Onscreen Offscreen
Josh Dietrich and Konlin Gappmayer discuss their media consumption, new and old. They discuss the good, the bad, and the impact it has on their lives
Onscreen Offscreen
Live Action Scooby-Doo
Live Action Scooby-Doo 1 & 2
Super Sales of Super Heroes, Completionist Chronicals, Nancy Drew (2016), REPO
00:00 - Greatest Beer Run Ever
5:18 - The Completionist Chronicals
14:28 - REPO
22:31 - Nancy Drew (2016)
35:22 - Scooby Doo (2002)
49:46 - Scooby Doo 2 Monsters Unleashed
Hey everybody. This is onscreen offscreen show where we like to look for and talk about, uh, the media intake. We, um, do each week and like how it impacts our lives. Um, I think media takes a very big role, so hopefully this, make sure you guys' life's a little bit better. Um, this is the third episode this week, and Conlin, let's get started with your first topic.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:Okay, I'm actually just gonna knock out both of'em. One of'em is gonna be pretty short and I'll go a little bit more in depth than the other. Um, short one, super sell on superheroes book two. I said the first one had some problems, but I was gonna give the second book a try. The biggest problems with the book is you have the typical lit RPG thing where all of the girls are kind of one dimensional and they're just hot and they're obsessed with the ma main character for whatever reason. It happens with anime too, and it drives me nuts in all of them, like. Uh, you don't want to be around somebody who's just obsessed with you all the time just'cause they're obsessed with you. It's not an enjoyable characteristic, and this doesn't solve it. With book two, they still do some interesting stuff. Um, they, they develop the character some more. They give'em some cool powers, they adapt the powers in interesting ways, and there's a person who can open up gates and they accidentally open up a gate to a different world. the voices that are guiding our, our main character and that releases God's back into the world. Apparently, there's been a God who is trying to get back and that's why he has these powers and why he's been influenced throughout the first book and the second book to get to where we are. I like all of that and if the characters were better, I would continue with this series, but they're not. And it makes it so like, yes, you have some interesting gods, you have an interesting new world, you have interesting powers. The power set of being able to change somebody's basically like character sheet is really cool. Like it's a cool idea and it's applied really well. But I, I just, I just want more characters that I'm really invested in and I'm not invested in these characters. Unfortunately. I could see somebody liking this story. I can understand why it's rated as well as it is. I, I just don't think I'm gonna go any further with it.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:is book two that you just read,
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:yeah, it's book two that I just read, which,
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:are there in the series?
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:that's a really good question. I don't know. I want to say six. Lemme look really quick. I,
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:If it's.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:the RPGs can go forever. Uh, it is done. It looks like that's cool. A lot of these go on for too long and don't actually get done. There are six, there are six books, but like the first book has 7,000 raisins with a ratings with a 4.2. That's like, that's pretty decent for a small indie type publisher.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:Yeah.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:But the covers, you can just tell it's one of these kind of books'cause it's some hot girl wearing. Leather armor, like that's, that's the cover of the book it's, it's too bad. So many lit RPGs fall into that trap because it gives a bad name to the genre as a whole. It keeps people from getting into it as much when there are so many cool, interesting ideas, and it doesn't just have to be. The fantasy of having like your harem, like, it's just, I don't, I'm not into that. I don't, man, it's, it's.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:It sounds like especially with, uh, lit RPGs. It's kind of hard to marry the characters with the world.'cause I know so many friends who want to start writing and it's'cause they've played d and d and it's, they have a, uh, world idea, but they don't have the characters set. Or they have like one character idea and then they want to like, shove it into this world. And, but they haven't really thought up of the world. Um, so it just sounds like this is somebody who had a really good idea for a world, but not for characters.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:Yeah, absolutely. And a cool power set. Like there's another lit Rrp G that I absolutely love and the characters are kinda weak. It's, um, his superhero is that he can do a, a, basically a save and he can save scum in his own life. So he can save back and then if he thinks he's gonna die, he can just go back to that previous save really cool idea. Very, very well done. But the other side characters don't elevate the story enough. So you have this,
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:Hmm.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:the main character carries the story and it's good enough, but if the side characters were even half the level of this main character, that series would be on my recommend list completely.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:Hmm.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:this one just. main character's not good enough to also carry the story with the side characters being fairly weak.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:too bad.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:But anyway, anyway, on my recommend list, the completion of Chronicles is always on my recommend list. Every single time I freaking love the story. If I had a cozy books book type story, this is it. I have re-listened to these dozens of times. And this is, I don't know why I put, is it book 12? It must be book 12. Um, book 12. It's called Untapped. The story of the Completionist Chronicles is you've got this character's name's Joe, and he's in the military and he gets hit by an IUD, um, and it paralyzes him. He is completely paralyzed. His mom has to take care of him, like wipe his butt the whole, the whole nine yards. He's completely. Inept at this point. And he gets this opportunity through a friend to go into a digital life and he leaves his body and goes into this digital world and he finds out the digital world is a little bit more than you thought it was. There's this series called Divine Dungeon written by the same char, uh, same author, and you find out that divine dungeon. In the Divine Dungeon, the main character is the dungeon, and it grows in power. It gets bigger and bigger and bigger, and you find out that the Completionist Chronicles Joe goes into this dungeon. Well, throughout the series, an apocalypse happens on earth and everyone leaves earth to go into this digital world of this dungeon. So it makes it so the stakes feel a little bit more impactful. Because everyone is living this new life. There isn't an earth world and this new life, it's, it's a new life. Um, and Joe and because he's one of the first people in this new, this new world, he has a leg up on everybody else that comes in. He has the ability to go a little bit ahead and through events, he has to proceed faster than other people in an authentic way. story is funny. It is the main character's really good. The side characters are really good. Um, the world is super interesting. I love the fact that he gets to the point where there's different planets that he's on, each planet has different things going on. And Dakota Kraut, the author, obviously has paid attention to what is happening on each world as he's in different places, because events will change, characters will change as time passes, and he does a really good job with that. This is middle grade lit, RPG, that is what I would call this. Uh, there's a little bit of romance going on now, but at the beginning there's not really that much of that. It's just a good story with good characters that, um, is very middle grade reading esque. Everything about it is middle grade reading. It is a story that I think you would like a lot, Josh, other than they have a few puns in that that might bug you. Yeah, but you would like the characters, you would like the world. I think you would like the way that the character develops. The power system is really cool. it's fantastic. I found out that Untapped dropped this week and immediately everything that was on my list, 12 Angry Men, ev, everything got pushed to the side because I absolutely love this series. When I'm working outside, I will put this series on when I'm. Uh, playing video games. I will put this series on. It is the How I Met Your Mother of book series to me. I just, it's just fun and if you want something that's just a fun, good read, it's just highly enjoyable and I would it to, I would recommend everybody gives this book series a try. I don't necessarily know that you will love it. If you don't like lit RPGs, you're not gonna like it, but it's worth giving a try.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:What's the name of the series again?
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:The completion is Chronicles.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:And I kind of like, because I love Dungeon Crawler Carl, so now I'm
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:Hmm,
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:kind of basing my, it felt like the lit RPG to that basing it off of that, how do you say it compares to Dungeon Crawler, Carl, I.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:dungeon crawler. Carl is the best lit RPG. It, it just is. This one is simpler, like the characters are more complex in Thunder Crawler Carl, the application of Powers is very comparable. audio book is also extremely well done. It's just not a lot of weaknesses, but it's simpler. It's, it's more middle grade where I would say Dungeon Crawler College is more high school. That's, a good way of putting it.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:And then, um, to go with that like Dungeon. Carl, Carl swears a lot. Does, uh, this series swear a lot? Or is it like middle school?
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:It, it is a middle grade that RPG, it's very clean. Um, there's a part where he is, he, he meets a girl and he's flirting with her. Her name's Daniella, but it's such a small part of the book. It's mostly just a guy going on some great adventures and getting to learn cool stuff in a new world. Like that's the series.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:Oh, I might put that'cause I have like 12 hours that I need to fill each day at work, so I might put that on the list.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:put that one on the list. And if you like that one, I have another high recommendation as like my top three of the RRP juice,
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:All
squadcaster-2ga2_6_06-25-2025_145240:What is that?
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:a new era online. It's um, they have a ba, it's a base builder, of that RPG. That one does have a relationship. And as far as. Relationships Inlet RPGs. It is by miles the best one.
squadcaster-2ga2_6_06-25-2025_145240:So, where does Primal Hunter fall?
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:it's, that's in my top four. I don't know. It's, it's those four.
squadcaster-2ga2_6_06-25-2025_145240:So,
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:that are my favorite.
squadcaster-2ga2_6_06-25-2025_145240:so why did you have me go to Primal Hunter and not completion his Chronicles or
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:Uh, I just
squadcaster-2ga2_6_06-25-2025_145240:my.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:would really get into Primal Hunter. Primal Hunter is like, this is a badass fighter, anime style type thing. Completionist Chronicles is middle grade reading, new era online is base builder and relationship. Kind of like action with Sims sort of is a good way to sort of say it. Um.
squadcaster-2ga2_6_06-25-2025_145240:Okay, so you just told Lauren to play, listen to New Era Online. Not this one.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:Both of'em are good. Like listen to either of them. Primal Hunter. Uh, they're just, they're all, they're all good. All of those are good. All of those are good time, and I would recommend any of those four. And I've read a lot of lit RPGs, like
squadcaster-2ga2_6_06-25-2025_145240:Yeah.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:too many, a lot.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:are the expert of the trio.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:I've, I've read way too many. Um, and then I, I meet some people, I've gone to some lit RPG kind conventions. I went and met, met Matt Denman and Dakota Kraut. They did a, uh, dinner where you watched jousting.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:Yeah.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:Yeah, they did one of those in, in Georgia. And I got to go there and I met a lot of. lit RPG authors that I've, I've talked to before I met the new ERA online guy. Um, and I felt like I was a noob because I didn't know the 12,000 lit RPGs that are out there. I've read a lot. There's just, there's so many of them constantly coming out, and you get handful that are truly great, and these four, in my opinion, are great. Yeah.
squadcaster-2ga2_6_06-25-2025_145240:right. What would you rate it on a scale of one to 10?
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:Uh, Supercell and superheroes gets a six. I just don't think it's worth the time, but it's not terrible. Um, completion is Chronicles to me, is like, I have a hard time rating it. My enjoyment level of this book series is like a 10. The, the negative of completion is Chronicles. I think he does a good job of making the main character, have to work really hard to achieve what he achieves. That feels very earned. But there are times in the story where it's like, this needs to happen for my story to progress. And so this happens for my story to progress. And I think that's the biggest negative of the book series. Enjoyment of 10 actual. Solid score. probably right around there. Eight,
squadcaster-2ga2_6_06-25-2025_145240:The whole series, or just the 12th book.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:The whole series,
squadcaster-2ga2_6_06-25-2025_145240:Okay. What about just the book?
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:Oh eight.
squadcaster-2ga2_6_06-25-2025_145240:Okay.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:it eight. It's really good. There is a, there's one part of the story where it's like this needs to happen, so it was convenient, but. It's still highly enjoyable. It's a really good book.
squadcaster-2ga2_6_06-25-2025_145240:Nice. Okay. All right with that, Lauren, what do you have for us?
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:Uh, this is my, uh, video game that I've been playing a lot with friends called Repo. Uh, I'm sure a lot of people have played it before. so this game is your robot and you're going into these areas and you're basically just getting these trinkets and bringing back and like to sell'em, and you have to get a certain amount of money. Each area and, uh, I got on with a couple of friends yesterday and I'm pretty sure, one of them will never play with me again because I was there for a silly goofy time. And I play repo because I think it's funny when you die. And he was there to try to get to like the highest level we could and like this is a game that you're eventually just gonna die. There's no end. You just sometimes will try to get as far as you can. but I had finally gotten on with a lot of people that I haven't been able to get on with. A lot recently, and something about this game is like you have a proximity mic. So if somebody is running around you slowly hear them go out and tell you can't hear them anymore. And uh, one of my friends is like telling his husband, he's like, look, you can't be vocal stimming because some of these monsters. Can hear you and will actually kill you if they hear you. So there's one that we call shooting Man, because he shoots you if he hears you. And, I was blasting music on my mic and everybody was like running away from me because I was just like, I was just bopping into my music, which was from, uh. Demon hunters, K-pop, demon hunters was what I was blasting. And um, yeah, it's just you have, there's so many opportunities for just silly shenanigans to happen. Like something that happened, um, was. You can pick up this potion. It's like this little heart potion, and it'll start making your robot say that you love whatever is next to them. and then there's other things that will morph your voice. Uh, so we just discovered a new, uh, item that you can find that looks like a mini version of you. And when you grab it, it makes your voice really high. And so, like I grabbed it and started singing the. Um, the hamster song. know if you guys know what that is. Uh, so I'm pretty sure everybody wanted to murder me when I grabbed that and I was running it towards the cart. Yeah, I died so many times last night, but I just had a blast. Uh, and they were like, oh, there is a hole right there, Lauren. Don't go towards it. And I like, looked down the hall. I was like, I think there's something down there. Immediately falls down and dies after they just resurrected me. Uh, which was fine.'cause then I would just, uh. Be in the ghost chat by myself listening to my music. But, uh, yeah, it's just a really su uh, silly, goofy game. Uh, like I just like games that you don't have to take yourself seriously and you just have a funny, goofy time. Um, and these, I forgot about this one thing. So like, you can hide in, you can make yourself small. And hide in cupboards. And I was hiding in a cupboard along with my friend, and, uh, we had them shut, but his eyes were clipping through the wall, so you could just see his eyes into my cupboard. And I was laughing so hard that I called a monster over and my other friend was walking by and that monster killed my friend because it was getting lured by my voice. But.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:Lauren, um, just added to the notes the hamster dance song, and I played a little bit of it, and I do know this, and I would've murdered you.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:I know.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:I would've killed you so fast. I've been like, get this stinking girl outta here, that this song sucks.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:I was on something last night, or I, I don't know what, but I was having a great time. I don't think my one friend was, and I kind of feel bad, but
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:You just play the Gummy bear song or baby shark over and over again along with this freaking murder you.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:I just did one little clip of it that I was singing as I was taking it to the cart, but. Yeah. Uh, so I have it in, in my notes. If you wanna make it far and repo, don't invite me because I think it's funny when we all die,
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:Hmm. Nice.
squadcaster-2ga2_6_06-25-2025_145240:So what would you rate the game on a scale of one to 10?
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:I play it a lot, um, like if you don't have the right group. just playing this by yourself or like you're not playing with the right group, who wants to have a silly, goofy time? I would say it's like a six. but if you are there with people who wanna just goof around and stuff, I would rate it as an eight.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:Okay.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:So
squadcaster-2ga2_6_06-25-2025_145240:Uh, so how does this rate on like a comparison to other co-op games?'cause we've played quite a few.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:co-ops, like in general
squadcaster-2ga2_6_06-25-2025_145240:Yeah.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:or like. Because like I would put repo in the same boat as a lethal company, or like, I would say this is a different co-op game than just co-op games in general.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:How does this compare to lethal company? Which, which one do you like better?
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:I like repo better
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:Okay.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:it's, um.
squadcaster-2ga2_6_06-25-2025_145240:Better.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:I think it's like goofier. Um, whereas with lethal company, I actually do get scared playing lethal company
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:Okay.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:get scared with repo because everything is just so, um. There's not a lot of jump scares, but there's a lot of jump scares with Lethal Company. So love Lethal Company and I'll play it with my brothers. Um, it's really funny to play it with my brothers'cause my one brother is scared of, um, mimic. So it looks like. One of your party members and it will even have their tag above like their head and it's not them and it will come and kill you. he is died by that so many times and he's, he's like, I have PTSD with this stupid monster. it's really funny to play with him and you can just like. in the distance. There was one time I was running to the ship and I heard him screaming, but it also had proximity, Mike. And so like I just hear it like, ah, and it just goes silent'cause he died. And then when he, we get back on the ship and he responds. He is like, it's like, oh my gosh, this and this and this happened. And I was like, yeah, I know I heard you screaming, but we have to play that not late at night so that he doesn't startle his like 2-year-old daughter and his wife. but do like. like repo better for the goofs. Um, I like lethal company more because I play with my brothers'cause I can't get my brothers to play repo, so,
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:Cool.
lauren_6_06-25-2025_185237:yeah.
konlin-gappmayer_6_06-25-2025_185230:cool.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:Uh, so I'm, I've been doom scroll and looking for kind of a new show. Uh, I never knew this existed, but, uh, apparently there was a Nancy Drew show that was started in 2016. Um, I have played Nancy Drew games in the past. I think some of them are really, really great, actually. I think others really, really suck. Uh, I have read. A couple of the books in the past. Um, so I decided to give this shot. Uh, it is a teen mystery show generically, uh, is how I would describe it. If you're really into these kinds of shows, you're gonna be really, really into it. Um, I finished the first season and I would say it is pretty good. The hard part about it for me was knowing Nancy Drew in the past. This is not that at all. Um, however, it does respect it. So it takes Nancy drew into her older age and is a much more mature tone than what is. Traditional Nancy Drew, as well as giving real ghosts. So there's actual real ghosts, which is a staple of Nancy Drew. Not real ghosts, kind of like Scooby do. Um, but they take it into her future, so she's older. Um, she has been hurt by some of the stuff that has happened in the past. They respect her previous history and that they don't just ignore that it happened. But it is kind of a little bit of a shock. When I was expecting Nancy Drew and I got, uh, sorry, what is that Teen Mystery show I was really into,
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Outer banks.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:yeah, like it's Outer Banks. However, I was looking at it, and unlike Outer Banks or any of these other shows, it looks like it actually gets better. Moving on.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Okay.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:Like usually these shows have like one season that's really good and then they get grain lit for more seasons and they're like, oh, I, I dunno. No mystery, bigger mystery. I don't really know what to do with this and gotta keep going. Whereas this one I looked at a ranking and it was like, the best season is season four. The second best season is season three. The third best season is season two, and the worst season is season one.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Wow.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:Uh, that's not actually accurate. A lot of people say like the third season is the worst one, but all of them still rate it as like an eight out of 10.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Very cool.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:So I'm very interested to keep going with this one. Um. Conlin, I want you to at least give the first 10 minutes of this show a shot.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Okay.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:Uh,
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:loves Nancy Drew. She'd probably be down by super down watches
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:okay. It is not Nancy Drew.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:at all,
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:my problem with this is that they call it Nancy Drew. I think it would be a bigger show if they had not called it Nancy Drew.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:oh, okay.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:She is Nancy Drew, and it's later in her life and she's still solving mysteries, but the show starts off and she's like, so PTS deed from all of her previous mysteries that she's given up on being a detective. And she's cynical and honestly, quite a bit of a hoe. Um.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Okay.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:Like it is not Nancy Drew, like if they had just not called it Nancy Drew, I think a lot more of the original fans would've been more into it. Um, the other weird thing is like, it started in 2016, but season two was like 2019. Season three was 2021 and season three was 2023 or something like that. So there's weird gaps. So it looks like it was. Green lit and then canceled and green lit and then canceled, and then green lit and then canceled, and then green light again. Or they just took a really long time to film each season. I don't know which one it is. I genuinely have no idea, but it took a weirdly long time to, to film four Seasons. Uh, but the reason I call out the beginning sequence is it is great horror.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Okay.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:Like it is a great opening to a horror sequence. It's genuinely phenomenal. They do have a lot more horror elements and spooky ghost stuff happening throughout the show, even though it is kind of just a mystery thing. But I was. The opening sequence. I was like, I'm sold. I'm so into this. This is great. And then she immediately starts being a hoe and I'm like, well, this is Nancy Drew. What the heck is this? Um, so the, you gotta kind of just like cast the nancyness aside and just enjoy it for what it is. And as soon as I did that, I, I enjoyed this show quite a bit.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Cool. Cool, cool. Um. So it sounds like you probably watched season two,
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:Absolutely, I'll watch season two. If it's only gonna get better. Like right now, I would give it like a seven out of 10.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Okay.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:if it's only gonna get better from here, like this is my kind of show. I got super into outer bank season one.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:You did.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:I was so sold on it, like it was so good. I like.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Did you ever continue that show? Did you watch season two?
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:I got like three quarters of the way through it and I was like, this has got become such a convoluted mess. Or how many seasons are there?
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:I don't know
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:It might have been, I got through season two, three. I don't remember. I remember just getting to the point where I was like, oh my gosh, this has gotten so convoluted. So dumb and they kept re-upping the ante and the problem with re-upping the ante and being like, well, this mystery is just a small mystery compared to the next mystery. And it's like, okay, but then you make your pre your season one mystery that sold everybody on your show, pointless. That's what you did. And you start introducing all of these holes that you're like, okay, why did they go through the steps then?'cause you could have just. Done. The other thing, this whole time
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:So the Nancy Drew, you're saying that it has actual paranoia, para paranormal,
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:activity, yes, there are actual ghosts, there are actual hauntings.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Very
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:There's actual.
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:mysteries.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:Yeah, she is still investigating the death She's specifically haunted by, so there's this girl who was killed in her town a long time ago, very Nancy Drew intro. She's haunted by the ghost and has to figure out why. But in Nancy Drew, somebody is playing up the ghost, like in Scooby-Doo. In this one, the actual ghost is haunting her to get her to solve the murder, her murder.
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:It is. have you ever seen the series Ghost
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:Now
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:like a and ghosts come to her to like solve their problems and stuff? It's kind of what I, it's reminding me of,
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:if you're talking about Ghost Whisperer, I've seen that one
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:Yep.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:and it's not like that at all.'cause that one's like a more serious show. This one's like a teen drama,
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:Oh, okay.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:like they're all. 19. It's like it's really formulaic. Introduce ditzy rich girl. Introduce smart girl who's our main character. Give her two love interests, and one is rich guy who's suave and intellectual thinking and introduce mechanic boy who's poor, but tough and like honestly. That is the hardest part is like, it, it is really generic to start. And there's like even an Asian girl, and guess what? Her mom is a medium and she's all spiritual and stuff. So she has all the spirit knowledge and uh, the sheriff is Native American ancestry, so he's got a magic feather that takes everybody to the spirit world. Um, so yeah.
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:When you were introducing the two different types of guys, for some reason I thought you were gonna be like, and this one's dead, but you don't know it yet. And I was like, that sounds awesome.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:That would make it better. Honestly. Um, the it, the love interest thing is a hard part about the show
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Pretty weak.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:I. Yeah.'cause it's like the poor guy is black and he has a criminal record and there's a whole part where she's like, but do I trust him? And like she starts off the show by sleeping with him and literally saying to us viewers in narration that it's literally just hookups. And then you get halfway through season one and Rich Guy comes to her and she and is like, be mine. And she's like, sorry, my heart belongs to a mechanic. You literally already, you just told us like three hours ago that he meant nothing to you.
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:Hey, I am pretty sure he also owns a Christmas tree farm and best hallmark.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Do you feel like the Nancy Drew girl plays the character well? Like, or is it not even Nancy Drew, like she doesn't even feel like the character outside of being a hoe.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:She looks like the character, but like she's Nancy Drew, later on in life, you have to accept that. You have to accept that she's gone and solved these mysteries, but was actually damaged by them. You have to buy that this, that stuff was significant enough that she gave up. Becoming a detective,
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Okay.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:right? Yet you really have to buy into that like. She's at a completely different phase in her life and as a new person, but like they do mention stuff from the books and games,
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:That's cool.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:like they will mention that stuff and pay homage to it. And like that's the whole point is like this stuff that has happened to her has been so significantly traumatizing to her. She decided to go in a new direction in her life and. Yeah, it's still a pretty good show. Like I said. Um, I do think that the characters do some really good things. There are some really dumb things, uh, that ditzy rich girl suddenly grows a brain in like season, in like episode eight. Like she's just this ditzy white girl and her whole purpose is to be like, explain that to me. I don't get it. So that they can.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Explain it
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:the audience some information and like in episode eight, she's like all of a sudden like, well, what if we did this? And it's like, you have not had a brain
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:You
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:or cared about this situation forever. What, where is this coming from? Um, I, I really do hope this show does continue getting better.'cause like, if it does just get better and the characters just get better. And they keep up the level of horror aspects and genuine mystery that I'm interested to solve. This is gonna be a great show.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Cool. Cool. Cool, cool. It sounds good, Ben. I, uh, I'll, I'm, I'm gonna watch it. I'm gonna
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:Yeah.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Give it a
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:I, I, I really wanna know what you think about the, like the intro scene specifically.'cause that part to me, I was like, this is Conlin show. He's in, he's gonna love it. And then it went into stuff and I was like, okay, maybe not. But, uh, yeah, it's a great, great intro.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Cool.
josh-dietrich_7_06-25-2025_151648:Okay. With that, let's jump into. Our shared topic, uh, we watched both the first and second live action Scooby-Doo movies, which is why I put Nancy Drew on this episode'cause very fitting. Uh, Lauren, I would love to hear what you think of the first live action Scooby-Doo movie.
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:So this was the only Scooby-Doo movie, Scooby-Doo period that my mom would let me watch. Don't know why she wouldn't let me watch any other Scooby-Doo, but apparently this one was okay.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:That is wild. That makes no freaking sense. That is what.
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:So I love this one, but it also gave me nightmares because the, um, the crazy little CGI was so bad. Um, but this CGI monsters, like I would have a dream. Um, I had a reoccurring nightmare where I don't know. Why this was a thing, but like my stepdad would like poke my brothers. Stomach and my brother would like transform into that thing and like scream at us and then go back to being him. And I was like, that's terrifying. Anyway, that was my curring nightmare, um, brought on by this. But I also, is it Mr. Beam? That's the bad guy. Well, actually it's scrappy. Do or whatever. Um. But yeah, I remember just loving it, except I still will never understand how TSA let Scooby on the plane dressed.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:It's 2002, so no,
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:Yeah.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:they would've been That's true. That's true.
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:Hey, if Lilo and Stitch can change a whole animated portion of their movie, they could have made Scooby more realistic on getting to the plane. But yeah, I. Yeah, ICI remember loving when like Scooby and Shaggy got separated in like the haunted attraction and they had to like eat the plastic food. And, um, I mean, I, I always cringe at the, uh, the farting contest, but, um, yeah. Yeah, but I love, isn't it Matthew Lillard? That's, yeah. I love Matthew Lillard. So, um, yeah, I remember loving this movie, but it does not hold up watching it again. I definitely just liked it because I liked it as a kid and it was my only Scooby-Doo that I was allowed.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Poor, girl.
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:Uh, I would probably say seven because I'm, I'll probably still watch it again.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:I obviously strongly disagree with you guys. I didn't think this movie was very good at all.
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:It.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Um, I, I, I know that I've seen this movie. I know I've seen the second movie. I remembered some things from the second one. I remembered absolutely nothing from this movie, so it might as well have been new to me. Um, first the good Matthew Lillard is insanely good at Shaggy, like insanely good. I get the whole him wanting Mortal Kombat shaggy thing, like he deserves all the hype because he did a great job for real full stop. Great. Um, Freddie Prince Jr. As Fred, hate the Fred is dumb thing. I don't like it. And to me this has a little bit of the Fred is dumb thing and I think it's probably where the Fred is dumb thing. Prob starts prompt.'cause I can't see it in animation before I see it in this. I don't like that. I strongly, strongly kind of hate that actually. Velma is well done. I think Daphne is super whiny in this movie and she's actually annoying to, uh, she's like, she's too whiny. I don't, I don't like it. The. Overall two thousands e fill of the movie. I can see why it would work for some people. It's a very 2000. It is two, two thousands for me and I didn't enjoy it very much. The CGI is terrible. The farting is awful like it is cringey as hell. Awful. Scene. Terrible. Um. Scrappy is like, oh, scrappy shows up for a second. I think Scrappy might be the villain for this movie, and I'm cool with the idea of Scrappy being the villain because scrappy is annoying and I'm like, I get where you came with that. But how they actually fulfilled the promise of Scrappy being the villain was bad. Scooby is supposed to be about these mysteries, and yes, the mysteries are usually pretty simple, but you still have some kind of mystery. This one, it felt like. Well, it's scrappy and we're just going along with the story and I don't really care about the story. And Daphne and Fred are both really not very enjoyable in this movie. So I'm left with something I just don't really like. And then you have scrappy being the big batty at the very end, and it's just dumb. And the CGI is terrible. Like it's awful. And they can't tip over a bowl. Tip over the freaking bull. You dumb ass people. And they pull out a guy and they're like, I'm just gonna stick you back in there.'cause it's supposed to be funny little kitty. But I was like, you would just let the guy go. You would just throw him away. Be like, oh, you're the wrong one. Oh, you're the wrong one. That would've been a better scene than I'm gonna stick you back in there because that was just stupid. I, we'll get to the second one, Bo. I like the second one Way better than this one. But this movie was not good, and I will never, ever watch it again. Ever. A 3.6 I did. I did not think this was good. Fair enough. I, I am. It's so bad. Yes. Oh my glory. Oh. Me too. I, I, I tried, man. I tried and I was even like, uh, what's her name? Eliza Fisher. Holy shit. She is so hot. She is so hot. She's my favorite part of this movie.
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:Which one is that?
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:she's the girlfriend of Shaggy, the girl he's
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:Oh, okay. Yeah.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:freaking gorgeous. Anyway, I, I was like, uh, the Mr. Bean guy, I usually like him. I really am rooting for you, shaggy. I like you. You're my favorite part of the movie. Let's go. But there's just so many things in this movie that are bad and I, I can't, I can't, I can't do it. Nope. Yeah, it's just live action is worse and then you have like the, curse that makes you into a bro or whatever, and that's cringey as hell. This is just a, this a cringey. I. We, we can move on to number two because I, I don't like this movie. I don't like it. Okay. Number two's way better than number one. Way, way, way, way, way better. Uh, I don't think like Freddy's as big as a dumb ass in this one. All the characters, all the actors felt like they were more into their character, um, except for Matthew Lillard, because he's just great. He just did a great job. The. CGI is not as cringey. The story's more interesting. I like the, the end boss better. It feels more like normal Scooby-Doo, whereas the first one feels like they're trying too hard and it comes off as super cringey over and over and over again. This one doesn't feel cringey to me. And yes, you still have some farting scenes, but they're shorter and they're used more, uh, adapt. They're, they're adapted better. They're, uh. Use more. The intention behind it is better, like the farting and getting rid of the Black Knight thing, like that's a really short, condensed scene that would work for kids and doesn't make you feel like, what the hell am I watching? Um, I like the acting better. I like the story better. I think the idea of all of these past haunts that you've seen inside of the cartoon coming to life is a cool idea. Um, I really like the mask reveal where you pull off the one mask and then you pull off a second one. It was very much connected to the animated show. I thought that was a cool aspect. You don't have Scrappy Dew in it, and that's a huge plus. That's like a massive, massive plus no scrappy dew. Matthew Lillard's doing a good job in every single way. I think number two is a better movie, and if I would go on my. Sequels that are better than the original to the point where you don't even really wanna watch the original, like Terminator two, you have Scooby do two because it is that much better than that first movie. Uh, second one is a, i, it almost inflates the movie with how much better the second one is, uh, do I wanna watch this one again? I. I will not watch this one again by myself, but I would show this to my kids when I have them. 6.5, maybe right around there, seven maybe. Wow. That is wild. Wow. We are, we, we have some different opinions, Josh. This is, we're very, we are very far different on these two movies. Very far different.
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:I am in the middle, um, comparatively to the first one. I like the first one more. Um. But I wasn't bored in the second one. There's like. There's some really funny bits that I really liked. Uh, like I love the Bon Jovi getting popped up when he is jousting on the motorcycle. I like, uh, when they ring the doorbell and they get like stuck with the um, girl Scouts and like somebody that you could see was a missionary. And then, um. But like, as far as, like, I probably wouldn't watch the second one again, where I would rewatch the first one. Um, just because they're like, I didn't like the Daphne date. Uh, when she like gets all in the latex or whatever in the, that was that one.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:cringey.
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:Yeah.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:cringey. It was cringey.
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:Uh, but I do like how I was sold, that I thought it was the her love interest the entire time. I was like, oh, it's gotta be him. It's gotta be him. But then it wasn't.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:mystery
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:Yeah, I, I did like
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Come on.
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:that aspect of the second one, but in between the two, I go the first, so that's where I say I like, I feel like I'm in the middle of U2 with the feelings of this movie. Um, I don't hate that I watched it, but probably won't watch it again. Um, yeah. 6.5.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:Yeah, that's fair. Okay. All right. ended up being better than I expected. That's
lauren_7_06-25-2025_191645:so divided.
konlin-gappmayer_7_06-25-2025_191638:So divided. I was not expecting that. I thought you guys would like the first one better than I did because you would
konlin-gappmayer_8_06-25-2025_195247:I thought you guys would like the first one a little bit more than me because of nostalgia where I I don't remember it. So no real nostalgia there. didn't think it would be this big of a gap, like at all.
lauren_8_06-25-2025_195254:it was my one and only Scooby-Doo.
konlin-gappmayer_8_06-25-2025_195247:Yeah. Uh, have you watched other Scooby do since.
lauren_8_06-25-2025_195254:Yeah. I watched one series on Netflix. that wasn't like the iconic, uh, Scooby-Doo. But now that I know that I have access to Scooby-Doo, I'm gonna be watching that. I always, I, I think so.
josh-dietrich_8_06-25-2025_155257:I don't, I.
lauren_8_06-25-2025_195254:Hmm. I, I enjoyed it, but I knew it wasn't like. Original Scooby-Doo. And so I always wanted to watch Scooby-Doo when I was a kid. And for some reason my mom just, I don't know if it annoyed her or something, but anything that she didn't, um, that she thought would cost money or like she was annoyed by, she would just say was of the devil. She didn't really think it was of the devil, but it.
josh-dietrich_8_06-25-2025_155257:That's what my mom did was SpongeBob.
lauren_8_06-25-2025_195254:Yeah, Yu cards we're definitely of the devil, and so we're Pokemon cards. So mom didn't wanna.
josh-dietrich_8_06-25-2025_155257:Yeah, I, I highly watch, like recommend watching more Scooby-Doo. I think they absolutely hold up. They're absolutely fantastic. Uh, if you want some of the older shows, just let me know. Um, yeah. Uh, with Mystery Incorporated, I think it definitely got better as it went on. It just really bothered me at the beginning that they were trying to force this like Velma Shaggy. Romance.
lauren_8_06-25-2025_195254:Mm.
josh-dietrich_8_06-25-2025_155257:I was like, they don't need to be in a romance.'cause there is a single guy and a single girl. You can just have friendships and have it be good. Scooby-Doo has literally been doing it for 40 years and at the beginning of the show it was like so hyperfocused on that. It really bothered me. But when they eased off of it, I actually did start to enjoy that show a little bit, but. I, yeah.
lauren_8_06-25-2025_195254:And I'm, and I'm not in hell.
josh-dietrich_8_06-25-2025_155257:All right. With that, let us know what animated movies you guys think we should take on next. Um, what things from your childhood, what really impactful thing, what positive thing? Um. May, uh, just make some recommendations. We'd love to see'em. You guys have a great day. Remember, it'd be better today than yesterday.
