That Metal Show starring hard rock guru Eddie Trunk, comedian Jim Florentine, and Inside The NFL’s Don Jamieson aired its third episode on VH1 Classic last night at 11 p.m.

The first topic of discussion was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s shortcomings when it comes to hard rock and heavy metal. Trunk, sporting an interesting “Ruben Studdard” style leather jacket, stated that the Rock Hall of “Shame” is a joke even though Metallica is on the short list for induction this year. Florentine, wearing a cool “Blizzard of Ozz” long sleeve tee, pointed out that Metallica was never accepted by the Rolling Stone critics and the Grammy’s until they cut their hair.

Dee Snider and Jay Jay French of Twisted Sister were introduced as this week’s special guests, and continued the discussion. Snider described the Rock Hall as “offensive,” citing the lack of metal icons like Alice Cooper in the Hall. French noted that the museum’s section depicting the “History of Atlantic Records” stops at 1979, when Heavy Metal exploded.

According to Snider and French, TS began as a NY Dolls “clone band” with French unable to sing Led Zeppelin tunes. Snider joined the band and they worked the east coast bar scene playing much of Led Zeppelin I.

It turned out that Snider and French inspired Florentine to pursue comedy with their live stage banter. Snider even picked on a teenage Florentine at a concert for not pumping his fists, who was holding two beers in the front row.

French and Trunk recently attended a Heaven and Hell concert at Radio City Music Hall, where French was amazed at how well Dio can front Black Sabbath. However, Snider thinks Dio is too old.

Florentine stated that TS “kicked ass” when they closed “Rocklahoma.” Snider is proud that all five original members can still perform and that the only excuse not to play a reunion show is “death.”

French explained three upcoming TS events: #1 is the recently released Live at Astoria DVD, #2 is the Dec. 5 “Twisted Christmas on Broadway” show (I’ll be there, so make sure you say “hey”), and #3 is next year’s 25th anniversary “Stay Hungry” tour with the original stage setup. Snider noted that this will be the final time TS will perform in costume and makeup.

Trunk remains with a .500 average on “Stump The Trunk.” I was surprised he forgot that Metallica’s James Hetfield was scorched in Montreal…Trunk answered “Salt Lake City.” The studio member couldn’t remember the guitarist that replaced Hetfield for several shows, but neither could Trunk. The guy ended up picking two prizes from the “Box of Junk.” The prize box greatly improved this episode by including some classic albums and DVDs rather than the same “Kissology” DVD. Trunk answered questions regarding The Scorpions and Mötley Crüe drumming correctly. However, Trunk originally answered the Crüe question with Randy Castillo but then changed to Samantha Maloney, the correct answer.

The “Pick of the Week” was the Heavy Metal box set issued by Rhino records. It has been out for just over a year and is shaped like a Marshall amp head with knobs that go to 11.

“What’s up with Cinderella?” was the email question of the week. Trunk said that Tom Keifer has been having some trouble with his voice. Snider said that singers like Keifer and Brian Johnson [AC/DC] have a style that is very harsh on the vocal chords.

The “Throwdown” question had to do with the most loyal fans—The Kiss Army or Rush fans? French and Florentine sided with Rush fans while Trunk, Snider, and Jamieson picked the Kiss Army. Trunk pointed out that Kiss fans have put up with lineup changes and even disco. French said that Rush fans have far more class and then ripped on Gene Simmons for embarrassing the Kiss trademark and went as far to say that Simmons “doesn’t respect his fans.” Florentine joked that Clay Aiken has an army too. Jamieson asked the studio audience, “Kiss or Rush?” and the audience seemed split right down the middle. Last week, the crowd was overwhelmingly for Black Sabbath over Led Zeppelin.

Overall, another great episode of That Metal Show. I must note that there was no comedic bit with Jamieson and Florentine as seen in the first two shows. Instead, the additional time was devoted to the week’s guests, which of course worked out very well with Snider and French providing interesting insights. Looking forward to next week’s show with Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater.

Catch Twisted Sister on tour—Great Tickets on StubHub.com!

Addendum: Watch the full episodes of That Metal Show on vh1classic.com now.