy crossover history with the Alien franchise. Along the way, we dig into how tone, humor, mythology, and even the Predator itself have evolved over the decades.

We talk about why Badlands feels different, what it reveals about Yautja culture, why the introduction of synthetics and Weyland-Yutani matters, and how this movie quietly reinforces that Predator and Alien have always shared a universe — even when the films didn’t fully commit to it.

The episode also tackles real-world fandom friction: the growing frustration with premium streaming charges, early access pricing, and whether paying extra to watch a movie you already “subscribe” for is the future of genre entertainment or a breaking point for fans.

This isn’t a spoiler-heavy breakdown or a surface-level review. It’s a franchise-wide conversation about lore, canon, creative risks, misfires, surprising wins, and why Predator has survived while so many other 80s action icons faded out.

If you’re a longtime fan, a casual viewer, or someone trying to figure out whether the Predator franchise still has teeth — this episode connects the dots.

Welcome to Original Geek—the podcast for anyone who rolled their first d20 on shag carpet, waited hours for a comic book JPEG to load on dial-up, and wore the label “geek” back when it got you mocked, not monetized.

Hosted by stand-up comic Steve Scarfo and Forever DM Jeff Shaw, we dive deep into what it meant to be a geek in the '70s and '80s—and how that underground culture became the mainstream multiverse we live in today.

🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, comic book chaos, geek court debates, and critical hits from your childhood basement.

👾 Follow us @OriginalGeekPodcast on socials and visit OriginalGeekPodcast.com for merch, extras, and to send us your own geeky tales.

If you ever hid a Monster Manual like it was porn, you’re not alone. You’re an Original Geek. Welcome home.

Connect with us!

What makes zombies terrifying—speed or decay?

In this episode of Original Geek, we break down the two classic zombie types: rage-driven infected and slow, rotting undead. We explore how zombie movies and TV shows evolved, why these two styles dominate the genre, and what makes each one scary in its own way.

If you love zombie movies, horror debates, and geeky pop-culture deep dives, this one’s for you.

Welcome to Original Geek—the podcast for anyone who rolled their first d20 on shag carpet, waited hours for a comic book JPEG to load on dial-up, and wore the label “geek” back when it got you mocked, not monetized.

Hosted by stand-up comic Steve Scarfo and Forever DM Jeff Shaw, we dive deep into what it meant to be a geek in the '70s and '80s—and how that underground culture became the mainstream multiverse we live in today.

🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, comic book chaos, geek court debates, and critical hits from your childhood basement.

👾 Follow us @OriginalGeekPodcast on socials and visit OriginalGeekPodcast.com for merch, extras, and to send us your own geeky tales.

If you ever hid a Monster Manual like it was porn, you’re not alone. You’re an Original Geek. Welcome home.

Connect with us!

What actually makes a disaster movie?

Is it explosions? CGI destruction? Cities getting wiped off the map?

Or is it something smaller—and a lot more human?

In this episode of Original Geek, we break down what defines a true disaster movie, why the best ones still work decades later, and why so many modern films miss the point entirely.

From the golden age classics like The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno to modern, grounded survival stories like Greenland, we explore the core formula that makes disaster movies resonate: ordinary people, impossible choices, and society under pressure.

We also debate whether superhero movies, sci-fi epics, and “disaster-adjacent” films really belong in the genre—and why bigger destruction doesn’t always mean better storytelling.

If you love disaster movies, grew up watching them, or just want to understand why some stick with you long after the credits roll, this one’s for you.

Welcome back to the basement.

Welcome to Original Geek—the podcast for anyone who rolled their first d20 on shag carpet, waited hours for a comic book JPEG to load on dial-up, and wore the label “geek” back when it got you mocked, not monetized.

Hosted by stand-up comic Steve Scarfo and Forever DM Jeff Shaw, we dive deep into what it meant to be a geek in the '70s and '80s—and how that underground culture became the mainstream multiverse we live in today.

🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, comic book chaos, geek court debates, and critical hits from your childhood basement.

👾 Follow us @OriginalGeekPodcast on socials and visit OriginalGeekPodcast.com for merch, extras, and to send us your own geeky tales.

If you ever hid a Monster Manual like it was porn, you’re not alone. You’re an Original Geek. Welcome home.

Connect with us!

This episode of Original Geek Random Review focuses exclusively on Stranger Things Season 5 Episodes 5, 6, and 7 — and what they’re setting up for the finale.

Using a D20 dice roll, we let fate decide which topics come up for debate, including the biggest questions fans are arguing about after Part 2.

We break down:

• The wormhole vs. time travel debate and why the show avoids a reset
• Why the wormhole functions as a bridge, not a timeline fix
• Mr. Clark’s return and his quiet but crucial role in the endgame
• Dungeons & Dragons shifting from metaphor to shared language
• Why restraint and consequences matter more than spectacle
• Predictions for the finale, including music choices, possible betrayals, and major character deaths

We also dig into fan expectations, red herrings, and why Episodes 5–7 slow the pace on purpose to build emotional weight instead of nonstop action.

This is not a recap of the season.
This is a focused analysis of Part 2 and what comes next.

🎲 No prep. No safety net.
🎧 Roll for review.

Welcome to Original Geek—the podcast for anyone who rolled their first d20 on shag carpet, waited hours for a comic book JPEG to load on dial-up, and wore the label “geek” back when it got you mocked, not monetized.

Hosted by stand-up comic Steve Scarfo and Forever DM Jeff Shaw, we dive deep into what it meant to be a geek in the '70s and '80s—and how that underground culture became the mainstream multiverse we live in today.

🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, comic book chaos, geek court debates, and critical hits from your childhood basement.

👾 Follow us @OriginalGeekPodcast on socials and visit OriginalGeekPodcast.com for merch, extras, and to send us your own geeky tales.

If you ever hid a Monster Manual like it was porn, you’re not alone. You’re an Original Geek. Welcome home.

Connect with us!

Before he was an action legend, Bruce Willis was a wisecracking TV star from Moonlighting. Then Die Hard happened—and John McClane changed action movies forever.

In this episode of Original Geek, we use Die Hard as the entry point to talk about Bruce Willis’ true legacy: the rise of the vulnerable, everyman action hero. We break down why John McClane worked when muscle-bound, invincible heroes dominated the screen, and how villains like **Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber elevated the genre. We also look at why modern heroes—from James Bond to John Wick—owe everything to this shift.

Yes, we debate whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie. But this episode is really about how Bruce Willis changed action movies forever—and why Hollywood still hasn’t replaced him.

Original Geek Podcast | Bruce Willis | Die Hard

Welcome to Original Geek—the podcast for anyone who rolled their first d20 on shag carpet, waited hours for a comic book JPEG to load on dial-up, and wore the label “geek” back when it got you mocked, not monetized.

Hosted by stand-up comic Steve Scarfo and Forever DM Jeff Shaw, we dive deep into what it meant to be a geek in the '70s and '80s—and how that underground culture became the mainstream multiverse we live in today.

🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, comic book chaos, geek court debates, and critical hits from your childhood basement.

👾 Follow us @OriginalGeekPodcast on socials and visit OriginalGeekPodcast.com for merch, extras, and to send us your own geeky tales.

If you ever hid a Monster Manual like it was porn, you’re not alone. You’re an Original Geek. Welcome home.

Connect with us!

In Part 2 of our Stranger Things Season 5 Random Review of the first four episodes, the dice take us straight into the emotional and structural heart of the season.

We roll a successful Sense Motive check and land on one of the most debated arcs of the series so far: Max’s coma, Vecna’s memory trap, and whether the show is flirting with a storytelling risk it can’t afford to miss.

We break down:

• Why Max’s storyline is powerful and dangerous if mishandled
• Lucas as the emotional anchor of the arc
• The Wrinkle in Time parallels and why they matter more than people think
• How Episode 4’s spectacle marks the true turning point of the season
• Why the military presence was never real protection to begin with
• Will’s connection, Vecna’s control, and the moment the show flips the table

This isn’t nitpicking.
It’s a deep-cut, Gen X–grounded conversation about stakes, structure, and payoff.

🎲 This is Part 2 of our Stranger Things Random Review.
If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, start there—then roll back in.

Welcome to Original Geek—the podcast for anyone who rolled their first d20 on shag carpet, waited hours for a comic book JPEG to load on dial-up, and wore the label “geek” back when it got you mocked, not monetized.

Hosted by stand-up comic Steve Scarfo and Forever DM Jeff Shaw, we dive deep into what it meant to be a geek in the '70s and '80s—and how that underground culture became the mainstream multiverse we live in today.

🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, comic book chaos, geek court debates, and critical hits from your childhood basement.

👾 Follow us @OriginalGeekPodcast on socials and visit OriginalGeekPodcast.com for merch, extras, and to send us your own geeky tales.

If you ever hid a Monster Manual like it was porn, you’re not alone. You’re an Original Geek. Welcome home.

Connect with us!

You don’t hate Stranger Things Season 5…
but something definitely feels off.

In Part 1 of our Stranger Things Season 5 Random Review, we roll the dice and let chaos decide what we talk about—because that’s the only honest way to review a show this big.

We dig into:

• Why the Season 5 timeline is starting to strain credibility
• The Vecna Retcon and does it work
• The difference between bigger stakes and better storytelling

This isn’t a recap.
It’s not a hate-watch.
And it’s definitely not blind fandom.

It’s a Gen X–powered, dice-rolled breakdown of what’s working, what’s wobbling, and what Season 5 needs to land the plane.

🎲 This is Part 1 of our Random Review—Part 2 drops next.
Grab your Eggos. Welcome back to the basement.

Welcome to Original Geek—the podcast for anyone who rolled their first d20 on shag carpet, waited hours for a comic book JPEG to load on dial-up, and wore the label “geek” back when it got you mocked, not monetized.

Hosted by stand-up comic Steve Scarfo and Forever DM Jeff Shaw, we dive deep into what it meant to be a geek in the '70s and '80s—and how that underground culture became the mainstream multiverse we live in today.

🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, comic book chaos, geek court debates, and critical hits from your childhood basement.

👾 Follow us @OriginalGeekPodcast on socials and visit OriginalGeekPodcast.com for merch, extras, and to send us your own geeky tales.

If you ever hid a Monster Manual like it was porn, you’re not alone. You’re an Original Geek. Welcome home.

Connect with us!

You think you grew up watching claymation Christmas specials.
You didn’t.

In this episode of Original Geek, we take a deep dive into the classic Rankin & Bass Christmas specials and break down one of the biggest holiday pop-culture myths of all time. From Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman to Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town and The Year Without a Santa Claus, we unpack how these half-hour TV events shaped generations of kids.

We explain why Rankin & Bass animation wasn’t claymation at all — it was a stop-motion process called Animagic — and how many of these specials were produced in Japan on surprisingly small budgets. Despite those limitations, they created some of the most enduring holiday imagery and storytelling ever broadcast.

We also look at why nearly every Rankin & Bass story centers on misfits, redemption, and learning not to be a jerk — themes that hit harder than most modern holiday movies. Along the way, we revisit the characters that secretly terrified us as kids (yes, the Miser Brothers and the Winter Warlock absolutely count) and why those unsettling moments stuck with us.

More than nostalgia, this episode is about why shared, scheduled television mattered — planning your night around the TV, watching as a family, and having cultural touchstones everyone understood.

If you grew up planning your evening around network TV…
If the Miser Brothers still live rent-free in your head…
If your kids think this stuff is “old” and you’re ready to prove them wrong…

Welcome back to the basement.

Topics include: Rankin & Bass Christmas specials, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Animagic animation, stop-motion history, Gen X holiday nostalgia, classic television specials.

Welcome to Original Geek—the podcast for anyone who rolled their first d20 on shag carpet, waited hours for a comic book JPEG to load on dial-up, and wore the label “geek” back when it got you mocked, not monetized.

Hosted by stand-up comic Steve Scarfo and Forever DM Jeff Shaw, we dive deep into what it meant to be a geek in the '70s and '80s—and how that underground culture became the mainstream multiverse we live in today.

🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, comic book chaos, geek court debates, and critical hits from your childhood basement.

👾 Follow us @OriginalGeekPodcast on socials and visit OriginalGeekPodcast.com for merch, extras, and to send us your own geeky tales.

If you ever hid a Monster Manual like it was porn, you’re not alone. You’re an Original Geek. Welcome home.