The Franchise That Deserves to Die

January 16, 2025·1 hr 23 min·6 clips

Joanna argues Jurassic Park is perfect, but new films are spiritually damaging cash grabs.

1. Trial by Content is a pop culture debate podcast hosted by Dave Gonzalez, Joanna Robinson, and Neil Miller, in which the hosts debate a topic until reaching consensus. 2. This episode tasks each host with nominating a franchise that deserves to end, and putting three listener nominations to a vote alongside their own picks. 3. Dave Gonzalez opens with a structural argument: franchises cannot be allowed to end because they're worth too much money, and this is eroding core narrative tools like death, which can no longer be used authentically because it becomes a resurrection Jesus metaphor if the character needs to return. 4. He introduces the term 'zombie franchises' — properties narratively past their expiration date that continue purely on monetary engine — using Ghostbusters as his example: Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon have charming new characters but exist only to service brief Bill Murray appearances for the 'ghost core producing gods.' 5. Joanna Robinson nominates the Jurassic Park franchise, arguing that only the first two films should exist and that Jurassic World Dominion — which she describes as 'a movie about locusts' that she inadvertently watched from the wrong drive-in screen during a Top Gun: Maverick showing — represents the spiritual cost of the franchise's continuation. 6. Robinson acknowledges Jurassic World Rebirth has real assets: director Gareth Edwards, a cast including Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey, and screenwriter David Koepp, who wrote the original Jurassic Park and The Lost World. 7. She punctuates her argument with reworked Jurassic Park quotes applied to IP culture: 'Your executives were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.' 8. Neil Miller defends continued interest in Jurassic World Rebirth, citing Gareth Edwards and the unexplored narrative territory of a planet now overrun by dinosaurs, while agreeing that Jurassic World Dominion was 'an abomination' that mistreated Laura Dern. 9. Miller nominates the Harry Potter franchise, focusing on two arguments: that J.K. Rowling's political activities mean enriching the franchise enriches her, and that the HBO re-adaptation is structurally misconceived because there is no new audience. 10. He cites the Fantastic Beasts franchise as evidence of Harry Potter's audience fragility: the first film earned $800 million with a 74% Rotten Tomatoes score, but the second film dropped sharply, showing 'at the first sign of weakness the fandom is ready to give up on this IP.' 11. Miller's target-audience argument: the Venn diagram of who would watch the HBO show on Sunday nights and who already owns the original movies on DVD is a circle, making a re-adaptation 'one of the most naked IP cash grabs we've seen in quite a long time.' 12. Robinson pushes back, noting quidditch CGI has genuinely improved and that a 20-plus-year gap between the last film (2011) and any reboot is not as short as Miller implies. 13. Gonzalez nominates Star Wars, framing his argument through a personal history of fandom — playing with Star Wars micro machines at his friend Nathan's house in the early 1990s — before making the structural claim that three full cycles (original trilogy, prequels, sequels) is enough. 14. His Star Wars argument: Andor and Skeleton Crew succeed artistically because they feel like 'space fantasy' and 'political movies about an empire,' but these are not what sell toys at Galaxy's Edge, creating a split identity in the franchise. 15. The most quoted line of the Star Wars segment: 'Star Wars needs to die in order for Star Wars ever to live — and we have to be okay with it dying forever.' 16. Robinson defends Andor and Skeleton Crew, and disagrees with killing Star Wars entirely; Miller agrees on ending the Skywalker saga specifically but not the whole franchise sandbox. 17. Three listener submissions are quickly processed: megan's Avatar nomination (Robinson agrees; 'No one asked Jim Cameron for five movies'); Shane's Fast & Furious nomination arguing Paul Walker was the franchise's heart and soul; Rebecca's Toy Story nomination agreeing Toy Story 3 was a perfect ending and Toy Story 4 'pretty much garbage.' 18. The episode's debate format is conversational and frequently comedic, with co-hosts interrupting, joking, and acknowledging their own positions shift under pressure; the format is competitive but good-natured. 19. The episode appeals most to listeners interested in film criticism, franchise culture, Hollywood business dynamics, or the intersection of storytelling and IP strategy. 20. Listeners with no interest in any of the named franchises, or those who want only positive film coverage, will find the combative and negative framing of this episode unrewarding.

As heard by us

A blunt, funny case for letting Star Wars stop being an endless machine.

Trial by Content takes a Star Wars argument and keeps pressing on a blunt, funny point: maybe the franchise needs less sanctioned output if it wants to feel alive again.

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Why you'd press play

You want a Star Wars argument about whether the franchise needs to die so it can live.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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