After what seems like a decade in vampire years (meaning, "forever"), the Sofa Dogs podcast has returned to the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In the third season premiere, "Anne" the Slayer has run away from home to the mean streets of L.A. Though she's lost and alone, Buffy seems to do quite well for herself, securing a waitressing job and a decent apartment right in downtown. Unfortunately, she can't escape who she is, and Buffy must investigate when another former Sunnydale resident recognizes her, and some teen runaways start growing old super fast.

Meanwhile, it's the first day of the new school year at Sunnydale High. The Scoobies try to pick up the slack where Buffy left off. Willow is bothered by Oz's lack of school spirit, Xander and Cordelia begin some sort of serious courtship/fighting ritual and Joyce blames Giles for Buffy's disappearance. To celebrate my favorite season of this series, I asked Brent Moore and Elizabeth Coffman from The Geekscape Movie Club to join me. Please listen and enjoy our discussions about 16 millimeter film versus 35, music product placement and alternate hell dimensions. NOTE: Contains some adult language. Listener discretion is advised.

Remember to listen for the preemptive countdown before starting the episode on your DVD.

The nineties ended, and so did the Scream franchise (until just now). Off the success of the previous entries, Dimension Films demanded a complete trilogy. Wes Craven and his cast were brought back yet again, with at least one key participant in a severely reduced capacity. Equally as important, original author Kevin Williamson was missing this time out, having been replaced by Ehren Kruger. The results were a mixed bag of rampant cameos, Hollywood in-jokes and some occasional thrills.

Sidney Prescott has changed her name and disappeared, now working as a crisis counselor by phone. Meanwhile, Stab 3 is steamrolling into production on a big movie set. Surprise, surprise, the cast members in said picture start getting themselves killed. Gale Weathers and Dewey Riley play Scooby-Doo on the studio back lot, discovering that the killer is leaving behind pictures of Sid's Mother, forcing the young heroine out of hiding as she is continually haunted by her past.

Please join Scott Carelli and I as we discuss Directors-for-hire, arbitrary hallucinations and dream sequences, ridiculous, obvious red herrings and how Scream 3 plays more like one of the Stab movies than a legitimate entry into this once fresh and creative series. Hopefully, the upcoming fourth film will get things back on track. Remember to listen for the preemptive countdown before starting the movie on your DVD.

Scream hit the cinemas during Christmas of 1996, and made Teen Slashers popular and profitable again. Barely a year later, the sequel was released, cementing Kevin Williamson as a hot ticket in both television and films dealing with American youth. Scream 2 takes place a couple of years after the events of the first film. Sidney Prescott is alive and well at a fancy college, and even has a strapping, new boyfriend. Unfortunately for Sid and her friends, more killings are happening, and she must continue to pay for the mysterious sins of her dead Mother.

Deputy Dewey and Gale Weathers are on the case! As the body count rises, our heroes try to find the culprit (or culprits), as well as the connection between Sidney and all this bloodshed. Please join Scott Carelli and I as we talk about the Young & Hot Hollywood of '97, some thin plot developments, character motivations and the great scene thievery of Timothy Olyphant and Laurie Metcalf. Remember to listen for the preemptive countdown before starting the film on your DVD.

Greetings,

This weekend marked the four year anniversary of the Sofa Dogs podcast! When I started this audio adventure on April 3rd of 2006, I never would have been able to fathom what the show has expanded into, nor that I would still be going strong. Initially, this was simply an excuse for me to get together with friends and record DVD fan commentaries for various movies and television shows. Today, Sofa Dogs has evolved into a more laid back, stream of consciousness podcast about general popular culture (known as Couch Surfing) and even a legitimate interview section with various film makers and producers I admire.

Over these past four years, I've met some amazing, generous people both inside and outside the entertainment industry. Were it not for this little show, my life would be nowhere near as rich and rewarding. I can't express how much joy and opportunity this humble podcast has afforded me. Experiences that I could never even dream of fulfilling otherwise. For someone like me, a person declared legally blind by the state, it's astounding to meet such compassionate, friendly people who go out of their way to accomodate my online indulgences such as this one.

I've made friends and colleagues through this ongoing project from all over the globe. Even though most of them I've never met face to face, they never cease to make me feel like I can do anything and as long as you strive for passion and sincerity in life, good people will give of their precious time to share in such rare, powerful commodities and values. This is but a short list of the kind souls that have welcomed me into their lives in their own way, even if for just a moment or two. I am forever in your debt. Now, because I know you, I have a better understanding and appreciation of who I am and what it truly means to be a podcaster and a fan of films and television:

William Bibbiani, Ray Brown, Scott Carelli, Allen Coe, Chris O'Connor, Paul Elard Cooley, Fred Dekker, Eric Diaz, The Dollhouse Podcast, The Dollverse, Stuart Duncan, Tom Duncan, Rachel Gatlin, Jenn Geoppinger, Andre Gower, Jack Gregson, Nick Jimenez, Keith Kinney, Justin Krey, Juliet Landau, Lightning Love, Bob Lofgren, Jonathan London, Paul Maki, Tim Minear, Brandon Ortega, Kim Paris, Gary Poussard, Susie Richards, Will Ritchie, Frank Sabatella, Crystal Smalling, Stephanie Smith, Lisa Tobias and Whedonesque.

I would also like to thank the thousands, literally thousands of listeners and supporters out there who continue to enjoy my show. You are the ones who built this show. You keep this experiment alive and well. Here's to four more years, and then some!

Sincerely,

John Pavlich

Back in the mid-to-late 90s', a young writer burst onto the scene with a big, self aware love letter to the slasher genre. Respected horror master Wes Craven signed on to direct and Scream was born, thus revitalizing and innovating the teen scare flick onward. In a quaint, sleepy town, a masked psycho is terrorizing the teens of Woodsboro.

Using horror films of old as a modus operandi, the killer rattles young victims by phone before brutally slaughtering them. Specifically, the mysterious "Ghostface" preys on innocent high schooler, Sidney Prescott, whose Mother was raped and murdered only a year prior. Is the past trauma connected to these new murders? Who's the killer and why?

Please join Scott Carelli and I as we take a look back at one of the most iconic slasher films of our adolescence. In this commentary, we discuss Kevin Williamson's writing style and characters, Wes Craven's directorial choices and the state of the horror genre at the time. Remember to listen for the preemptive countdown before starting the film on your DVD.