| "Thanks for being so cheap and old, Merv, it may have spared 660 from the wrath of Skynet." |
| — Sammy Stevens in "Electrolocaust Now" |
"Sammy & Ben have planned a tribute to King Falls AM's resident jazz legend Chet Sebastian, however an impromptu, and selective power failure, takes out most of the station's broadcast tools, leaving the boys to fend for themselves."
Episode Audio[]
Official KFAM Audioboom release: [1]
Episode Summary[]
| Spoilers Ahead! |
|---|
| The episode starts with Sammy explaining to the listeners that they’d be playing tribute to Ben’s old boss, Chet Sebastian, and forty years of jazz. Before he can finish his sentence, there seems to be an electrical malfunction and their computers go down. Ben’s unsure if anyone can even hear them, but says that it’s fine because he has a back-up plan and a back-up plan for the back-up plan. However, his phone where he keeps his plans is also being affected and he can’t turn it on. Sammy makes a sarcastic reference that they were being visited by the ghost—he corrects himself to apparition—of Marconi (I think), an Italian inventor who pioneered technology for long-distance radio transmission. Ben theorizes that maybe Merv forgot to pay the electrical bills, but Sammy doesn’t think so. The phone lines are still lit up. Ben checks and they’re still broadcasting. The zealous Shotgun fan calls in but again refuses to give his name. He says that he doesn’t have a problem in the world in response to Sammy asking if he was also having technology problems, and says that he just wanted to call in and tell him he was coming in loud and clear. He hangs up after saying he loves the show. “What did you do in your past life, Sammy?” Ben asks. “You don’t even want to know,” Sammy mutters. (3:22) |
| Doyle Bevins is next out in Hollybook, which is around 5 miles out of town according to Ben. He says everything shut off and it sounded like a transformer shut down—as in the fictional Bumblebee transformer, not the electrical device. Ben says even if something happened, it probably wouldn’t have hit them. They thank Doyle for the info but he interrupts and says that’s not why he called. He said there was crazy, supernatural stuff going on in his apartment. Ben has never heard of anything going on in Hollybrook. Doyle says it’s like living in a cybertronian spacecraft (another Transformers reference) before explaining how sometimes, late at night, his toaster will pop up as if bread is done, even when nothing is there. Ben says they’re going to take another call and Doyle sounds slightly offended that it’s not “spooky-kooky” enough for him, but has another story. Sometimes, also late at night, his fridge starts making a “scary humming noise” (then imitates it), but when he opens it nothing is going on. He offers to make a video to prove it, but he can’t because no technology is working. They hang up on him. |
| The next caller is an unidentified male. He manages to say “Long time listener, second time caller” before Sammy hangs up on him, saying he doesn’t want to deal with it tonight. From the voice, it may have been Frickard. Ben clears his throat dramatically and says they need to play an ad. Sammy points out that the computers are down so they can’t. Ben’s solution is to do the ads themselves and he begins to sing an ad for Rose’s. Sammy is not amused. Instead, he turns it into a conversation about how good Rose’s Diner is. Pancake puppies and doughnuts are Ben’s favorite, and the country breakfast is Sammy’s. They finally mention it can be found off the interstate, exit 44. Sammy is glad to have Ben not singing and Ben replies that Mr. Sheffield cast him in the lead in King Fall’s high school rendition of Grease. |
| They take another call and there is interference so they hope it’s Tim, but it’s a false alarm. Pete is on the line. He claims that he’s not Pete, but instead named Escobar. He comments that it’s the worst broadcast in the history of radio. The boys aren’t buying the Escobar personna but he’s persistent. Ben comments on how he thought Pete was never listening again. Pete claims he wasn’t listening, just assuming the state of their show. When Ben brings up him working up at Beauregard’s manor, Pete tells him “you know no one goes up there after sundown” (8:50) which Ben takes as further evidence HFB3 is a vampire. Sammy asks if he had a reason to call and Pete/Escobar replies that he’s never listening again (again), and hangs up. |
| Suddenly, all the phone lines drop and a distressed Ben complains that they can’t fill four hours like this. Sammy has an idea, takes Ben’s keys, and runs out. Ben starts singing the song Sandy from Grease, and is proud of himself for his skills. He tries to call out on a rotary phone to Emily and it works. She’s been listening and asks what’s going on with the show. Ben says he just wanted to make sure she was safe, and to see if in her research she’s ever come across any electronic or electromagnetic pulses here in the Falls. There hasn’t been anything to her knowledge. Sammy comes back in and Ben quickly ends the call. Sammy teases him for flirting. Ben is flustered, but Sammy says it’s cute. Sammy had grabbed a record player from Chet’s office to pass the time. Ben points out that most of the broadcasting equipment hasn’t gotten shut down, likely due to their age. |
Trivia[]
- The people on the phone lines this episode were: An unidentified male, Doyle Bevins, an unidentified male, Escobar (aka Pete Meyers), and Emily Potter.
Episode Transcript[]
Unofficial episode transcript: [2]
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