Lantern7

Heads up: Adult Swim is running a Boondocks marathon tomorrow night, and it will start with three seldom-seen episodes. Here's the lineup: 12:00 AM The Hunger Strike 12:30 AM The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show 01:00 AM Pause 01:30 AM Granddad's Fight 02:00 AM The Return of the King 02:30 AM The Story of Thugnificent 03:00 AM The Fund-Raiser 03:30 AM The Color Ruckus

I wrote a piece on how much I appreciated Natalie. If you visit the episode and live threads, you may have seen a lot of the material. I did try to keep things fresh. I take it Abi-Maria wasn't being crazy lately? I'm sure she's nice, but her two stints were a pain to watch.

I didn't know this was coming on until a few hours before airtime. Also, would I be weird for thinking we should've had a recap special? Not for all six seasons . . . just the past few years. "Wait, I thought Coulson was dead." "I remember Coulson was a formless alien that took Coulson's appearance because reasons!" So, basically, the team is in Prohibition-era New York, and their enemies are the Chronicles Chronocopias Chronicons Chronicoms. Wait, with an "m"? Anyway . . . Enoch's people . . . are trying to abort Hydra so that SSI and SHIELD never happened. Why don't they just admit that 1. This season would officially divorce this series from the MCU? And 2. It's also an excuse to bring in Patton Oswalt as an ancestor of those wacky Koenig brothers. Wait, so Fitz is gone gain? And May is different now? Like I said, I'm lost. At least they can get great period-appropriate outfits from the Waverider Zephyr, as well as the invaluable assistance of Gideon Enoch. ETA: Yeah, I know that the series is already separate from the MCU. I'm just saying it should be made official or something.

Kaycee gets her Skull by beating Kailah. Jenna's second Purgatory match ends with her defeat at Aneesa's hands. Yet, my biggest takeaway is the utter uselessness of Josh. Seriously, Josh is so very extra. Sniping at Chris, insisting Wes is thinking about him . . . ugh. It's so sad. I think it would be better if the edits dubbed over his voice with the trumpet sounds the adults made in the Peanuts cartoons. Once again: he's so very extra "extra." Fun mission. Big T gets a foot in her Average A from last week. Also, I think it's not enough to learn how to swim. They have to learn to swim in cold water. You know why the guys can't breathe when they hit the water? It's their testicles jumping in their throats. Purgatory seemed a little too basic. Kaycee's win was a bit of a surprise. With the increased number of interviews, I thought she was doomed, but she took out Kailah, sending her home to the crappiest love triangle imaginable. Jenna gets thrown into Purgatory again, but she tried her best to win. Sadly, Aneesa sends her home to her dumbass/meanass/crapass boyfriend. Seriously, though, why are Jenna & Zach a thing? There is no reasonable explanation how those two are still together without Jenna being a tragic, pathetic cookie. The best wild guess I got is that they fake the drama for the cameras . . . that the last few years has basically been performance art. That maybe Cara Maria & Paulie's fake breakup was done in an attempt to try and one-up them. Dumb, right? And there was crap between Dee, Jenny and Rogan. Over my head, I'm afraid.

No. I was just wondering if it was worth downloading. The closest I've been to that was when Oni Press put out a miniseries based on the game. The title: Pocket Like You Stole It.

Lots of shoutouts in the latest episode. Ted Knight created the Cosmic Staff, so he might have been Starman before Sylvester. Sadly, if Jack Knight were to ever appear, the show would need his creators -- James Robinson and Tony Harris -- to sign off on that, and I'm not seeing that. I'm not sure about the legalities of basing a character on the revamped Shade that starred in Starman during Robinson's run on the book. Brainwave's kid seems targeted to become Brainwave Jr. Really, that was his name in Infinity Inc. back in the Eighties. The rest of the team were made up of kids of the JSA, and his dad was a bad guy. Turns out the principal's name is "Bowen," so I'm guessing her sullen-looking son will become Fiddler. And based off the posters, Beth will become Dr. Mid-Nite. That's how the name was spelled; the female version of the character also originated in the Eighties.

Well, looks like we have another fun series based on DC Comics, even if it looks like every other adult and every third kid at Blue Valley High will be a hero or villain by the season finale. I liked STRIPE getting tested. Even when Pat had STRIPE "look" at the rocket fist and I knew what was coming, it was still hilarious. What a fun coincidence that the Injustice Society has a base in Blue Valley. You betcha. I can buy Brainwave setting down roots, starting a family and raising an asshole son. Apparently, Icicle is nearby as well, as is Solomon Grundy. I didn't know the other guy at the end was Gambler; he could have come in from another town. More geek references . . . and the Cosmic Staff was created by Ted Knight. I'm preparing for the "Wait, the [Caddyshack][Mary Tyler Moore Show][Too Close For Comfort][narrator of the old Super Friends episodes] guy?!?" reactions. No. Different Ted Knight. Once again: the Cosmic Staff having some sort of intelligence is new for this canon. What is the English Bulldog's name? I tried searching, but Bec was in a show called Bella And The Bulldogs, so that threw things off.

This might be the most Legends episode this season. Minimum, I reckon it’s the episode we needed. For Spock’s sake, everyone on the Weaverider that wasn’t Sara or Ava had to wear shorts. And then Mick comes in as a Khan . . . beautiful. He loved that hair. Charlie/Clotho trying to keep her friends safe . . . in the most Legends way possible. Really, what did she expect? Of course they’d break their respective fourth walls. They are that good! Also exasperating. Even Mona and Gary did a good job, and they had to work on the other side of the screen. And now we have both Zaris. At this point, why not? Great tough for Zari to possess Zardashisn, and she went straight for the flannel. And a turn-of-the-century sitcom was too good a fit for Behrad and Nate.

@catlover79 . . . I dunno. Bartolo might have been snacking on Ho-Ho’s since his last MLB game, but he might be good for a few more outings. The guy had a perfect game for 6-7 innings during his final season. ETA: Watching SNY and Tejada getting injured. That was a dirty slide. I really hope the Dodger fans realized that afterward. Oh, right . . . Mets fans cheered when Kirk Gibson got injured in the ‘88 NLCS. Still a dirty slide from Utley.

FYI, Randy isn’t a hill on which I’d like to die upon. I’m just saying I can relate. Physically, I’m close to Dan Foley, and you can understand why he was given up for adoption. Once again: he was basically the freak child of Norm and Cliff from Cheers.

Right, and I could relate to that. I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever been that surly, but I can sympathize.

Okay, so this returned tonight. Any thoughts? Mine are mostly "meh."

Including the teen girl? That is fucking depressing. It might be funny if they regarded that work as an improvement from “starring” in a cheesecake-heavy Charlie's Angels knockoff pilot. Was it a pilot? That's the vibe I got. Yeah, because in order to bring people in, they needed the white-hot star power of TWO actors from Gilligan's Island. I'd also rank on Jack Palance, but I'm not familiar with his work beyond City Slickers. Would that be in the same area as James Earl Jones appearing in City Limits?

I just updated my OKC profile to make it pandemic-related. Next step: taking a few pictures of myself. I'm thinking one "normal" shot and one where I'm wearing a mask. When it comes to showing that the picture was taken recently, it's better than holding a newspaper in front of me.

Was there any part of Gabon that fans can agree on liking? Seriously, Bob gets put through the wringer as the worst winner ever (*koff*Fabio*koff*), Randy was an asshole (not a racist; in my mind, I saw some of myself in the grump,and I'm probably going to feel bad for saying that within a few years based on some of the horses I backed), Sugar was sometimes good as actual sugar in large doses, Corrine sucked, Crystal REALLY sucked . . . and Ace was an ancestor of Coach, maybe? I blocked that out. Oh, and I made this poster when that season was airing:

Oh, yeah. Way back in the day, the only times that episodes went sixty minutes were for premiering new seasons. Otherwise, everything got wrapped up in a half-hour.

Here's a fun story: guy wants to take up bird-watching, so he sets up a feeder. That gets raided by squirrels. He tries several methods to keep them away from the feeder, but they keep breaking in. And then . . . he builds an ANW-inspired course to challenge the furry bastards, and they delivered great results. Take a look:

Man, Angels' Revenge* was indeed that bad. Lots of jokes landed . . . including the bit where the schoolteacher is fumbling through her purse (she did that A LOT), and one of the guys said she found a Velamint stuck on a tissue. Remember Velamints? Also, a lot of wanton badness all around. And fascists! Man, it's like they evolved from the three dinks from Wild Rebels. Those dudes couldn't spell "Nazi" if you gave them the consonants. Deathstalker and the Warriors From Hell was also bad. This was Season 7 . . . was Pearl Forrester always a pain in the ass before the run on Sci Fi Channel, where she became as smart as her misguided son? I forgot. Also: swords and sorcery and a dope of a hero. Next episodes of IFC this Saturday. It's the last of the Comedy Central run: Escape 2000 and Laserblast. Only thing from the latter that really stuck with me was Mike snapping and becoming Captain Janeway. Good times. "Proud Mary" cover FTW. The following weekend: The Giant Spider Invasion and Parts: The Clonus Horror. *Is there supposed to be an apostrophe in there? If so, where? Bugs me a lot more than why Frank was trying and failing to play a convincing Tug McGraw. At least Dr. F had the Rollie Fingers mustache working.

"Childrick of Mort" . . . because "The One Where Rick Fights God And Raises His Kids" would have been too on-the-nose. Ditto "Summer Huffs Brake Fluid And Kills God." Great premise . . . Jerry relaxing family camping trip is hijacked by a planet having Rick's kids. Rick and Beth bond building a civilization of weird vaguely-shaped cookie people, Jerry actually does a little good with the unproductive beings of that world, and Morty and Summer stumble into an adventure that's basically the C-plot. Gotta love how Rick hits a button, the station wagon becomes a spaceship, and Jerry is thrown from the driver's seat to the rear. As much as I'd like Rick to win one (was his last victory "Meeseeks and Destroy"? "A RIckle In Time"?), being the eternal butt monkey suits him so well. Also fun to see the Sanchezes have some daddy/daughter time while playing god. Is it on-target to say that Beth's relationship with Rick goes from one extreme to the other, with very little time in the middle? Season finale is next week. We might see Dr. Wong again. Any guesses as to when we'll get the fifth season? My prediction: Twenty-thirty-never, given the way things have been going with us.

Another fun episode,. We got Simon the Devious back, AND he had new members of his crew! If Nick Kroll pops up every season and the introduction of his crew is the WWDITS equivalent of Bill Hader doing Stefan? Wouldn't be the worst thing. "This . . . this thief!" "Thief? Chop his hands off! Don't embarrass him!" Nandor, ladies and gentlemen! Later: "The good news is that you get to keep your hands." Also, spot on in describing Guillermo as the last doughnut on display. ETA: I think the above makes up for the lack of "fuck you, guyee" from Nandor.

Good news: Festival arc is over! Bad news: We're going into repeats on Toonami! It's a production thing . . . I think that Funimation is having problems dubbing the episodes into English since they can't meet in one place anymore. There are only two more episodes left. Festival was a success, Jiro and the rest of 1A rocked, Eri smiled a lot, and Deku got to beat the snot out of Gentle Criminal. Also, La Brava. I don't think she had an "introduction" via Present Mic. "NAME! La Brava! QUIRK! Some Ol' Bullshit! Apparently, if she loves someone hard enough, she can power that person up! Are you kidding me?!?" Of course, those two were properly fleshed out and sympathetic. When you have guys like Stain, All-For-One and Overhaul, seeing a guy doing the MHA/BnHA version of Jackass is welcome.

I just flipped to that, and Mel Allen is announcing. And I keep forgetting to post that I think Fox Sports 1 isn't running episodes of This Week In Baseball anymore. Caught the tail end of Game 7. Vin Scully told Boston to hold their heads high. I wonder how many TVs were destroyed in the city when he said that. Or how many Red Sox fans were waiting for Vin the first time NBC had a "Game of the Week" at Fenway in 1987.

Saw this today. Great episode, though I think it peaked with the "credits," with pictures of her brother growing up . . . and ending on an urn. I laughed. Hard. Dark moment, even for an R-rated animated series. Yeah, you'll occasionally you'll see an urn with a crowbar next to it on Teen Titans Go!, but that's more of an Easter egg for fans. That was established in the Mad Love story that got made into an episode. I don't think it was implied she was Olympic-caliber, though. Damn, the Quinzels sucked, albeit hilariously. Fun to watch the grandparents get killed for Nick's overreactions, even with the second death telegraphed seconds in advance. "Henchmen" implies matching costumes. This Harley got a crew. I think the comic (New 52/Rebirth era) Harley had henchmen with the Gang of Harleys, full of folks with cute versions of her name. Seriously . . . Harlem Quinn, Bolly Quinn, Harvey Quinn, the Quinntuplets (five sisters from Staten Island) . . . Speaking of the comic . . . I'm guessing Gotham City is close to New York in this reality. Or maybe Bensonhurst is a suburb outside of Gotham instead of Brooklyn.

Heads up: SNY will be airing the 2015 NLDS between the Dodgers and the Mets this week. Relive the horror of the Coward Chase Utley breaking Ruben Tejada’s leg! Curious if there’s a huge reason they’re not doing the ‘73 NLCS.

I think that’s where we’re heading. It’s a little reminiscent of The Island, only we won’t have a situation where Evelyn throws in with the guy she was feuding with, thus negating most of the good that stemmed from that rivalry.