Entertainment journalist Russ Burlingame, photojournalist Zach D. Roberts, and friends talk about movies, TV, comics, pop culture...all that crap. We used to work at a video store. Now we do this.
russburlingame.substack.com (https://russburlingame.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)
We’re a week behind on the episodes due to Zach being busy last week every night on photo assignments but we’ve already recorded episode eight and will have that out tomorrow.
Episode seven was a short one. We learned a lot about Hal’s childhood, how his father killed (?) himself and much more. We learned that even Hal-ogram is a bit of a dick and that the Sheriff really did care for him (the real Hal).
We also found out where Sinestro ended up but not yet who got him there… or why he didn’t just build a boat.
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Check out Russ’ latest article at ComicBookClub (https://comicbookclublive.com/2026/10/04/lanterns-comics-hbo-tom-king-graphic-novels/?fbclid=IwY2xjawUxaydleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBwZG9mAXNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR5NrqWK5K_5Iq9uFjpDC9a-ECQdqtpVccW9lBvTYIRaFFy7u2WCwHuKAUgeaA_aem_Xm8swPUL6w5TsnzUQ8w6kA) on Tom King’s graphic novels that you should read to give yourself a better idea why he keeps ranting about the guy.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit russburlingame.substack.com/subscribe (https://russburlingame.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)
23 Sept 2026
Warriors Bar: A Lanterns Podcast Ep. 6
We finally get to the Hal-cicle episode that honestly creates more questions than it answers on what happened to Hal. Episode 6 is “Bad Optics” and we meet Guy Gardner for the first time in the series and he’s just as much of a dick as he was in Superman… maybe even a bit more self-centered.
“Bad Optics” is yet another episode of “the most interesting things happen off screen”
* Sinestro gets broken out of jail
* Hal gets killed (maybe)
* Guy steals the ring and suit from Oa
* Johns dad shoots out a nursing home window. As a side note, why the f**k does he have a gun? Is he still shooting apples off of children’s heads?
Zach’s a little frustrated, as you might tell that this Superhero show is taking up all the most irritating aspects of a low-budget police procedural as opposed to a HBO prestige cop show.
What will happen to John now that he’s grave-robbed a ring? Is Hal really dead? Will John ever actually tell the Sheriff that it was him that punched Hal in the nose? Will Bernadette ever stop being a f*****g a*****e of a character?
Hopefully we’ll get some of these questions answered in episode 7.
Emerald City Video is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit russburlingame.substack.com/subscribe (https://russburlingame.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)
18 Sept 2026
Emily: The Emerald City Video Interview
It’s been 25 years since Mike Barbosa, Sean McGorty, and their friend Luke Leblanc recorded Emily, the self-titled album for their band of the same name.
It’s been about a week since James Michael Farley, a sketch comedian and TV writer, discovered a box of Emily CDs at a New Hampshire thrift store and inadvertently kicked off a viral sensation.
Emily, with a ‘90s indie rock feel (because that’s what they, fundamentally, were), recorded the self-titled album the weekend after the 9/11 terror attacks at a studio near Boston, and operated as an act for between five and seven years starting in the ‘90s. While Emily never got their big break, both McGorty and Barbosa are still playing music regularly (although for Barbosa, it isn’t his day job).
The CD’s thrift-store origin and the revelation that the CD was nothing like Farley expected call back to one of the great lost-and-found albums in internet history, Panchiko’s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJzpAGYYWjM)Death Metal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJzpAGYYWjM). The big difference is that it took Farley only a matter of hours to get the band back together -- figuratively, at least for now -- rather than months of a frenzied internet search.
So, let’s catch up with Emily, and see what they’ve been doing for the last 25 years…!
Emerald City Video is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
You can follow Sean McGorty on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/dadrock15/) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@dadrock15), and check out his solo music here (https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/seanmcgorty/twenty-five).
You can follow Mike Barbosa on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/boze4875/).
You can follow James Michael Farley on Instagram (https://www.threads.com/@jamesmichaelfarley?xmt=AQG0EARytspxs45OYSFsfHtCi8HO8xl8YRI7vvT8bG8V367_v2cUaUlqA1RP6l64kk8w5O34SQ), or check out his website (https://jamesmichaelfarley.com/) for more information about his upcoming projects.
You can also download a copy of the Emily album on the Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/emily-selftitled).
Since I’ve been very bad about doing this in the past, here’s a batch of links to my existing books, which presumably make great gifts if you are lucky enough to know somebody in one of these niche fandoms:
Best Movie Ever: An Oral History of Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont’s Josie and the Pussycats
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/best-movie-ever-russ-burlingame/1140177148?ean=9798988311720 (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/best-movie-ever-russ-burlingame/1140177148?ean=9798988311720)
https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Best-Movie-Ever/Russ-Burlingame/9798988311720?id=9340900023696
https://bookshop.org/book/9798988311720 (https://bookshop.org/book/9798988311720)
The Gold Exchange: The Unofficial Booster Gold Companion
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-gold-exchange-russ-burlingame/1143464630?ean=9798988311737 (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-gold-exchange-russ-burlingame/1143464630?ean=9798988311737)
https://bookshop.org/book/9798988311737 (https://bookshop.org/book/9798988311737)
https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Gold-Exchange/Russ-Burlingame/9798988311737?id=9340900023696
A Legend In His Own Time: A Fast-Forward Guide to the Greatest Hero You’ve Never Heard Of (with Kevin Allen)
https://a.co/d/29phYM0 (https://a.co/d/29phYM0)
Getting the Fin Right: The Collected Savage Dragon Interviews vol. 1 (with Gavin Higginbotham)
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/getting-the-fin-right-russ-burlingame/1146574344?ean=9798988311744 (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/getting-the-fin-right-russ-burlingame/1146574344?ean=9798988311744)
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit russburlingame.substack.com/subscribe (https://russburlingame.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)
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