What A Cartoon! - Jem "The Fan" With Dan McCoy

About this episode

The episode discusses the animated series Jem and its cultural impact in the 1980s.

In the mid-80s, the people who brought us cartoons like G.I. Joe and Transformers asked themselves an important question: Why don't we try selling toys to girls? And sell they did via the magic of Jem: a truly outrageous animated series about a glam-rocking girl group at odds with their bitter rivals, The Misfits. While the series burned fast and bright—and failed to make waves with a revival 30 years later—Jem lives on in our hearts as one of the most delightfully '80s creations ever made (that also happens to be anime). This month, bust out the mascara and fright wigs and get ready to take a trip to the totally radical Reagan era as we look at one of this series' most twisted episodes. Our guest: Dan McCoy from The Flop House podcast Support this podcast and get over 200 ad-free bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow the official Twitter, @TalkSimpsonsPod , not to mention Bluesky and Instagram !

People in this episode

Guest: Dan McCoy

Topics covered

• Jem
• animated series
• 1980s
• glam rock
• toy marketing

Keywords

• The Misfits
• Reagan era
• anime
• cartoons

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Jem toys

Books & works: The Fan, G.I. Joe, Transformers, Jem

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