Being a film critic is not that hard, but writing a script for a quality sequel is a real challenge. Join our hosts, Nolan and Chad, as they discuss cinema’s most beloved and hated franchises, analyzing each installment from a screenwriting perspective, before finally pitching their own original ideas as to how they would structure a new sequel based upon the lessons learned over the course of dissecting an entire franchise. Too many movie podcasts is not a good thing... but too many movie sequels doesn’t have to be!
The Franchise Lives
A Show About Sequels
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Episodes
Saturday Feb 25, 2023
Saturday Feb 25, 2023
Inspired by the hit soundtrack from their forthcoming franchise discussion, the boys talk about some of their favorite soundtracks that they had in their collections and then suggest 5 songs each for what they would include on the official The Franchise Lives original podcast soundtrack!
Saturday Jan 28, 2023
Saturday Jan 28, 2023
It's the same show with a new twist when the boys try pitching a sequel to their first non-franchise film, Groundhog Day. They examine which traits of the beloved original need to be recaptured, and which ones will make it hardest for creating a sequel 30 years later, before jumping into the loop themselves to see if Groundhog Day 2 is an idea that needs to be relived!
Saturday Dec 17, 2022
Saturday Dec 17, 2022
The boys sink their teeth into a nostalgia-packed franchise that has thus far only spawned one sequel when they take on Gremlins. They discuss which rules the screenwriters broke, and which ones they adhered to, and speculate whether the novel tone of the existing movies hindered their ability to produce more sequels. They debate whether or not this franchise should hatch a new movie after 30 years of relative dormancy and expose the difficulties of writing a compelling new sequel when they pitch their ideas for Gremlins 3!
Friday Nov 25, 2022
Friday Nov 25, 2022
Coming off the sugar rush that was the Halloween franchise, and prior to their unboxing of the Gremlins franchise, the boys share their criteria for what constitutes a holiday movie and explore if it's even possible to come up with a form of measurement that is objective. They then discuss which holidays they think are underrepresented on the silver screen, brainstorm plots for those holidays, and reveal what they would make if they had the means to produce their own holiday movies!
Monday Oct 31, 2022
Monday Oct 31, 2022
The boys stock up the candy bowl for one hell of a long night when they open the door on Halloween. They try to unmask which elements of the original helped establish a franchise and share some dissenting opinions on its effectiveness and if those missteps actually contributed to spawning such a long series. They then discuss the various plot twists in the franchise and check to see which sequels and reboots were treats and which ones were the movie watching equivalent of having your property vandalized with eggs and toilet paper, before finally unwrapping their own takes on what they would do for a fourteenth entry in the Halloween franchise!
Chapters
00:00:00 Intro
00:10:41 Halloween
00:51:09 Halloween II
01:26:39 Halloween III
01:58:03 Halloween 4
02:17:26 Halloween 5
02:35:52 Halloween 6
02:47:47 H20
03:09:51 Resurrection
03:29:19 Halloween (2007)
03:39:50 Halloween II (2009)
03:58:56 Halloween (2018)
04:22:57 Halloween Kills
04:43:24 Halloween Ends
05:03:35 Rumors
05:14:31 Chad's Pitch
05:40:26 Nolan's Pitch
06:21:01 Wrap-up
Monday Oct 03, 2022
Monday Oct 03, 2022
In preparation for the Halloween season, the boys dust off some old decorations when they go back and review two vintage Saturday Night Live episodes hosted by Jamie Lee Curtis. Like the movie franchise itself, the fun doesn't stop there when the boys unearth a complete performance of the infamous Halloween night episode hosted by Donald Pleasence, which was one treat that contained some razor blades for the SNL producers when the band FEAR took the stage!
Friday Aug 26, 2022
Friday Aug 26, 2022
The boys settle into the basement couch and reminisce about their experiences watching public access television, which was the inspiration for a short-lived franchise, when they tune in to Wayne's World. They discuss the pitfalls and potentials of using a Saturday Night Live sketch comedy bit as a jumping-off point for a feature length film and go over the right and wrong ways to use it in a three-act structure. They then examine the ratings to see if a sequel should have bee signed-off on, or if Wayne's World should have simply signed-off the airwaves. They wrap things up by pitching their ideas for what they would do with Wayne and Garth 30 years later and determine if Wayne's World 3 should party on or if that idea makes them want to hurl.
Monday Aug 01, 2022
Monday Aug 01, 2022
In the opening act for their take on the Wayne's World franchise, the boys discuss whether Alice Cooper and Aerosmith were the best musical choices and try to determine the rules for what makes for good and bad band cameos. They then share their favorite on-screen performances and offer their opinions on which movies should have had cameos, as well as which artists were worthy of appearances in films, before finally pitching their ideas for bands they would conscript for their own original movies.
Friday Jul 01, 2022
Friday Jul 01, 2022
The boys step into the ring with a franchise that has had some wild attempts at defending the title of its first Oscar-winning film when they go toe-to-toe with Rocky. They judge how its sequels measure up and decide if its legacy is one that is remembered accurately on the public's score-cards. They then drag the franchise out of retirement for one last round to see if the series has anything left in the tank when they pitch their own ideas for Rocky 7!
Friday May 27, 2022
Friday May 27, 2022
In the weigh-in for their upcoming bout with the Rocky franchise, Chad tells his tale of the night he spent with former welterweight champion Keith Thurman's posse, and then the boys reminisce about the time they ran into an unexpected celebrity who still knows how to throw his money around even when he's not in Vegas for fight night.