Posted in Televison, Uncategorized

Community

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This is probably the most underrated show on TV today, maybe ever. I really don’t know a lot of people who watch it. It stays on year after year so some must.

There are so many comunnity4amazing episodes of Community I don’t know if I could say there’s a best. Based on a group of people that apparently are going to go to community college longer than the passengers of The Minnow were stranded on an island, like every other TV show, movie, or book it’s really all about the friendships, relationships, and issues between the people.

There are some even more amazing than others if that’s possible: Cooperative Calligraphy, Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas, Modern Warfare, Intro To Knots, Anthropology 101, Analysis of Cork-Based Networking, A Fistful of Paintballs (Parts 1 & 2), Basic Human Anatomy, Comparative Religion, Conventions of Time and Space and of course, Pascal’s Triangle Revisited to name a few. App Development and Condiments with the Meow Meow Beenz test was so brilliant it almost hurt.

Amazing guest stars including: Betty White, John Oliver, Malcolm McDowell, Nathan Fillion, Taran Killam, Michael Ironside, Vince Gilligan, Chris Elliot, Tricia Helfer, Luke Perry, Jason Alexander, Luke Youngblood, French Stewart, Andy Dick, Giancarlo Esposito, John Goodman, LeVar Burton, Drew Carey, and Josh Holloway.

Who doesn’t wait to see what Abed (Danny Pudi) will say or do next? I don’t think they’ve ever specifically said he has Aspergers Syndrome, but it’s discussed and implied many times, kind of like Sheldon (Jim Parsons) from Big Bang Theory.

I miss Chevy Chase of course, always.

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And Ken Jeong (Chang) is mind-bending.community8This show is so clever in so many ways it’s almost incomprehensibly clever. The dialogue, the plots, it should be ridiculous instead it’s ridiculously hilarious and thought-provoking. It has a particular niche I suppose, after all, the meta-jokes don’t stop, and it’s essentially a walking pop culture reference, a vehicle to toy with TV and movies clichés and truisms. Not like a ton of other shows don’t use tropes, meta-humour, and pop culture references: Family Guy, America Dad, South Park, Friends, X-Filecommunity7s, M*A*S*H, 30 Rock, Seinfeld, Night Court, SNL, Lost, Once Upon A Time, Buffy, Revolution and so many more. It’s a tried and true method of connecting with viewers of various ages. The tricky part becomes the squandering or gorging of those tools. I think Community has a good balance.

Laden with stereotypes this show is all about the links that we find with others and how strong or tenuous those links can be.

So I guess you either think this is one of the best shows ever or you haven’t seen it yet.comunnity6

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NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION

christmas45It’s beginning to look a lot like dysfunctional Christmas

How best to describe Christmas Vacation? Tacky. Crass. Vulgar. But oh so funny. If you’re not a fan of Chevy Chase, you probably won’t like it, after all, it’s a star vehicle, as with all the other ‘Vacation‘ movies.  Image

Randy Quaid is brilliant or well, what’s the opposite of brilliant? Eddie.

Anyone recognize Rusty (this one, also played by Anthony Michael Hall, Ethan Embry, etc. in the various Vacation movies) – Johnny Galecki, Leonard on Big Bang Theory

If you haven’t watched this several times in a lifetime, I’d say you’re missing out or maybe you’re the wise one.Image

That poor, poor cat.christmas43

Posted in Televison, Uncategorized

OHHHH NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

  I love Saturday Night Live and despite it’s many downs, but I believe there are more ups so I stay with it.Image

There are so many things to love:

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Two Wild and Crazy Guys,
The Church Lady,
Beep in a Box, Ed Grimley,
Canteen Boy, Spinal Tap,
Mary Katherine Gallagher,
Father Guido Sarducci,
Matt Foley, Goth Talk,
Sarah Palin, Pat,
Celebrity Jeopardy!,
Sprockets, Wayne’s World,
Stuart Smalley,
Larry the Lobster,
Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer,
Mr. Peepers, Weekend Update,
Samurai Tailor, More Cowbell,
Toonces the Driving Cat,
The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise,
Synchronized Swimming,
Chippendale’s Auditions,
Schweddy Balls,
Chronicles of Narnia (Lazy Sunday) –
I could go on and on, believe me, I could, but there’s a special place in my mind for Mr. Bill.

Mr. Bill is the clay figurine clown created by Walter Williams (sent to SNL as a Super-8 reel  as part of SNL’s request for home movies) to parody children’s shows. First aired in 1976, 2 years later Williams became a writer on SNL and yahoo, more Mr. Bill.

As a funny, both strange and amusing side note, Mr. Hands, the man seen only as a pair of hands, but who does most of the damage to poor Mr. Bill was played by Vance DeGeneres, the older brother of Ellen DeGeneres, he was also a correspondent on The Daily Show years ago.

Over the years Mr. Bill has been used to advertise products, as answers in shows, in skits, movies, games, teaching about the environment and in anti-drug campaigns – he pops up everywhere.  But always with the same pattern. Things start off well for Mr. Bill and those unfortunate enough to be around him like Sally and Spot. That doesn’t last long. Things go badly for Mr. Bill when Sluggo and Mr. Hands show up. Mr. Bill suffers terrible humiliations that escalate quickly to his ultimate demise with his shrieking in a high-pitched voice, “Ohhhh noooooooooooooo…” . ImageIs it wrong to think it’s funny? Perhaps. Is it funny? Yes. Very much yes.