#19 This is the Way with Star Wars Expert Dan Zehr

Announcer 0:00

Looking to sound like you know what's going on in the world social strategy, comedy and other funny stuff? Well join the club and settle in for the Jeff Dwoskin show. It's not the podcast we deserve. But the podcast we all need with your host, Jeff Dwoskin.

Jeff Dwoskin 0:20

All right, Harrison, thank you for that amazing introduction as always, and to all my listeners, welcome to Episode 19. So happy to have you back. And speaking of back you know, who's back for today's episode? Dan Zehr. That's right. Star Wars expert host of coffee with Kenobi you loved him in Episode Five where we talked about the Empire Strikes Back. Well, we got a whole new topic to talk about this time. That's gonna be amazing.

Speaking of amazing thanks to everyone who's been liking and subscribing to the show. via their favorite podcast app can't thank you enough, you can always check out all the shows at JeffDwoskinshow.com. You can also go to Jeffisfunny.com. If you can't spell my last name, that's the actual show website. Either one, lots of great content both. Check them out. But definitely like and subscribe here, your favorite podcast app. That's the best way to get firsthand the new episodes as they come out much appreciated. Okay, in a little bit, we're going to talk about the Mandalorian with Star Wars expert, Dan's Zehr of coffee with Kenobi, an amazing podcast you should be listening to and subscribe to, if you're not already do that.

So here's the show. I didn't discover it or anything. Everyone's talking about it but I'm putting my full weight of endorsement behind it. You need to be watching Cobra Kai. Cobra Kai is like the greatest show ever takes place. Decades after Danny and Johnny's big conflict and kind of puts it in present day and sort of turns the whole perspective turns the whole perspective shows you everything from Johnny's point of view. It's amazing. If you love The Karate Kid. This is just such an amazing, it's more than just nostalgia. They did an amazing job continuing this story. I cannot wait for season three. I can't recommend this enough. Okay, I have to make an announcement. I've decided something. It's it's really important. I'm kind of announcing it here on the podcast. And I hope I hope everyone can stand behind me. I decided just to stop getting haircuts. I started again, and then I realized, why am I paying for haircuts when I am not going anywhere. And frankly, I haven't put product in my hair for so long that when I do if I go out on a Saturday night with my wife, my hair doesn't even behave right anymore. So it just It looks ridiculous. I'm always wearing a hat anyway, so why not just go free? I'm going free folks. I am I am cutting myself loose from the haircut people of the world. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's just it had to happen. It's happening. I'm announcing it here. I hope I hope everyone can can stand behind me. All right. Well, our sponsor this week is assorted size and color. rubber bands. Yeah, everyone's favorite rubber object. They're smooth. They stretch. They have excellent hold and they're conveniently reusable. They can also fend off attackers. If your attacker is a four to eight year old child, sorted rubber bands. Great for any occasion. All right, well, definitely, definitely check out rubber bands, buy some rubber bands, support the sponsor. That's how we keep the lights on. So thank you again for all your support of all of our sponsors, across all 19 episodes. Thank you And now, here's my conversation with Dan's air. Hey, due to popular demand, you couldn't stop emailing me, Twitter me all that kind of stuff. I convinced Dan's there, the host of coffee with Kenobi to come back and join us and talk some more Star Wars. Dan, welcome back.

Dan Zehr 4:20

Well, thank you brother. I love what you've done the place I am fired up and ready to talk some Star Wars and have some laughs with you.

Jeff Dwoskin 4:26

Yeah, this is good. So when was it last time we talked about Empire Strikes Back was 40, 40 years now. It's been 42 years now. Back to the show.

What I'm into and Disney plus tricked me into getting my money. And then I watched all the Mandalorian in a Day and a half and I just because this is Disney magic. I can't get myself to not subscribe anymore because Just great. You there. When the Mandalorian comes back, you love it?

Dan Zehr 5:05

I think it's tremendous. I think it's it's great storytelling and I'm extra happy about it. Because when I originally heard about the concept, I thought, well, you know, there's some lone gunman. he's a he's a, he's a Mandalorian. He's a bounty hunter, and he's kind of in the seedy underbelly of the galaxy. I thought, Well, okay, that's fine. But Star Wars, as George has said, on the behind the scenes of the Mandalorian and other things, Star Wars should be should give people hope it should be made with kids in mind. And it should be family friendly. And I thought if you're gonna make Star Wars without hope, I don't need the sopranos, or Clint Eastwood in Star Wars I want. I want some optimism. There's enough cynicism in the world as it is. Give me some hope and something to latch on to. Because that's what stories do. That's what a good mythology does. It gives you examples of heroism and courage and bravery and standing up for the oppressed and inspires us in spite of ourselves. Sometimes because fiction opens up a door, we're more willing to Taking the message. So then the Mandalorian starts, and I'm drawn into it right away. The effects are incredible. Especially when of course when you see how they make this show. It's absolutely mind blowing. I'm assuming you're watching the behind the scenes of the Mandalorian

Jeff Dwoskin 6:13

I haven't I'm gonna have to check it out. Oh, and Disney plus too.

Dan Zehr 6:16

Yes, it's gonna blow your mind. Oh, it's gonna absolutely blow your mind. It's great every week is about a different aspect. Like story. Special Effects. It's It's unbelievable how they do. Yeah, well, after you watch it. We'll I'll come back on if I have to wait another two years. And we'll talk about it. But I think it's phenomenal. And the fact that they could surprise us with a child slash baby Yoda is almost unprecedented. And when we talked last time about The Empire Strikes Back and how amazing was that? You know, sports. The big secret of all Darth Vader is Luke's father was not ever ruined. And they kept this one pretty closely under wraps too. they purposely withheld making toys or licensing for it and you know, what, just for the sake of story, which is really, really Rarely can't seem to do that for casting news for season two. And it's great because the show is kind of sort of where Star Wars is that people who aren't Star Wars fans love it. Even my wife said to me, I think I want to watch the Mandalorian I couldn't believe it. Because everyone was talking about of course the child drinking soup that you know that meme and that means that diminutive seem to relate take the world by storm, but I love what that it's just like when a new Star Wars movie comes out. Families go to the movie theaters and take pictures by a movie poster, because it stops you never see that for anything else. But you do for Star Wars. And the Mandalorian has captured some of that magic and I think it's tremendous.

Jeff Dwoskin 7:40

Yeah, I I loved it immediately. It feels like old Star Wars. Or when I say I mean it feels like Star Wars like the the feel of that movie. They captured perfectly. I feel like it doesn't feel like over animated with characters or anything like that. And yeah, the storytelling Just great in it kind of plays on. So they as I read stuff like there's a line and we guess we'll tie everything back to our last chat about, like there's a line in Empire Strikes Back where Darth Vader says Boba Fett no disintegrations. And nobody even knew it that it didn't mean anything. It was just a line. Right? And they made it mean something in the new show, right, which I think is great. It is that is it. It's got to be purposeful, right? I mean, they are people just going in finding little nip nets. And like just saying I work where can we expand and kind of grow on things and make past comments, and scenes and actions mean something even more?

Dan Zehr 8:43

Sure. Well, the one of the executive producers need to record two episodes from season one is Dave Filoni, who's responsible for the vision of helping bring the claws out the ground along with George Lucas and Star Wars Rebels. He's an amazing gifted storyteller, very charismatic. He learned from George Lucas for What 10 years something like that? And so he's an encyclopedia of Star Wars knowledge so yeah he throws in stuff and is constantly telling everybody no okay this blaster This is actually made by this company in this part of the planet and the galaxy and here's how it works and here's why they make it here's why this armor looks like this here's why this happens here's why this line might be significant. Yeah, he they have people that are doing that and connecting it these easter eggs and these things let's longtime Star Wars fans like the two of us and your listeners will know. All That must be why Boba Fett says that on the bridge, the Star Destroyer in The Empire Strikes Back. Because right Vader does because that means that Mandalorian weaponry is powerful stuff and they don't mess around. This is the way this is.

Jeff Dwoskin 9:46

I have spoken. Yes.

Yeah, so baby Yoda is is the cutest thing in the world. It's amazing how you can feel for manto as a as a father figure for And you'll never even see his face and he's just wearing a mask. I mean, I just the power of just the whole none of us are being paid by Does anybody

know? Well,

well, not me. That's

Dan Zehr 10:13

the Yeah, the fact that Pedro Pascal can emote and get such empathy from us and evoke such pathos with a head tilt or pause or silence or there's posture. It's like It's like a masterclass in mime acting really. I mean, it's, it's classic Hollywood training. And you know, they have another actor who does a lot of the gun stuff they have another actor does a lot of fighting. But it's Pedro, who carries carries that and I think they're looking at the Golden Globes is kind of really looking at how they nominate people for acting because of Pedro, Pascal's performance with this helmet on for 99% of the first season.

Jeff Dwoskin 10:51

Yeah, it's in even in the one scene where he does take it off. Yeah, with the loophole that for the reason he could have just you Yeah, the whole the whole thing was so speaking of Boba Fett from earlier, the so the rumor is maybe it's more than a rumor but like the Boba Fett is gonna be in Mandalorian Season Two to even die and Empire Strikes Back.

Dan Zehr 11:13

Yeah. And return the Jedi. Yeah,

Jeff Dwoskin 11:16

yes for China. Yeah, that's okay. Yeah, I'm so embarrassed.

what you meant?

Oh, yeah, no, no.

Dan Zehr 11:25

I've actually called and I can Skywalker Darth Vader's son before we did this call and my Afro is Wait what? Wonder I'm confused as innokin the center's Lucas Luke's essentially you just said Anika as well I met Luke. So that's See that's just what happened. There you go. We're all of our we're all honest. Our cards on the table.

Jeff Dwoskin 11:44

So Boba Fett supposedly got eaten by the sarlacc in Return of the Jedi, that's what I hear. Yeah, it was originally called Revenge of the Jedi.

Dan Zehr 11:52

That's right. Okay. You had to redeem myself. But the and so like, what does that mean? It was Are there canon where he is alive or no he's never I mean there's always there's like all kinds of novels from the legends line slash expanding universe where he was around but he's never shown his face in any canonical stories accurate trilogy I so, you know remains to be seen there is an episode I think it's the fifth episode orthanc Shan is killed. That's the actress from Agents of SHIELD. I cannot think of her name. But yeah, yeah, but she dies or It seems that she dies. And there's some sort of cloaked figure that stands by her as you can hear like, the sound of spurs that are walking is not you know, didn't john the Mandalorian. So a lot of people said, Oh, that maybe that's Boba Fett. Maybe it is. I don't know. I mean, with that kind of weaponry and resources and if he's a skilled as everyone says he is, allegedly, he could get out of that predicament. I don't know. It'd be great if he did, and he and Han Solo could confront each other again, but I don't know that that's gonna happen. That would be cool.

Jeff Dwoskin 12:57

I'll be very men. I soak from clothes. Wars.

Dan Zehr 13:00

Yes. So Katana love her.

Jeff Dwoskin 13:03

Yeah. So how much of the end of that last season a clone wars that they brought back was purposeful to tie into the Mandalorian?

Dan Zehr 13:11

Well, I would assume it would be the other way around because the Clone Wars takes just like two three years to get that stuff off the ground. So I'm so I'm gonna get and I'm, you know, john fabbro wrote all the episodes of that season one of the Mandalorian I'm probably did for season two as well. And so when he wrote it, you know, I don't know, I doubt that it was totally in conjunction. But what the Lucasfilm story group does, and they have a group of people who, whose job is to fact check and check the timelines and make sure, you know, hey, you can't tell this story because we're telling that story somewhere else, but maybe you could try this approach. That always kind of helping the guy this shift to keep things consistent in in linear to a degree. So I don't know it just is brilliant. like you'd said earlier in the show. The fact that they're able to take lines or moments or passages from these and make them work even better with other stories, I think is really, really cool. And I think that's the way you should do it.

Jeff Dwoskin 14:11

I agree and then, you know, fine one last thing one last. I wasn't familiar with this but guy from Breaking Bad Moff Gideons character. Yes, he is amazing actor agree and I could watch him all day the darksaber take us out. Tell us what, what that is.

Dan Zehr 14:27

Because it was Yeah, there's a there is one in the Mandalore Mandalore is of course the plant where the Mandalorians are from. And there was one Jedi who who built a dark saber and it's the only one in existence. And the story goes that whoever owns this thing, the leader of mantle or the most respected of mandler, and Sabine Wren from rebels has it Boca tan ends up having it. She's played by Katie Sackhoff from Battlestar Galactica thing, animated and she's going to be live action in season two as well. So the last We saw in rebels which takes place right before new hope she had it. But then this takes place I believe five years after Return of the Jedi and all sudden mufe getting has the darksaber so how I went from Boca tans hands who wouldn't give it up lightly. She's quite a powerful warrior. The fact that he got it somehow doesn't bode well for bocce Tanner. Maybe he stole it or I don't really know but it is definitely fascinating to kind of see that happen. There's a great timeline. So I think in season four of rebels, or Canaan jurists I am such a nerd by the working in juris teaches Sabine, how to use the dark spring gives the history of that dark saber. It's really fascinating stuff, folks,

Jeff Dwoskin 15:41

as you can tell, there is no one that knows more about Star Wars than Dan Zehr, Dan, plugged your stuff you got coffee with Kenobi which has gone on for seven years. Dan does you know he's one of the most popular Star Wars podcasters in the world. So I'm like over excited that he's here.

I know you're very kind And I hope that the check didn't bounce. Thank you.

Dan, plug your book you got a book you got all this kind of great stuff to take us out with it.

Dan Zehr 16:08

Yeah, for sure. Well, the Star Wars book is written by myself Pablo Hidalgo of the Lucasfilm story group and Star Wars writer Cole Horton. It's a series of curated essays that looks at a lot of stuff about the Star Wars star the entire world. And it's, it's a very, I can't say too much about it, but I will say that it will completely open your mind a lot of different stuff about Star Wars saga. You can find my podcast coffee with Kenobi each and every week, wherever you can find podcasts. You can also find coffee with Kenobi on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest and YouTube. Every Monday night I do a Facebook Live show at eight o'clock pm Central time. I write for starz.com and IGN and then if you are interested in building your brand, or starting a blog or a podcast, you can find me at danzi media.com and I will help you get that process started.

Jeff Dwoskin 16:54

Daniel is so impressive. I can't even get over it. Yeah. Thank you so much. been a pleasure, I'm sure The response to this will be amazing. And I'll have you back again. And we'll talk more StarWars I would love it, dude, I would love it. Thanks again. All right, thanks, buddy. Well, that was fun. So always great catching up with old friends, especially ones that know so much about Star Wars. Anyway, if you haven't watched the Mandalorian definitely watch the Mandalorian season two is coming out pretty soon. And definitely check out that behind the scenes documentary on Disney plus, as Dan was talking about, I started to watch the first episode and it is awesome. So totally check that out. And Dan was right. By the way the Mandalorian is for everyone. I watched it again with my wife. She loved it and we can't wait to watch season two together. So definitely jump right in to it. All right now it's time that you love, where we dive deep into a trending hashtag on Twitter brought to you by the hashtag roundup family of games this one in line with both our host and topic of the Mandalorian hashtag baby Yoda songs the ultimate song baby Yoda mashup game, I'm sure you heard about it, I'm sure you read about it was brought to us by tag assassin and they are amazing on Mondays and I'm gonna read you a bunch of tweets. Go to at Jeff Dwoskin show on Twitter you can retweet them or in the show notes I'll list all the tweets you can follow these funny funny people. Alright, let's do it hashtag baby Yoda songs. This is taking kind of anything Yoda or baby Yoda, mashing it up with the song and coming up with a new hilarious thing. All right, hashtag baby Yoda songs. This little Yoda man. I'm gonna let it john later Sean let us know letters. I didn't say I could sing. I just say ice ice. Yoda baby. These magic Yoda wanted I walk huh Yoda wonder that wall stand by your Mandalorian I was so much Yoda then. I'm younger than that now. All right. Oh, this one you're gonna love baby Yoda to to do baby Yoda do to do baby Yoda doo doo doo doo Raise your hand if you hate me now. Jeremiah was a yummy bullfrog Bahram boom, because baby Yoda love bullfrogs All right, Yoda inspiration.

Yo does so beautiful.

I can't drive I'm almost 55 I think we forget baby Yoda is 55 All right. Well, those are hashtag baby Yoda songs. Apologies for the horrible singing voice. But that's it. All right. Thanks again for joining us for Episode 19. Thanks to my guest, Dan zere for joining me again, definitely go check out the Mandalorian check out ash hashtag roundup for, for tons of hashtag fun. Also follow us at Jeff Dwoskin show on Twitter. Find us on one of your favorite podcast apps. Like subscribe, follow, listen to all the episodes tell your friends and until then, I'll see you next week.

Announcer 20:36

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Jeff Dwoskin show with your host Jeff Dwoskin. Now go repeat everything you've heard and sound like a genius. catch us online at the Jeff Dwoskin show.com or follow us on Twitter at Jeff Dwoskin show and we'll see you next time.

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