Exploring Humanity Through Sci-Fi

This episode dives deep into the creation of Planet of the Apes (1968), tracing how a bold, philosophical sci‑fi concept became one of cinema’s most iconic films. You walk listeners through the production journey, the evolution of the script, the artistry behind the apes, and spotlight three characters whose performances shaped the franchise’s legacy.

Topics include:

Budget realities forced a dramatic pivot: the ape society became pre‑industrial, leaning into horses, huts, and tribal hierarchy.

Filming Locations - The production leaned heavily on rugged, natural environments:

The Score - Jerry Goldsmith’s avant‑garde composition 

Shooting The Finale

Design

Forced perspective shots

Matte painting enhancements

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July’s episode is stacked — major franchise updates, bold creative swings, industry losses, and one of the biggest “power rankings” lists in fandom history. This edition gives your listeners a clean, high‑impact overview of what’s shaping genre storytelling right now.

The Stories This Month

Silo Season Three

Supergirl — Screenwriter Speaks

My Take On Supergirl

House of the Dragon  

Robert Eggers’ Werwulf

Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 Writer 

The Death of Robin Hood — Make‑Up & Costumes

An Absolute Batman Series

CBR’s “40 Strongest Fictional Characters of All Time”

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Season Three of Falling Skies opens with a bold time jump, dropping the 2nd Mass into a radically changed world. Charleston has become a fledgling capital, Tom Mason is now President, and humanity is attempting to rebuild while still under the shadow of alien occupation.

But the biggest shift is the uneasy alliance with the Volm, a mysterious extraterrestrial race promising salvation from the Espheni. Their arrival brings hope, suspicion, and a new layer of political tension — especially as the 2nd Mass discovers that peace is far from guaranteed.

This Comic‑Con roundtable captures the cast and creators reflecting on the season’s expanded mythology, evolving characters, and the moral complexity of fighting alongside one alien race to defeat another.

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A roundtable with Bear McCreary at San Diego Comic‑Con is a gift — he’s one of the few composers whose work doesn’t just accompany genre storytelling, it defines it. 

Bear McCreary, the Emmy‑nominated composer whose music has shaped some of the most influential genre stories of the last two decades. With six Emmy nominations and a résumé that spans space opera, pirate adventure, apocalyptic horror, dystopian sci‑fi, and high fantasy, McCreary’s work has become synonymous with emotional depth and world‑building through sound.

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In this episode, Tony chattged with Medina Senghore, who brought quiet strength and emotional clarity to Annie Smith in The Walking Dead’s final season. Introduced in Season 11, Episode 13 (“Warlords”), Annie emerges as a respected figure within the Riverbend/Riverside community, offering counsel, stability, and moral grounding during one of the show’s most politically volatile arcs.

Though her time on the series is brief, Annie’s presence reshapes the emotional landscape around Negan, revealing a side of him defined not by brutality, but by responsibility, partnership, and the terrifying hope of a future.

Her performance balances warmth with resilience — a survivor who has already made peace with the world’s darkness and refuses to let it define her family’s future.

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