Monkey Off My Backlog

About the show

Every week, Tessa and Sam exorcise their personal pop culture demons by going through their media to-do lists one item at a time. Each week involves a discussion about the media they listened, watched, read, played, or experienced that week along with encouragement to continue tackling these backlogs. Plus bonus weekly episodes where one of the hosts reacts to a TV show that the other has forced them to watch.

Monkey Off My Backlog on social media

Episodes and Blog Entries

  • The Last of Us

    Episode  |  February 6th, 2023  |  1 hr 30 mins
    anna torv, grogu, hbo, naughty dog, pedro pascal, star wars, the last of us, the mandalorian, video games, zombies

    Colby returns to talk with us about 'The Last of Us'--the video game and the HBO adaptation starring Pedro Pascal!

  • MoMBl Book Club: January 2023

    Episode  |  January 30th, 2023  |  1 hr 28 mins
    anatomy a love story, authentic books, before i let go, bloody jack, bonnie garmus, book challenge, dana schwartz, david simon, heir to the empire, homicide a year on the killing streets, iain banks, isabel allende, kennedy ryan, l.a. meyer, lessons in chemistry, matthew stover, raw spirit, reading challenge, regency romance, shatterpoint, star wars, star wars essential legends collection, storygraph, the house of the spirits, the wire, timothy zahn, vanessa riley

    Ryan joins us for the first-ever MoMBl Book Club!

  • '90s British Girl Groups

    Episode  |  January 23rd, 2023  |  1 hr 50 mins
    1990s, 90s, all saints, bananarama, boy bands, british girl groups, girl groups, music, music podcast, pop, pop music, r&b, spice girls, sugababes, wannabe

    If you wanna be our lover...then you gotta get with our friends. Lozy joins Tessa and Sam to talk '90s British girl groups as well as to dissect the stigma of "manufactured" pop.

  • The Sopranos

    Episode  |  January 16th, 2023  |  1 hr 53 mins
    edi falco, gabagoolfia, james gandolfini, jamie-lynn sigler, jersey, lorraine bracco, michael imperioli, new jersey, the mafia, the mob, the sopranos, tony sirico, tony soprano, tv

    To continue our mob duology, Elyse joins Sam and Tessa to talk about the HBO drama 'The Sopranos.'

  • The Godfather (1, 2...AND 3!!!)

    Episode  |  January 9th, 2023  |  2 hrs 12 secs
    al pacino, andy garcia, diane keaton, eli wallach, francis ford coppola, james caan, joe mantegna, mario puzo, marlon brando, michael corleone, robert de niro, robert duvall, sofia coppola, talia shire, the death of michael corleone, the godfather, the godfather coda, the godfather part ii, the godfather part iii, vito corleone

    Call it 'The Godfather Trilogy.' Call it a saga. Call it a duology plus a coda. Call it whatever you want, Melissa is here to talk with Sam and Tessa about Francis Ford Coppola's epic mob saga.

  • MoMBl 2.0 Trailer

    Episode  |  January 2nd, 2023  |  15 mins 36 secs
    book club, books, film, monkey off my backlog, music, podcast, podcasting, pop culture, popular culture, reading challenge, tv

    Welcome to Monkey off my Backlog, the podcast where we expand our pop culture horizons by exploring movies, music, television, and books that are new to us. Today’s episode is a preview of what’s to come on Monkey off My Backlog. Or as we’re calling it, MoMBl version 2.0. Don’t worry—we’re still tackling backlogs and exorcizing pop culture demons—but we’re excited for some of the changes that we have in store, and we hope that you will be as well!

  • 11 Days of Star Wars: 'The Rise of Skywalker'

    Episode  |  December 22nd, 2022  |  2 hrs 33 mins
    bad robot, bb8, c3po, carrie fisher, chewbacca, daisy ridley, episode ix: the rise of skywalker, films, finn, george lucas, han solo, harrison ford, holiday, holiday series, industrial light and magic, j.j. abrams, john boyega, kelly marie tran, kylo ren, leia organa, luke skywalker, mark hamill, oscar isaacs, princess leia, r2d2, rey, reylo, rose, star wars, the millennium falcon, the rise of skywalker

    It's that time of year where Sam and Tessa tackle one of their favorite franchises for the holiday season! Ryan is back to talk with us about the infamous final film in the Skywalker Saga, 'The Rise of Skywalker.' Plus, find out what next year's holiday limited series will be about!

  • 11 Days of Star Wars: 'The Last Jedi'

    Episode  |  December 21st, 2022  |  1 hr 56 mins
    bad robot, bb8, c3po, carrie fisher, chewbacca, daisy ridley, episode viii: the last jedi, films, finn, george lucas, han solo, harrison ford, holiday, holiday series, industrial light and magic, j.j. abrams, john boyega, kelly marie tran, kylo ren, leia organa, luke skywalker, mark hamill, oscar isaacs, princess leia, r2d2, rey, reylo, rose, star wars, the last jedi, the millennium falcon

    It's that time of year where Sam and Tessa tackle one of their favorite franchises for the holiday season! Join them this year as they watch all eleven of the 'Star Wars' films. In this episode, Jarret joins us to discuss why 'The Last Jedi' is a sci-fi classic.

  • 11 Days of Star Wars: 'The Force Awakens'

    Episode  |  December 20th, 2022  |  2 hrs 9 mins
    baby yoda, bad robot, bb8, boba fett luke skywalker, c3po, carrie fisher, chewbacca, daisy ridley, darksaber, din djarin, episode vii, episode vii: the force awakens, films, finn, george lucas, grogu, han solo, harrison ford, holiday, holiday series, industrial light and magic, j.j. abrams, john boyega, kevin j. anderson, kylo ren, leia organa, mark hamill, maz kanata, oscar isaacs, princess leia, r2d2, rey, reylo, secrets of the force awakens, star wars, the book of boba fett, the courtship of princess leia, the force awakens, the jedi academy, the mandalorian, the millennium falcon, the truce at bakura, thrawn, timothy zahn

    It's that time of year where Sam and Tessa tackle one of their favorite franchises for the holiday season! Join them this year as they watch all eleven of the 'Star Wars' films. In this episode, Lozy is back to tell us what he likes so much about 'The Force Awakens.'

  • 11 Days of Star Wars: 'Return of the Jedi'

    Episode  |  December 19th, 2022  |  2 hrs 13 mins
    anakin skywalker, billy dee williams, c3po, carrie fisher, chewbacca, chewy, emperor palpatine, empire of dreams darth vader, episode vi, episode vi: return of the jedi, films, george lucas, han solo, harrison ford, holiday, holiday series, industrial light and magic, james earl jones, lando calrissian, leia organa, luke skywalker, mark hamill, obi-wan kenobi, princess leia, r2d2, return of the jedi, star wars, the death star, the millennium falcon, yoda

    It's that time of year where Sam and Tessa tackle one of their favorite franchises for the holiday season! Join them this year as they watch all eleven of the 'Star Wars' films. In this episode, Elyse returns (get it?) to discuss the final installment of the original trilogy, 'Return of the Jedi.'

  • 11 Days of Star Wars: 'The Empire Strikes Back'

    Episode  |  December 18th, 2022  |  2 hrs 5 mins
    anakin skywalker, bea arthur, billy dee williams, boba fett, c3po, carrie fisher, chewbacca, cloud city, dagobah, darth vader, emperor palpatine, episode v, episode v: the empire strikes back, films, george lucas, han solo, harrison ford, holiday, holiday series, hoth, industrial light and magic, james earl jones, lando calrissian, leia organa, luke skywalker, mark hamill, mos eisley, obi-wan kenobi, princess leia, r2d2, star wars, the death star, the empire strikes back, the millennium falcon, the star wars holiday special, yoda

    It's that time of year where Sam and Tessa tackle one of their favorite franchises for the holiday season! Join them this year as they watch all eleven of the 'Star Wars' films. In this episode, Melissa joins us to tell us why 'The Empire Strikes Back' is a pretty good movie.' Oh, and we're going to talk about 'The Star Wars Holiday Special' as well.

  • 11 Days of Star Wars: 'Star Wars'

    Episode  |  December 17th, 2022  |  2 hrs 15 mins
    a new hope, alec guiness, anthony daniels, ben kenobi, c3po, carrie fisher, chewbacca, chewy, darth vader, episode iv: a new hope, films, george lucas, han solo, harrison ford, holiday, holiday series, industrial light and magic, james earl jones, kenny baker, leia organa, luke skywalker, mark hamill, obi-wan kenobi, princess leia, r2d2, star wars, tatooine, the death star, the millennium falcon

    It's that time of year where Sam and Tessa tackle one of their favorite franchises for the holiday season! Join them this year as they watch all eleven of the 'Star Wars' films. In this episode, Lozy joins the gang to talk about the film that started it all: 'Star Wars.'

  • 11 Days of Star Wars: 'Rogue One'

    Episode  |  December 16th, 2022  |  1 hr 51 mins
    a star wars story, ahsoka tano, alan tudyk, andor, ben mendelsohn, cassian andor, death star, diego luna, felicity jones, films, forest whitaker, gareth edwards, george lucas, guardians of the whills, holiday, holiday series, journal of the whills, k2so, mads mikkelsen, peter cushing, rebels, riz ahmed, rogue one, rogue one: a star wars story, saw gerrera, science fiction, space opera, space travel, star wars, the whills, time travel, tony gilroy

    It's that time of year where Sam and Tessa tackle one of their favorite franchises for the holiday season! Join them this year as they watch all eleven of the 'Star Wars' films. Today, Jack joins us to talk all things 'Rogue One.'

  • 11 Days of Star Wars: 'Solo'

    Episode  |  December 15th, 2022  |  1 hr 36 mins
    alden ehrenreich, crime film, donald glover, emilia clarke, films, george lucas, han solo, heist, holiday, holiday series, lando, lando calrissian, phoebe waller-bridge, qi'ra, ron howard, science fiction, solo, solo: a star wars story, space opera, space travel, star wars, the millennium falcon, woody harrelson

    It's that time of year where Sam and Tessa tackle one of their favorite franchises for the holiday season! Join them this year as they watch all eleven films of 'Star Wars.' It's time for 'Solo' with our Christmas elf Megan!

  • 11 Days of Star Wars: 'Revenge of the Sith'

    Episode  |  December 14th, 2022  |  1 hr 49 mins
    ahsoka tano, anakin skywalker, count dooku, darth maul, emperor palpatine, episode iii, episode iii: revenge of the sith, films, george lucas, holiday, holiday series, jar-jar binks, kamino, mace windu, mustafar, obi-wan kenobi, padme amidala, revenge of the sith, space opera, star wars, tatooine, the clone wars, yoda

    It's that time of year where Sam and Tessa tackle one of their favorite franchises for the holiday season! Join them this year as they watch all eleven films of 'Star Wars.' It's time for 'Revenge of the Sith' with podcast regular and silent producer Ryan.

  • 11 Days of Star Wars: 'Attack of the Clones'

    Episode  |  December 13th, 2022  |  1 hr 52 mins
    ahsoka tano, anakin skywalker, asajj ventress, attack of the clones, count dooku, darth maul, episode ii: attack of the clones, films, from puppets to pixels, george lucas, holiday, holiday series, jar-jar binks, kamino, mace windu, obi-wan kenobi, padme amidala, space opera, star wars, tatooine, the clone wars, the night sisters, yoda

    On the second day of the 11 Days of Star Wars, Elyse is with us to talk about 'Attack of the Clones.' Plus 'The Clone Wars' and 'From Puppets to Pixels.'