Rubik's Cubes. Ronald Reagan. Jerry Falwell. Just Say No. One of these things was awesome. Take a guess and hop on board this classic episode, aka the 80s train.
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# Summary
This episode dives deep into the history and cultural phenomenon of the Rubik's Cube, from its invention by Hungarian architect Erno Rubik in 1974 to its explosive worldwide popularity in the 1980s and its enduring legacy in competitive speed cubing today. Josh and Chuck explore the fascinating mechanics behind the puzzle—including the ingenious spherical center mechanism Rubik invented—the mathematical complexity of its 43 quintillion possible configurations, and the famous race to discover "God's Number," the maximum moves needed to solve any scrambled cube. Along the way, they discuss how a simple toy with no batteries or marketing tie-ins became a genuine global craze, spawned five bestselling solution books simultaneously, and transformed into a serious competitive sport where kids solve cubes in under four seconds using specially engineered speed cubes with magnets.
"And there's also a movie called Cube, which is like saw with math. — Chuck mentions a sci-fi thriller film called Cube as a more complex puzzle-based movie."
— Chuck
Gleaming the Cube
1989
PG-13
1h 46m
★ 6.0
"And Christian Slater made a movie called gleaming the Cube, one of my all time favorites, which had nothing to do with Rubik's cubes. — Chuck mentions a Christian Slater film titled Gleaming the Cube that was popular around the time of the Rubik's Cube craze but wasn't actually about Rubik's Cubes."
— Chuck
Maximum Overdrive
1986
1h 38m
★ 5.8
"Do you remember the goblin face on maximum overdrive on the front of that semi? — Josh compares the cute but disturbing appearance of Rubik the cartoon character to a creepy face in the movie Maximum Overdrive."
— Josh
"It appeared on a tv show. Yeah, it was a Saturday morning cartoon that came on right before Pac man. — Josh mentions that Rubik the Amazing Cube aired as a Saturday morning cartoon before the Pac-Man animated series."
— Josh
Rubik, the Amazing Cube
1983
TV-Y7
★ 4.7
"Did you see that cartoon, Rubik the amazing cube? — Josh asks Chuck if he's familiar with the Saturday morning cartoon adaptation of the Rubik's Cube toy."
— Josh
"And there's also a movie called Cube, which is like saw with math. — Chuck uses Saw as a comparison point when describing the movie Cube."
— Chuck
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
1990
★ 7.9
"Did you see the one where he was from West Philadelphia and he went to live with his rich relatives. — Josh references Will Smith's famous sitcom where he played a character from West Philadelphia who moves in with wealthy relatives."
— Josh
The Pursuit of Happyness
2006
1h 57m
★ 7.9
"And there's the pursuit of happiness, where will Smith gets a job as a stockbroker because somebody sees him solve a Rubik's cube. — Chuck mentions that in The Pursuit of Happyness, Will Smith's character demonstrates his intelligence by solving a Rubik's Cube."
— Chuck
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