THE FAR SIDE

BOOK AND PODCAST: “Paneling tonight … cows.” (1980-1995) There was a time when not a day could go by without encountering the single panel absurdity of “The Far Side.” Gary Larson’s work adorned the bookshelves, calendars and dorm room walls of our co-hosts well into the 1990s. But for Bob, there was an even deeper meaning to this comic, impacting both his creative pursuits and abhorrent outlook on humanity (Tim just thought the cows looked funny).

00:00:00 PRE-SHOW PRATTLE - very busy schedules

00:01:05 BACK TO THE FUNNIES - and Bob’s childhood career goal

00:08:08 NEVER MIND THE BIL KEANES … HERE’S THE FAR SIDE - a single panel of punk rock

00:20:43 NERD’S REVENGE - an exclusionary narrator

00:25:51 BINGING THE DAY TO DAY CALENDAR - and is this well-drawn?

00:33:30 DRAWING TO FILL SPACE - Teenage Cartooning

00:38:09 MISANTHROPIC MEDIUMS - and an elusive, reclusive author of absurdity

00:46:03 PANEL AND REPEAT - re-returning to The Far Side … again and again

00:51:10 OPENING A CANNING OF WORMS - regrets on maturity

00:57:11 CLOSINGS - contacts, plugs and no catch phrase

00:59:34 SPECIAL FEATURES - more things Bob has and hasn’t listened to

Finally find out what the author looked like in 1986 with this 20/20 INTERVIEW WITH GARY LARSON.

Hear the intricate underpinnings of The Far Side cartoon eloquently dissected with scholarly insight when NORM AND CLIFF EXPLAIN THE FAR SIDE TO WOODY in this clip from NBC’s CHEERS.

Learn just a little bit more with these 11 TWISTED FACTS ABOU THE FAR SIDE as originally posted on MENTAL FLOSS.

And then finally realize that’s its frustratingly difficult to find any thorough information about this strip online by having to reach back all the way to this 1998 New York Times article AFICIONADO OF SCIENCE: GARY LARSON, AN AMATEUR IN BIOLOGY RETURNS TO HIS EASEL.

The use of audio and video clips linked from YOUTUBE are for educational purposes and without the expressed permission of their legal holding companies. All rights remain with with their original distributor.

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MUSIC FEATURED IN TODAY’S EPISODE:

“Super Poupi ” (opening theme) and "Poupi Great Adventures: The Arcade Game" (closing theme) performed by Komiku from the 2018 album POUPI'S INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES available at Freemusicarchives.org. Cleared for public domain use through Creative Commons under a CCO 1.0 Universal License.

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20TH CENTURY POP! will return next week with both “the touch” and “the power”. And “Weird Al”.