Franchise Fiends

Todd and Brogan compare their ranking of the Twilight franchise, breaking down their favorite moments from the series and discussing the franchise as a whole. We'll be back in October with Scream!

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Season art by Ryan Bouwhuis.

The sage concludes in one of the wildest, craziest, deviate-from-the-source-material-ist final episodes of any series we've discussed up until this point. Along the way a librarian tells us how the books are resonating with readers today and Todd's son addresses what it's like having a dad who has seen Breaking Dawn — Part 2 more than 100 times.

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Season art by Ryan Bouwhuis.

It's the end! Well... it's the beginning of the end. Karrie and Lindsay join Todd and Brogan to break down the penultimate entry in the Twilight Saga. We discuss the weird and controversial bits, as well as the weird bits that probably would have been controversial if anyone had not been too distracted by the other stuff to notice. Did you know they covered a real baby in jelly for this? A human baby! Like it was a piece of toast!

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Franchised Fiends breaks down The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and in the process eclipse our record for longest episode for the fifth time in a row. We just really like talking about movies, okay??? Today we're joined by returning guest Rachel and new guest Peyton — an honest-to-god novelist whose love of Twilight directly influenced her choice in career — to discuss questions like "Why is this one so good?" and "Oh my god, why does the ring look like that?"

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In the true spirit of the 4th of July, we're talking about a movie that is mostly talking but throws in a few neat explosions at the end. Returning guest Max and first-time guest Suzee join Todd and Brogan to talk about the highs and lows of Twilight's second entry, which is extra exciting for Max who has never seen a Twilight film before.

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It's Independence Day weekend! You celebrating? Yeah, no, we get it. Neither are we. Would a secret season take the edge off?

As previously announced, our regularly scheduled programming will return in October where we'll be exploring the Scream franchise. But we've also been hard at work secretly preparing a full season exploring the Twilight franchise, which Todd has famously managed to watch more than 350 times across all five films. We'll have a new episode every two days, joined first by our wives for our annual partners episode.

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It's April Fool's Day, which means we're talking about Fred Walton's April Fool's Day. Is this the Paddington 2 of comedy slashers? A testament to the psychopathy of the upper class? Both? Sabrina and Matt join Todd and Brogan to try and get to the bottom of what at the very least is the coolest poster for a slasher film themed after a lesser holiday.

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Today we're joined by Steve Rudzinski and Aleen Isley, the creative duo behind Silver Spotlight Films. They're best known for the CarousHELL trilogy, but they've also produced several Christmas films including A Meowy Christmas, Curtains for Christmas, and the award-winning Amityville Christmas Vacation. One of their favorite Christmas classics is Michael Cooney's 1997 cult classic Jack Frost, which may not have been seen by as many people as the 1998 Michael Keaton family film of the same name but did arguably have the coolest VHS cover any of us ever saw on the Blockbuster shelves.

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How do you talk about a film that eschews traditional narrative analysis and in fact seems to exist in open defiance of both film criticism and God? If you're Todd and Brogan (and special guests Amelia and Bobby) it involves a number of lengthy tangents, including multiple meandering discussions about 9/11 that — in a Franchise Fiends first — were so bizarre and off-topic that Brogan trimmed most of it out after realizing they totaled nearly a third of the runtime.

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Todd and Brogan rank the Saw films and traps. Brogan decides that one of his favorite traps is a Saw IV trap he initially made fun of but came to appreciate after seeing the same concept done much worse in Saw 3D, yet forgets to explain this when actually talking about the trap. A third season is announced.

We'll be talking about Scream next October but there will be plenty of specials and surprises in the meantime, starting next month with our very first Thanksgiving special.

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What better way to celebrate wrapping up the season than discussing the most acclaimed film in the series with two people who don't like the genre? John and Rachel join Todd and Brogan to provide a wholly new perspective as discuss the final film in the series (for now).

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Season art by Max Nalow.

Today we're joined by Max, the secret third member of the Franchise Fiends family. Max does all of our artwork so getting him on the pod is arguably cooler than Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson showing up in a Saw movie. Also... holy shit, Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson showed up in a Saw movie? Let's talk about that.

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Season art by Max Nalow.

Have you ever wished the Saw franchise felt a bit more like a CSI episode? Great news! Today we're joined by Rachel to talk about how Saw took advantage of the seven year hiatus between films to inject itself with some serious direct-to-video/TV movie vibes.

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Season art by Max Nalow.

Saw 3D didn't look very good in 3D which is why it was released as Saw: The Final Chapter on home video. It didn't end up being the final chapter, either, but Todd still thinks it was neat and Brogan appreciates Cary Elwes getting a few more seconds of screentime even if he doesn't think much of anything else worked.

Also, when was the last time you thanked a podcast editor? Thanks to some ongoing technical issues and a few bits that were better off being thrown back into the ether this one ended up more than...

In which Brogan admits that Todd was right (in regards to Saw VI being great and nothing else). Anchor and Brian stop by Franchise Fiends to talk about the major upgrade the franchise received after the underwhelming Saw V.

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Season art by Max Nalow.

Maybe the real Saw V was the much better movies we watched along the way? Todd and Brogan are joined by Mel and Liz to talk about the first major drop in quality for the Saw franchise, much of which involves reflecting on the better films that came before it. "Well at least there's less arguing about John Kramer's political affiliation." Thanks for noticing! It's because we got most of the debate out of the way before recording started.

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Does Saw IV make any sense? If you're Parker, who has only seen the original short, the answer is (accurately) no. He and Reid join Todd and Brogan to break down the most MCU-esque entry in the Saw franchise and try and figure out just how much of this film only works because it's referencing the three films that came before it.

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New faces reignite old tensions for our leads and also a bunch of stuff happens in Saw III. Don't let the debate fool you! Brogan liked this one more then Todd did.

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Season art by Max Nalow.

Does John Kramer really have a moral code or is he just a Republican? Todd and Brogan are joined by Sheldon and Amanda to discuss the details of what will inevitably turn into a season-long debate while also breaking down the change in direction for the Saw franchise and wondering how they managed to pull this large of an ensemble off on so small a budget.

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It's a season premiere/partner episode double event! Todd and Brogan get Michelle and Jessica join them to talk about the groundbreaking debut entry in the Saw franchise even though it's not a horror subgenre they're generally interested in. Love is showing up on your partner's podcast.

New Saw episodes are dropping every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until Halloween!

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Season art by Max Nalow.

What better way to celebrate America this Independence Day than by talking about a movie where everything is on fire? That's right! We're talking about Tony Maylam's 1981 cult classic The Burning, which started the careers of Hollywood legends Jason Alexander and Holly Hunter and also unapologetic psychopath Harvey Weinstein.

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He is risen! We're of course referring to Father Damien Karras (played by Jason Miller), who was controversially resurrected in William Peter Blatty's criminally underrated 1990 sequel The Exorcist III. Todd and Brogan are joined by Steve and Kevin (Todd's father- and brother-in-law, respectively) for a deep dive into the slasheriest entry in the Exorcist franchise.

Season two (Saw) premieres this October, but we'll be celebrating plenty of holidays with you in the meantime.

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It's Valentine's Day! So we're getting together to celebrate something we all love: fictional murder. Lindsay and director Christopher Bickel (Pater Noster and the Mission of Light) join us to talk about the 1981 Canucksploitation classic My Bloody Valentine.

Season two (Saw) premieres this October, but we'll be celebrating plenty of holidays with you in the meantime.

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Buy/Rent Pater Noster and the Mission of Light on Amazon HERE.

This holiday we're visiting one of the greatest Christmas gifts of all: a slasher film starring Mickey Rooney. Oso and Max join Todd and Brogan to talk about why this film is great even if most of it isn't very good.

Thanks for joining us on the first year of this journey! See you soon.

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Todd and Brogan conclude the first season with a general discussion of the Child's Play franchise including a series ranking and lists of our favorite kills.

We'll be back in October 2025 with Saw but there will be plenty of seasonal specials in the meantime! We'll see you at Christmas.

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Season art by Max Nalow.

The actual end of an era! Today we're discussing the 2019 reboot that is (currently) the final film in the Child's Play franchise.

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Season art by Max Nalow.

The end of an era! But not the end of our era because we watch reboots. Today we're joined by some very special European guest to talk about the final film entry in the mainline Child's Play series.

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Season art by Max Nalow.

What's Chucky's skincare routine? How many actors and actresses can Todd compare the Curse of Chucky cast to? And, most importantly, is it possible for guys who host film podcasts to end up in serious relationships? Find out on another episode of Franchise Fiends.

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Season art by Max Nalow.

Was that really Britney Spears? What is there so much semen in this one? How is Don Mancini's name even pronounced? All these questions and more are answered in yet another excited episode of Franchise Fiends!

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Season art by Max Nalow.

After the disappointing third entry that we still haven't forgiven, Todd and Brogan join Lindsay to discuss the significantly better fourth entry that ditched the Child's Play name and took the franchise in a campier direction

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Season art by Max Nalow.

It was the CEO! The night after we recorded this Brogan woke up in a cold sweat with the realization that Chucky first revealed himself to the CEO (not Tyler) and now the movie makes even less sense than it did before. Anyway, this movie is garbage.

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Season art by Max Nalow.

Two guys named Matt join Todd and Brogan to break down the second entry in the Child's Play franchise, which is often considered the best and almost always thought of as the one with the coolest poster.

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Season art by Max Nalow.

It's here! It's here! The official first season is here! Todd and Brogan break down the Chucky franchise every Tuesday and Thursday until Halloween, starting with the original 1988 Tom Holland (not that one) classic Child's Play.

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Season art by Max Nalow.

Franchise Fiends is a podcast where Todd and Brogan do deep dives into some of the most iconic horror franchises. Season one (Child's Play) premieres this October. In the meantime, help us celebrate America with Robert Hiltzik's questionably queer slasher classic Sleepaway Camp.

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Franchise Fiends is a podcast where Todd and Brogan do deep dives into some of the most iconic horror franchises. Season one (Child's Play) premieres this October. In the meantime, join special guests Matthew and Brian for a very special St. Patrick's Day discussion of the 2000 direct-to-video slasher hit Leprechaun in the Hood.

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