126 episodes
- After our 100th episode, David and Derek dive into submitted questions from listeners about our favorite snacks, what weird episodes look like in the wild, and a bunch of other TV talk.
Check out our new variety podcast feed Glitterjaw Presents!
A proud part of The Glitterjaw Queer Podcast Collective
Tip us on Ko-Fi | Gimmicks Website
Email: gimmickspodcast@gmail.com | Bluesky | Instagram
Theme song: "Disco Tears" by Raven | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 - Riverdale: "The Jughead Paradox"
It's our 100th episode, and we're celebrating with one of TV's wildest and wackiest 100th episodes! Chris Cummins returns for a reality-bending Riverdale that goes full sci-fi, using an imploding parallel universe to tackle every 100th episode trope imaginable -- big deaths, kisses, weddings, Archie Comics references, and even recast actors fighting each other, all while lovingly honoring the show's legacy. We get into the history of the 100th episode milestone in radio and television, how covering this show for a third time is full circle for the podcast, and most importantly...David finally watches Riverdale for the first time!
Find more from Chris: scifiexplosion.com
Sci-Fi Explosion on Twitch
Check out our new variety podcast feed Glitterjaw Presents!
A proud part of The Glitterjaw Queer Podcast Collective
Tip us on Ko-Fi | Gimmicks Website
Email: gimmickspodcast@gmail.com | Bluesky | Instagram
Theme song: "Disco Tears" by Raven | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Sources:
Seidman writing for TV by the Numbers “Bubble Watch Season Finale: On Fringe, Chuck, and V One More Time” (Archive Link)
The Radio Times archive
Interview with Cole Sprouse on TV Insider
Variety coverage of Riverdale’s 100th Episode
Gizmodo on the Time Travel Archie Movie - ER: "Ambush"
What could make a tense hospital drama known for its realism and practical effects be even more challenging? Airing an episode live! We're talking about perhaps the most famous episode of the seminal series ER, where a documentary crew ambushes the doctors on a particularly busy night, and the east and west coasts watched it unfold in real time. We talk about the anxiety of medical dramas, Alex Kingston's very British introduction of Dr. Corday, an awkward HIV scene, and whether it's worth throwing out narrative strengths to deliver on an artistic gimmick.
Check out our new variety podcast feed Glitterjaw Presents!
A proud part of The Glitterjaw Queer Podcast Collective
Tip us on Ko-Fi | Gimmicks Website
Email: gimmickspodcast@gmail.com | Bluesky | Instagram
Theme song: "Disco Tears" by Raven | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Glitterjaw Presents trailer song: “Happiest Days” by Three Chain Links. Sourced from RoyaltyFreePlanet and used under CC BY 3.0 / Shortened from original
Sources:
Collider Writeup from 2025
ER Season 4 DVD Special Features - BTS “Ambush” pt. 1 & 2 - Friends: "The One Where No One's Ready"
We're breezy! Erin Mallory Long from Best of Friends Podcast joins us for a famous episode from one of the biggest sitcoms -- the first of the regular Friends bottle episodes! We get into the cost-saving measure that brought on this episode's concept, why we relate to Ross's anxiety over being late, what made this show so huge despite its complicated origins (aka Living Single), and we re-explain for the umpteenth time what "bottle episode" actually means.
Find more from Erin and her classic Best of Friends Podcast!
Check out our new variety podcast feed Glitterjaw Presents!
Listen to our Outer Limits episode for a deeper dive on bottle episodes.
A proud part of The Glitterjaw Queer Podcast Collective
Tip us on Ko-Fi | Gimmicks Website
Email: gimmickspodcast@gmail.com | Bluesky | Instagram
Theme song: "Disco Tears" by Raven | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
End song: "Friends Intro Theme as an 80's Synthwave Song" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio"
Glitterjaw Presents trailer song: “Happiest Days” by Three Chain Links. Sourced from RoyaltyFreePlanet and used under CC BY 3.0 / Shortened from original
Sources:
Top of the Rock: Inside the Rise and Fall of Must See TV, Littlefield (2012).
Archive of American Television - Malcolm in the Middle: "Bowling"
Life's still unfair across two different timelines! It's one of the most famous episodes of the 00s working class family sitcom, a Sliding Doors-style look at the consequences of each parent taking the kids bowling. We talk about the masterful filmmaking, effects, and timing that made this experiment work, the show's surprisingly uncontroversial production history, and the different parenting styles of Jane Kaczmarek's Lois and Bryan Cranston's Hal.
Take the Glitterjaw Listener Survey by 5/31 and enter to win a $50 gift card!
A proud part of The Glitterjaw Queer Podcast Collective
Tip us on Ko-Fi | Gimmicks Website
Email: gimmickspodcast@gmail.com | Bluesky | Instagram
Theme song: "Disco Tears" by Raven | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
End song: "Boss of Me" cover for a fake Malcolm Gameboy Advance game
Sources:
Alex Reid interview with Orlando Sentinel
Linwood Boomer interview with Polygon
Frankie Muniz interview with AOL
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About Gimmicks
A podcast about the high-concept, experimental, structure-breaking gimmick episodes of TV! From musicals, to noirs, to bottle episodes and more -- we look at any television episode that breaks from its own formula in some way.
Derek B. Gayle and David Arnold (and occasionally guests!) dig into a different episode of a different show across the entire TV landscape every other Monday!
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