This week on The Jim and Mickey Show podcast, #TJAMS, we spend some time reflecting on the pop culture moments that defined 2016. You could say we ‘got into the ‘member berries‘, courtesy of South Park, which was outstanding in it’s social commentary and satire this season. A topic that you’ll find I go back to quite frequently is that “South Park Teaches”, in many ways it also predicts. Like Nostradamus but funnier and in cartoon, not quatrains.

We begin this week by paying our respects to the many pop culture icons we’ve lost in the last 12 months from Prince to Carrie Fisher, with special attention paid to my childhood crush, George Michael. We discuss the phenomena of post death popularity, and the idea the sometimes you really don’t see it coming. When stars have rehabbed their image, we expect them to be around for awhile.

Then we turn to some of the shows and series that captured our imagination in 2016. We can no longer just call them television shows when some of our favorites come from Netflix, Amazon and HBO. The changes in the entertainment landscape give us more options than ever, leading me to question the effects of a less homogenized society. Appointment television is so 2000’s, now everyone has to avoid spoilers on social media before they binge entire seasons. It’s rare to find events that bring us together.

In the same pool of nostalgia that we’re swimming in this week, Jim and I spend some time reminiscing about the things we enjoyed as kids, that millennials would never understand. Inspired by a twitter conversation, we look back on phrases and technology that would stump anyone under 30.

The last year was a fascinating one for Hollywood and the movie industry. For science fiction fans like Jim, it’s been one of the best years ever for film. Meanwhile I’m looking forward to the major releases in 2017, including Guardians of the Galaxy 2. I’m prepared to nominate “Baby Groot” for all the awards based solely on the trailers alone.

Then we wrap up the show with our Trivial Tuesday conversation, this week we asked our listeners to share what they saw as the biggest pop culture moment of the year. No spoilers, but let’s just say, to #TJAMS fans, Sports are greater than everything else.

In this final segment, Jim shares a personal story of his friend Cindy Stowell, who the rest of the world knows as the winner of Jeopardy, who died from stage four cancer. His touching recollection of the woman behind the headline may make you want to reach for the tissues. A lovely tribute to a fearless friend. A fitting wrap to last #TJAMS of 2016.

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