Mostly Murder (But Sometimes Not) is a podcast where four siblings loosely discuss mysteries and whodunits throughout a vast array of pop culture media. We love...
New episode out now! We spent some time with the Belcher family and watched 2022’s The Bob’s Burgers Movie. We cover the dynamics of the Belchers and how Bob and Linda’s relationship with each other and their children is so great, love the town they live in and how it is full of a community of weirdos who support each other, think that the children feel like real kids and they also make great detectives, and really enjoy the voice talent. We loved that although it felt very like the show in how it included asides, daydreams, and fun musical numbers, it had an elevated quality, a more involved plot with a mystery, and still utilized hand drawn animation. Katy got scared watching Jaws by herself in the dark, Carrie has many tickets to the orchestra, Maddy did not find cars important as a baby, and Mack is a ground down 30-year-old. We talk about being grossed out by skeleton teeth falling IN YOUR MOUTH, delve into the complexities of fantasies and daydreams, decide yet again Carrie should never watch The Thing, and share our favorite childhood toys we still have kicking around. We also cover rich people, Kurt Russell’s hotness, nice teenage boys, the reality of Stars Hollow, and spear guns. (Also we have confirmed Hornsley’s birthday is March 31st). Enjoy!TW: Capitalism, misogyny, economic disparity, animal harm depicted in film
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1:34:58
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, "The Bearded Lady"
New episode out now! We watched the first episode of the ‘90s British mystery series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, titled “The Bearded Lady”. We discuss the character of Hetty and how she feels a little bit different than other characters who fit the “older lady who solves mysteries” description, and have differing opinions on whether or not we even like her. We try to figure out what actually happened in the episode with varying success, wonder if audiences are treated more with kid gloves nowadays, get confused by science experiments, and disagree on whether Dominic Monaghan has an “English cheekiness” quality but enjoyed him as the teen sidekick anyway. Katy tries to make excuses for Hetty and fails, Carrie does not want anyone in her home, Maddy harkens back to MapQuest days, and Mack shares a childhood memory. We also make fun of our mental scripts for hosting, would not put anything past the ruling class, reminisce about watching LOST live on air, and love libraries. Listen to hear more about Bluey, children being used by detectives, shrimp paste, and Scooby-Doo. Enjoy!TW: Scientific experimentation without consent, hormonal changes, difficulties of being an unhoused person, censorship of trans people, mention of human sterilization
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1:12:50
Doctor Who, "The Unicorn and the Wasp"
New episode out now! We have a slightly different encounter with the figure of Agatha Christie in the Doctor Who episode “The Unicorn and the Wasp”. We talk about the Doctor and his relationship with Donna, truly enjoy the actor’s chemistry throughout the show, and uncover how much this episode utilized tropes that came directly from both Christie’s books and the adaptations of her stories. We discuss the way Doctor Who depicts real people throughout history, and how well this depiction of Agatha Christie may have compared to the real person and her real-life struggles. We also debate insect anatomy when the insect is also an alien, have a discussion about the limitations and ability of the TARDIS for language translation, and discover we all stopped watching the show around the same time without realizing. Katy mixes up her Shakespeare plays, Carrie makes a Transformers reference, Maddy flashes back to her 2009 fashion choices, and Mack shares a fairly gross detail about facial hair. We experience in real time the drawbacks to using AI, ponder the goals of pants, have some light debates about what constitutes a monster for certain romance novels, and dislike how mysteries involving sci-fi or the supernatural put the viewer at a disadvantage as we lack the usual tools to follow along. We also touch on the Ghoul Boys, charming CGI, symmetrical white males, and TARDIS impersonations. Enjoy! PS there are some Doctor Who spoilers concerning more recent iterations so be warned!
TW: Racism, insects, unexpected loss of pregnancy
NOTES:
The podcast Katy mentioned is called The Swinging Christies, Spotify link here.
Katy meant Much Ado About Nothing, not The Taming of the Shrew. David Tennant and Catherine Tate starred in a production of Much Ado About Nothing at the Wyndham's Theatre in 2011.
The house filming location was Llansannor Court in Wales but does not seem to have been used for any Jane Austen adaptations.
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1:25:10
Dial M For Murder (1954)
New episode out now! We revisit the world of Alfred Hitchcock with 1954’s Dial M For Murder. We talk about the visual style of the film and how it was influenced by the decision to shoot with a new 3-D camera rig, are impressed by the use of shadows and score to increase the suspense, enjoyed watching Tony evolve his plan when things went wrong, and discuss the first appearance of both the stereotypical “Hitchcock blonde” and Grace Kelly in particular in his films. We touch on the similarities we see between the film and other Hitchcock movies as well as Columbo and Poirot, try to figure out where we’ve seen the actors before, and admit we kinda wanted to see the murder succeed just to see a satisfying plan come together. Katy cannot pronounce names or remember things, Carrie knows a real finger when she sees one, Maddy has to plan very carefully when going to a movie, and Mack is the Keymaster. We also discuss new terms for a secret male lover, ponder the ubiquity of a pencil-thin mustache in these noir films, and compare a scene from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh to one of an English judge ordering the death penalty . We touch on movie theater soda blends, Mouse Trap, auditing your keyring, and the evolution of the car selling process. Enjoy! And special thanks to Jason for compiling a very helpful dossier- find him on Letterboxd under JKHenson89 here!
TW: Capital punishment, gaslighting
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1:35:09
Mack's Big Christmas Show 2024!
Extra special episode out now! For this year’s holiday treat, Quizmaster Mack designed a whole game show for us to play - again! We play four different games, each one tied to our podcast in some way. We play Aside From That again to confront how often we veer off topic, make guesses about sequels to things we covered, see if we can tell what show a piece of generic background music came from, and learn about off-the-wall mystery media we probably will not be covering. Katy subsists on chemicals, Carrie only knows some Peanuts characters, Maddy gets upset again about medical misrepresentation, and Mack hates The Good Dinosaur. We also air a few grievances, learn what emesis means, reveal some embarrassing facts, and learn a super cool spy trick Carrie may or may not have done. Listen to hear Mack being a clever and delightful game show host, who has also created an incredible musical world- in more ways than one! And after the games, we have a familiar Casemas treat! Enjoy, and happy holidays!
TW: Child death, modern day sex pests
Mostly Murder (But Sometimes Not) is a podcast where four siblings loosely discuss mysteries and whodunits throughout a vast array of pop culture media. We love mysteries, and have since we were reading Boxcar Children and Nancy Drew by flashlight after Lights-Out. The endless detectives, investigators, and groups of roving teenagers who solve crime are all game for discussion on this show. It doubles as an excuse for us to hang out with each other—but also discuss murder!
For more information, please see our website, linked below!
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