It’s time for everyone’s favorite refillable segment for when Dan forgets he has to write the newsletter until late in the week…

Last Chance Mailbag!

Hiya Peaches! Congrats to the Flop House turning 17! You're finally able to watch R-rated movies without an adult. Question: given how often movies target a PG-13 rating to maximize their potential audience, what PG-13 movie do you think would have been better had they allowed themselves to go to an R rating. Alternatively, what R-rated movie should have been PG-13? Cheers!

Rob Lastnamewithheld

The answer to the first question (which PG-13 should be R) is easy — essentially any of the legions of horror movies made between… let’s say… 1999-ish when The Sixth Sense provided Hollywood with the catnip possibility of blockbuster horror at a PG-13 level, and 2018-ish when stuff like Get Out and Hereditary ushered in a sort of second renaissance of horror, represented by the best of what outlets like A24, Blumhouse, Neon, and Shudder have to offer.

I’m not saying that ALL horror has to be R, but in-between those years we saw a flood of neutered productions, marketed mostly to tweens and teens looking for something thrilling enough for a date, but not anything that would linger — and, hey. they need movies too! But it was kind of an overwhelming downturn for the genre in pursuit of the widest audience, with the belief that it was the only way to make the BIG BUCKS that justified productions, rather than going where the art might take you.

An R-rated movie that should’ve been PG-13? That’s a bit harder. I’m gonna go with any number of movies that were clearly rated R because of prejudice rather than content — there are several LGBTQW+-themed movies that would probably be tremendously helpful to teens beginning to understand their own identities that were given restrictive ratings just because the MPAA is essentially a reactionary censorship board. Did you know that But I’m a Cheerleader was initially rated NC-17? Madness!

Let’s do one more:

Hi Floppers!

I have some follow up for you: in today’s New York Times game Strands, the theme is name homophones and both Hairy and Marry are considered homophones of Marry and Mary, respectively. Elliott, despite your insistence that a New York / New Jersey accent says those words differently, it looks like your hometown paper agrees that they’re officially homophones!

Brian Lastnamewithheld

No question to answer here. I just wanted to burn Elliott. Ya burnt!

Next on the Podcast

4/12 - We take on the mega-budgeted, mega-boring Russo brothers Netflix boondoggle, The Electric State. Elliott happened to be in town for a family trip, so we got to tape this episode and the 4/19 mini all together in person, just like old times, and the energy is infectious!

4/19 - Stuart got us drunk and made us do impressions, and it’s either the best episode of the podcast ever, or the most embarrassing — we honestly don’t know! All we know is that we had a blast.

A Note About BoCo

Several folks have asked about when the rest of the SlopTales arc will drop, and the answer is: when we can! These RPG episodes require a lot of production work from Producer Alex, what with sound effects and original music, and it can be a heavy lift on top of handling our normal episodes, video clips, and his own work and creative projects. (Also: we do need to space them out just a li’l bit to encourage member retention — we occasionally have to run things like a business! But that’s secondary. It’s mostly that they can be a bit of a bear.)

Anyway, those will be coming at something like a steady pace, in addition to the SECOND 2025 RPG series we promised y’all after making our stretch goal — those haven’t even been recorded yet, but we’re very happy we get to deliver them later this year, as a thank-you for your support!

AND Dan’s been starting the process of casting his promised Flyscraper! bonus episode by reaching out to his wishlist of performers — it’s gonna be a who’s who of favorites from the extended Flophouse Podcast Universe (FPU™). Folks seem to be excited to be involved, which is really gratifying!

Plugging Away

Pick up an issue of Elliott’s run on D.C.’s Harley Quinn, or a copy of his new kids’ book Sadie Mouse Wrecks the House — preferably from an indie bookstore that doesn’t put cash in the pocket of one of the billionaires wrecking the country! It’s getting great reviews!

Stuart paints Warhammer models/chats with viewers most Fridays on his Twitch channel.

Dan’s newsletter, Special Interests comes out every non-Flop Secrets week. His most recent installment was all about the beautiful filmic trash heap that is Tubi.

And if you live in the NYC metro area, come out to The Museum of Nostalgia on the evening of April 26, between 7-10pm. It’s a vintage toy store and museum owned and operated by some friends, and they’re throwing an art show including a piece by Dan! The theme is a tribute to the Garbage Pail Kids, and Dan’s done a mash-up poster of the GPKs with Edward Gorey’s The Gashlycrumb Tinies, with an extremely limited (unless they’re a big hit!) number of copies available for purchase! Here’s a sample teaser — to see the whole thing, drop by in person!

You Made it to the End!

Here’s a flyer for the above-mentioned GPK art show, designed by animator/producer (and “Cassettis” mastermind) John Holt, who also created an astounding artwork for the exhibition — something that combines interactivity, modern technology, and a centuries-old magician’s illusion. He’s a mad genius, that one.