comedy4cast #828
Odd News PAC for August 1, 2025
"Home Is Where The Hut Is"
Written by
Clinton Alvord
CAST
(in order of appearance, where possible, otherwise by actor)
ID ANNOUNCER.......................COMPUTER
CLINTON............................CLINTON ALVORD
NATHAN.............................NATHAN ALVORD
BONNIE.............................BONNIE KENDERDINE
INTRO: COMEDY4CAST STUDIO
MUSIC: COMEDY4CAST NETWORK ID STING
ID ANNOUNCER
The comedy4cast network. Let's dog ear that for now.
MUSIC: ID MUSIC UP AND OUT.
CLINTON
We interrupt our normal episodes for the following month of special episodes.
MUSIC: OPENING THEME MUSIC IN AND UNDER.
CLINTON (cont'd)
It's time, once again, for the Dog Days of Podcasting, a call for podcasters to try to put out a podcast every day in August. For more information and to hear all the shows, go to dogdaysofpodcasting.com.
Here at the comedy4cast studio we always take this month to provide you with some interesting, yet totally useless Odd News. And this year, to celebrate 20 years of comedy4cast, an event we're calling the Platinum Anniversary of comedy4cast, or PAC for short, we'll end each Dog Days episode with part of a classic comedy4cast episode. So, let's get started with "Odd News PAC"!
MUSIC: THEME MUSIC UP AND OUT.
SFX: TRANSITION WHOOSH.
STORY: PROJECT PIZZA HUT
CLINTON
It's the first #PizzaFriday of Dog Day...and the first pizza-related story of the month, too!
This time, we're traveling all the way to London...Kentucky. And the home of the Hubbard family. Hmmm. Does this family have a special secret pizza recipe? Well, first of all, if I told you, it wouldn't be a secret now, would it? But, well, no. They don't. But what they DO have is a garage. And in that space they have created a retro Pizza Hut restaurant, complete with booth seating, arcade games, and authentic lighting and signage.
This all began back in 2022, Stephanie and Chris Hubbard had purchased a few Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle arcade machines to set up in the garage. Obviously that got them thinking about pizza, but, more specifically past trips to Pizza Hut. They began reminiscing about how much fun they had had as kids, playing the arcade game at the Hut. In fact, the whole experience of going out to a restaurant brought on waves of nostalgia.
Stephanie explains "As cliche as this sounds, it was a time that was so much more simple. We didn't have everything at our fingertips. Eating at a sit-down restaurant was a rare occurrence. So, when you put that together with video games, a jukebox, and the Pizza Hut lighting you were living the dream. There were no phones to distract you from soaking in every bit of the experience."
All the feels, right there. In fact, Chris began to wonder "What if we made this area look like a Pizza Hut?" Stephanie was instantly all-in on the idea.
Fast forward to today. Ahem. I said "Fast forward to today." The Hubbards have spent around $3,000 on the Pop-Up Pizza Hut project. And as the project rolled along, it began to inspire friends and family to lend a hand. Soon, the Hubbards were receiving authentic Pizza Hut items as gifts for birthdays and Christmas. Although some jewelry or power tools might be nice, too. Stephanie says even her mother did scouting around and found signature Pizza Hut red cups at a Goodwill store in Dayton. In fact, the Hubbards have so much restaurant ephemera, it fills an entire display case in the space. Items like glass mugs, salt and pepper shakers...even a complete J.C. Penny "Pizza Hut Party Set."
The furthest they have driven for a piece was five hours to Illinois. That was to pick up a pizza delivery car topper that Chris made into a light fixture for above the arcade machines. And if you think the Hubbards are alone in their Pizza Hut pursuits, apparently authentic Hut items go quickly when they do become available. Some of the biggest "lucky finds' in the Hubbard Hut include an actual booth and two tables, as well as an authentic "Please wait to be seated" sign.
There's no indication if the Hubbards kids, Weston and Kassidy have to wait to be seated. Weston does have vague memories of going to Pizza Hut, while Kassidy says she is warming to the idea of having a pizza parlor in their garage.
The Hubbards also are share the pizza fun with their friends. In fact, for Stephanie's 40th birthday, they hosted a prom, right there, in their own private Pizza Hut. Pretty cool.
SFX: TRANSITION WHOOSH.
CLIP: EPISODE
GILES
And now, let's celebrate 20 years of comedy4cast with this classic clip!
This clip is from episode 20, released on August 27, 2005. In the sketch my wife and son, played, cleverly enough by my wife, Bonnie, and our son, Nathan, have convinced me that it's time to ditch the Commodore 64 and get a new computer. Of course, my logical next question is what type of computer will we get to replace it?
NATHAN
Here's a cool computer that's on sale.
CLINTON
Hmm, interesting. But it says that all the accessories are separate. That's where they get you, you know. The accessories.
BONNIE
We've thought of that. We've gone over the list of items that we'd need.
CLINTON
Go on. I'm listening.
BONNIE
First, we'd need a mouse.
NATHAN
We're thinking USB.
CLINTON
Hey, hey, hey. I won't have that kind of talk in my house.
NATHAN
Huh?
BONNIE
Those are initials. U-S-B.
CLINTON
Now I see where he gets it.
BONNIE
Maybe we'd better skip to the next item.
CLINTON
We'll talk about this later.
NATHAN
We need a new monitor. LCD.
CLINTON
Well, that's better. I see you're practicing your Spanish. El CD. That means the CD, right?
NATHAN
Right, Dad.
CLINTON
Rich Corinthian leather.
BONNIE
Moving on, we'd want to get a new printer, but we can't decide between inkjet and laser.
CLINTON
Ooh, ooh, laser. Let's do laser. Then we can have it like in those movies where they use the laser beams spread out over the room for security. Neat! I like it!
NATHAN
But, Dad, you can't...
BONNIE
Never mind. Be happy he made a decision.
NATHAN
Don't forget about the extra memory.
CLINTON
That's pretty funny.
NATHAN
Huh?
CLINTON
Forget about the memory.
SFX: CRICKETS.
CLINTON (cont'd)
Look, this sounds like it's getting pretty expensive. Anything else?
BONNIE
We'd want a connection to the internet and maybe a wireless setup.
NATHAN
Wi-Fi.
CLINTON
I give up. Why fi?
NATHAN
No, Dad, Wi-Fi, you know? Like wireless G.
CLINTON
I don't know anything about those wrappers on MH1, son. You know, this is all very confusing. I guess I'm just going to have to trust you two to pick out the new computer setup. I just have one simple request.
BONNIE
What?
CLINTON
Can we get one of those music players, too? But nothing too expensive.
NATHAN
This should be easy.
BONNIE
Don't count on it.
NATHAN
What about an iPod shuffle?
CLINTON
Oh, you kids with your crazy dance names. Is that what you do when you're listening to Wireless G?
NATHAN
Huh?
CLINTON
But seriously, what about the music player?
BONNIE
Let me try. What about Rio?
CLINTON
You have to go that far to get one?
NATHAN
How about iRiver?
CLINTON
Oh, well, that's how you could get there. That might work. But what does that have to do with a music player?
BONNIE
Creative Zen?
CLINTON
When did we switch to philosophy?
NATHAN
Nomad?
CLINTON
Tan Ru?
BONNIE
V'ger?
OUTRO: COMEDY4CAST STUDIO
MUSIC: 'END THEME'
CLINTON
That about wraps it up for today's Odd News PAC. But first, a shout out to the comedy4cast Patreon patrons, including our Producer-level patron, Paul Barrie, from the "A Window To The Magic" podcast at windowtothemagic.com. You, too, can support comedy4cast, and get episodes before everyone else for as little as $2 a month. Just search for comedy4cast (all one word, with the number 4) on Patreon.com.
In this episode, the part of Bonnie was played by Bonnie Kenderdine and the part of Nathan was played by Nathan Alvord, Additional voices, as well as story and original music by me, Clinton Alvord, Copyright 2025. All rights reserved.
Talk to you next time! But for now, that's it. We're done, done, done, done, done. Bye bye!
MUSIC: 'END THEME' UP AND OUT.
-- THE END --