Serious Series of Utmost Importance: The Series: Recent Episodes
Tom and Neil
In "Serious Series of Utmost Importance: The Series," hosts Tom and Neil discuss a new series every episode. Books, art, discographies, games, television, movies - it's all fair game, as long as you can group it into a series. We recommend picking an episode for a series you enjoy and giving it a listen!
A deep dive on the second longest running cinematic universe. Can you believe this outlasted the DCEU and Dark Universe? We can because it's amazing.
The definitive ranking by Tom (Sandy Claws), Neil (The Grinch), and Chris (An Elf Named Rudolph) of the top 15 Christmas movies of all time
Tom Serious and Neil Ofutmostimportancetheseries, sans Chris Series, continue the trip down the best albums of each decade. Up now: The 1980s, the absolute worst decade for music since the dawn of the invention of the technology to record albums.
Tom, Chris and Neil - none of whom listen to or particularly enjoy most country music but Chris saw Hannah Montana in a Best Buy once - have some bourbon in Nashville and rank the top country music artists of all time, recorded live in person for the first time! Are most of the entries Nelly? Listen and find out.
Chris and Neil go through all the films and the one TV show of the DCEU (Man of Steel through The Flash) and talk about the highs, the many lows, and what, if anything, can we remember from the last 10+ years of DC movies. If you retweet or rethread this at James Gunn, there's a 50% chance he has nothing better to do than listen to it.
We dive into the world of BrandoSando's Mistborn Era 1, the fantasy trilogy that introduced readers to the MCU of the literary world, the Cosmere. No spoilers for Era 2 in this episode, but spoiler - it's great too, and you should read it.
When Neil's away, Tom and Tom 2 (Jake) play a lot of Talking Heads. Join us for a journey through David Byrne’s most well known project and the albums of one of the most influential new wave bands.
We continue our reverse chronological journey through the best albums of every decade. This time, it's the 1990s. Sit back, enjoy your [insert 90s reference], and listen!
Franklin, Chris, Tom, and Neil discuss the main Switch Pokemon games (Sword & Shield, Legends: Arceus, and Scarlet & Violet). This naturally leads into a discussion of Fast X.
Chris, Tom and Neil look back through the year in movies, music, books, television, sports, technology, and economic bills that really are more about climate policies but are kind of weirdly named.
Tom and Neil continue their journey through musical history with the best albums of 2000-2009. Was it the best decade for music? No. Was it the best decade for the vibes? Also no. But listening to our top 10 picks each? That's a good time.
We run through the second half of the list of the best albums of the 2010s. Does U2's songs of innocence make the cut? Listen to find out! But no it doesn't it was terrible.
Best albums of all time, one decade at a time. Next stop, 2010s. Stop after this? Also 2010s. Because it was such a great decade we split it in two.
Season 5 premiere! In part one of our reverse chronological best albums of the decades series of episodes, we go through the best albums of the 2020s - an almost three year span that has felt enough like a decade to warrant it
Batfleck v Baleman: Dawn of Pattinson
We go through the live action Batmen, and some of the Jokers, to determine who was the best, who was the worst, and if Batman is inherently immoral for refusing to kill the Joker and beating up the mentally ill. Conclusion - Giancarlo Esposito would be a great Professor X.
Edgar Wright's been making movies since he was 14, but he never really made it until age 40, because that's when Tom and Neil finally did an episode on his filmography. We go through everything from his first, low budget film "A Fistful of Dollars" to his most recent film "Last Night in Soho." Along the way we talk The Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World's End), the almost made Edgar Wright Ant-Man, the last Kevin Spacey role before his downfall (Baby Driver), and the wild pop rock documentary "The Sparks Brothers." Naturally, we also crap on JJ Abrams.
Join us as we explore the work of Julian Casablancas, one of the foundational modern rock personalities. We talk about The Strokes, The Voidz, his solo work, and naturally, the breakup of Daft Punk and the legacy of MySpace.
We finish off our discussion on video streaming platforms, dive into the pros/cons of movie theaters vs streaming, and talk about the players in the music streaming space in Part Two of our 2 part series on streaming. Also, The Irishman wasn't a great movie.
In this episode, we go through a history of streaming services. Well we tried to, and then realized we would have to figure out what a streaming service actually is. Join us for a talk about Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Youtube, Twitch, Quibi, Vorpal, Schlumbo, Microsoft TV Plus, Animal Planet Live, Moomoo, and more. Some of those are made up but are you 100% sure which ones?
Tom, Chris and Neil give their top 10 of 2021. Top 10 of what you ask? Top 10 of everything
You're a podcast Mr Series You did an episode on Songs That are played round Christmas This time every year Mr Seeeries
In Part 2 of our 2 part series on the feud between Jack White and The Black Keys, we talk about one of the greatest rock bands of all time (The White Stripes), as well as one of the other greatest rock bands of all time (The Raconteurs), one of the pretty good rock bands of all time (The Dead Weather) and one of the pretty good solo careers of all time (Jack White).
We explore the discography and sound of the band Glass Animals. Of course, we also go through the natural accompaniment to the band by drinking several Danimals flavors out of glasses.
Our Season 4 Premiere! Chris and Neil journey through the beginnings of Activision and Blizzard, their merger, and the 2021 scandals that now define the company. We talk the games that people identify with Activision-Blizzard (the Warcraft franchise and Call of Duty primarily), as well as how Chris loves the Destiny franchise. He just goes on and on about his love for Destiny. He has good taste.
In Part 1 of our 2 part series on "The Piano Feud" between Jack White and The Black Keys' Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach, we explore the discography of the Black Keys. Spoilers - they're pretty good.
Like a cool ocean breeze over the Hawaiian mountains, the triumvirate of Serious Series returns with an exploration of the man, the myth, the meme: Keanu Reeves. We go through his early movies (the Bill & Ted movies and others), his decline (Matrix Reloaded, Matrix Revolutions... probably some others) to his triumphant return (John Wick, John Wick 2... hopefully some others). Along the way, we'll discover the difference between Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock, whether the meme version of Keanu is close to the real one, and speculate about when the Keanusaince will end. None of us have been able to play Cyberpunk without it crashing, so we literally cannot talk about that one though.
Vaccines have had a long course through history, starting in their formation in the 2010s and going through their upcoming 5th studio album. But we talk a lot more about medical vaccines in this episode - Join us for a tour through the history of vaccines, from ancient Chinese approaches to inoculation against smallpox to the current crop of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. None of this is medical or musical advice, but its sure a fun ride. As The Vaccines lead singer might say, it's gonna be a nitroglycerin fueled romp. If you feel like understanding that reference, listen to the episode!
Chris and Neil do a retrospective on this current console generation from the weird misfires of the early Xbox One and the Wii U to the later misfires of the Google Stadia and the memory of the Wii U. Along the way there were some successes, like the PS4 & Switch, and some great decisions like getting rid of the Kinect & the Wii U. We talk about some of the best console exclusives this gen and speculate about what Generation 9 will hold. Smart moneys on the Wii U 2: Stadia Boogaloo.
Steve, Neil, and whiskey talk about Star Wars Episodes I, II, and III, as well as a little bit about The Clone Wars and Rogue One. Consensus? Pretty good stuff, but rough in parts like sand. And goddamn do they makes some great memes.
Milk and Cereal? Milk and Cereal. Milk and Cereal? Cereal and Milk! Tom and Neil talk about the history of cereal, from its invention as an anti masturbatory aid to its evolution as an anytime pick me up. Also expect important, serious conversations about why Tom hates leprechauns and what the best spin off cereal is.
Tom and Neil dive into the discography of everyone's second to third favorite Australian band and everyone's first to second favorite Kevin Parker project, Tame Impala! From the highs of Innerspeaker, Lonerism, Currents, and the Slow Rush to the lows of the period before they were making music, we tackle it all and answer the question on everyone's mind - are Impalas native to Australia? The answer may surprise you! It's no.
Tom and Neil explore past pandemics in the midst of the current one, including The Plague, The Spanish Flu, SARS, MERS, and Pandemic (the board game)!
Chris and Neil dive into the Amazon Prime series "The Boys" and the comic series it's based on. And a lovely discussion of different slang meaning of the boys too.
We explore the back half of Daft Punk's career. Will there be a Tron 3 and will they score it? Will that Will.i.am collaboration ever be released? Is Jay-Z the worst? We don't answer any of these questions, we just talk about Daft Punk's music, man. Some great albums in the back half. And Alive 2007 is amazing. In fact, don't even listen to this episode. Just listen to Alive 2007 on repeat. Great stuff. But also listen to this episode!
We explore the first half of Daft Punk's long and eclectic career, from their formation as a pseudo-indie rock band called Darlin to the full length musical anime they made as the video portion of the Discovery album. Along the way we discuss what makes Daft Punk special, how they evolved between albums, and answer the age old question: Are We Human, or Are We Dancer? Oh, wrong band. We ask some other stuff though, take a listen!
Why even bring Spider Man back from the dead in Endgame if they were just gonna kill him again a couple months later. You know who really killed spider man? Late stage capitalism man. Chris and Neil chat about Endgame, Far From Home, the news about Spider Man leaving the MCU (Spidexit?), and all of the Phase 4 and beyond announcements so far: Black Widow, Falcon and Winter Soldier, The Eternals, WandaVision, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Loki, Hawkeye, Thor Love and Thunder, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, She-Hulk, and Blade. Naturally, because we're professionals, we stay on topic the whole time.
C-man (our co-host Chris!) is back and mad as hell. Why is he so angry? Because Boris Johnson lied and now we can't have a full National Dex in the Galar region because of Dexit. Also we talk about Detective Pikachu and reminisce about the early Pokemon movies.
You know Jim Carrey the actor, but do you know Jim Carrey the actor who also paints sometimes? We take a dive into the artwork, from the actually pretty good modern paintings to the stranger political cartoons that he's become known for, and ask some questions along the why. Like why? Who is this for? Does anyone monitor Jim Carrey's Twitter use? And again, why?
Tom and Neil tackle Vampire Weekend LP4, "Father of the Bride," and its thematic links to the Steve Martin movie. Do we really? No, we just talk about the album. But now you're intrigued. What do we really talk about? Do we discuss the evolution of Vampire Weekend from Modern Vampires of the City to now? Do we talk about how this album was developed and why it seems different than other Vampire Weekend work? Do we talk about Spider Man Into the Spider-Verse? Maybe we do, maybe we don't. Only way to find out is to listen!
We take a look at the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with a focus on The Avengers movies! For the ten of you who have not yet seen Avengers: Endgame, we definitely spoil it, and talk about its implications and what the MCU could look like going forward (Endgame discussion starts at 53:45). For you die hard Avengers fans out there, we have a quick segment about the original Avengers team right at the front of the episode. And for you people who don't like the Avengers or the MCU or who think Iron Man is just a triathlon or a kick ass Black Sabbath song and should have stayed that way, who hurt you?
For the first time on the internet, someone has the courage - nay, the audacity - to put some Game of Thrones themed content out there. We talk about the show, the book series in general, the differences and the stuff that was cut that probably shouldn't have been. Also, as you expect, we make a detour into talking about The Venture Bros and David Bowie. Featuring Franklin!
Neil and Steve discuss if Marilyn Manson looks like a fat Nicolas Cage (spoiler - he does!). We also talk about what the hell was going on in the first two seasons of Westworld, the differences between the show and the movie, and whether it's worth getting into a show that requires diagrams and youtube videos to understand.
Like Thom Yorke dancing in spastic rhythms, we're just continuing to do our thing. Here's Part 2 of our exploration of Radiohead's music! In this episode, we talk about the many, many solo projects of the individual Radiohead band members (Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Philip Selway, and Ed O'Brien) as well as the later works in Radiohead's discography.
This is Part 1 of our 2 episode series on the music of Radiohead, the solo work of the members, and an exploration of whether or not Thom Yorke needs a hug. In this episode we talk about the first six Radiohead albums and in episode 2 we'll talk about all the cool stuff they got up to after that. Buckle your earbelts; its gonna be a sometimes guitar heavy, sometimes atmospheric and hauntingly depressing ride, and sometimes it'll be an electronic influenced seizure dance and we're gonna sing it to you in a manly falsetto.
We dive into the surprisingly complicated chronology of the Fast and Furious series, a quarter mile at a time. We delve through all the movies, discuss some of the short films, talk about the secret Fast and Furious movie Better Luck Tomorrow, and speculate on the future of the franchise starting with the introduction of supervillains in Hobbs and Shaw. Thats not a joke, they’re really doing that, go watch the trailer. See?
Neil and Chris discuss Assassin's Creed, a franchise so old it can probably play it's own games now. It still might need parental permission to watch the movie adaptation, but honestly, it doesn't need to. No one needs to. We touch on AC 1, 2, Brotherhood, Revelations, Black Flag, Rogue, Unity, Syndicate, Origins, and Odyssey, and speculate on where the games could go from here. We tried to untangle the modern day storyline, but like Desmond, our efforts came to an abrupt pointless end.
Neil and Steve discuss the various offerings that Netflix has made to convince you to part with your money and one day name your first child Binge, including but not limited to House of Cards, Maniac, Bodyguard, Bright, Black Mirror, and Bird Box. Also we spend some time on Forrest Gump, because why not. Have you seen Forrest Gump? You haven't? What's wrong with you, great movie, go watch it now.
In our 10th episode spectacular, we decided to talk about a band we know pretty well. No gaps in our knowledge, nope. Well except anything before 2007. And some of the EPs. And some of the solo stuff. Also what's an animal collective. Guest host Michael J aka Jake stops by!
Chris and Neil talk about the smartphone battery draining sensation Pokemon Go and the gateway drug into main series games that is Pokemon Let's Go. Along the way we ask the important questions: Did Niantic ruin Pokemon Go before it had a chance to become something great? Are the Pokemon Let's Go games real entries into the Pokemon game series or just a mediocre cash grab for the youngins? Does the fact that he's murdering the Pokemon you transfer to him and grinding them into sweet sweet candy to feed to your innocent monsters make Professor Willow less of a snacc?
Tom and Neil do a deep dive into the history of Spider-Man adaptations. It's a spectacular journey from the original 1960s animated show and 1970s Japanese live action show to the crazy multiverse spanning action of the new 2018 movie "Into the Spiderverse." We talk about our impressions after watching that movie, as well as theorize about the future of the Sony Spider-Man movies after the success of Venom.
In this episode, Tom and Neil discuss The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. They talk about the current Fantastic Beasts movies, touch on the theme park adaptations of Hogwarts and Gringotts in Orlando, think about the nitty gritty of counterfeiting money in the Harry Potter universe, and discuss the stage adaptation of Anastasia and the villains of the DC universe. What, you say that has nothing to do with Harry Potter and doesn't make any sense? Well, YOU don't make any sense so there. Enjoy and thanks for listening!
We take a tour through the discography of the best British band since the Polar Simians, the Arctic Monkeys. We hit the highs and the lows of all six albums and the songs in between, touch on the solo work of Alex Turner, figure out who Miles Kane of the Last Shadow Puppets is, and answer the eternal question - which combination of directors that the Arctic Monkeys have worked with would produce the best director to collaborate with them? The answer may surprise you - it's still Richard Ayoade.
Who's that guest host?
It's Chris!
Neil, Tom, and Chris discuss the first three generations of the Pokemon video game series (Red/Blue to Ruby/Sapphire). Along the way, they touch on their embarrassing first attempts at playing the game, memorable glitches, the theory of alternate timelines in the series, and what the ultimate Pokemon game would look like. Plus, Chris eats pizza.
Tom and Neil dive into the James Bond movies, discussing the age old question of which Bond actors would produce the offspring that would make the best James Bond. Along the way there are detours into the best Bond spinoffs (Austin Powers) and the sketchy season 2 of True Detective.
Tom and Neil discuss the music of Vampire Weekend, the solo work of the vampire weekend members Ezra Koenig and Rostam, and the Jaden Smith internal monologue that is Netflix's Neo Yokio. Also we explain why James Corden is kind of annoying these days, and why coffee is better in America. Tom makes his triumphant return after his extended one week sabbatical.
Chris and Neil talk about the God of War series, with a focus on the latest entry (God of War 2018) and some detours into Assassin's Creed.
Tom and Neil discuss Brandon Sanderson's epic fantasy book series "The Stormlight Archive"