Pop Culture Happy Hour

In this Pop Culture Happy Hour extra, Linda Holmes and Glen Weldon discuss the return of the HBO comedy The Comeback. They'll talk about how Lisa Kudrow's turn as Valerie Cherish isn't a depressing take on a middle-aged actress, why the show shares DNA with The Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm, and why Paulie G is the worst villain on television.

This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour, NPR Monkey See's Linda Holmes, Stephen Thompson, Glen Weldon, and Petra Mayer use the return of the Dumb and Dumber franchise as an opportunity to talk about whether it's ever too late to resuscitate, revive, or reanimate your favorite property. Then they'll talk about a multitude of pop culture dichotomies, touching on everything from The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones, Star Trek vs. Star Wars, and Dallas vs. Dynasty. All that, plus What's Making Us Happy This Week.

In this Pop Culture Happy Hour extra, Glen Weldon sits down with Doctor Who superfan Petra Mayer to talk about Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, Clara's role as a companion, and their expectations for the Christmas special.

This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour, NPR Monkey See's Linda Holmes, Stephen Thompson, Glen Weldon, and Chris Klimek talk about Chritopher Nolan's space adventure, Interstellar. This leads to a conversation about other hard sci-fi space movies like Contact, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Alien. All that, plus What's Making Us Happy This Week. Topics Covered: Interstellar, Christopher Nolan, Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chatain, Bill Irwin, Casey Affleck, Michael Caine, Steven Spielberg, Inception, The Abyss, Alien, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Signs, Event Horizon, Silent Running, Elysium, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, The Forever War, Kip Thorne, Gravity, Star Wars, Jodorowsky's Dune, T-Pain, Tiny Desk, Internet Arcade, Serial, This American Life, The Emperor's New Groove, David Spade, Ertha Kitt, Patrick Warburton, Tempist, Battle Zone, Dig Dug, Frogger, Three Stooges.

In this Pop Culture Happy Hour extra, Stephen Thompson sits down with our pal and fan fiction enthusiast Petra Mayer. Topics covered: One Direction, Harry Styles, Anna Todd, Dr. Who, Blackadder.

In this Pop Culture Happy Hour extra, Stephen Thompson sits down with his fellow NPR Music Editor Jacob Ganz for a chat about Taylor Swift's new album titled 1989.

This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour, Stephen Thompson and Glen Weldon are joined by NPR Code Switch team members Kat Chow and Gene Demby. First they'll discuss the film Dear White People. Does the satire about race relations on an ivy league campus live up to the hype? Then they'll discuss animation, surveying everything from Bob's Burgers to some of cable's darker corners. All that, plus What's Making Us Happy. Topics Covered: Dear White People, Justin Simien, Tyler James Williams, Tyler Perry, Bob's Burgers, The Flintsones, Rocky and Bullwinkle, The Jetsons, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Simpsons, The Legend of Korra, Mask, G.I. Joe, He-Man, Sagwa, South Park, Family Guy, Batman: The Animated Series, FOX, American Dad, Momofuku, Sheila E, Prince, Purple Rain, Gravity Falls, Serial, This American Life, Taylor Swift, Aphex Twin, David Rees. 

This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour, NPR Monkey See's Linda Holmes, Stephen Thompson, Glen Weldon and Audie Cornish talk about the film Whiplash, which Audie nicknamed "Dude Black Swan." Then they'll discuss pop culture carbon dating--why do some pop culture artifacts feel timeless while others feel dated in a matter of years? All that plus What's Making Us Happy this week. Topics covered: Whiplash, J.K. Simmons, Miles Teller, Buddy Rich, sports movies, jazz, Bobby Knight, Smash Mouth, Shrek, Looney Tunes, The Muppet Show, Before Midnight, Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, The Sure Thing, Game of Thrones, Mad Men, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Phil Hartman, Morgan Fairchild, James Brolin, The Normal Heart, Angels in America, Larry Kramer, Notorious B.I.G, Ready to Die, The Breakfast Club, The Sopranos, Purple Rain, Prince, XTC, The Mayor of Simpleton, Bon Iver, Bruce Hornsby, Paul Reubens, Assassins Creed Black Flag, Shadow of Mordor, Starred Up. **Pop Culture Happy Hour Live at the Sixth & I** Date: Tuesday, December 9th Time: 7pm Location: Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, 600 I St NW, Washington, DC 20001 Tickets go on sale Wednesday, October 29th at 12pm EST. You can buy tickets at popculturetickets.org.

Stephen Thompson and Linda Holmes sit down for a quick programming update. **Pop Culture Happy Hour Live at the Sixth & I** Date: Tuesday, December 9th Time: 7pm Location: Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, 600 I St NW, Washington, DC 20001 Tickets go on sale Wednesday, October 29th at 12pm EST. You can buy tickets at: http://www.sixthandi.org/event/pop-culture-happy-hour/

This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour, NPR Monkey See's Linda Holmes, Stephen Thompson, Glen Weldon and NPR International Correspondent Ari Shapiro discuss Amazon's critically acclaimed family dramedy Transparent. Then they'll discuss pop culture debuts, covering everything from beloved child stars, blockbuster directors, and favorite first albums. All that plus What's Making Us Happy this week.

Petra Mayer recently returned from New York Comic-Con, so we asked her to talk a little about what she did while she was up there. She kept herself very busy, moderating a panel full of authors she admires and chatting up one of the biggest nerd icons of her pop-culture coming-of-age, Gillian Anderson.

In this Pop Culture Happy Hour extra, Linda Holmes and Barrie Hardymon take a few minutes to discuss the twists and turns of David Fincher's film Gone Girl. WARNING: this podcast extra is meant for those who have seen the movie and/or read the novel, or for those who don't like to be surprised.

This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour, NPR Monkey See's Linda Holmes, Glen Weldon, Stephen Thompson, and Barrie Hardymon talk about David Fincher's film adaptation of Gone Girl. Then they'll talk about practical things they learned from musicians like Tom Lehrer and They Might Be Giants, shows like Quantum Leap, and channels like the Food Network. All that, plus What's Making Us Happy This Week.

In this Pop Culture Happy Hour extra, Stephen Thompson and self-proclaimed Twin Peaks superfan Glen Weldon chat about the David Lynch cult television series returning to Showtime. They'll discuss where the show might be going from here, why Glen believes having both original creators on board is so important, and which two favorites from public television he imagines when he thinks about their collaborative process.

In this Pop Culture Happy Hour extra, Linda Holmes and Glen Weldon talk about HGTV's real estate reality series House Hunters International. They'll discuss Americans and their high demands, the smarmy narration, and what happens to the couples once they've settled into their new abodes.