Why I created a G.I. Joe Channel - G.I. Retro - Episode Zero

Yo Joe! Welcome to G.I. Retro. This will be a complete rewatch & commentary of the classic Sunbow G.I. Joe animated series, one episode at a time. Every episode gets its due. Celebrated, appreciated, and honored.
Episode 1 drops Thursday, March 26th. Subscribe and we'll see you there.
#GIJoe #GIRetro #Rewatch #80sCartoons #YoJoe

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Yo Joe, hello, and welcome everyone. This is GI Retro. Now, you might be asking, what is G.I. Retro? Who is G.I. retro? And maybe most importantly, why is GI Retro? I'll do you one better. Why is Gamora? Let's start with what? What G.I. retro will be above all else is a love letter to G.I. Joe. So many of us grew up loving the comics, the cartoon, and of course, the action figures. What G.I. Retro specifically will be focusing on is G.I. Joe a real American Hero, the Sunbow era of the cartoon series. All 95 episodes, plus G.I. Joe the movie. We're going to do an episode-by-episode breakdown, a rewatch, call it what you will, but I want to invite all of you along with me as we embark. Every episode will get its due. Every episode will be celebrated. We will have fun with each and everyone. Even the weird ones. Maybe especially the weird ones. But as we go on this journey together, I think you might be surprised just how well this great series holds up. Who is G.I. Retro? Hi, I'm James. And for almost 20 years, I have been a professional broadcaster. And yes, that hurts my lower back just saying out loud, I can't believe it's been that long. But more importantly, I was a part of and still am a part of what I call the greatest pop culture generation. Growing up with shows like G.I. Joe, The Transformers, He-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Thundercats, Batman the Animated Series, X-Men, it goes on and on and on. Greatest pop culture generation that shaped so many of us all the way into adulthood. So much so that for over 10 years, we did a show in that space that was pretty much predicated on all of that. Call it nostalgia, call it retro, call it what you will. We called it the best damn nerd show. And finally, why GI Retro? As I said, over 10 years in the sort of nerd culture, greatest pop culture generation space, bid a fond farewell to the best damn nerd show and completely at peace with it as I remain to this day. But as time went on, I did find myself with a longing to get back into this space somehow. But in what way? And as time went on, I started reconnecting with my love of G.I. Joe, something that was so personal to me growing up, like I am sure it is for a lot of you watching. So many throughout the world fell in love with G.I. Joe, shaped their childhoods, shapes them to this day in adulthood. And so as I started sort of rediscovering that, you know, I started thinking about it. And, you know, when you get by, you know, Duke, Flint, Snake Eyes, Cobra Commander, and Destro and everyone, GI Joe to me, in large part comes back to my family. You know, so many fond memories playing G.I. Joe's with my brother. We've reconnected over that as he is recollecting, you know, some of the stuff that he had as a kid. You know, thinking about my mom trying to suss out which G.I. Joe's we already had so she knew which new ones to get us for Christmas, or my dad exhausted from you know, working multiple jobs, playing the GI Joe board game and him falling asleep and me as a little kid being like, hey, keep your eyes open. You know, Flint's gonna take down Cobra and he'd, you know, mutter something about going off to frolic with the Baroness. But you know, that's a story for another time. But, you know, G.I. Joe just again, so deeply personal. I threw on uh the Sunbow animated series a little over a year ago and hadn't really sat down to watch it in a long time. And like I said before, really holds up. And I was having fun, you know, sharing it with my wife and having fun just rediscovering it for myself. And I got to thinking, you know, this is a community that I want to be a part of again. You know, this is something worth celebrating. And then I started reaching out and connecting with so many in the G.I. Joe community online, and at every turn, the GI Joe community sort of validated and verified that I was making the right decision in the direction. The G.I. Joe community is so upbeat and positive, so welcoming that I just I kept feeling stronger and stronger about this direction and this specifically being what I want to do. So, again, breaking down all 95 episodes of the Sumbo series plus the movie. Yes, we'll also talk toys, comics, collecting, I'm sure, all these kinds of different things. Going to Joe Fest in June. Got a lot planned for this show that I haven't shared with you yet, but I wanted to introduce myself to all of you, reintroduce myself to some others. So, again, if I've already connected with you in the GI Joe community online, thank you for joining me here. I really do want to encourage you all to sort of re-watch with me. All the episodes are online. I mean, I own them on DVD and I do believe in physical media and think that you should as well. But it'll be very easy for everyone to come along for this journey. And if you're rejoining me from my past life at the best damn nerd show, hello and welcome back. Excited to have you here. I am excited for this to launch. Speaking of launching, we're going to back to the mass device. First episode, the Cobra Strikes. That breakdown will launch Thursday, March 26th. So be sure to subscribe. Come on back here on March 26th, and GI Retro will be a full go. So, what, who, and why GI Retro? Now you know. And knowing is half the battle.