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Force-Cast

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"The Force-Cast is for fans of all types - from the casual film watcher to the die-hard conventioneer."
―The official iTunes listing for the Force-Cast

The Weekly Force-Cast is the official podcast of TheForce.net and Rebelscum.com. Season One began on April 6, 2005, and the current season began on September 1, 2006. Regular episodes, which run anywhere from fifty minutes to two hours long, are released every Friday. The Force-Cast features the latest news, interviews, events and opinions from the Star Wars fan community. The show is hosted by Jason Swank and Jimmy Mac, with occasional guest spots from collecting guru Dan Curto, Rebelscum's Jovial Jay Shepard, and Former Fan Club President Dustin Roberts.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] TheForce.net Podcast

The first incarnation of an official podcast for TheForce.net was produced by Erik Blythe, but he had to stop production of the episodes due to external conflicts. After a contest done by TheForce.Net's Dustin Roberts, Jason and Pete were selected to continue the show. As Jason explains it, "TheForce.Net was looking for a host to re-launch the podcast, so I quickly shot him an e-mail."[1] Jason, who had been on the air at a radio station as its promotions manager, received a reply from Dustin. He and Pete made the audition tape, which Jason calls "really bad"[1]. After hearing the tape, Dustin gave the two Star Wars fans the go-ahead, and the Force-Cast struck back.

[edit] The Force-Cast with Jason Swank and Pete Nadel

After a few months of doing the show, as Jason and Pete got more comfortable with their new roles, the Force-Cast hosts started getting emails from Jimmy Mac, a Chicago-based sound wizard whom Jason described as a "cocky radio guy"[1]. "“At first I thought he was just busting our chops. Turns out the guy just really wanted to help."[1] “I liked what I was hearing and I thought Jason and Pete had fabulous chemistry,” Jimmy said.[1] Also contributing to the show are collecting majordomo Dan Curto and the self-styled Human Holocron Jay Shepard.

As revealed in the audition tape, the two co-hosts originally called each other by nicknames, with Jason as "Jedi Swank" and Pete as "Master Nadel."

In May 2007, The Force-Cast traveled to LA to cover the 30th anniversary of Star Wars at Celebration IV.

Hosts Jason Swank and Pete Nadel while recording the September 26, 2008 episode.

On Wednesday, July 2, 2008, the Force-Cast switched from USTREAM to Stickam, as part of the hosts' overall goal of getting their live feeds hosted on TheForce.Net itself. Additionally, Jason and Pete added a live blog -- courtesy of CovertItLive -- where they posted links to stories discussed during the taping, so live listeners could see what they were talking about.

On Wednesday, July 9, 2008, fans who entered the Stickam live stream were greeted by a picture of a Lando Mighty Mugg holding a sign that said, "Maybe your clowns got a webcam." The statement referenced Billy Dee's famous Clown comment from an early Quote of the Week. With this statement, Jason and Pete unveiled their newest endeavor: live streaming video to accompany the show audio. July 9 also marked the week that Force-Cast Fan Club President Eric took over the Force-Cast live blog.

In July 2008, The Force-Cast provided exclusive podcast coverage from Star Wars Celebration Japan with special guests Mark Hamill, Ray Park, Temeura Morrison, and more.

On Friday, July 25, 2008, The Force-Cast's entry into the Atom Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge, The George Lucas Hip Hop, won two awards at the San Diego Comic-Con ceremony. An animated segment from the weekly show, the video was directed by the FCTV Jawas Kay and Mark, written & produced by Jimmy Mac, with voice work by Jason Swank. The video won the awards for Best Animated Feature and the Audience Choice Award.

On Wednesday, September 3, 2008, Pete Nadel announced that he would be leaving the show. Nadel taped his last show with Swank on Wednesday, September 24, 2008. On one of the longest shows to date, he thanked the fans, his fellow crew members, and everyone at TheForce.Net and Rebelscum for their support.

[edit] The Force-Cast with Jason Swank and Jimmy Mac

Jimmy Mac has since stepped up to take the role of the co-host. He has become a fan favorite for his impressions of saga luminaries such as Irvin Kershner and Harrison Ford. He also made the news in the sci-fi community when he ranted against film critic Roger Ebert following Ebert's scathing review of Fanboys. Jimmy is also known for his Investigative Reports on such topics as "Who is BJ Hughes?", a question that to this day remains unanswered.

On June 13, 2009, Jason announced that the Force-Cast was moving its live broadcasts back to Ustream following technical issues on former live host Stickam.

[edit] The Show

[edit] Segments

The main sections of the show consist of:

  • Intro: Jason and Jimmy open the show, and sometimes correct themselves as pointed out by listeners. In this segment, they also follow up on stories from past shows that have developed further. Sometimes, the pair offer listeners information about projects or events related to Star Wars or their show (such as The Clone Wars writer Henry Gilroy's Star Wars skateboard deck auction).
  • Birthdays: The Force-Cast wishes Star Wars celebrities and Force-Cast fans a happy birthday.
  • Billy Dee Quote of the Week: The Force-Cast plays a humorous clip of actor Billy Dee Williams in one of his various roles from multimedia history. This segment is introduced by Mr. Williams himself.
  • Headlines: A run through of the events of the past week that related to Star Wars.
  • Collecting: the Force-Cast gang, which sometimes includes collector Dan Curto, goes over collecting and merchandise announcements.
  • The Outrageously Unthinkable Story of the Week: Inspired by Sio Bibble's quotes, "It's outrageous!" and "It's unthinkable!" and accompanied by a musical introduction of its own, this section features a story that is deemed too hilarious or unfathomable to put in the general news section.
  • Listener calls/mail: The Force-Cast listens to your voicemails and read emails from listeners, and respond to them.
  • Live call-ins: occurring throughout each episode, and only when the Force-Cast is recording via Stickam (previously Ustream).

[edit] Opening music

The Force-Cast's opening music is considered by fans to be as distinctive as the Star Wars theme music itself. The music has evolved over time, eventually adding more clips from the film and utilizing the voice of Jimmy Mac.

(audio) Intro to the Force-Cast (info)
The opening theme music heard at the beginning of each regular Force-Cast episode.
Problems listening to the file? See media help.


[edit] Live tapings

The Force-Cast records most of their shows live through Stickam. Fans can listen by going to http://www.stickam.com/forcecast during the taping of the show on Wednesday nights at 8:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time. The hosts also take live calls, either through Skype or from their phone number. There is also a moderated chat room where listeners can discuss topics being presented at that moment on the show.

[edit] Listener interaction

At the end of every regular Friday episode, The Force-Cast crew plays voicemails and reads emails from Star Wars fans. Their voicemail number is (330) 754-0532 and their email address is podcast@theforce.net. Fans who want to call into the show live can use Skype by calling the username forcecast. Live calls are also taken via the studio line at (330) 871-4836.

[edit] Micro-casts

The Force-Cast frequently releases Micro-Casts spanning a plethora of topics.

  • Jimmy Mac's A Galaxy of Music, featuring music made by Star Wars fans
  • In The Cantina interviews with members of the Star Wars community
  • Convention coverage direct from Star Wars Celebrations, San Diego Comic-Cons, etc.
  • Ed Dolista's Indy-Cast, detailing the news surrounding the Indiana Jones franchise
  • The Clone Wars Roundtable features a rotating panel of guests talking about the TV show The Clone Wars

[edit] Beyond the Show

[edit] Force-Cast TV

Force-Cast Youtube Channel.

Though not produced by The Force-Cast, the weekly video episodes available on the Youtube Channel are parodies of, and supplements to, each regular audio show. Produced by Force-Cast listeners Kay and Mark, each video segment includes special video content on top of audio from the latest episode of the show, with the Force-Cast crew making appearances as still images whose features are manipulated in sync with their dialog. Each video also ends with the Force-Cast's disclaimer being read by Jason, but with different video content accompanying it each time.

[edit] RebelScum forums

The official forums of Rebelscum.com have a section for the Force-Cast, where listeners post threads about topics from the show, general Star Wars news, and all things related to the podcast. Fans of the show also post in-jokes from previous episodes, questions for the hosts, messages for fellow listeners, and any input they have for the show. In the past, there have been several trivia contests, some of them with prizes and some of them just for fun.

In May 2009, the Force-Cast forum left its former home in the Miscellaneous section of the Rebelscum message boards. It then became its own category with the following sub-forums:

  • Weekly Force-Cast - Discussion related to the regular episodes of the show.
  • Clone Wars Roundtables - Conversation about the roundtable episodes focusing on individual TCW episodes.
  • Microcasts & Specials - Threads concerning occasional episodes, such as Jimmy's Galaxy of Music or In The Cantina interviews.
  • Indy-Cast - Where listeners can post about Ed Dolista's Indy-Cast.
  • FCTV - Each week, "The Jawas" post on this board with the link to a new episode of Force-Cast TV.
  • Listener Lounge - All general conversation among Force-Cast fans goes here.

The following threads are active in their respective sub-forums:

  • Fresh threads for each newly released FCTV
  • A thread with information about the Fantasy Baseball League
  • A thread for DarthFagan and JediShua's Lazy Book Club. The club listens to Star Wars audiobooks and discusses them in dedicated threads. The club is currently "reading" Troy Denning's Inferno.
  • The Clone Wars TV Show - GENERAL DISCUSSION - A thread for general discussion of The Clone Wars TV series.
  • You know you're a true Force-Cast fan when...
  • The Where Have You Seen Star Wars Today? thread, where fans post about Star Wars references in their daily lives.

There are also several stickied threads that remain at the top of the page in their respective sub-forum due to their constant relevance and importance:

  • What do you want to hear on the Force-Cast? - Suggestions for who and what listeners would like to hear on the show.
  • Force-Cast LIVE on TheForce.net - The dedicated thread for the Force-Cast's live tapings on Stickam.
  • Star Wars Live Canon Discussion on SKYPE - Discussion related to Eric, Sheldon, and Stuart's SWCLD which covers topics of canonical importance in the Star Wars universe with an all-listener panel.
  • Force-Cast Fan Days III Enlistment & Agenda Thread - A planning and organizational thread for all Force-Cast activities and meetups at Star Wars Fan Days III in Plano, TX.
  • Cafe Press Force-Cast Merchandise - A thread for the Force-Cast's online store at Cafe Press.
  • General Feedback - Comments, questions, and concerns related to episodes of the Force-Cast.
  • Worldwide Force-Cast Fan Map - A thread dedicated to the Force-Cast's Frappr map, which displays pins placed by Force-Cast listeners in their cities.
  • The Force-Cast Episode Index - A complete index of every episode of the Force-Cast, maintained by Eric.
  • Share Your FC Fan Online Gamer Tag IDs - A thread for Force-Cast listeners to post their online video game user IDs, so that fellow listeners can connect in gaming environments.
  • The Clone Wars Episode Discussion Index - An index of all the threads that have been created for Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode discussions.

[edit] CafePress store

Around the time of Celebration IV, the Force-Cast introduced an online store where fans could buy t-shirts, mugs, aprons, mousepads, clocks, hats, stickers, magnets, and calendars printed with the Force-Cast logo. Fans sporting the logo at Celebration IV were rewarded with exclusive Force-Cast swag.

[edit] List of all celebrity guests

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Force-Cast"
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