For season 3, the opening credits change again. This time, the tune Lisa plays on the saxophone is different from episode to episode. Season 3 continues to have a lot of famous-at-the-time guest stars. There’s sports stars such as Magic Johnson and Darryl Strawberry, musical stars like Michael Jackson, Sting, and Aerosmith, and actors like Neil Patrick Harris, Jon Lovitz, and Steve Allen.
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The Simpsons Season 2
The first episode of the second season is the highest rated episode of The Simpsons overall, getting 33 million viewers when it originally aired. I remember “Bart Gets an F” (S2, E1) being the last episode of the first season. Since it takes place at the end of the school year when seasons typically end, this would make sense, but I guess my memory is wrong. I was fully expecting Bart to go on to the fifth grade the next episode and was surprised when he remained in the fourth grade. I was Bart’s age when the first season aired, so I thought Bart and I would always be the same age. Alas, I have continued to age while he has remained a permanent fourth-grader.
Continue readingThe Simpsons Season 1
The Simpsons is the longest-running American primetime TV show. It may also be the most influential in terms of phrases and memes. Several new words invented by The Simpsons such as d’oh, meh, embiggen, cromulent, yoink, and craptacular are now in the dictionary. It’s probably influenced every comedy show that’s come after it in some way. Merchandising was hugely successful from the beginning, with as many as one million Bart Simpson t-shirts selling on a single day.
Continue readingEvil and Some Other TV Shows I’ve Watched Recently
After yesterday’s post in which I expressed my disappointment in Deadpool & Wolverine, it occurs to me I tend to spend more time reviewing movies and TV shows I don’t like while not even mentioning shows I do like. Shows I’ve enjoyed recently include Evil, The Penguin, Agatha All Along, and Dune: Prophecy, but I don’t have much to say about them other than I like them. I think this is because when I love a show, I simply go along for the ride, but when I don’t like a show, my brain has to do something to keep from being bored, so I start to analyze it and pick it apart.
Continue readingDeadpool & Wolverine
I remember thinking the first two Deadpool movies were hilarious, plus there’s been a lot of positive reviews for the third film, so I was looking forward to Deadpool & Wolverine. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. I didn’t laugh once. The main joke of the movie seems to be that’s it’s funny to play a pop song during a fight scene as they do this repeatedly. I think the first time I saw a show play upbeat music during a violent scene, it was an episode of the X-Files back in the 90s. I was impressed at the time since it was so unexpected, but decades later, upbeat music playing during a bloody scene no longer feels novel.
Continue readingThe Glass Looker: Collected Tales of Joseph Smith by Mark Elwood
I read Volume 2 first since Volume 1 was out of print at the time. Now that Volume 1 is back in print, it’s certainly worth the wait. Once again, the artwork and attention to detail are amazing. The artist traveled to see these places in person. He paid attention to small details like how pregnant Lucy would have been at a given time and portrays Joseph Smith being barefoot while divining since this is mentioned in an account. He refrains from having lumberjacks shout “Timber!” since the word wasn’t in use yet. The notes in the back of the book point out easter eggs hidden throughout referencing future events, stories from the time, and even the names of the ships depicted. A lot of work went into this. Elwood is as much a historian as he is an artist.
The Glass Looker, Vol. 2 by Mark Elwood
The Glass Looker Volume 2 details the treasure digging activities of the young Joseph Smith. (I wasn’t able to read Volume 1 since it’s out of print, but Volume 2 made sense to me on its own.) The artwork is great, especially the scary-looking toad. The end of each chapter provides quotes from the historical record so you know Elwood isn’t just making this up. Of course, the historical accounts are often contradictory and a lot of information is missing, so Elwood provides extensive notes in the back of the book justifying his narrative decisions.
Continue readingCatching up with the MCU: The Marvels, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Echo
I think I’m once again caught up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Marvels was a lot of fun, but apparently didn’t do well at the box office. The poor showing is being blamed on the amount of homework you have to do before watching the movie. Monica Rambeau previously appeared in WandaVision, Nick Fury previously appeared in Secret Invasion, Kamala Khan previously appeared in Ms. Marvel, and, of course, the movie itself is a sequel to Captain Marvel.
I don’t think you have to watch all those shows before watching it, though. There’s no reference whatsoever to the events of Secret Invasion and the movie tells you all you need to know about the events of WandaVision and Ms. Marvel. Of course, WandaVision and Ms. Marvel are worth watching in their own right, but you don’t have to watch them first to enjoy this. Of course, you should watch Captain Marvel before watching The Marvels, but that’s it.
Continue readingCowboy Bebop The Movie
Back when I did my Cowboy Bebop rewatch, I wasn’t able to find the movie (also known as Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door) anywhere. I was recently able to track it down and was finally able to watch it. It’s probably been about twenty years since I’ve seen this movie and didn’t remember anything about it. Since we have the whole crew here, the movie takes place between episodes 22 and 23 of the series. Let’s see how it holds up.
Continue readingThe Fall of the House of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usher completely retells some of Poe’s most famous stories and contains numerous easter eggs referencing his writing and his life, sometimes directly quoting from him. Vulture has a list of many of these references, although they did miss the reference to Toby Dammit from “Never Bet the Devil Your Head” and a character wrapped up like a mummy being a reference to Poe’s story “Some Words with a Mummy”. Also, they miss the fact that several of Poe’s humorous stories involve making a deal with the devil.
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Mania Delight 