A few weeks ago, PBS Kids show Arthur made kids show history by featuring a secondary character, titular character Arthur Read's beloved teacher Mr. Nigel Ratburn, getting married to a person of the same sex -- a local chocolatier named Patrick. It made news the world over before it even aired, and of course opinions on it divided the country in 2019. One opinion making news today isn't from a person. It's a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service, Alabama Public Television, who decided to ban the episode of the aforementioned gay wedding , "Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone", from airing.
Mike McKenzie, director of programming at APT, told NBC News in this article that PBS sent a message to stations in mid-April alerting them "to possible viewer concerns about the content of the program." After he and others at APT viewed the episode, they decided not to broadcast it.
McKenzie said the station has no plans to air it.
"Parents have trusted Alabama Public Television for more than 50 years to provide children's programs that entertain, educate and inspire," McKenzie said in a statement. "More importantly — although we strongly encourage parents to watch television with their children and talk about what they have learned afterwards — parents trust that their children can watch APT without their supervision. We also know that children who are younger than the 'target' audience for 'Arthur' also watch the program."
BULL. SHIIIIIIT.
If this station has been on the air for half a century, then they have shown some of the most shocking, unbelievable and jawdropping events in history or in a scripted TV show as much as PBS would allow. And as a public television network meant to EDUCATE their viewers, they let in so much that may shock or creep them out. And yet, gay marriage on a kids show was the line that can't be crossed. Apparently APT chooses not to air The NewsHour and BBC World News either, or else a viewer watching would get triggered if the word 'gay' was even implied.
This is a dumb decision to me. Everyone and their grandmother (hopefully not mine, she'd go to orbit) has heard of the episode and the reveal. If fact all we got from this is that Nigel and Patrick fully became... Pigal...or Nitrick...or Pigatrical... ? ...any literally nothing else. And it's not really a sacrilegious topic anymore! It hasn't been for decades! And kids who aren't thought about it at an early age from a trusty source will learn about it from anywhere. It'll be like learning about sex from The Maury Show or Glenn Quagmire! (Although, if you pay deep enough attention, these two things would be perfect lessons on how and why NOT to have sex.
Back to the episode, the wedding itself was only at the last few minutes of the episode, and the bug reveal was nothing felt more than a subtle implication, barely a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment. And Ratburn's main students were surprised but cool with it (sure, they were supposed to, as it's a TV show). And if they're cool with it, then no damn doubt, the kids watching would be cool with it.
So why ban it, APT? Kids are going to watch the episode no matter where they watch Arthur -- on the website, on YouTube, on a random borderline unsafe third-party cartoon website or even a torrent site. They'll hear about it from their friends, and they wonder why Mr. Ratburn got married to a guy and ask their parents about it--oh I get it now.
Kids shouldn't know about gay marriage, because God didn't create it, and whatever he didn't create in his image it doesn't exist in Alabama's book. Kinda like racial equality, history books, bathing, not breaking the law, maiming, consent or attraction to non-related people.
But hey, it's Alabama, a super red state, where it's better to treat black people like garbage, where abortion is an evil baby-killing procedure, you can love and marry your cousin, and you can screw your pets too! But if two men and two women get married, GOD FORBID, IT'S UNACCEPTABLE, AND SHOULD BE BANNED FOREVER! UH-HYUCK-UH.
I am so glad I don't live in Alabama because if this is the thought process on many once-taboo-now real-life things like homosexuality and gay marriage at a fucking PBS station (which I thought had the balls to once air episodes of Zoom, Mister Rogers Neighborhood and Sesame Street which tackled the brutal (to say it lightly) topics of the 9/11 Attacks, the possible aftermath of nuclear warfare and fucking death), then I don't want to know what regular citizens probably like the people at the station think about this. I already hear shit like this on TV and online already every other day, so I'll pass on it here.
"It's a whole new world".
Apparently, not whole or new enough...
Not just yet.
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Sunday, May 19, 2019
"Arthur" Character Mr. Ratburn Gets Married... To Another Guy (Awesome)
We all knew of his love of cake.
And now he has an excuse.
He can share that love...
with another man.
Hey everyone, It's Andrew again.
And I'll be honest with you: I haven't watched Arthur in years.
The last time I watched willingly, I was graduating from middle school. Apparently, my tastes in TV cartoons have changed a bit since then, and I lost that taste in Arthur. And at times, I even forgot about it's existence. (And that's even despite watching the PBS Kids channel near religiously since its start-up. ...Yes, this happens.) That's until last week when news hit that the show broke ground yet again. Yep, after the episodes with Buster having asthma;
characters revealed to have Alzheimer's and Asperger's; something like 9/11;
Arthur hitting D.W.; and Mrs. Grady fighting cancer,
the show has it's biggest moment yet -- when a character is revealed to be gay.
That character was revealed to be our favorite aardvark's favorite teacher Mr. Ratburn in the premiere of the show's 22nd(!!) season,
"Mr. Ratburn and The Special Someone".
Of course I've done this before. I've written posts about kids shows breaking ground on featuring gay characters before:
one on Clarence, and two on The Loud House (one about Clyde McBride's male parents, and the other on Loud sister Luna crushing on another girl).
But notice what's going on here -- those are shows for older kids. Arthur is at its core a show for preschoolers and those under 8. That's why I'm writing this here; it's more than probably the biggest leap any kids show has ever done on the topic of homosexuality. Because it's a little kids show, Arthur has to tip-toe around even the tamest of topics outside the usual baby-esque stuff -- but since the series has a brilliant writing staff, they get away with a lot of non-kids stuff easily (and thankfully--cause it's hilarious and/or heartwarming). And only occasionally do they dive into some really heavy stuff to teach its young audience about the harsh realities of real life (several of which I mentioned earlier) and they do this exceptionally -- and this episode is NO exclusion.
TL;DRing the plot, which everyone knows by now,
I'll then skip to my thoughts in the whole matter.
In the episode, Mr. Ratburn reveals to his class that he's getting married. After the usual hi-jinks and goof-ups abound, it was revealed towards the end of the episode that the person Mr. Ratburn is tying the knot with is another man named Patrick, a local proprietor selling chocolate-based confections.
What made it all brilliant here is that whom Mr. Ratburn is marrying isn't revealed until near the end. And it isn't shoehorned in either, it feels natural. Yeah, I knew about it the same way literally almost everyone knew about it, but watching the episode with fresh eyes and forgoing the huge barrage of news hits made it all feel much different ... and more better.
I was honestly shocked that Ratburn came out, but stopped the reaction shortly after because... I love him, not only as a teacher but as a character. He may be stern, but he's also fair and caring, and that's what great teachers are supposed to be. He's also shown to be caring and jovial toward his students which helps them get to know and appreciate him much better as the series progresses, and that made him a much better and likable character down the road. (Plus, despite the weird color clashes, I loved his suit -- even as a kid.) And that's why I'm so happy for him -- not only because he's marrying another guy, but also because he's getting married. He deserves it (and so does Patrick).
And speaking on the other man, Patrick himself is sweet (like the food he sells), charming, a little goofy (at least from his voice, which I kind adore) and the kind of person you'd wish was your friend almost immediately.
I honestly wish someone like him exists in real life.
The wedding scene itself (while brief) was absolutely wonderful. Seeing these two happy men together down the aisle was inspiring and tear-inducing enough, but for Mr. Ratburn to invite his students and their families to the reception was also sweet. Plus, seeing Patrick give Arthur and Francine a wink indicating "Yep, it's me" (they met earlier at his Chocolate Shop, creating a smooth foreshadowing to the person Nigel would spend his life with) To have them (and by extension the viewers) watch first hand that love comes in all forms -- and that not a word was uttered throughout) is a brilliant idea on the part of writer Peter K. Hirsch. All we can do is picture the wedding ourselves from here, and to it's intimately beautiful. Plus, in my mind, they actually kiss (which I don't blame the show for keeping off the episode, seeing as many people already actually angry about the union would find a "legit" reason to fight this cartoon for preschoolers about [seriously, find a new hobby]).
Random Thoughts:
--Yes, this episode features a special appearance from Sue Sylvester herself, Jane Lynch. And her character here is (almost) just as ruthless and cunning. Any man would be lucky to have her. /s
--Lynch's character being Nigel's elder sister was something I picked up on immediately.
--Seeing the kids pondering Mr. Ratburn marrying is funny enough, but seeing what could happen after the ceremony is hilarious; RatHulk? lost my s#it. Flower Child Ratburn? acid, rain down.
--Whatever that dip was the kids are eating at the Sugar Bowl must be made of kale. How else would Buster come up to his weird conclusion about teachers' private lives--or know what kale is?
--Can Flower Child Ratburn audio-booking "Dancing Uni-Penguin!" by my new spirit animal now??
--Nigal Ratburn. (ROTFL on the whole poem scene!)
--The kids may find it awkward and awful, but I find the happy newlyweds' dancing pretty awesome.
--And finally, I'm frankly shocked no one (especially Ratburn himself) brought up his love of cake.
I mean, this occasion had it built in, and... I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted a wedding because of it. I would've blew up in laughter for that nice little call-back. (oh well, at least he'll more cake to chew later on...) (i'm so sorry...)
But speaking of shocked, the real shock is that this show is still on the air. While Arthur is showing its age in spots as of later into its run -- it's nearly as old as I am (22 seasons to my 25 years as of posting this), it's still a kids show I hold in high regard, especially when I was a lad. It's episodes are not only educational with some great Aesops for the kids to learn, it also featured some incredible showings involving real-life topics. And this episode will now be in the history books (and back catalogs of many news companies' websites the world over [really they hyped his sexuality more than the episode barely implied it]) as one of them all.
I'm very happy for Nigel -- not only for getting married in general, and marrying his true soul mate, but for also revealing it to all his students and their families -- no secrets, no shock, just pure and overwhelming gratitude and happiness. And these days, that's the way it should be.
Thank you for checking in,
and I'll see you around.
I'm Andrew. Abyssinia!
And now he has an excuse.
He can share that love...
with another man.
Hey everyone, It's Andrew again.
And I'll be honest with you: I haven't watched Arthur in years.
The last time I watched willingly, I was graduating from middle school. Apparently, my tastes in TV cartoons have changed a bit since then, and I lost that taste in Arthur. And at times, I even forgot about it's existence. (And that's even despite watching the PBS Kids channel near religiously since its start-up. ...Yes, this happens.) That's until last week when news hit that the show broke ground yet again. Yep, after the episodes with Buster having asthma;
characters revealed to have Alzheimer's and Asperger's; something like 9/11;
Arthur hitting D.W.; and Mrs. Grady fighting cancer,
the show has it's biggest moment yet -- when a character is revealed to be gay.
That character was revealed to be our favorite aardvark's favorite teacher Mr. Ratburn in the premiere of the show's 22nd(!!) season,
"Mr. Ratburn and The Special Someone".
Of course I've done this before. I've written posts about kids shows breaking ground on featuring gay characters before:
one on Clarence, and two on The Loud House (one about Clyde McBride's male parents, and the other on Loud sister Luna crushing on another girl).
But notice what's going on here -- those are shows for older kids. Arthur is at its core a show for preschoolers and those under 8. That's why I'm writing this here; it's more than probably the biggest leap any kids show has ever done on the topic of homosexuality. Because it's a little kids show, Arthur has to tip-toe around even the tamest of topics outside the usual baby-esque stuff -- but since the series has a brilliant writing staff, they get away with a lot of non-kids stuff easily (and thankfully--cause it's hilarious and/or heartwarming). And only occasionally do they dive into some really heavy stuff to teach its young audience about the harsh realities of real life (several of which I mentioned earlier) and they do this exceptionally -- and this episode is NO exclusion.
TL;DRing the plot, which everyone knows by now,
I'll then skip to my thoughts in the whole matter.
In the episode, Mr. Ratburn reveals to his class that he's getting married. After the usual hi-jinks and goof-ups abound, it was revealed towards the end of the episode that the person Mr. Ratburn is tying the knot with is another man named Patrick, a local proprietor selling chocolate-based confections.
What made it all brilliant here is that whom Mr. Ratburn is marrying isn't revealed until near the end. And it isn't shoehorned in either, it feels natural. Yeah, I knew about it the same way literally almost everyone knew about it, but watching the episode with fresh eyes and forgoing the huge barrage of news hits made it all feel much different ... and more better.
I was honestly shocked that Ratburn came out, but stopped the reaction shortly after because... I love him, not only as a teacher but as a character. He may be stern, but he's also fair and caring, and that's what great teachers are supposed to be. He's also shown to be caring and jovial toward his students which helps them get to know and appreciate him much better as the series progresses, and that made him a much better and likable character down the road. (Plus, despite the weird color clashes, I loved his suit -- even as a kid.) And that's why I'm so happy for him -- not only because he's marrying another guy, but also because he's getting married. He deserves it (and so does Patrick).
And speaking on the other man, Patrick himself is sweet (like the food he sells), charming, a little goofy (at least from his voice, which I kind adore) and the kind of person you'd wish was your friend almost immediately.
I honestly wish someone like him exists in real life.
The wedding scene itself (while brief) was absolutely wonderful. Seeing these two happy men together down the aisle was inspiring and tear-inducing enough, but for Mr. Ratburn to invite his students and their families to the reception was also sweet. Plus, seeing Patrick give Arthur and Francine a wink indicating "Yep, it's me" (they met earlier at his Chocolate Shop, creating a smooth foreshadowing to the person Nigel would spend his life with) To have them (and by extension the viewers) watch first hand that love comes in all forms -- and that not a word was uttered throughout) is a brilliant idea on the part of writer Peter K. Hirsch. All we can do is picture the wedding ourselves from here, and to it's intimately beautiful. Plus, in my mind, they actually kiss (which I don't blame the show for keeping off the episode, seeing as many people already actually angry about the union would find a "legit" reason to fight this cartoon for preschoolers about [seriously, find a new hobby]).
Random Thoughts:
--Yes, this episode features a special appearance from Sue Sylvester herself, Jane Lynch. And her character here is (almost) just as ruthless and cunning. Any man would be lucky to have her. /s
--Lynch's character being Nigel's elder sister was something I picked up on immediately.
--Seeing the kids pondering Mr. Ratburn marrying is funny enough, but seeing what could happen after the ceremony is hilarious; RatHulk? lost my s#it. Flower Child Ratburn? acid, rain down.
--Whatever that dip was the kids are eating at the Sugar Bowl must be made of kale. How else would Buster come up to his weird conclusion about teachers' private lives--or know what kale is?
--Can Flower Child Ratburn audio-booking "Dancing Uni-Penguin!" by my new spirit animal now??
--Nigal Ratburn. (ROTFL on the whole poem scene!)
--The kids may find it awkward and awful, but I find the happy newlyweds' dancing pretty awesome.
--And finally, I'm frankly shocked no one (especially Ratburn himself) brought up his love of cake.
But speaking of shocked, the real shock is that this show is still on the air. While Arthur is showing its age in spots as of later into its run -- it's nearly as old as I am (22 seasons to my 25 years as of posting this), it's still a kids show I hold in high regard, especially when I was a lad. It's episodes are not only educational with some great Aesops for the kids to learn, it also featured some incredible showings involving real-life topics. And this episode will now be in the history books (and back catalogs of many news companies' websites the world over [really they hyped his sexuality more than the episode barely implied it]) as one of them all.
I'm very happy for Nigel -- not only for getting married in general, and marrying his true soul mate, but for also revealing it to all his students and their families -- no secrets, no shock, just pure and overwhelming gratitude and happiness. And these days, that's the way it should be.
Thank you for checking in,
and I'll see you around.
I'm Andrew. Abyssinia!
Thursday, May 09, 2019
1 Season Wonder: Baby, I'm Back
That's right! I'm baaaack.
And it's baaaack.
Welcome to 1 Season Wonder.
Today, it's this forgotten (yet still feels forgettable) gem from 1978, starring everybody's favorite "big dummy" and the girl who would later go on to be both Tootie amd Regine.
It's Baby... I'm Back.
Meet Raymond Ellis. a Washington D.C. man with a wonderful family (his stone-cold foxy wife Olivia, and their two dyno-mite kids Jordan and Angie) and a wonderful life in the nation's capital. He's also a compulsive gambler, and because of his habits he suddenly abandons his family one day and left for California. But years later, after picking up a groovy good job, Raymond gets his life together and returns to DC and his family. But after the wife just declared him legally dead, the family had moved on, with Olivia now engaged to a new man--an Army Colonel named Wallace Dickey, and the kids getting a new dad. With Raymond now back in their lives, Olivia, Jordan and Angie must deal with the man whom left them years ago, and Raymond must deal with the family that moved on and see him as the roadblock to their new happy lives, the new man that now has his now-ex-wife's heart and the mother-in-law (Luzelle) that will do anything to keep the man away from her daughter's new family, new life and new happiness.
Hilarity Ensues!
According to Wikipedia, this really is the plot of this series. And it surprised me, because years ago when I first heard of it when messing around on YouTube watching old network TV spots (just to see what television looked like back in the day), I thought of it as a random generic sitcom. From what I got out of it, I thought it was about the main character being a rising music star coming back to his hometown and catching up with his former flame. Well, I was sorta right. He did come back home, and wanted to hook up again with his flame (who is his wife), but the rising music star part was way off -- as I learned he's actually a deadbeat employee at a Cali racetrack.
Created by Lila Garrett and Mort Lachman, this series stars Demond Wilson (Lamont on Sanford and Son) as Raymond, Denise Nicholas (later for In the Heat of the Night) as Olivia, Helen Martin (known for That's My Mama and Good Times and especially as Pearl Shay on 227) as Olivia's mother -- and Raymond's thorn-in-his-side mother-in-law -- Luzelle, Tony Holmes as Ray and Liv's son Jordan and a young Kim Fields as their daughter Angie. Airing on CBS from January 30 to April 24, 1978, it had modest ratings but not enough to continue as you can see here.
Went I went into it, I expected very little... But I got a lot I didn't think could be seen on a sitcom. I've never seen many TV shows where deadbeat fathers whom left the family years ago actually came back and tried his best to get back on their good graces; usually these are plot points or storylines, not the start of a whole series. And most usually, the loser dads stay gone, and we never seen them again. I'm usually not a fan of these characters (yeah, I'm supposed to but still).
Watching the title sequence, Raymond's voice-over narration didn't help his case already. Leaving his family was terrible and enraging enough, but doing it to satisfy his gambling is strike two, and going after other women despite being married means "YOU'RE OUT!!" in terms of likability. The fact that I have to hear this in the title sequence for every episode drive this in and pushes it into infinity (and that's even if and when Raymond has grown as a character in my eyes). The series does well in displaying the Ellis family's feelings toward Ray since his sudden return. Olivia has anger, heartbreak and resentment to him; Jordan doesn't see him as his father anymore and resorts to referring to him by his name (and I don't blame him as most kids don't have the same love for their dads when they abandon them, hating them for thinking of them as nothing; I've been there myself, though my dad did come back after a while), Angie is okay with the news as she was a baby when Ray left and during scenes with them we see a sweet humbling relationship between them, and...to say it short, Luzelle cheered his legal death in the first episode (that's all you need to know).
As for the writing, it's really decent for a black sitcom of the decade. It's not exactly Good Times, The Jeffersons or Sanford and Son-level compositions but it's up there with the jive speak, jokes, the occasional bittersweet moment and the like, along with references to the movies and other TV shows of the decade. I wasn't gaffawing at most of the jokes as I do with these shows, but I damn sure was laughing. When a moment comes when it's either genuinely sad or bittersweet, it feels just like it. The reunion scene in the pilot "Living Proof" was a wild but perfect mix of emotions from the characters upon Raymond's random return.
The cast gave fantastic performances.
Wilson was a great second banana as Lamont Sanford, but he does carry this series real well too. While he still held the laughs good, he did nice during the dramatic scenes as well. And had he not, he sure had a talented group to work with. Nicholas was a beautiful force to be reckoned with as Olivia; she held down both comedic and dramatic scenes with ease, and almost had me in tears during her character's reuniting scene with Ray in the pilot. Holmes some great talent as Jordan; while he showed a bit (a lot) of brash and sass in some scenes, he was very good in early scenes showing well-done pathos in Jordan's anger and sadness after reuniting with Ray.
Sure, Luzelle filled the trope of the spiteful Mother-in-Law, but Helen Martin's performance had me rolling every other time she talked. The sass is delicious (and it's not the last time, as I'll remind you in a moment).
While this series didn't last, it was pretty good to watch while I was able to all these years later.
Why It's A Wonder: I assumed the ratings were pretty decent, since all 13 episodes aired no problem, and would've had another season or two had CBS had enough clout to do so. but since it was a midseason replacement (and other stronger shows got in the way), it really didn't stand a chance--and it's a shame, because a show like this was and still is needed on TV (at least story-wise) and would've been both empowering and entertaining to see that in real life there are men out there who love their families enough to come back after being deadbeats (granted they shouldn't be deadbeats in the first place, but hey, I'm not God, so I didn't make the Ten Commandments...)
And there it is, Baby, I'm Back, the twelth series added to the 1 Season Wonders Hall of...(for the moment I'll call it) Acclame (my own spelling of Acclaim). Yeah, that'll work.
Thank you for being here. And see you soon another edition of 1 Season Wonder.
I'm Andrew. Abyssinia.
And it's baaaack.
Welcome to 1 Season Wonder.
Today, it's this forgotten (yet still feels forgettable) gem from 1978, starring everybody's favorite "big dummy" and the girl who would later go on to be both Tootie amd Regine.
It's Baby... I'm Back.
Meet Raymond Ellis. a Washington D.C. man with a wonderful family (his stone-cold foxy wife Olivia, and their two dyno-mite kids Jordan and Angie) and a wonderful life in the nation's capital. He's also a compulsive gambler, and because of his habits he suddenly abandons his family one day and left for California. But years later, after picking up a groovy good job, Raymond gets his life together and returns to DC and his family. But after the wife just declared him legally dead, the family had moved on, with Olivia now engaged to a new man--an Army Colonel named Wallace Dickey, and the kids getting a new dad. With Raymond now back in their lives, Olivia, Jordan and Angie must deal with the man whom left them years ago, and Raymond must deal with the family that moved on and see him as the roadblock to their new happy lives, the new man that now has his now-ex-wife's heart and the mother-in-law (Luzelle) that will do anything to keep the man away from her daughter's new family, new life and new happiness.
Hilarity Ensues!
According to Wikipedia, this really is the plot of this series. And it surprised me, because years ago when I first heard of it when messing around on YouTube watching old network TV spots (just to see what television looked like back in the day), I thought of it as a random generic sitcom. From what I got out of it, I thought it was about the main character being a rising music star coming back to his hometown and catching up with his former flame. Well, I was sorta right. He did come back home, and wanted to hook up again with his flame (who is his wife), but the rising music star part was way off -- as I learned he's actually a deadbeat employee at a Cali racetrack.
Created by Lila Garrett and Mort Lachman, this series stars Demond Wilson (Lamont on Sanford and Son) as Raymond, Denise Nicholas (later for In the Heat of the Night) as Olivia, Helen Martin (known for That's My Mama and Good Times and especially as Pearl Shay on 227) as Olivia's mother -- and Raymond's thorn-in-his-side mother-in-law -- Luzelle, Tony Holmes as Ray and Liv's son Jordan and a young Kim Fields as their daughter Angie. Airing on CBS from January 30 to April 24, 1978, it had modest ratings but not enough to continue as you can see here.
Went I went into it, I expected very little... But I got a lot I didn't think could be seen on a sitcom. I've never seen many TV shows where deadbeat fathers whom left the family years ago actually came back and tried his best to get back on their good graces; usually these are plot points or storylines, not the start of a whole series. And most usually, the loser dads stay gone, and we never seen them again. I'm usually not a fan of these characters (yeah, I'm supposed to but still).
Watching the title sequence, Raymond's voice-over narration didn't help his case already. Leaving his family was terrible and enraging enough, but doing it to satisfy his gambling is strike two, and going after other women despite being married means "YOU'RE OUT!!" in terms of likability. The fact that I have to hear this in the title sequence for every episode drive this in and pushes it into infinity (and that's even if and when Raymond has grown as a character in my eyes). The series does well in displaying the Ellis family's feelings toward Ray since his sudden return. Olivia has anger, heartbreak and resentment to him; Jordan doesn't see him as his father anymore and resorts to referring to him by his name (and I don't blame him as most kids don't have the same love for their dads when they abandon them, hating them for thinking of them as nothing; I've been there myself, though my dad did come back after a while), Angie is okay with the news as she was a baby when Ray left and during scenes with them we see a sweet humbling relationship between them, and...to say it short, Luzelle cheered his legal death in the first episode (that's all you need to know).
As for the writing, it's really decent for a black sitcom of the decade. It's not exactly Good Times, The Jeffersons or Sanford and Son-level compositions but it's up there with the jive speak, jokes, the occasional bittersweet moment and the like, along with references to the movies and other TV shows of the decade. I wasn't gaffawing at most of the jokes as I do with these shows, but I damn sure was laughing. When a moment comes when it's either genuinely sad or bittersweet, it feels just like it. The reunion scene in the pilot "Living Proof" was a wild but perfect mix of emotions from the characters upon Raymond's random return.
The cast gave fantastic performances.
Wilson was a great second banana as Lamont Sanford, but he does carry this series real well too. While he still held the laughs good, he did nice during the dramatic scenes as well. And had he not, he sure had a talented group to work with. Nicholas was a beautiful force to be reckoned with as Olivia; she held down both comedic and dramatic scenes with ease, and almost had me in tears during her character's reuniting scene with Ray in the pilot. Holmes some great talent as Jordan; while he showed a bit (a lot) of brash and sass in some scenes, he was very good in early scenes showing well-done pathos in Jordan's anger and sadness after reuniting with Ray.
Sure, Luzelle filled the trope of the spiteful Mother-in-Law, but Helen Martin's performance had me rolling every other time she talked. The sass is delicious (and it's not the last time, as I'll remind you in a moment).
While this series didn't last, it was pretty good to watch while I was able to all these years later.
Why It's A Wonder: I assumed the ratings were pretty decent, since all 13 episodes aired no problem, and would've had another season or two had CBS had enough clout to do so. but since it was a midseason replacement (and other stronger shows got in the way), it really didn't stand a chance--and it's a shame, because a show like this was and still is needed on TV (at least story-wise) and would've been both empowering and entertaining to see that in real life there are men out there who love their families enough to come back after being deadbeats (granted they shouldn't be deadbeats in the first place, but hey, I'm not God, so I didn't make the Ten Commandments...)
And there it is, Baby, I'm Back, the twelth series added to the 1 Season Wonders Hall of...(for the moment I'll call it) Acclame (my own spelling of Acclaim). Yeah, that'll work.
Thank you for being here. And see you soon another edition of 1 Season Wonder.
I'm Andrew. Abyssinia.
Tuesday, May 07, 2019
Toony and Tuesday: Victor and Valentino
Hey, folks. Welcome to Toony Tuesday.
Imagine Drake & Josh...
but younger...
and Mexican...
and mash it with Gravity Falls.
It's Victor and Valentino.
Created by Diego Molano, this Cartoon Network Original follows two newly-minted stepbrothers in the small Mexican town of Monte Macabre.
Victor is brash, mischievous, overly-confident, spontaneous and not very bright;
Valentino is kind, smart, humble, sensitive and a bit of a milksop.
Together, they're a bit of a mismatch. But when they find the door to some really strange goings on in the village, they team up to investigate and come closer to the solving what the taco is going on in Monte Macabre.
 |
| The Duo and The Other Main Characters |
Other characters include:
*Grandma Chata -- the boys' blind and stern yet sweet grandmother, whom they stay with in Monte Macabe. She's also either an undead spirit taking the form of a human (as revealed in the pilot) or someone who is more than implied to have some supernatural powers (as shown in the series proper).
*Charlene -- a young girl who likes the dark and macabre a little too much ... and it shows.
*Pineapple -- Charlene's big and scary-looking but kind and sweet-talking brother, and her minion.
*Maria Theresa -- Their spiteful grandmother, proprietor of a popular local taco joint and Chata's bitter rival.
*Julio "Don" Jalapeno -- Local seller of jalapenos and very much attracted to Grandma Chata (he shows this by sweating like a pig in her presence).
*Xochi Jalapeno -- "Don" Julio's cool yet intimidating daughter, known for tending to supernatural plants and Salsa dancing.
I have a bit of frustration with this one.
When I watched the series' pilot, it was increĆble (incredible). Shocking plot twists, twisted humor and beautiful Mexican folklore all wrapped in a delicious spicy, cheesy, meaty package (yes, like a burrito). I laughed, I almost cried, and I rejoiced at it all. And the twist at the end was breathtaking. I though from this, this show is gonna be one of my favorites this year.
Sure, it's easy to compare it to Drake & Josh and Gravity Falls like I just did earlier in the review. But on its own merits, it could work well enough to be a series to watch, love and remember.
Then came the series itself and... Ay Dios Mio, what happened?
All following episodes so far felt... less exciting, more middle-of-the-road and very vanilla, and they don't have the brutal dark look and feel of the pilot (at least halfway through). And this would've been pretty fine had I not watched the pilot. There aren't many scenes with tense awe-taking scares, insane brooding animation, risks that felt genuinely low-key uncomfortable yet high-key funny or genuinely dramatic lines. Now here, while there are some scenes and lines that are genuinely funny, the moments of folklore aren't scary or dramatic -- and that's if there are any at all in a given episode. I kinda do expect to see some of what we saw in the pilot seep in more and more gradually as the series progresses, but for me, Victor and Valentino isn't a series I would see myself waiting with baited breath to watch every week. I'd rather sit on it until a few episodes before the first season finale (and hear other people's opinions of the season) to see where it all goes.
As for the hermanos principales (main brothas)...
Victor was a bit of a brat during the pilot. Hating Valentino, messing up Chata's taco stand, getting his new brother involved with finding a chihuahua-like supernatural being, then facing off against more supernatural beings, and almost getting Val killed by getting his soul deteriorating by said supernatural beings. Fortunately, he reformed enough to help save Val by giving the beings a taco to give Valentino his life back; so he does care about Val deep down. Seemingly that would be the start of some good character development for Victor. Nope. He became more of an asshole through his mocking and taking advantage of Valentino, his smart-ass mouth getting him and Val into trouble, and lazily avoiding work or other actions involving other characters. Sure he has his moments of being a softie, but the things Vic does or says can be really obnoxious and eye-rolling. While he was like this in the pilot, the fact that he became more obnoxious and haughty during the series so far is a big turn-off to me (his voice doesn't help, either).
It's like he's a human, Central American Rigby.
(I do really like his poncho though.)
Valentino on the other hand, is a much more likable character; he's sweet, smart, caring, and always willing to lend a helping hand. Sadly, he's not very popular and is alone in some regards, including literally. And he goes through some really bad crap thanks to Victor--including almost dying in the pilot, but always keeps it in there. There are many times where I wish he was my best friend -- and others, my step-brother.
This is where my comparison to Drake & Josh comes in, and not just on a superficial level. But at least they're kids, and they can and will go through development to become more well-rounded later on.
And the side characters... all of them are very likable.
* Grandma Chata is very sweet, aloof on the surface--but sharp inside; and her supernatural prowess was something out of left field. And watching her sudden shouts during regular episodes still scares me -- even when I expect them to happen. It's the voice ...
* Don Jalapeno is that guy you don't want as your grandfather but wants to be the cool old guy that sells you what you need (specifically the vegetable that's in his name) and doles out great advice on the supernatural stuff surrounding Monte Macabre -- too bad he's ignored by everyone on that regard (yeah, apparently I love typing it as much as I love thinking of it...) Also, when he's near Chata, he seems to act extremely nervous. Maybe that anxiousness is actually fear of her hidden form and he's really aware of it. Who knows?
* Charlene is creepy, morbid, scary and questionable. Charlene is also funny, charming, unforgettable and lovable. She's one of the best characters -- if not the best character -- in the series.
* Pineapple is something else. His methods for going about are undeniably weird (like his speaking in few-word sentences), but his huge and threatening, yet friendly and slightly goofy attitude is something to behold. Plus, his (nick)name of Pineapple is somewhat awesome.
The animation is very good with Lush bright colors, the episodes so make a perfect representation of Mexican culture. As for the characters, they're a great representation of Mexicans -- although I hope there certainly aren't a lot of people who like Victor.
* Maria Teresa is simply hilarious. Her snark and share give me life and her rivalry with Chata is close to legendary.
* Xochi is a badass. You don't want to mess with her or underestimate her; she can kick ass with the best of them. And when she's on your team, she's a team player to the letter.
These characters are well-liked and well-crafted, and they help make a fun series even more fun. I want this series to be successful. I really do. And I really hope the later episodes in season one and beyond do pick up the paces, the stakes and the folklore scares to bring it back to the pilot. I don't know if it was a CN executive thing or something intentional on the part of Molano and the producers-- but either way it did squander the potential of the series at the start, but I'm optimistic to hope things turn right back as the series progresses.
So short(er) consensus: I really like Victor and Valentino. Just not as much as I'd want to admit.
That's my review of Victor and Valentino.
This has been Toony Tuesday.
Thank you for checking in.
I'm Andrew... Abyssinia! And may the good toons be yours...!
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Stan Lee Passes Away at 95
If you are a Comic book fan and/or superhero movie fan, this news will hit you hard (as it did for me). The icon, magnate and savior of both industries has been silenced.
Stan Lee passed away this afternoon at the age of 95.
When the news came in earlier, I was already sick and asleep. But when I heard the news, it hurt me even more than the cold and allergies I was fighting. His influence and impact in the comic book industry and superhero movie collective in the years since his debut at Marvel Comics (then Timely Comics) in 1941 (he created a prose story for Captain America Comics) and his first creation with Jack Kirby in 1961, The Fantastic Four -- and later creating many of the most iconic characters throughout the decade and 20th century like Spider-Man (with the late Steve Ditko), Iron Man, The Incedible Hulk, Black Panther, Ant Man, Doctor Strange and the X-Men -- was as strong and powerful as the heroes and villains he created (along with fellow icons Ditko and Kirby among others), and could never be overlooked. No matter how hard you could try.
When I was 8, I along with my little brothers and my eldest sister went to see the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie in 2002. In my young mind, I was super excited to see our friendly neighborhood web-slinger (played by Tobey Maguire) make his debut on the big screen, and while watching it, I was super-glued to the screen tas I had never seen a film like it before (and I saw DC's Superman: The Movie and Batman & Robin before [and shoutout to DC, one of the other best comic book companies]). And since, I'm still amazed by it--even if it still is one of my favorite superhero movies. But it was only since then that Marvel would become even more of a force in the movie industry, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (starting with Iron Man) has become one of the biggest, strongest, highest grossing and critically acclaimed movie franchises in American film history.
And of course, Mr. Lee was a part of it with his legendary cameo appearances in each film. These pop-ups were always expected, anticipated and exciting yet random, funny and memorable (always one of the best parts of any Marvel film). In fact, now that he's gone, it's going to be sad (even a little scary) to think of not seeing him in any Marvel film anymore, let alone doing so.
In fact, if not for Marvel not making and releasing the Blade films, we probably wouldn't even have any of the other Marvel films for probably a long time.
If it weren't for Stan Lee, we probably wouldn't have a comic book industry as strong and kicking today. In fact, if it weren't for his life-long wife Joan (who convinced him to give up aspirations of becoming a novelist instead, and expand on what at first was a brief dabble in comic books -- when the industry was, at the time, on its last legs), we wouldn't have the industry's biggest and most legendary name and creator. I personally thank her for that, even though I didn't know of this fact until the news came. I feared this day would come as much as the next fanatic, even if it was inevitable. And now that it is come, it just hurts so much.
My condolences to the Lee family.
May he Rest in Peace.
Thank you, Stan Lee... for everything.
EXCELSIOR.
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
ABC World News Tonight: First Broadcast Review
Good everyone, everyone.
The 1970s. The year of bell bottoms, afros, beaded vests, free love, urban rise, the birth of hip-hop, the death of bubblegum pop, the birth and death of disco, some of the biggest news stories were scary and weren't around people who's fame didn't reach 14:59, things were much more simpler and TV was achieved (mostly) by antenna.
At the time of the turn of the decade, Americans had 4 choices of national news programs to get their daily stateside and worldwide fix:
the Nightly News with David Brinkley and John Chancellor on NBC
The MacNeil/Leher Report on PBS
(lead by Robert and Jim, respectively)
The Evening News with (the face of national news when it was objective and good) Walter Cronkite on CBS,
and...whatever the hell was on the Alphabet.
Yes, ABC in it's early days wasn't a success across the board. Primetime, daytime and news were in the ratings basement compared to the Eye and the Peacock. (Sometimes, it found better leeway [or got lucky] over NBC and the crap the latter regurgitated at the time.)
So, let's go cliff-notes into the history of ABC News' flagship program.
The Alphabet debuted its daily news program in 1948 and the format was just 15 minutes long. In 1953, the program was hosted by Mr. John Charles Daly, also best known as the host and moderator of What's My Line? on CBS. Daly anchored the program -- named John Daly and the News until 1960,-when he departed, and after multiple fill-ins, was succeeded by for a couple years (starting in 1962) by Ron Cochran, whom himself was replaced by (believe it or not)... Peter Jennings.
Yes, this wasn't the first time Jennings presided over the show. Peter was a transplant from the CBC in Canada, and was hired by ABC to bring a fresher, younger face to keep the show going, with a name change to Peter Jennings with the News. Too bad he was inexperienced at the time, as his (first) tenure didn't last and he departed the program two years later.
It was during that time in 1967 that the network gave the show a major revamp. A new (generic) name, a new format (double the runtime to 30 minutes) and change to color. ABC News was the name of its program from '67 to 1970, with a few hosts at the forefront during that time: Bob Young (67-68), Frank Reynolds (May 68-70; also not the first time as anchor as thought of too) and Howard K. Smith (May 69-70--as co-anchor).
And finally, another name and format change come a new decade. In December 1970, Harry Reasoner left CBS to join ABC to replace Mr. Reynolds as co-anchor of the ABC Evening News (yep, not at all even more generic or lazily conceived) with Mr. K. Smith. Five years later, Smith slid into the role of commentator, leaving Reasoner as sole anchor. That is until 1976 when he received a co-anchor in one (unexpected but incredibly talented) Barbara Walters. Walters joined ABC from NBC's Today on October 4 of that year, and thus begins a storied (and even more turbulent) chapter in ABC News ' history. Reasoner was against Walters not only as his co-anchor, but also against women anchoring any evening news broadcast, as he saw it as a man's job to report short recaps of the day's news. And this wasn't something that he kept to himself or something I made up because of a dislike of him; he really made it known as time went on -- to producers, the viewers (well, at least those who could read his face and body language) and even to Walters. Because of this, the pairing failed to catch on with viewers and Reasoner left ABC after 8 years (up to this point, the longest tenure of an ABC News program host after Charles Daly, sadly) to go back to CBS. But, the best was still yet to come.
Despite its low viewership, constant host and format changes, and constant tension behind the scenes between the previous man-and-woman anchors, the producers and ABC News President Roone Arledge decided to completely revamp the nightly program's approach to presenting the day's main news, and bring Americans a new voice in evening news to get them informed every night at 6:30. So they brought in three new voices (from three different cities to catch up three different angles gathering to move the country closer to the world) and renamed the network's news half-hour to a name and brand that would (and did) change the landscape of the national news program forever.
World News Tonight.
Anchored by three of the best, brightest and most brilliant faces of news at the time, World News Tonight brought viewers the day's national, international, political and world affairs news along with special reports and commentary, all in less than thirty minutes. Anchored by newcomer (and the first black anchor of a network news program) Max Robinson in Chicago, (the returning [and much more experienced]) Peter Jennings in London and (the re-promoted) Frank Reynolds in Washington; along with Special Reports by holdover Barbara Walters and Commentary by Howard K. Smith, this broadcast did just that and brought itself the viewers it deserved and the respect and credibility it really deserved. If you want proof, here's its debut broadcast on this day, July 10, 1978.
During it's first broadcast, featured reports included:
-- International Desk Reports by Jennings
-- Jewish immigrant reporters on trial in Moscow for giving their honest opinions about relations between the United States and the Soviet Union (by Charles Bierbauer)
-- The White House's brutal response to the trial and a drop in Jewish immigration to Russia (by Sam Donaldson)
-- Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin's reaching out to President Jimmy Carter for a helping hand in freeing the jailed reporters (by Bill Siemmens[?])
-- The wife of one of the jailed reporters speaks out to correspondent Jack Smith (introduction by Jennings)
-- Barbara Walters' special report with then-Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz on his unsuccessful defense of the jailed reporters and the impact of their case (he calls it "a farce"). (Introduction by Reynolds)
-- Washington Desk reports by Reynolds
- Congress Returns from recess in hopes of a tax break, an energy bill and a controversial decision on abortion (by Reynolds)
- Firestone tire recall (by Bettina Gregory
- President Carter proposes spending on communities to fight crime
-- National Desk reports (Chicago) by Robinson
- Cleveland public housing police force problems
- Petition for Tax Hike from Proposition 13 in Michigan going to impasse
-Four held hostage by bomb-wielding worker at World Trade Center (by Lynn Shure)
-Little on trial for prison guard murder and escape, delay denied in Raleigh, NC
-Western States farmers vs. crops eating grasshoppers
I thought this first broadcast was a fantastic and well-done production. Everyone was at the top of their game. Reynolds was always a brilliant, consummate professional, Robinson took a huge risk of co-anchoring a national newscast and paid it off handsomely (and damn sure rocks that afro with class) and Jennings proved after a decade of honing his craft as a correspondent for the network and the CBC in his native Canada, he can (and did [AND does]) become a brilliant anchor worth the timeslot. Barbara Walters' special report with Dershkowitz was captivating and have a nice perspective. Ms. Walters was already well known for her serious yet sweetly delicate reports on Today, and this iconic reporting style extended to WNT and the rest of her career with the News division and the network. And Howard K. Smith gave such powerful commentary on the decrease in world peace thanks to the Jewish Reporters on trial, and what negative impact protests could give in similar situations.
Plus, the theme music. If there is something so iconic and memorable that begins with just four notes, that it would become the audible symbol of an entire news division, it is this tune.
As the years pass, the faces would change.
Reynolds would anchor the broadcast until his time off from illness and his death from bone cancer on July 20, 1983. Robinson and Jennings remained in a dual anchor format ever since until Robinson moved to the weekend edition and news briefs (until his leaving the News division in 1984; he later passed away from AIDS in 1988), while Jennings became sole anchor and senior editor on September 5 and holding the role-- through praise and high respect, until his untimely death from lung cancer at 67 on August 7, 2005. Other faces leading the program would later include Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas (in the first male-female dual anchor team since the ill-fated Reasoner/Walters pair-up), Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer and current anchor (as of this post) David Muir.
While all network newscasts at the time definitely had the strong showing of objectivity, class, dignity, talent and emotion intertwined with both the anchors/correspondents/commentators and their reports, in my opinion, World News Tonight was the broadcast to watch; it was a unique format that drew me in from the word "go": three men bringing the News of importance from three different cities with their own distinct personalities separating them, but their one goal bringing them together and drawing me in in the process. In fact, many other viewers (although at time watched live, and I was still years from even being a semen) thought so too; since WNT's July 10 debut, ratings for it (and the network) gradually rose to the point of beating both Nightly News and the Evening News to become the nation's #1 evening network news program. And after watching this debut broadcast, you can probably see why.
For me though, that love for WNT extended to this this first broadcast. I was a longtime viewer since I was a child. One of my life's dreams and aspirations was to work in broadcast journalism. Mr. Jennings (as you know of course) was still anchor and his personality and long strong talents shone through to me and pulled me in every night, year after year. Because of him, he was a major inspiration to me and made my TV news dreams grow and grow ever since. His 2005 passing to me (and the rest of the country) was extremely devastating, but his legacy (along with those of Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Robinson) kept my aspirations alive -- along with my love of local TV news.
Well, that is my review of the first of many editions of World News Tonight (and yes, for reference and curiosity, many more are on YouTube. I hope you've had a good day, and I hope you've enjoyed it.
Here's to 40 years of such iconic reporting and reporters giving them and being such beacons of television news. And here's to 40 more.
Goodnight, everybody.
The 1970s. The year of bell bottoms, afros, beaded vests, free love, urban rise, the birth of hip-hop, the death of bubblegum pop, the birth and death of disco, some of the biggest news stories were scary and weren't around people who's fame didn't reach 14:59, things were much more simpler and TV was achieved (mostly) by antenna.
At the time of the turn of the decade, Americans had 4 choices of national news programs to get their daily stateside and worldwide fix:
the Nightly News with David Brinkley and John Chancellor on NBC
The MacNeil/Leher Report on PBS
(lead by Robert and Jim, respectively)
The Evening News with (the face of national news when it was objective and good) Walter Cronkite on CBS,
and...whatever the hell was on the Alphabet.
Yes, ABC in it's early days wasn't a success across the board. Primetime, daytime and news were in the ratings basement compared to the Eye and the Peacock. (Sometimes, it found better leeway [or got lucky] over NBC and the crap the latter regurgitated at the time.)
So, let's go cliff-notes into the history of ABC News' flagship program.
The Alphabet debuted its daily news program in 1948 and the format was just 15 minutes long. In 1953, the program was hosted by Mr. John Charles Daly, also best known as the host and moderator of What's My Line? on CBS. Daly anchored the program -- named John Daly and the News until 1960,-when he departed, and after multiple fill-ins, was succeeded by for a couple years (starting in 1962) by Ron Cochran, whom himself was replaced by (believe it or not)... Peter Jennings.
Yes, this wasn't the first time Jennings presided over the show. Peter was a transplant from the CBC in Canada, and was hired by ABC to bring a fresher, younger face to keep the show going, with a name change to Peter Jennings with the News. Too bad he was inexperienced at the time, as his (first) tenure didn't last and he departed the program two years later.
It was during that time in 1967 that the network gave the show a major revamp. A new (generic) name, a new format (double the runtime to 30 minutes) and change to color. ABC News was the name of its program from '67 to 1970, with a few hosts at the forefront during that time: Bob Young (67-68), Frank Reynolds (May 68-70; also not the first time as anchor as thought of too) and Howard K. Smith (May 69-70--as co-anchor).
And finally, another name and format change come a new decade. In December 1970, Harry Reasoner left CBS to join ABC to replace Mr. Reynolds as co-anchor of the ABC Evening News (yep, not at all even more generic or lazily conceived) with Mr. K. Smith. Five years later, Smith slid into the role of commentator, leaving Reasoner as sole anchor. That is until 1976 when he received a co-anchor in one (unexpected but incredibly talented) Barbara Walters. Walters joined ABC from NBC's Today on October 4 of that year, and thus begins a storied (and even more turbulent) chapter in ABC News ' history. Reasoner was against Walters not only as his co-anchor, but also against women anchoring any evening news broadcast, as he saw it as a man's job to report short recaps of the day's news. And this wasn't something that he kept to himself or something I made up because of a dislike of him; he really made it known as time went on -- to producers, the viewers (well, at least those who could read his face and body language) and even to Walters. Because of this, the pairing failed to catch on with viewers and Reasoner left ABC after 8 years (up to this point, the longest tenure of an ABC News program host after Charles Daly, sadly) to go back to CBS. But, the best was still yet to come.
Despite its low viewership, constant host and format changes, and constant tension behind the scenes between the previous man-and-woman anchors, the producers and ABC News President Roone Arledge decided to completely revamp the nightly program's approach to presenting the day's main news, and bring Americans a new voice in evening news to get them informed every night at 6:30. So they brought in three new voices (from three different cities to catch up three different angles gathering to move the country closer to the world) and renamed the network's news half-hour to a name and brand that would (and did) change the landscape of the national news program forever.
World News Tonight.
Anchored by three of the best, brightest and most brilliant faces of news at the time, World News Tonight brought viewers the day's national, international, political and world affairs news along with special reports and commentary, all in less than thirty minutes. Anchored by newcomer (and the first black anchor of a network news program) Max Robinson in Chicago, (the returning [and much more experienced]) Peter Jennings in London and (the re-promoted) Frank Reynolds in Washington; along with Special Reports by holdover Barbara Walters and Commentary by Howard K. Smith, this broadcast did just that and brought itself the viewers it deserved and the respect and credibility it really deserved. If you want proof, here's its debut broadcast on this day, July 10, 1978.
During it's first broadcast, featured reports included:
-- International Desk Reports by Jennings
-- Jewish immigrant reporters on trial in Moscow for giving their honest opinions about relations between the United States and the Soviet Union (by Charles Bierbauer)
-- The White House's brutal response to the trial and a drop in Jewish immigration to Russia (by Sam Donaldson)
-- Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin's reaching out to President Jimmy Carter for a helping hand in freeing the jailed reporters (by Bill Siemmens[?])
-- The wife of one of the jailed reporters speaks out to correspondent Jack Smith (introduction by Jennings)
-- Barbara Walters' special report with then-Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz on his unsuccessful defense of the jailed reporters and the impact of their case (he calls it "a farce"). (Introduction by Reynolds)
-- Washington Desk reports by Reynolds
- Congress Returns from recess in hopes of a tax break, an energy bill and a controversial decision on abortion (by Reynolds)
- Firestone tire recall (by Bettina Gregory
- President Carter proposes spending on communities to fight crime
-- National Desk reports (Chicago) by Robinson
- Cleveland public housing police force problems
- Petition for Tax Hike from Proposition 13 in Michigan going to impasse
-Four held hostage by bomb-wielding worker at World Trade Center (by Lynn Shure)
-Little on trial for prison guard murder and escape, delay denied in Raleigh, NC
-Western States farmers vs. crops eating grasshoppers
I thought this first broadcast was a fantastic and well-done production. Everyone was at the top of their game. Reynolds was always a brilliant, consummate professional, Robinson took a huge risk of co-anchoring a national newscast and paid it off handsomely (and damn sure rocks that afro with class) and Jennings proved after a decade of honing his craft as a correspondent for the network and the CBC in his native Canada, he can (and did [AND does]) become a brilliant anchor worth the timeslot. Barbara Walters' special report with Dershkowitz was captivating and have a nice perspective. Ms. Walters was already well known for her serious yet sweetly delicate reports on Today, and this iconic reporting style extended to WNT and the rest of her career with the News division and the network. And Howard K. Smith gave such powerful commentary on the decrease in world peace thanks to the Jewish Reporters on trial, and what negative impact protests could give in similar situations.
Plus, the theme music. If there is something so iconic and memorable that begins with just four notes, that it would become the audible symbol of an entire news division, it is this tune.
As the years pass, the faces would change.
Reynolds would anchor the broadcast until his time off from illness and his death from bone cancer on July 20, 1983. Robinson and Jennings remained in a dual anchor format ever since until Robinson moved to the weekend edition and news briefs (until his leaving the News division in 1984; he later passed away from AIDS in 1988), while Jennings became sole anchor and senior editor on September 5 and holding the role-- through praise and high respect, until his untimely death from lung cancer at 67 on August 7, 2005. Other faces leading the program would later include Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas (in the first male-female dual anchor team since the ill-fated Reasoner/Walters pair-up), Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer and current anchor (as of this post) David Muir.
While all network newscasts at the time definitely had the strong showing of objectivity, class, dignity, talent and emotion intertwined with both the anchors/correspondents/commentators and their reports, in my opinion, World News Tonight was the broadcast to watch; it was a unique format that drew me in from the word "go": three men bringing the News of importance from three different cities with their own distinct personalities separating them, but their one goal bringing them together and drawing me in in the process. In fact, many other viewers (although at time watched live, and I was still years from even being a semen) thought so too; since WNT's July 10 debut, ratings for it (and the network) gradually rose to the point of beating both Nightly News and the Evening News to become the nation's #1 evening network news program. And after watching this debut broadcast, you can probably see why.
For me though, that love for WNT extended to this this first broadcast. I was a longtime viewer since I was a child. One of my life's dreams and aspirations was to work in broadcast journalism. Mr. Jennings (as you know of course) was still anchor and his personality and long strong talents shone through to me and pulled me in every night, year after year. Because of him, he was a major inspiration to me and made my TV news dreams grow and grow ever since. His 2005 passing to me (and the rest of the country) was extremely devastating, but his legacy (along with those of Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Robinson) kept my aspirations alive -- along with my love of local TV news.
Well, that is my review of the first of many editions of World News Tonight (and yes, for reference and curiosity, many more are on YouTube. I hope you've had a good day, and I hope you've enjoyed it.
Here's to 40 years of such iconic reporting and reporters giving them and being such beacons of television news. And here's to 40 more.
Goodnight, everybody.
Thursday, January 04, 2018
Goodnight, Everybody! Animaniacs will Return (No, Really)
Happy new Year, everybody!
So, how is 2018 starting out for us... We could say it's stating out with a ba--
Well, anyway, here's probably the first great news of the year (especially for television animation fans), Animaniacs is coming back to television! Seriously. it's being revived as new episodes will air on Hulu starting in 2020. Steven Spielberg, executive producer of the original series, will board the revival as EP with his Amblin Television studio, no doubt along with many of the voice actors who helped bring the characters we loved and cherished since episode one to life, as they'll be back to bring them all out of the WB water tower.
The original series, along with other Amblin's other iconic animated series Tiny Toon Adventures, Pinky & The Brain and the later Pinky, Elmyra & The Brain are also available exclusively on Hulu, thanks to a deal between Warner Bros. Television Distribution and the streaming service. (And yes, the series was on Netflix some time ago.
This is a big get for Hulu, and definitely bolsters their current library at the moment, continuing the competition between the two services.
I'm honestly excited. As a fan of the original series, I can't be anymore ecstatic about this news. I don't care that I have to wait another two years or that I have to sign up for a Hulu account (which as of now I do have one), I'm just so happy that it's coming back.
Clearly as this is the start of 2018, we'll have to wait for more news and everything about production, but this, amphitheater other things in the news, definitely made my year start out just NARF!-tastic.
Hope you all enjoy this news. And I'll see you all soon.
Goodnight, everybody.
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Charlie Rose Fired from CBS & PBS After Sexual Misconduct Allegations
I liked and respected this man. ...Not anymore.
Friday, October 20, 2017
Monday, October 02, 2017
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Martina Big: ...And You Thought Rachel Dolezal Was Crazy | Serious Post 2017
At least Rachel Dolezal had being President of a Seattle chapter of the NAACP as an excuse to be black.
This crazy wench you're about to see here takes pretending to be another race (specifically black) to gratify oneself to a grossly outrageous new level.
This woman here is Martina Big.
(sorrynotsorry,) SHENEHNEH looks better than this.
During her younger years, she used to look like this.
She wanted to look like Pamela Anderson and Barbie, so she wanted to try to get as many surgeries and transformations as possible to like them both. And then decided to get more to look like a dark-skinned black woman.
Okay...Pam wouldn't want this. Not even Barbie would want this.
And the problem is, when she was younger, she was really beautiful. She had the look, the style and the flair. Even when she wanted to look like Pam Anderson and especially when she got them "melons", she still look hot (even if the titty size was unbelievable). But now there she goes looking like a chocolate transvestite drag queen who somehow placed 8th on RuPaul's Drag Race (a very entertaining show, no disrespect) to remind us that race issues in this country are still rampant and hitting heavy.
There are real, actual black women in this country who have real, actual issues with their skin color and tone with people making fun of them or rudely dismissing them because of it, and they have a hard time dealing with it--even as a young girl. All it would take to curb the heartbreaking hate is for their families to tell them they're beautiful. But these days, it's not enough. And now you have white bitches like Martina Big and Rachel Dolezal acting like going black is a thing to have men flock to you and have sex with you, instead of--you know--embracing their culture and history and showing your love of those topics to and for black people before even thinking of attempting to do so. (Well, Dolezal did to an extent, but still...) But outright just doing it is creepy and disturbing.
Why I wrote this post her, is because I've seen interviews on Inside Edition and a web exclusive on Maury this week, and from first laying eyes on her, I couldn't even hold in my stomach acid for very long. She really didn't have to resort to looking like a black woman (at least she didn't go Al-Joston-The-Jazz-Singer blackface to do it) to be beautiful. I could only assume she's doing this for attention and infamy. And surprise surprise, she's done it. Everyone's fauning over her, and even I'm talking about this mud-faced broad. (And watching the audience with mouths aghast in the Maury clip, I share their reactions) It's just unfair to real black women; for them to progress their look and movement only to see this and wonder "Why Lord Why?!?!", it's just sad to think.
Once her 15 minutes of fame are up, I can't fucking wait to forget about her existence.
Now when I go sleep, I see this...
and wake up like this.
This crazy wench you're about to see here takes pretending to be another race (specifically black) to gratify oneself to a grossly outrageous new level.
This woman here is Martina Big.
"This is super unsettling!"So unsettling, that I'll need a bottle of bleach to erase all that visual gunk.
(sorrynotsorry,) SHENEHNEH looks better than this.
During her younger years, she used to look like this.
She wanted to look like Pamela Anderson and Barbie, so she wanted to try to get as many surgeries and transformations as possible to like them both. And then decided to get more to look like a dark-skinned black woman.
Okay...Pam wouldn't want this. Not even Barbie would want this.
And the problem is, when she was younger, she was really beautiful. She had the look, the style and the flair. Even when she wanted to look like Pam Anderson and especially when she got them "melons", she still look hot (even if the titty size was unbelievable). But now there she goes looking like a chocolate transvestite drag queen who somehow placed 8th on RuPaul's Drag Race (a very entertaining show, no disrespect) to remind us that race issues in this country are still rampant and hitting heavy.
There are real, actual black women in this country who have real, actual issues with their skin color and tone with people making fun of them or rudely dismissing them because of it, and they have a hard time dealing with it--even as a young girl. All it would take to curb the heartbreaking hate is for their families to tell them they're beautiful. But these days, it's not enough. And now you have white bitches like Martina Big and Rachel Dolezal acting like going black is a thing to have men flock to you and have sex with you, instead of--you know--embracing their culture and history and showing your love of those topics to and for black people before even thinking of attempting to do so. (Well, Dolezal did to an extent, but still...) But outright just doing it is creepy and disturbing.
Why I wrote this post her, is because I've seen interviews on Inside Edition and a web exclusive on Maury this week, and from first laying eyes on her, I couldn't even hold in my stomach acid for very long. She really didn't have to resort to looking like a black woman (at least she didn't go Al-Joston-The-Jazz-Singer blackface to do it) to be beautiful. I could only assume she's doing this for attention and infamy. And surprise surprise, she's done it. Everyone's fauning over her, and even I'm talking about this mud-faced broad. (And watching the audience with mouths aghast in the Maury clip, I share their reactions) It's just unfair to real black women; for them to progress their look and movement only to see this and wonder "Why Lord Why?!?!", it's just sad to think.
Once her 15 minutes of fame are up, I can't fucking wait to forget about her existence.
Now when I go sleep, I see this...
and wake up like this.
Worst waste of drops ever.
Friday, September 15, 2017
PewDiePie Uses N-Word During Live Gaming Stream Screw-Up
So...PewDiePie used the N-word during a livestream on YouTube this week. That sucks...but...
Demon Kid Kills Mom Over a FĪ¼cking PUPPY
I'm not the best son, no doubt.
I've gotten through arguments with my mother, and have even been hit by her many times in my life for trivial things, but getting told "no" was never a reason (if any at all [...and there was none]) for me to take her life. But for this kid you're about to meet (regrettably), it took a disagreement with his mother about a puppy to take hers.
This possible spawn of Satan is 19-year-old Michigan boy Andrew Wilson.
He shot and killed his mother in the back of the head while she slept (whose name is withheld as she doesn't deserve to be under this circumstance) last week on their home in Wheatfield Township.
...all because she told him he couldn't keep a puppy as a pet.
After the incident, the boy later called 911 and claimed someone murdered Ms. Wilson. He later fessed up when police arrived, leading to his arrest and incarceration. He was denied bond.
You know what? Kids these days are so rebellious, disrespectful, hostile and entitled. Admittedly, I myself was all of those things too when I was a kid, to a lesser extent of course. But I would never even think of shooting my mother to death. And the sad thing is, the boy didn't ask for anything like a car or cigarettes or any material possessions that don't cost cheap; he asked for a dog as a pet. And he's not a boy either; he's a goddamn TEENAGER! So you know he's got some issues from long ago to take his mom's life this way under these circumstances.
I had a pet a few times before, all of them cats. While not pet owner of the year, I did a real good job taking care of them until the end of our relationships. One of them later died of natural causes, one gave birth to a litter--which were taken to other homes (where they are still happy and safe) and later ran away and another was given to a family member. My point here? I was trusted to take care of them and my parents recognized that I did a great job; well-fed, potty-trained and enjoyed playing with me.
Here, this bad seed clearly couldn't have been trusted with a pet; Only Lord knows what he's done in the past to have gotten to this point for his mom to know he wouldn't be trusted to care for a fucking ROCK, let alone a dog; not to mention to take a rifle to his mom and pull the trigger. And now and forevermore, because of his selfish and outright dangerous actions, he no longer has a mother, and his family no longer has a daughter, sister, niece, cousin, aunt and mother.
He deserves to have his mental ass thrown in jail, and hopefully, get the book thrown at him so hard, he'll suffer brain damage. He deserves no leniency and no ease from the judge (whom I hope is anything BUT white) and last an eternity in an adult prison where the other inmates will be his new family (and NOT of the good kind). He will definity rot in Hell for this, where the dad in his afterlife will be Lucifer himself.
Meanwhile, Ms. Wilson will live a nice afterlife in Heaven where she'll be loved and happy forever.
I need you guys to read rhis: whatever you are going through with your parents cannot be this bad as what you saw here. So if you're going through bad blood with your parents, end it and repair your relationship. Tell them you love them and give them a hug. It's that important that you do so because your relationship can't be worse than this. And I need to do just that.
I've gotten through arguments with my mother, and have even been hit by her many times in my life for trivial things, but getting told "no" was never a reason (if any at all [...and there was none]) for me to take her life. But for this kid you're about to meet (regrettably), it took a disagreement with his mother about a puppy to take hers.
He shot and killed his mother in the back of the head while she slept (whose name is withheld as she doesn't deserve to be under this circumstance) last week on their home in Wheatfield Township.
...all because she told him he couldn't keep a puppy as a pet.
After the incident, the boy later called 911 and claimed someone murdered Ms. Wilson. He later fessed up when police arrived, leading to his arrest and incarceration. He was denied bond.
You know what? Kids these days are so rebellious, disrespectful, hostile and entitled. Admittedly, I myself was all of those things too when I was a kid, to a lesser extent of course. But I would never even think of shooting my mother to death. And the sad thing is, the boy didn't ask for anything like a car or cigarettes or any material possessions that don't cost cheap; he asked for a dog as a pet. And he's not a boy either; he's a goddamn TEENAGER! So you know he's got some issues from long ago to take his mom's life this way under these circumstances.
I had a pet a few times before, all of them cats. While not pet owner of the year, I did a real good job taking care of them until the end of our relationships. One of them later died of natural causes, one gave birth to a litter--which were taken to other homes (where they are still happy and safe) and later ran away and another was given to a family member. My point here? I was trusted to take care of them and my parents recognized that I did a great job; well-fed, potty-trained and enjoyed playing with me.
Here, this bad seed clearly couldn't have been trusted with a pet; Only Lord knows what he's done in the past to have gotten to this point for his mom to know he wouldn't be trusted to care for a fucking ROCK, let alone a dog; not to mention to take a rifle to his mom and pull the trigger. And now and forevermore, because of his selfish and outright dangerous actions, he no longer has a mother, and his family no longer has a daughter, sister, niece, cousin, aunt and mother.
He deserves to have his mental ass thrown in jail, and hopefully, get the book thrown at him so hard, he'll suffer brain damage. He deserves no leniency and no ease from the judge (whom I hope is anything BUT white) and last an eternity in an adult prison where the other inmates will be his new family (and NOT of the good kind). He will definity rot in Hell for this, where the dad in his afterlife will be Lucifer himself.
Meanwhile, Ms. Wilson will live a nice afterlife in Heaven where she'll be loved and happy forever.
I need you guys to read rhis: whatever you are going through with your parents cannot be this bad as what you saw here. So if you're going through bad blood with your parents, end it and repair your relationship. Tell them you love them and give them a hug. It's that important that you do so because your relationship can't be worse than this. And I need to do just that.
Thursday, September 14, 2017
ESPN Went Up Jemele Hill, and Broke Their Crown: Network at Task for Distancing from Host's Heavy Trump Diss
Everyone Needs to Leave Christina Miller Alone
You people need to get a hobby.
...Now get another one.
Friday, September 01, 2017
We Knew It Was Coming: Tomi Lahren Hired by Fox News
Everybody's favorite bleach-blonde-brained blowhard bitch (no not Taylor Swift; at least she has some dignity and respect), Tomi Lahren is joining America's television hub for bleach-blonde-brained blowhards: Fox News Channel.
It was announced that she will join the Fox News family as a contributor to it's worst most horrifyingly biased show (No, Tucker Carlson; I didn't say excessively annoying and embarrassingly stupid show. Sit down and be a good little human jockstrap)--Hannity.
This doesn't surprise me. I had the thought in my mind for a long time since she was a host on theBlaze. She was an annoying loudmouth doof then, and she'll be an annoying loudmouth doof when she makes her first official appearance...when they make it happen. (I dunno--I never read an article about this, and I never will.) Even before her ass got her well-deserved pink slip, I had a feeling she would get interested by Fox and even get picked up when she was at the other network. Now that she's at the place where idiots get their propagan--I mean...yeah, propaganda, she'll get her turn in the limelight and even get her own show. (Don't ask how I know; I know it'll happen sometime or another. They'll definitively make room for her somewhere on the schedule and idiots will eat her vocal defication like they do Hannity's.)
Tomi, good luck bud. But...I still hate you like you hate everything sane and logical.
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Toony Throwback Thursday: Recess
I’ve watched many cartoons when I was a kid--both on broadcast (syndication and broadcast television), and on cable (both pay AND penetration). And yet one of my consistent favorites across all of these mediums is Recess.
Recess, created by Joe Ansolabehere and Paul Germain (the latter previously best known as co-creator of another iconic and beloved western animated series that starts with R, Rugrats) revolves around six fourth grade kids as they go about their young lives attending Third Street Elementary School, along with a wide, colorful range of other students whom interact with the main group, are the focus of their antics or are just there for a good joke.
These students are, in this particular order:
-T.J. Detweiler--the popular and clever leader
-Vince LaSalle--the cool and confident athlete
-Ashley Spinelli--the tough and headstrong tomboy
-Gretchen Grundler--the sharp and extroverted genius
-Mikey Blumberg--the gentle giant with the Pavarotti pipes
-and Gus Griswald, the shy (but occasionally brave) latecomer
Their attending Third Street Elementary garners mixed responses (depending on the activity), but the one period of the day they (and the other students) look forward to the most and enjoy as
It had a lot of things I loved:
-A large ensemble of kids with different personalities that resemble all kids at a normal real-life elementary school, with our main heroes standing out themselves
-A wide-ranging faculty of either wide rage or sweet cheerfulness
-How this series is modeled like -- of all things -- escape heist films (specifically when the kids want to escape the long-boring confines of the classroom for the fun, fresh air and -- of recess). Seriously, you’ll feel like you’re watching something else, despite it being a kids show. Even if you’re a kid, you feel like something was off about this one (well, at least I did)
There’s also many moments of characters (both kids and adults) realizing something about one another that changes our perspective of them.
-When Gus was introduced in the second half of the very first episode "The New Kid", and his new friends did his best to remove the titular title most new kids get at Third Street, leading to his awesome moment of confronting King Bob to get his name back. And he does.
-When Vince praises on about his big brother Chad and accepts him as a geek. (Before the Big Bang Theory, nerds were always seen as scum of the school campus. So watching this episode and watching Vince love his big bro no matter what makes me humbled.)
-When Principal Prickly was hypnotized to being 6-years-old and the kids see something new (and odd) in him and enjoy a new perspective of their grumpy-but-well-meaning principal
-And in “Weekend at Muriel's”, Spinelli goes to Ms. Finster’s house for a weekend while her parents are away. After a while when she (and us) expected Finster to be her loud, boring disciplinarian self, she realizes this and begins a self reflection, of which she loosens up and shows Spinelli how she has a good time. Spin enjoys it and leaves with more respect for Finster than ever, and we’re treated to a newer, more mellow and more fun Ms. Finster (at least for that episode, because she’s back to being a cruel, soulless old meanie by the next episode [with some open shades of her having a good time in several later episodes.])
-and many more too hard to list
If you’ve ever wondered why this show lasted nearly a decade on television in reruns (on ABC Kids after 1SM ended, and on Disney Channel & Toon Disney)? Those reasons are why. Most kids watching could relate to at least one of these kids , remember the times of having fun at recess at their school, laugh at the jokes about them or the Third Street Elementary faculty, well up from the Tear Jerking moments, feel swelling after the Heartwarming moments, and cheer in astonishment from witnessing a character (and ANY character) perform an action that is too awesome for words (and there were many).
When I began watching this series for this review again, I was immediately transported back to my childhood, watching the title sequence and listening to the theme song--humming along to it of course, excitedly waiting for another episode to begin. And when it begins, I sit and stare at the TV as the action unfolds, laughing or feeling good from every other moment.
Ehh, sure, it wasn’t all the way perfect; there were some notable episode/moments that didn’t go well with everyone over the years. Take “Nobody Doesn’t Like T.J.” for instance, in which T.J., apparently the coolest kid on the playground, finds out that Gordy doesn’t like him. Teej tests his temperament to turn Gordy to his team, but failed. The problem here is that he’s forcing Gordy to like him, but this gives the latter even more reason (well one reasonable reason--since he has none at the start) to dislike the former. This half-episode did have a message that needed to be told in a kid’s show--”not everyone can like a certain person”. Or was supposed to, But the execution was not a figure 8, instead showing itself like this--”people can dislike you for no good reason, and it’s okay!”. It just didn't work the way the writers intended.
But for episodes that I'd find great. there are many across this one to list (so I'll get to that another time)
Recess, created by Joe Ansolabehere and Paul Germain (the latter previously best known as co-creator of another iconic and beloved western animated series that starts with R, Rugrats) revolves around six fourth grade kids as they go about their young lives attending Third Street Elementary School, along with a wide, colorful range of other students whom interact with the main group, are the focus of their antics or are just there for a good joke.
These students are, in this particular order:
-T.J. Detweiler--the popular and clever leader
-Vince LaSalle--the cool and confident athlete
-Ashley Spinelli--the tough and headstrong tomboy
-Gretchen Grundler--the sharp and extroverted genius
-Mikey Blumberg--the gentle giant with the Pavarotti pipes
-and Gus Griswald, the shy (but occasionally brave) latecomer
Their attending Third Street Elementary garners mixed responses (depending on the activity), but the one period of the day they (and the other students) look forward to the most and enjoy as
It had a lot of things I loved:
-A large ensemble of kids with different personalities that resemble all kids at a normal real-life elementary school, with our main heroes standing out themselves
-A wide-ranging faculty of either wide rage or sweet cheerfulness
-How this series is modeled like -- of all things -- escape heist films (specifically when the kids want to escape the long-boring confines of the classroom for the fun, fresh air and -- of recess). Seriously, you’ll feel like you’re watching something else, despite it being a kids show. Even if you’re a kid, you feel like something was off about this one (well, at least I did)
There’s also many moments of characters (both kids and adults) realizing something about one another that changes our perspective of them.
-When Gus was introduced in the second half of the very first episode "The New Kid", and his new friends did his best to remove the titular title most new kids get at Third Street, leading to his awesome moment of confronting King Bob to get his name back. And he does.
-When Vince praises on about his big brother Chad and accepts him as a geek. (Before the Big Bang Theory, nerds were always seen as scum of the school campus. So watching this episode and watching Vince love his big bro no matter what makes me humbled.)
-When Principal Prickly was hypnotized to being 6-years-old and the kids see something new (and odd) in him and enjoy a new perspective of their grumpy-but-well-meaning principal
-And in “Weekend at Muriel's”, Spinelli goes to Ms. Finster’s house for a weekend while her parents are away. After a while when she (and us) expected Finster to be her loud, boring disciplinarian self, she realizes this and begins a self reflection, of which she loosens up and shows Spinelli how she has a good time. Spin enjoys it and leaves with more respect for Finster than ever, and we’re treated to a newer, more mellow and more fun Ms. Finster (at least for that episode, because she’s back to being a cruel, soulless old meanie by the next episode [with some open shades of her having a good time in several later episodes.])
-and many more too hard to list
If you’ve ever wondered why this show lasted nearly a decade on television in reruns (on ABC Kids after 1SM ended, and on Disney Channel & Toon Disney)? Those reasons are why. Most kids watching could relate to at least one of these kids , remember the times of having fun at recess at their school, laugh at the jokes about them or the Third Street Elementary faculty, well up from the Tear Jerking moments, feel swelling after the Heartwarming moments, and cheer in astonishment from witnessing a character (and ANY character) perform an action that is too awesome for words (and there were many).
When I began watching this series for this review again, I was immediately transported back to my childhood, watching the title sequence and listening to the theme song--humming along to it of course, excitedly waiting for another episode to begin. And when it begins, I sit and stare at the TV as the action unfolds, laughing or feeling good from every other moment.
Ehh, sure, it wasn’t all the way perfect; there were some notable episode/moments that didn’t go well with everyone over the years. Take “Nobody Doesn’t Like T.J.” for instance, in which T.J., apparently the coolest kid on the playground, finds out that Gordy doesn’t like him. Teej tests his temperament to turn Gordy to his team, but failed. The problem here is that he’s forcing Gordy to like him, but this gives the latter even more reason (well one reasonable reason--since he has none at the start) to dislike the former. This half-episode did have a message that needed to be told in a kid’s show--”not everyone can like a certain person”. Or was supposed to, But the execution was not a figure 8, instead showing itself like this--”people can dislike you for no good reason, and it’s okay!”. It just didn't work the way the writers intended.
But for episodes that I'd find great. there are many across this one to list (so I'll get to that another time)
These kids find recess as escapism from life, and I find Recess as escapism from real life.
And that is why I love Recess.
Thanks for joining me here, everyone. And I'll be back next month with something special involving a certain weekly block full of summer (hint: this series aired as part of it). See you in September!
I'm Andrew, and may the good toons be yours!
And that is why I love Recess.
Thanks for joining me here, everyone. And I'll be back next month with something special involving a certain weekly block full of summer (hint: this series aired as part of it). See you in September!
I'm Andrew, and may the good toons be yours!
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