Our guest on this anthropoidal episode of the Popzara Podcast is acclaimed comedian-slash-writer Dana Gould, whose credits include decades working with comedian-slash-actor Ben Stiller, TV appearances galore, and tenure writing for The Simpsons, about his new book Planet of the Apes: Visionaries, a graphic novel illustrating the legendary Rod Serling’s (The Twilight Zone) equally legendary unfilmed screenplay for the original 1968 Planet of the Apes movie starring Charlton Heston. With fantastic artwork by Chad Lewis, it arrives just in time to celebrate fifty years of our never-ending love affair with ape domination.
Our own missing-link Nathan and Gould talk about their shared love for all-things-ape, adapting Serling’s unused screenplay for modern audiences, and the surprising relevancy of the POTA franchise throughout the years. But that’s not all! They also talk Gould’s impressive comedy chops, which include helping create the wise-cracking videogame protagonist with 90s series GEX, the accidental rivalry between comedy-horror shows Ash vs. Evil Dead and Gould’s own Stan versus Evil (with kudos to Bruce Campbell), a shared love for Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs bordering on the obsessed, as well as the existential inevitability that a Planet of the Apes musical exist in some form or another. Which The Simpsons already did, of course.
It’s an episode guaranteed to drive you…bananas? Hey, it’s puns ‘plenty in this one, folks, so enjoy!
