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

  • Sam Watches Star Trek - Episode 9

    Episode  |  March 17th, 2022  |  51 mins 30 secs
    christopher lloyd, deforest kelley, film, george takei, james doohan, kirk, leonard nimoy, mccoy, movie, nichelle nichols, recap, spock, star trek, star trek iii: the search for spock, the original series, the search for spock, tos, walter koenig, william shatner

    A podcast devoted to Sam watching Star Trek.

  •

    Oscar! Part 2 (Best Picture and Director)

    Episode  |  March 16th, 2022  |  56 mins 50 secs

    Join Sam, Tessa, Megan, and Jack as they finish discussing this year's Academy Award nominees for Best Picture and Best Director.

  •

    Oscar! Part 1 (Best Picture and Director)

    Episode  |  March 14th, 2022  |  54 mins 54 secs
    academy awards, adam mckay, belfast, coda, don't look up, drive my car, haruki murakami, kenneth branagh, movies, oscars

    Join Sam, Tessa, Megan, and Jack as they run down all of this year's Academy Award nominees! Today, we'll begin breaking down the Best Picture race.

  •

    Sam Watches Star Trek - Episode 8

    Episode  |  March 10th, 2022  |  54 mins 12 secs
    deforest kelley, film, george takei, james doohan, khan, kirk, leonard nimoy, mccoy, movie, nichelle nichols, nicholas meyer, recap, roberto montalban, spock, star trek, star trek ii: the wrath of khan, the original series, the wrath of khan, tos, walter koenig, william shatner

    A podcast devoted to Sam watching Star Trek.

  •

    Ep. 90 - Spider-man 3, X-men: Age of X-man, The Lightbringer series

    Episode  |  March 7th, 2022  |  1 hr 1 min
    age of x-man, beast, bishop, books, brent weeks, bruce campbell, comics, danielle moonstar, ed brisson, fantasy, james franco, jean grey, leah williams, lonnie nadler, magneto, nightcrawler, polaris, sam raimi, sandman, seanan mcguire, spider-man, spider-man 3, storm, the lightbringer, tim seeley, toby mcguire, topher grace, venom, vita ayala, x-23, x-men, x-men comics, x-men: age of x-man, zac thompson

    This week, Sam finally finishes 'Spider-man 3,' Tessa reads 'X-men: Age of X-man,' and Andy finishes 'The Lightbringer' series. Plus, what franchises are always on our lists and which ones have we quit?

  •

    Sam Watches Star Trek - Episode 7

    Episode  |  March 3rd, 2022  |  39 mins 29 secs
    deforest kelley, film, george takei, james doohan, kirk, leonard nimoy, mccoy, movie, nichelle nichols, recap, spock, star trek, the motion picture, the original series, tos, walter koenig, william shatner

    A podcast devoted to Sam watching Star Trek.

  •

    International Films: Flee, Parallel Mothers, The Feast

    Episode  |  February 28th, 2022  |  1 hr 14 mins
    danish language film, flee, foreign language film, international film, movie, movie podcast, movies, nikolaj coster-waldau, parallel mothers, pedro almodovar, penelope cruz, podcasts, riz ahmed, spanish civil war, spanish language film, the feast, welsh language film

    We cover international films! Oscar nominee Flee! And Parallel Mothers from genius filmmaker Almodovar. Andy covers a Welsh film.

  • Tessa Watches LOST - Episode 12

    Episode  |  February 24th, 2022  |  52 mins 46 secs
    bad robot, carlton cuse, damon lindelof, jj abrams, lost, recap, rewatch, tv

    It's the Season 3 finale! Find out what Tessa thought about "Through the Looking Glass."

  •

    Ep. 88 - Dead Ringer, Limetown, Solo Leveling, AP Bio w/Jarret

    Episode  |  February 21st, 2022  |  1 hr 13 mins
    album, ap bio, comics, crime podcasts, dead ringer, glen howerton, jessica biel, jim steinman, limetown, manwha, meatloaf, murder mystery, music, podcast, podcasts, sitcom, solo leveling, television

    This week, Sam listens to 'Dead Ringer' by Meatloaf, special guest Jarret watches 'Limetown,' Tessa watches 'AP Bio,' and Andy reads 'Solo Leveling."

  •

    Tessa Watches LOST - Episode 11

    Episode  |  February 17th, 2022  |  34 mins 13 secs
    bad robot, carlton cuse, damon lindelof, jj abrams, lost, recap, rewatch, tv

    In this episode, Tessa talks about "The Brig," The Man Behind the Curtain," and "Greatest Hits."

  •

    90s Movies and Their OSTs

    Episode  |  February 14th, 2022  |  1 hr 17 mins
    allan moyle, christian slater, dolly parton, empire records, i will always love you, kevin costner, pump up the volume, the bodyguard, whitney houston

    This week, we're talking about 90s movies that have awesome soundtracks: 'The Bodyguard,' 'Pump Up the Volume,' and 'Empire Records.'

  •

    Tessa Watches LOST - Episode 10

    Episode  |  February 10th, 2022  |  53 mins 33 secs
    bad robot, carlton cuse, damon lindelof, jj abrams, lost, recap, rewatch, tv

    In this episode, Tessa talks about "Left Behind," "One of Us," "Catch-22," and "D.O.C."

  •

    The Romance Genre 2

    Episode  |  February 7th, 2022  |  1 hr 16 mins
    a discovery of witches, a promise of fire, amanda bouchet, anatomy: a love story, books, dana schwartz, enemies to lovers, film, fish out of water, forced proximity, greek mythology, jane eyre, kelly quindlen, natalie krinsky, one bed, pride and prejudice, romance, romance tropes, she drives me crazy, the broken hearts gallery, the hating game, upstairs downstairs

    Our second romance themed episode! Tessa is joined by Elyse and Melissa to talk favorite tropes, inappropriate grand gestures, and what romance novels they would like to see adapted. Elyse reads 'She Drives Me Crazy,' Melissa watches 'The Broken Hearts Gallery,' and Tessa reads 'A Promise of Fire.'

  •

    Tessa Watches LOST - Episode 9

    Episode  |  February 4th, 2022  |  52 mins 32 secs
    bad robot, carlton cuse, damon lindelof, jj abrams, lost, recap, rewatch, tv

    In this episode, Tessa talks about "Enter 77," "Par Avion," "The Man from Tallahassee," and "Expose."

  •

    Ep. 85 - Golden Girls, The Cure: Trilogy, The Howling

    Episode  |  January 31st, 2022  |  1 hr 7 mins
    betty white, bloodflowers, disintegration, golden girls, joe dante, meat loaf, robert smith, the cure, the cure trilogy, the howling

    This week, Tessa watches 'Golden Girls,' Sam watches 'The Cure: Trilogy,' and Andy watches 'The Howling.' Plus, we talk about why we get so emotional about celebrity deaths.

  •

    Tessa Watches LOST - Episode 8

    Episode  |  January 27th, 2022  |  42 mins 39 secs
    bad robot, carlton cuse, damon lindelof, jj abrams, lost, recap, rewatch, tv

    In this episode, Tessa talks about "Not in Portland," "Flashes Before Your Eyes," "Stranger in a Strange Land," and "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead."