It’s In The Mailbag

We’ve got more listener mail on today’s Video Archives Podcast After Show! Quentin, Roger and Gala answer your questions about the best movie-tie-in board games, the best films about food, the most popular films rented at the original Video Archives store, and the ideal way to watch VHS in 2023. I’ve got some incredible fan submissions and a movie mystery to dig into on today’s Counter Talk, so let’s get started…

In today’s mailbag, we got a question from a listener trying to puzzle out a cinematic mystery that has haunted them for years, a half-remembered film from childhood they haven’t been able to find since. As you’ve probably figured out, Quentin and Roger aren’t sitting in the podcast studio with laptops open, rifling through IMDB and Wikipedia for facts about the films they discuss; all the knowledge they bring to the show comes from their decades of film experience. Nonetheless, Quentin was able to venture a guess for this mystery film as soon as Gala finished reading the letter – 1986’s Troll, directed by John Carl Buechler.

As heard on the episode, here’s one of the custom tapes created by listener and VHS wizard Flashback Video! I love everything about this design, which artfully reuses elements from our podcast art and website (look at that handsome Stitcher logo placement on the tape); it’s a thrill seeing the podcast description as genuine back-of-the-box copy. This will have a proud place on the Archives shelves.

That’s not the only submission we got recently from artistic fans! Listener Jaimie (@jaimie_filer on Instagram) sent us this very cool illustration of the one and only Pam from American Nitro. He says “While listening to Quentin and Roger speak on how pretty she was, I had to do a quick google search… To find that both were definitely right, Lol! So this led me to draw up some fan art of everyone’s ‘Queen of the Track.’ Thanks so much for the interest, and making one of the most enjoyable podcasts I look forward to hearing every week. Seriously, it’s a total delight to listen to.”

Finally, check out these One Armed Executioner sketches from Video Archives listener Dennis! The first one shows our hero after waking up in the hospital, and the second depicts a victim of his terrible vengeance. Dennis writes “Here’s a few ‘One Armed Executioner’ sketches I did at work…I’m a huge fan of Video Archives and often draw, paint, and sketch while listening.” Check out more of his art on Instagram @orrisdennis.

I love getting submissions like this so much; it inspires me to know that our show is inspiring listeners creatively. Keep sending us your Video Archives themed art, music, essays, videos and designs! We check the videoarchivespod@gmail.com inbox semi-regularly, but the easiest way to get our attention is to reply to us on Twitter or Instagram and show us what you’ve got. And keep sending your questions for Quentin and Roger to The Video Archives Podcast, ℅ Earwolf Media, PO Box 66, 5551 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90028.

Next week, we are once again going to discuss one film and one film alone, a major part of the Video Archives canon that deserves episode-length discussion. You won’t want to miss this one…in the meantime, rate and review us on Apple, tell your friends about the show, and I’ll be back next week with more Counter Talk.

–Josh