Bonus 26 - Manimal: Illusion

Oh man, the truck before it went into the water still had the stupid TOWING RIG under the front wheels of the truck. I mean, not that it's easy to film that stunt, but they didn't even try...

They really missed an opportunity with the name of this episode. Illusion is boring, they should have called it Manimagic!

Never, ever stop covering Manimal. Make more episodes if you have to but never stop.

Do you think the owner of Laminam gets his tax return completed by these guys? I reckon they might be old pals from the ‘80s: https://flowria.com

Shocked at the revelations about Laminam but I can't help feeling the plot runs deeper than you might have realised. Clearly Black Betty is involved (wuh-oh Black Betty - laminam)

Manimal, do dooo do do doo, Manimal, do do do do.....

I vaguely remember watching this as a child. Seems like it came on Fridays after Knight Rider.

I, for one, hope you cover this madness to the bitter end. Manimal is somehow more bizarre than most of the weird tales you cover

Stewart Huntsman

MAKE MINE MANIMAL!!!!❤️🐿🦅🦁🐍

"Wings are sort of air-feet." — Chad Fifer

All Manimal all time

Hold on - did Chad say the bit with the goon being taken out with flying playing cards would make sense if he fell off a building or into a “lion aquarium”? What kind of lions live in an aquarium?!? Then I realised - d’oh, sea lions!

Well worth it, gents. Keep those hackles raised, those talons on your toes and a slither in your stride. I like to imagine that there was a five season Manimal arc bible out there. That all this season one business was just laying the groundwork for something truly grand. Obviously, all members of the team would be taught how to transform into animals - but each would specialize in a subset: Brook would, of course, do all things aquatic. Saving shark form for the season two finale. Rivera would, naturally, so all things aquatic. Saving squid form for the season two finale. Earl would, I guess, do all things, er, squirrely.. Saving chipmunk form for... forget it

Guys, guys, I have an idea. No more damned Manimal. How about half an hour of Chad sawing through steel pipes instead?

Peter Larsen

Best episode ever.

I'm not just a Fanimal, I'm a Stanimal

I'm glad I'm not the only one who'll be singing this for the next week!

Christine M

(raises hand) Not sick of Manimal coverage

Jason Thompson

Not to cast shade on Chris but Fifer was on Fire on this one. Laminam, Mancestry.com, you've created an entire Manimal universe, a Maniverse. It just needs its own wiki and RPG and boom. "Its all magic" - "It sure is". This whole episode is magic.

Joe Webb

Totally off topic, but I just watched the first episode of Doom Patrol. I swear to god I thought the opening narration was Andrew Leman. I actually stopped and looked up the show credits. Pffft. Alan Tudyk, He's okay, but he's no Leman.

Back in the 80s you could just dump a truck in the harbour and just not tell anybody. :P

Jason Denen

I never even watched Manimal but hearing y’all discuss it is a lot of fun. Also, I wanted to mention how much I love the Strategy bonus episodes. Comedy Gold, and some of those questions really get me thinking.

no such thing as too much Manimal content! I watched these with my grandfather as a kid, good, if sometimes weird, memories. Same grandfather that got me hyped as a child for the premiere of st:tng and used to buy me sf/f, poetry, and gaming books.

Whoa, Black Betty! Laminam! Black Betty had a child! Laminam! Damn thing gone wild (Like an animal, get it?) :P

David Halstead

So fun! Keep them coming! :D

This is one of your best bonus episodes ever. Never stop the batshit 80s tv show train. This could be its own podcast.

Alan Ricks

Those would make most excellent cosmic bonus content - plus Nigel Neale is dead, thus fulfilling two of the secret rules of HPPODCRAFT: * Weird * Dead Writer And it is vital that this be done before any whimsical rewatch of Superman 2. You must always prioritize Neale before Zod.

We've just been watching Quatermass IV with John Mills. Simon MacCorkindale plays one of the key characters but it's much bleaker than Manimal. Very cosmic however. Perhaps you could cover Quatermass.

Steve

Would pay for ongoing spinoff schlock film / TV podcast. You can call it, How Did This Get Weird?

Speaking of "changing character actors" - when it comes to weird character changes, the pilot of The Rockford Files had a different actor playing Jim's father. That's so strange. Fred Dryer was apparently Sam Malone in the pilot to Cheers, but I haven't seen that one. It's strange - but is Star Trek the only show where they used the pilot to make not just a new 2-part retro-episode, but now a new entire spin-off series entirely based on the idea that an actor didn't work out to stick with the series??

Damn! So excited you guys have started this sub-podcast which I'm calling "FANimal: The Manimal Fancast." Looking forward to hearing more about the whole Manimal Family (Faminaly?) Seriously - if you do all of the episodes I'll be delighted. I'm still haunted by the trauma of missing literally every episode of this show because I was in Band. (It aired on different nights in different markets, apparently - but in my hometown it was a Friday night thing during football season so I lost this important cultural touchstone to serve my community musically.) https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54159061/review-of-manimal/ -- you might enjoy this brutal review from the time.