The Netflix adaptation of The Sandman was pretty good overall and well worth watching. I loved the first season quite a bit. Some people didn’t like that many of the characters changed race and/or gender from their appearance in the comics, but that didn’t bother me. However, I did hesitate before watching the second season due to recent revelations regarding creator Neil Gaiman. I ultimately decided all the other people working on the series both in front of and behind the camera shouldn’t be punished for Gaiman’s sins, so I did end up watching it. That said, I don’t blame anyone who skipped it.
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The Simpsons Season 8
This season, the first episode is “Treehouse of Horror VII” (S8, E1). It was frustrating for me at the time since I’d come to depend on new Simpsons episodes airing in September, but this season, we had to wait two months until the end of October for the first episode. Like usual, there are three short horror stories. The stand-out episode this time involves the one-eyed aliens trying to take over Earth by replacing the President. However, since it was an election year they had to replace both current president Bill Clinton and Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole. As we’ve come to expect, The Simpsons pokes fun at both Democrats and Republicans, even if it had a reputation for being a liberal show at the time.
Continue readingPlur1bus
Plur1bus is Vince Gilligan’s latest show. He’s best known for realistic shows like Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, but he also used to work on the X Files. He returns to his sci-fi roots with this one, presenting a world in which everyone on earth except for a dozen people are part of a hive mind. The main character of the show is Carol, a romantasy author who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She’s the only person in America not part of the hive mind. The other main character is the hive mind itself. Although the hive mind is depicted by numerous actors, in effect, the show only has two main characters. We sometimes see other people who aren’t part of the hive mind, but they don’t appear regularly.
Continue readingDeath by Lightning
Death by Lightning is a new four-episode series on Netflix about President Andrew Garfield (played by Michael Shannon). It’s well worth the watch. I’d say it’s historically accurate for the most part. They get a lot right, mentioning that Garfield never learned to swim, showing that he liked show tunes and chess and used to write poetry. There’s a scene of one of his sons causing chaos by riding his tricycle through the White House, which actually happened.
Continue readingThe Simpsons Season 7
The season opener, “Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two” (S7, E1) gets us off to a great start. We’re told Mr. Burns was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. However, he’s then taken to a better hospital where his condition is upgraded to living. Chief Wiggum investigates several suspects. Guest star Tito Puente vowed revenge on Mr. Burns, but he didn’t intend to shoot him, just write a slanderous mambo titled “Señor Burns”. A great musical number. Principle Skinner has an alibi in the form of Superintendent Chalmers, however, he accidentally put on his mother’s make-up when Chalmers saw him, so he tells the chief that Chalmers is his alibi, but anything else he says is a lie. Wiggum hooks the bartender Moe up to a lie detector. Moe says he doesn’t deserve this shabby treatment, but the machine goes off, so he’s apparently lying about that. Great stuff.
Continue readingThe X Files Season 1
I loved The X Files back when it was on the air. It was a super-popular show, getting much higher ratings than streaming shows do today due to the fact The X Files didn’t have as much competition back in the pre-streaming era. It asked the question: What if all the conspiracy theories are true? This had the unfortunate side effect of popularizing obscure conspiracy theories like vaccines containing tracking devices which lead to the modern anti-vax movement of today. But for those of us who recognized that it was a work of fiction, it was a lot of fun. I’d joke with my friends about it being the “flashlight show” since nearly every episode features a scene of Mulder and Scully walking around in the dark with only the light from their flashlights to guide them.
Continue readingYellowjackets
Yellowjackets is a TV show I should like. The theme song and opening credits are pretty cool. It features a lot of 90s songs and actors who were popular in the 90s, triggering my nostalgia. The image they use to advertise the show of someone wearing antlers and a veil is pretty cool and makes you think the show will be pretty wild. However, by the end of the first season, I wasn’t planning on continuing to watch it.
Continue readingThe Simpsons Season 6
In “Bart of Darkness” (S6, E1), there’s a scene in which Bart falls from a tree. Nelson points and laughs with his characteristic “Haw Haw”. When another child says Bart’s really hurt and has probably broken his leg, Nelson replies, “I said Haw Haw.” It’s funny because it’s so horrible. My brother really liked this line and would quote it often.
“Lisa’s Rival” (S6, E2) is pretty funny. A new girl in school is smarter than Lisa which causes her to sabotage her Tell Tale Heart diorama. Ralph Wiggum gets a couple of good lines. “I crushed my Wookie” and “My cat’s breath smells like cat food” are hilarious. The funniest part of the episode is the subplot in which Homer steals sugar from a crashed truck. He keeps the pile of sugar in the backyard and guards it, paranoid that someone will steal it. He mangles a quote from Scarface, claiming that in America, first you get the sugar, then you get the money, then you get the women. His monologue in which he impersonates the blue bloods wondering what is to be done about this Homer Simpson was great.
Continue readingThe Simpsons Season 5
Sideshow Bob returns yet again in “Cape Feare” (S5, E2) and this time he wants to kill Bart. There’s a scene in which Bob repeatedly steps on rakes that smack him in the face that went on way too long. This was done to pad out the episode which was originally too short. It was hilarious to me that the scene went on so long when it first aired, but on a rewatch, this sort of thing is less funny.
Continue readingThe Simpsons Season 4
As a kid, one of the cartoons I watched was Tiny Toon Adventures, which featured younger versions of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and other Looney Tunes characters. Around the same time season 4 of The Simpsons premiered, Tiny Toons featured an obvious Bart Simpson analog named Blard Simpleton. Blard came from a realistic cartoon and was unprepared for wacky things like anvils falling from the sky. Ironically, The Simpsons largely decided to abandon realism in season 4, opting for a lot more Looney Tunes style gags.
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Mania Delight 