The ForceCast

"The ForceCast is for fans of all types - from the casual film watcher to the die-hard conventioneer."

- The official iTunes listing for the ForceCast

The Weekly ForceCast (launched on September 1, 2006) is the official podcast of TheForce.net and Rebelscum.com. The ForceCast features the latest news, interviews, events, and opinions from the Star Wars fan community. Lucasfilm representatives and members of the Star Wars cast and crew frequently appear on the program to discuss current events. Regular episodes, which average two hours long, are released every Friday. Akron Symphony Orchestra marketing director Jason Swank and Chicago radio production director Jimmy Mac host the show. TFN and Rebelscum staff, including Dan Curto and Jay Shepard, make frequent guest appearances, as do friends of the show like Fanboys director Kyle Newman.

TheForce.net Podcast
The first incarnation of an official podcast for TheForce.Net was produced by Erik Blythe, but he had to step down from the show due to external conflicts. TheForce.Net Content Manager Dustin Roberts held a contest for Blythe's successor, and Jason and Pete were selected to continue the show. As Jason explains it, "TheForce.Net was looking for a host to re-launch the podcast, so I quickly shot [Dustin] an e-mail." Jason, who had been on the air at a radio station as its promotions manager, received a reply from Dustin. He and Pete made the audition tape, which Jason calls "really bad". After hearing the tape, Dustin gave the two Star Wars fans the go-ahead, and the ForceCast was born.

The ForceCast with Jason Swank and Pete Nadel
After a few months of doing the show, as Jason and Pete got more comfortable with their new roles, the ForceCast hosts started getting emails from Jimmy Mac, a Chicago-based sound wizard whom Jason described as a "cocky radio guy". "“At first I thought he was just busting our chops. Turns out the guy just really wanted to help." “I liked what I was hearing and I thought Jason and Pete had fabulous chemistry,” Jimmy said.

As revealed in the audition tape, the two co-hosts originally called each other by nicknames, with Jason as "Jedi Swank" and Pete as "Master Nadel."

In May 2007, The ForceCast traveled to LA to cover the 30th anniversary of Star Wars at Celebration IV.

On Wednesday, July 2, 2008, the ForceCast switched from USTREAM to Stickam, as part of the hosts' overall goal of getting their live feeds hosted on TheForce.Net itself. Additionally, Jason and Pete added a live blog -- courtesy of CovertItLive -- where they posted links to stories discussed during the taping, so live listeners could see what they were talking about.

On Wednesday, July 9, 2008, fans who entered the Stickam live stream were greeted by a picture of a Lando Mighty Mugg holding a sign that said, "Maybe your clowns got a webcam." The statement referenced Billy Dee's famous Clown comment from an early Quote of the Week. With this statement, Jason and Pete unveiled their newest endeavor: live streaming video to accompany the show audio.

In July 2008, The ForceCast provided exclusive podcast coverage from Star Wars Celebration Japan with special guests Mark Hamill, Ray Park, Temeura Morrison, and more.

On Friday, July 25, 2008, The ForceCast's entry into the Atom Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge, titled "George Lucas Hip Hop Awards," won two awards at the San Diego Comic-Con ceremony. An animated segment from the weekly show, the video was directed by the FCTV Jawas Kay and Mark, written and produced by Jimmy Mac, and voiced by Jason Swank. The video won the awards for Best Animated Feature and Audience Choice.

On Wednesday, September 3, 2008, Pete Nadel announced that he would be leaving the show. Nadel taped his last show with Swank on Wednesday, September 24, 2008. On one of the longest shows to date, he thanked the fans, his fellow crew members, and everyone at TheForce.Net and Rebelscum for their support.

The ForceCast with Jason Swank and Jimmy Mac
Jimmy Mac has since stepped up to take the role of the co-host. He has become a fan favorite for his impressions of saga luminaries such as Irvin Kershner and Harrison Ford. He also made the news in the sci-fi community when he ranted against film critic Roger Ebert following Ebert's scathing review of Fanboys. Jimmy is also known for his Investigative Reports on such topics as "Who is BJ Hughes?", a question that to this day remains unanswered.

On June 13, 2009, Jason announced that the ForceCast was moving its live broadcasts back to Ustream following technical issues on former live host Stickam.

On the July 24, 2009 episode of the show, Jason and Jimmy played a promo for "8-5-09: The ForceCast Saga Continues." When the show went up on TheForce.Net, a link to ForceCast.Net was included on the show notes. Visitors to the link in the next week were presented with a "Coming Soon" message. The website went live shortly before the show was recorded on August 5, and currently includes links to the ForceCast's Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook accounts, a show calendar, the show blog, the live-stream page, information about the hosts, categories for the different types of episodes, and more.

On August 11, 2010, Jason and Jimmy kicked off five-day "No Fan Left Behind" coverage of Celebration V in Orlando, FL. The ForceCast team recorded three shows in front of a live audience at their booth on the show floor. During the first live show, on August 12th, Jason and Jimmy were inducted into the 501st Legion as Friends of the Legion. They are the first podcast hosts to receive that honor.

Jason and Jimmy were also recognized at CV by TCW Supervising Director Dave Filoni as having contributed immeasurably to Star Wars fandom. On August 14th, during the third and final live show, Filoni stopped by to present the two hosts with plaques commemorating their induction into his 104th Wolf Pack, which recognizes their significant commitment to the Star Wars community. Filoni mentioned that there are only fifteen such plaques in existence.

On October 19, 2010, ForceCast Senior Web Editor Eric Geller launched The Official ForceCast Wiki with a blog post on ForceCast.Net.

Segments
The main sections of the show consist of:


 * Intro: The hosts open the show, and sometimes correct themselves as pointed out by listeners. In this segment, they also follow up on stories from past shows that have developed further.  Sometimes, they offer information about projects or events related to Star Wars or their show (including convention appearances or charity auctions).
 * Birthdays: The ForceCast wishes Star Wars celebrities and ForceCast fans a happy birthday. The birthday segment has been discontinued as of July 8th, 2009.
 * Billy Dee Quote of the Week: The ForceCast plays a humorous clip of actor Billy Dee Williams in one of his various roles from multimedia history. This segment is introduced by Mr. Williams himself.
 * Headlines: A run-through of the past week in Star Wars news.
 * Celebration Update: In the lead-up to a Star Wars Celebration, the hosts provide convention news and conventioneering tips.
 * Jimmy Mac Investigative Report: Jimmy Mac explores the cracks and crevices of Star Wars lore, contacting primary sources in the Star Wars production community and answering burning questions for listeners.
 * Star Wars in Pop Culture: The hosts present and discuss the various TV show references to Star Wars.
 * Collecting: The ForceCast gang, which sometimes includes Rebelscum toy reporter Dan Curto, goes over collecting and merchandise announcements.
 * The Outrageous Unthinkable Story of the Week: Inspired by Sio Bibble's quotes "It's outrageous!" and "It's unthinkable!" and accompanied by a musical introduction of its own, this section features a story that is deemed too hilarious or unfathomable to put in the general news section.
 * Listener Feedback: The ForceCast plays voicemails and reads emails and snail mail. Occasionally, the hosts also take live calls.

Opening music
The ForceCast's opening music is considered by show fans to be as distinctive as the Star Wars theme music itself. The music has evolved over time, eventually adding more clips from the film and utilizing the voice of Jimmy Mac.

Live broadcasts
The ForceCast hosts record most of their shows live through Ustream. Fans can listen in on the recordings -- and watch live video of Jason's side of the conversation -- by going to the Ustream live page on Tuesday nights at 8:00pm Eastern Time. (The ForceCast records on Wednesdays when The Clone Wars is not airing new episodes.) The hosts occasionally take live calls, either via Skype or through their studio line. There is also a moderated chat room where listeners can discuss the show and related topics.

Listener interaction
When time permits, the ForceCast crew plays voicemails and reads emails from Star Wars fans. Their voicemail number is (330) 754-0532, their live studio line is (330) 871-4836, and their email address is forcecast@forcecast.net. Fans who want to call into the show live can also use Skype by calling the username forcecast.

Micro-casts
The ForceCast frequently releases Micro-Casts spanning a plethora of topics.


 * The Clone Wars Roundtable features a rotating panel of guests talking about The Clone Wars.
 * Jimmy Mac's A Galaxy of Music, featuring music made by Star Wars fans.
 * The Collectors Cast hosted by Dan Curto of Rebel Scum and James Burns of Jedi News.
 * In The Cantina interviews with members of the Star Wars community.
 * Convention coverage direct from Star Wars Celebrations, San Diego Comic-Cons, Star Wars Fan Days, etc.
 * Ed Dolista's IndyCast, detailing the news surrounding the Indiana Jones franchise. The IndyCast is available on ForceCast.net and iTunes.

ForceCast TV
Though not produced by The ForceCast, the weekly video episodes available on the Youtube Channel are parodies of, and supplements to, each regular audio show. Produced by ForceCast listeners Kay and Mark ("The Jawas"), each video segment includes special video content on top of audio from the latest episode of the show, with the ForceCast crew making appearances as still images whose features are manipulated in sync with their dialog. Each video also ends with the ForceCast's disclaimer being read by Jason, but with different video content accompanying it each time.

Rebelscum forums
The official forums of Rebelscum.com have a section for the ForceCast, where listeners post threads about topics from the show, general Star Wars news, and all things related to the podcast. Fans of the show also post in-jokes from previous episodes, questions for the hosts, messages for fellow listeners, and any input they have for the show. In the past, there have been several trivia contests, some of them with prizes and some of them just for fun.

Although originally a forum in the Miscellaneous section of the Rebelscum message boards, in May 2009, the ForceCast became its own category with the following sub-forums:


 * Weekly ForceCast - Discussion related to the regular episodes of the show.
 * Clone Wars Roundtables - Conversation about the roundtable episodes focusing on individual TCW episodes.
 * Microcasts & Specials - Threads concerning occasional episodes, such as Jimmy's Galaxy of Music or In The Cantina interviews.
 * Indy-Cast - Where listeners can post about Ed Dolista's Indy-Cast.
 * FCTV - Each week, "The Jawas" post on this board with the link to a new episode of ForceCast TV.
 * Listener Lounge - All general conversation among ForceCast fans goes here.

There are also several stickied threads that remain at the top of the page in their respective sub-forum due to their constant relevance and importance:
 * What do you want to hear on the ForceCast? - Suggestions for who and what listeners would like to hear on the show.
 * ForceCast: LIVE! - The dedicated thread for the ForceCast's live broadcasts on Ustream.
 * Fans of the ForceCast PARTY at CV! - A thread with information about the ForceCast fan party at Celebration V.
 * General Feedback - Comments, questions, and concerns related to episodes of the ForceCast.
 * Worldwide ForceCast Fan Map - A thread dedicated to the ForceCast's Frappr map, which displays pins placed by ForceCast listeners in their cities.
 * Where Have You Seen Star Wars Today? - Listeners chime in with sightings from their daily lives.
 * The ForceCast Episode Index - A complete index of every episode of the ForceCast, maintained by Eric.
 * Share Your FC Fan Online Gamer Tag IDs - A thread for ForceCast listeners to post their online video game user IDs, so that fellow listeners can connect in gaming environments.
 * The Clone Wars Episode Discussion Index - An index of all the threads that have been created for Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode discussions.
 * The ForceCast iPhone App - Questions, comments, and announcements related to the ForceCast's app in the iTunes App Store.

CafePress store
Around the time of Celebration IV, the ForceCast introduced an online store where fans could buy t-shirts, mugs, aprons, mousepads, clocks, hats, stickers, magnets, and calendars printed with the ForceCast logo. Fans sporting the logo at Celebration IV were rewarded with exclusive ForceCast swag. Sometime in late 2009 or early 2010, the store was effectively deactivated; no products currently appear on the homepage and the hosts have mentioned that they were not completely impressed with the quality of the Cafepress material.