Good news! The Screeners Podcast pilot passed the test, and they’ve been picked up for a full run by...the network that they run. Hey; it’s still an accomplishment—and they’re on iTunes now, so once you’re done previewing the episode here, head over there to subscribe.

This time, with the Oscars behind them, the Screeners are ready to move on to the year ahead and discuss a variety of non-film media.

Jump Cuts (1:15)

OK, so we can’t resist one movie question...

The recent trend of recasting fairy tales into darker, more adult stories has hit theaters and network TV in force, but who’s watching these things anyway? Somewhere along the way, we find out that the Screeners have some strong opinions on what actually constitutes a fairy tale. Who knew?

Audio ”books” and the geeks who love them

Hey, they said no “media” is safe—and for now, books are still considered media. Does listening to an audio book count as “reading”, though? Chad and Josh try to drop some science on the topic, but Chris is having none of it.

Tiny screens, lots of fun

From “reading” on the go to bite-sized gaming sessions—the Screeners dedicate some time praising their favorite mobile games. It turns out to be a revealing discussion: We learn that Melody loves to micromanage, and we discover the identities of both the only non-Pixar employee to buy a video game based on a cartoon movie and the only non-Sony employee to buy a PS Vita.

The ups and downs of Netflix originals

Is releasing a whole season at a time a good thing? Netflix is betting “yes” with shows like House of Cards and Lilyhammer, but we’ll see whether their reported $4 million/episode gamble pays off with the Screeners. Extra credit:  Listen for Chad and Chris’s homage to Monty Python’s argument clinictoward the end of the discussion.

The Main Event (24:25)

The exposition

This episode, the Screeners take an in-depth look at The Americans, FX’s new period drama focused on the marriage of two KGB sleeper agents living in DC in the early 1980’s. To start out, they take a bird's-eye view of the series, devoid of any spoilers.

Let the real action begin (33:21)

If you haven’t seen the show yet, but the Screeners just convinced you to, you won’t want to listen for the next 13 minutes or so. The conversation moves into spoiler-filled impressions of the first three episodes, where the Screeners thought that the redacted was redacted, and though the main characters are redacted, their redacted leaves us asking redacted. Also, the conflict between redacted and redacted is a real redacted to the show.

The Cutting Room Floor (46:10)

The Screeners move back to the movie theater to talk about the all-important first impressions of the cinematic world—trailers. Rather than give away the discussion, here are the topics, followed by links to each of the trailers mentioned (Googlified to prevent spoiling the fun).

Favorite current trailers

• http://goo.gl/u5h7N
• http://goo.gl/LPZv9
• http://goo.gl/AcBeW
• http://goo.gl/hJj38
• http://goo.gl/FwovJ
• http://goo.gl/SLChY
• http://goo.gl/0NzTl

Good trailer, not-so-good movie

• http://goo.gl/BkyvI
• http://goo.gl/56qay
• http://goo.gl/Kp49o
• http://goo.gl/9qvf2

Not-so-good trailer, much better movie

• http://goo.gl/kUIea
• http://goo.gl/sGi4n
• http://goo.gl/JTauh
• http://goo.gl/lFEOD

And that’s a wrap!

That about does it for this week on the Screeners. Thanks for listening; see you next time! And don't forget to subscribe on iTunes!