Friday, August 28th, 2009
07.00 Arrested Development
08.30 Andy Richter Controls The Universe
10.00 Harvey Birdman
10.15 Michael And Michael Have Issues
11.00 In Plain Sight
Arrested Development. Season 2, Episode 13. "Motherboy XXX" Rescuing George Michael.
Another classic. Either side of the Maggie Lizer two-parter are two of the finest, and funniest, episodes of AD. This one is a real gem. It contains some of the best physical comedy of the entire series, and a host of classic moments.
My personal favourite? All the 'burger king' gags, particularly when the narrator echos Tobias' sentiments about the place being "a wonderful restaurant". One of the best moments in the entire series, and a perfect example of what Arrested Development is.
But the episode is full of laughs. I really love the little kid who runs up the Bluths, on more than one occasion, begging to be taken away, but nothing tops the sight of Buster tumbling through the skylight.
Superb.
Andy Richter Controls The Universe. Episode 4. "Grief Counselor"
My bad. I thought they had stopped with the Andy-likes-Wendy stuff. Wrong. Here's an entire (sweet) episode built around it, when Wendy kisses Andy after a night out and he wonders what lies behind it.
All of this is mildly-funny. But very sweet.
Much, much, much better is the stuff with Byron and Jessica: coming to terms with the fact that they may have killed some people, by being mean. Hilarious, wonderful stuff. The scene where Byron arrives in Jessica's office, all upset, and leaves - minutes later - completely cheered up and blaming Jessica for the death of their coworker is a classic.
Harvey Birdman. Episode 12. "Trio's Company" Harvey meets Gigi. Harvey represents Inch High, Private Eye.
Hilarious. Gigi is one of the best recurring characters that the show ever had and the case-of-the-week is priceless. I particularly love the bit where Harvey negociates up to a much more serious crime. For his plaintiff??!!!
Michael And Michael Have Issues. Episode 3. "Matchmakers"
"Michael And Michael Are Dicks" would be an appropriate name for this. Watching them try to play matchmaker it becomes obvious that they aren't trying to be mean. No. They're just dicks. Pure and simple. And some of the one-liners are priceless.
But even the visual comedy is top notch. When Michael and Michael attack the guy who dumped the girl and challenge him to explain himself, the scenes of them trying to back away, and get out of the room, as he poors his heart out are truly, truly funny.
In Plain Sight. Season 2, Episode 15. "DON'T CRY FOR ME ALBUQUERQUE" Mary is shot.
Seldom have seen a mainstream, light, action show deliver a story where everything is so grey and vague. But still 100% satisfying.
Mary protects a witness who may, or may not, be very nice. And may have over-reacted and created the situation that led to her own shooting. Or maybe not. The show offers no easy answers.
But it sure delivers a great story. Best scene? Stan opens a can of Whup-Ass on the idiot who put Mary in jeopardy.
Highlight? Arrested Development (skylight)
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Arrested Development, Andy Richter Controls The Universe, Harvey Birdman, Michael And Michael Have Issues, In Plain Sight
Better Off Ted, Arrested Development, Law And Order, Raising The Bar, Harvey Birdman, Wings
Monday, August 24th, 2009
07.00 Better Off Ted
07.30 Arrested Development
08.00 Law And Order
09.00 Raising The Bar
10.00 Harvey Birdman
10.15 Harvey Birdman
01.30 Wings
Better Off Ted. Episode 12. "Jabberwocky" Ted lies about the existence of a secret project, and everyone believes him.
A very basic idea, but it works and it's funny. Some of the scenes are like painfully bad chess, between clueless people, and it's very funny because of that.
Best bit? The scene where Veronica speaks to her superior about the project, having just heard about it for the first time.
Arrested Development. Season 2, Episode 9. "Burning Love" There's a wolf on the loose.
A wolf? I love Arrested Development and I'm willing to take the occasion leap to make the logic of the show/jokes work, but this episode is asking a lot. Especially the part where Tobias shoots his wife in the mistaken belief that she is the wolf.
Events over in the Michael storyline also stretch credibility. Plus plots about Michael work best when they are tied back to the family in some way, or there is an inherent awkwardness about the situation he finds himself in. Here, it seems as if fate is simply conspiring against him. And that's just not as funny.
But there is good stuff in here: everything with Gob his new/old lady is great and Jeffrey Tambor is hilarious as George Sr. recovers from the effects of the Hot Tub.
Law And Order. Season 19, Episode 11. "Lucky Stiff" Trucking Company. Going Green. Russian Mob. Incest (kinda).
A fast-paced and enjoyable tale. It could have worked as a two-hour episode. The cops have caught the killer and the trial is over by the mid-way point. There there is a further murder and the cops come back onscreen again. So, it's a complete departure from formula. And, even better, it's a strong story that merits this kind of special treatment.
Raising The Bar. Episode 8. "Out on the Roof" Trying to help his friend might get Charlie in trouble, so he turns to Jerry, and Bobbi meets a family with a corrupt sense of family honour.
While the Charlie storyline is easily the best (it's superb) this is a strong episode across the board, with great stories/scenes for pretty much everybody in the cast.
Jonathan Scarfe dominates the episode completely, showing us everything that Charlie is going through, as he deals with the return of Rafael, this time in jail. Wilson Cruz is terrific, too, of course.
Once again Jerry is written/played as the ultimate White Knight and I'm fine with that. This character has really grown on me. He's a television archtype.
Harvey Birdman. Episode 10. "SPF" Harvey has a mole, so he has to use sunblock.
The Harvey-is-addicted-to-sunblock stuff goes on and on and on, long past the point where it is still funny or interesting. It does get very surreal, however.
The case-of-the-week, though kept to the background, is funny.
Harvey Birdman. Episode 11. "The Devlin Made Me Do It" A kid is injured imitating a motorcycle stunt.
Priceless. A flawless episode. Hilarious from start to finish, with some truly inspired gags. My absolute favourite is the instructional video which specifically uses the kid's name ("Comma Bobby"). Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
Wings. Season 2, Episode 19. "All in the Family" Brian dates Kenny's mom.
Joe and Helen are one of my favourite TV couples. They are cute, clearly in love with one another and - thanks to Crystal Bernard's spunky performance - they have a lot of sparks flying between them. Such as here, when secrets become the topic of much (funny) discussion.
The main storyline plays to Brian's strengths as a character and the ending once again shows that Wings (like Cheers before it) will write to the character, not to the joke, as a means towards delivering a much better episode.
Loved it.
Highlight? Raising The Bar (Charlie)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
Z Rock, Law And Order, Wings, Harvey Birdman
Monday, August 17th, 2009
06.00 Z Rock
06.30 Law And Order
02.00 Wings
02.30 Harvey Birdman
Z Rock. Season 2, Episode 1.
This is the best episode of Z Rock so far, because... it's the most plot-driven episode so far. Following the events of the Season One finale, the band has broken up and this is the story of how their friends (including Joan Rivers) trick them into meeting up and (possibly) coming back together.
As such it has even more of a 'feel good factor' than a normal episode.
Law And Order. Season 19, Episode 10. "Pledge" Why is the suspect obsessed with the students of a particular sorority?
Complex and engrossing. An example of Law And Order at it's best. And an example of what I want Law And Order to be when I sit down to watch it. It's starts off with two murders and grows until it becomes thought-provoking drama on several weighty subjects.
Sometimes during the cop part of the hour you can easily spot Lupo doing something that will cause problems later on (in the lawyer part of the hour) but that is not the case here. I thought I had spotted something (on two occasions) but it all came to nothing and the legal part of the story stood on it's own merits.
Wings. Season 2, Episode 18. "Love Means Never Having to Say Geronimo" Brian decides to marry a girl he just met.
Very funny episode, and a illustration of why Wings is such a great series.
The idea that a regular character (on any show, be it comedy or drama) will meet someone and decide to get married immediately is dumb. Stupid beyond belief.
Why should an audience invest in a story when they know that (logically) the regular character won't really get married at the end? That's assuming that they even buy the idea of a sudden marriage for the character, anyway. Plus, the writer (Bruce Rasmussen, in this case) has to find a get-out-clause at the end that the audience will buy.
Almost impossible to pull off all of that.
But Wing's pulls it off. And makes it really, really funny. And uses the whole imporbable tale to add depth to the romance between Joe and Helen.
It works because of the character of Brian. Who has been so well developed at this stage in the series that we have no problem accepting the ludicrous idea of him running off to get married. Why? Because that's who he is. Pure and simple.
Also, Lisa Darr is a great guest star. The scene where her character 'attacks' Joe and Helen and forces them to get married is absolutely hilarious. Surely one of the best scenes in the entire series. A comedy highlight, not just because it's so funny but because it's a great character moment.
Harvey Birdman. Episode 8. "Deadomutt, Part Two" Harvey in Jail.
Much, much funnier than Part One. Whereas that episode was a one-joke affair, endlessly padded out to get to the cliff-hanger, this episode is packed full of great gags and a much better story. The entire sequence/montage with Harvey in jail (learning to read, etc.) is truly inspired and very funny.
Highlight? Law And Order (complex and engrossing)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
Z Rock, Law And Order, Harvey Birdman, Wings, The Famous Five
Monday, August 10th, 2009
06.30 Z Rock
07.00 Law And Order
08.00 Harvey Birdman
01.00 Wings
01.30 Famous Five
Z Rock. "Episode 10" Trying to get out of the contract with John Popper...
Nice ending to the first season. Ties up some stuff from the start of the season and give the whole affair the feeling of a coherent story arc, something I genuinely wasn't expecting.
I like this show. I like the guys. They are always amusing. Lynne Koplitz is very funny. The highlight of this episode comes when she strips down to her bra and urges Popper to have his way with her.
Having Joan Rivers in most episodes doesn't hurt either. The accidental killing of the poor little dog and the whole you-think-I-look-like-
Angela-Lansbury? scene are both hysterical.The twist ending is predicable, but who cares? It's funny.
Law And Order. Season 19, Episode 9. "By Perjury"A lawyer commits murder.
And he's clever, too, so Mike has to get extra sneaky to find a way to defeat him. Good scenes for Mike and Lupo in this one (my two favourite characters on the show). The bit at the end where the bad guy pulls a gun on Mike is a bit OTT for Law And Order, but it works very well within the context of this particular story. But I wouldn't want to see that kind of thing happen every week.
Harvey Birdman. Episode 7. "Deadomutt" The Blue Falcon joins the firm and Harvey gets jealous.
And no wonder. He gets some very bad (and hilarious) treatment when Blue Falcon shows up and everyone falls under the spell of his charm. Having said that, however, there is a sense that they are making the exact same joke over and over and over to fill time until they can get to the cliff-hanger.
Wings. Season 2, Episode 17. "Looking For Love In All the Wrong Places" Valentine's Day.
The first episode for Tony Shalhoub and he makes quite an impression. Antonio is working as a waiter, and he befriends Helen while she waits for Joe to show up. Shalhoub is hilarious. And it's easy to see why they brought him back.
Famous Five. Episode 7. "Five Go Off To Camp, Part One" The Spook Train.
It's a pity they didn't film all the books as two-parters. The pace in this is just right. Not frantic or rushed. Since they are not just talking to service the plot there's a chance for some character moments. When they gang go camping they hear tales of a Spook Train and decided to go out in the night and investigate. Anne (the youngest) is too scared to go out (seems strange, after all they have been through, but never mind...) so Julian decides that George must stay with Anne. This is little character conflict within the group is interesting to observe. Had this been a half-hour adaptation, I'm sure we'd have lost all of this.
Highlight? Wings (Tony Shalhoub)
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Arrested Development, In Plain Sight, Burn Notice, Party Down, Dark Skies, Harvey Birdman
Friday, July 31st, 2009
07.30 Arrested Development
08.00 In Plain Sight
09.00 Burn Notice
10.00 Party Down
11.00 Dark Skies
01.00 Harvey Birdman
01.15 Harvey Birdman
Arrested Development. Season 2, Episode 7. "Switch Hitter" Baseball game.
Lots to love here. Several guest stars whose work I am a huge fan of: Ed Begley Jr., J.K. Simmons and Andy Richter. What an amazing guest cast.
Begley's character is used to make fun of alopecia. Only on Arrested Development. To be fair, some of the jokes are at the expense of the Bluth family's understanding of alopecia (particularly Gob) but the rest are flat out alopecia-is-funny gags. I love it.
I also love the whole Maeby-becomes-a-studio-executive storyline (which starts here). For two reasons: it is flat out hilarious and it takes pot shots at the stupidity of studio executives. I love stuff like that.
In Plain Sight. Season 2, Episode 11. "Jailbait" Father and daughter fighting, where dad is a crook in Witsec.
Weak. There are two twists in the story. The first is predictable (the daughter has fallen in love with the son of the man who killed her mother) and the second is unexpected (the death of the mother was deliberate, not accidental) but the whole story is uninvolving. It's 'too TV' for IPS. Neither the father nor the daughter are particularly likable/interesting so it's hard to invest/care.
Mary, meanwhile, finally says 'Yes' to her boyfriend's marriage proposal. I wasn't expecting that. Back when he made the proposal I was shocked that she said 'No'. But now that I understand Mary a bit better, I really want her to be with Marshall instead. I presume that that is where the show is heading?
Burn Notice. Season 3, Episode 6. "The Hunter" Kidnapped and hunted through the Everglades.
Another change-of-pace episode. In departure from formula Michael is tracked down by an old foe, abducted and - having made an escape - is chased through the Everglades by a team of mercenaries.
There's no client this week, but there is a character written in to fill the void: An arms dealer who has been kidnapped also and must run with Michael, though he and Michael have no sympathy for one another. It's an old dynamic, but it works well here.
As is always the case, the fun here is in watching Michael - a very smart good guy - outwit the bad guys using his brains not his brawn.
Party Down. Episode 9. "James Rolf High School Twentieth Reunion" Ron works his own high school reunion.
I prefer Jane Lynch, but if you are going to 'replace' her with someone, then Jennifer Coolidge is a good way to go. She gets a few good laughs, but this is Ron's episode. It's also another story-driven, and character-driven - episode. Ron's blind optimism, with regard to scoring with the hot lady from his high school, is dreadfully sad and incredibly hilarious in equal measure.
Kyle Bornheimer is underused in a brief cameo. Want to see more of this very funny guy!
Dark Skies. Episode 1. "The Awakening" John Loengard begins to discover that 20th century history as he knows it is a lie...
And aliens are behind it all. I was a huge fan of Dark Skies back in 1997 and was one of the people who campaigned to keep it alive for a second season. Watching it again, for the very first time in 12 years, I can see that it is fast moving and entertaining. I just can't decided - yet - if it's very good or not.
The story opens in the early 1960s with the arrival, in Washington D.C., of John Loengard and his girlfriend Kim Sayers as they each start out on their respective careers. Kim is sidelined for most of the movie as we follow John's investigations into Project Blue Book, the official government group that investigates UFO sightings.
John is threatened to back off. An action that makes no great sense but which, of course, only serves to make him dig all the harder. Luckily, one of the guys that ran him off the road and threatened him was the actual head of Majestic 12 - the Black Ops version of Project Blue Book. John tracks this man down... very easily. And is allowed entry into Majestic 12... very easily.
All of this is quite simplistic and conflict-free, but it does make for a fast pace. By the mid-way stage of the tale, John is working inside M12 as an agent and embroiled in all sorts of alien-related hijinks. As this wasn't enough, his girlfriend Kim now enters the story again and is promptly taken over by an alien.
In the final quarter of the movie, John has to risk all to save his lady, and - having done that - he and Kim go on the run. From Majestic 12, and the aliens.
Yes, things happen way too easily, but the pace is fast, Eric Close makes a great leading man and it's action-packed and very entertaining. The sixties-setting is nice and fresh, too. Plus the idea that the show will show us what really happened behind the news stories is a major hook for wanting to see more.
Harvey Birdman. Episode 6. "The Dabba Don" Fred Flintstone.
Fred, Barney and the gang appear... as mobsters. Only on Harvey Birdman...
This is a fast moving and very funny episode. It uses (a version of) The Sopranos theme to open the episode, showing Fred on his way to work. And things get even funnier from there. Harvey keeps missing the significance of threats, Thundarr appears as a leg-breaker and Judge Mightor meets a sad end. No great loss, I prefer Mentok.
Harvey Birdman. Episode 9. "X, The Exterminator" A hitman comes after Harvey.
With this episode, I feel, more than any other, the show emerges from under the gimmick of just being a show that uses old Hanna Barbera characters in an 'adult', irreverent way, and starts to flesh out it's own world and it's own characters. X is one of the best of these. A pathetic hitman who has never gotten over his decades-old vendetta.
Highlight? Burn Notice (another change-of-pace episode)
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Harvey Birdman, Wings
Monday, July 28th, 2009
02:00 Harvey Birdman
02:15 Harvey Birdman
02:30 Wings
Harvey Birdman. Episode 2. "Very Personal Injury" Apache Chief.
An episode that can be watched multiple times. I know, I've done it. The Bear is introduced and gets laughs. Soon, when he becomes a recurring character, he will get even more laughs. Yay!
Harvey Birdman. Episode 5. "Shoyu Weenie" Jabberjaw and The Neptunes.
Judge Mentok the Mind-Taker appears. My favourite judge.
Wings. Season 2, Episode 16. "Plane Nine From Nantucket" UFO
A nice story idea. Both Joe and Brian see a UFO but they react differently to the aftermath. Brian tells people and Joe wants to keep it quite. A simple idea, but one that is suited to the show. It works as a character piece and as a funny episode in it's own right.
Highlight? Wings (funny)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
Big Bang Theory, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Supernatural, Flashpoint, Harvey Birdman, Venture Brothers
Sunday, July 26th, 2009
06.00 The Big Bang Theory
06.30 Doctor Who
07.30 Torchwood
08.30 Supernatural
09.30 Flashpoint
01.00 Harvey Birdman
01.15 Harvey Birdman
01.30 The Venture Brothers
The Big Bang Theory. Season 2, Episode 21. "The Vegas Renormalization" The boys hit Vegas.
Two plots: both golden. The boys head to Vegas where Wolowitz scores with Jodi Lyn O'Keefe. Sort of. Bottom line: putting these characters (this cast) in a Vegas setting is sure to generate laughs.
Meanwhile, in a clever stroke by the writers, Sheldon stays with Penny. Always a good pairing.
Doctor Who. "The Runaway Bride"
Catherine Tate normally annoys the crap out of me (I've seen snippets of her awful BBC 2 comedy show and her charm eludes me, to be honest), however... by the end of this episode I was quite liking her character. Tate gives a one-note performance for most of the hour, but as soon as she allows her character to mellow a tiny bit - towards the end - it makes a world of difference.
Anyway, even if Catherine Tate had ruined this for me (she didn't) I would have been blown away by the sight of the TARDIS in a car chase. Sort of. Basically, when the bride of the title is kidnapped by a robotic taxi driver (don't you hate when that happens?) The Doctor flies the TARDIS down the motorway in hot pursuit.
It may well be the coolest thing I have ever seen.
I was wetting my Geek-Pants for the entire chase sequence. It was pure heaven. Thank you, Russell T. Davies, once again, for saving Doctor Who and making it better than it ever was before.
Wow.
Torchwood. Episode 1. "Everything Changes" A cop investigates a mysterious organisation, and ends up joining them!
Eve Myles is crazy sexy (she reminds me of Kari Wuhrer) and I really love that accent. On the strength of her alone, I would want to watch more of this show. But, as it happens, this is a pretty strong opening episode. Rather than tell us very much about Torchwood the show opts to put them in the background and make them into a mystery. The lead character in this story doesn't have much of a clue. She is investigating them. We see everything from her point of view, and what little she learns is all we know by the end of the episode. A pretty strong storytelling technique.
Supernatural. Season 4, Episode 13. "After School Special" The boys return (briefly) to a high school that they attended (briefly).
Superb. The best episode of the season so far, and one of the strongest episodes that the show has ever delivered. This one is a real treat.
It's also one of the saddest stories you will ever see. Soul-wrenching sadness. You will ache from watching this one. I certainly did.
Half the story is flashback, and most of the scenes serve no great purpose in the plot. They exist to flesh out the characters. Particularly the character of Sam (who has never, ever, been better than he is in this episode), but even the guest characters are also superbly sketched in this outing. The stories of Sam's friend, the bully and the nice teacher are genuinely superb. Simple stories. Linear and basic. The teacher, for example, has absolutely nothing to do with the plot. He is part of the story to help us get an understanding of Sam. And, on that level, it's a great story choice. But - and I love this - thanks to a typically fine performance by Chad Willett we get a pretty good character profile on the teacher, too.
But this is Sam's show all the way. Jared Padalecki and Colin Ford bring Sam to life in a way that I honestly think the show has never managed to do before. Dean has been my favourite character for a long time, because the writing has given him a status that is nothing short of epic. Sam, meanwhile, has been a pivotal part of epic storylines and that's just not the same thing.
Well, that changes now.
Nothing is more epic than loneliness. And, with this episode, the writers successful pin a whole heap of loneliness onto the character. In a way that will endure. Not just loneliness, either, they imbue him with some hardcore awareness, too. Which, I suppose, only deepens the loneliness.
Honestly, after watching this, my heart bled for the guy. And that's great.
Flashpoint. Episode 17. "Aisle 13" Supermarket.
After an average outing last time (with famous guest stars), the show returns to form in this episode with a superb story (having no-name guest stars).
Flashpoint excels at making us care about the guest characters and their plight. And James Hurst delivers a lovely motivation in this one: friendship. The protagonist in this tale is driven to doing something stupid by his desire to keep his best friend in town. Just that simple. And wonderful.
The cast are great, the setting is great and the episode delivers in every respect. A+ from me. When Flashpoint is this good (which happens a lot) it's one of the five best shows on TV.
Harvey Birdman. Episode 3. "Shaggy Busted"
I need to stop watching and re-watching this episode. I know it too well. So well, I can't find laughs anymore for even the best jokes.
I need to lock this episode away in a vault and dig it out again in 2025...
Harvey Birdman. Episode 4. "Death By Chocolate" The Yogi Bear episode.
Lots of goodness here: Phil Ken Sebben, the Dr. Quincy bikini-clad-girl joke, the appearance of Dick Dastardly and the entire closing act where Harvey and Boo Boo become lovers...
Surreal? Yes. Hilarious? Yes.
The Venture Brothers. Episode 7. "Home Insecurity" Brock meets bionic man Steve Summers in the woods, and the rest of the regulars are trapped in their own compound's panic room.
Delightful. A great episode. Both plots are funny and switching between them keeps them both fresh and fast moving. All the humour comes from the characters own traits and the Helper robot gets the biggest laughs from me. Best bit? Helper finds the plans for the new robot and runs away from home...
Highlight? Supernatural (epic)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
Futurama, Harvey Birdman, Stacked, The Tick
Monday, December 10th, 2007
10:00 Harvey Birdman
10:15 Harvey Birdman
10:30 The Tick
11:00 Stacked
11:30 Futurama
Harvey Birdman. Episode 3. "Shaggy Busted" is my favourite of the early HB installents and it's probably the first one I saw. I've seen it so many times now, over the years, that I no longer know if I still find it funny or not. I just love watching it. There are many things to love here: First and foremost the inclusion of Scooby-Doo, Shaggy Rogers, Fred Jones (who?), Velma Dinkley and (the very sexy) Daphne Blake. Secondly, this is the episode that introduces the character of Peanut (Harvey's clerk at the law firm of Sebben & Sebben) and their scenes together at the start of the episode are some of the funniest ever given the two characters. Harvey's "you'll never use that" attitude to the law, and Peanut's links to murder (?) and sexual perversion (!) are given an ample airing. His full-on advances towards Daphne later in the episode are equally hilarious. But this is Harvey's show. His arrival at prision (to be greeted by a chorus of disgruntled former clients) and his willingness to get hammered the night before trial all server to generate a lot of laughs.
Apart from that, neither the judge (Hiram Mightor) nor the prosecutor (Spyro) are among my favourites. Neither are very funny, but this is still my favourite early episode of the this wonderful series.
Harvey Birdman. Episode 2. Maybe because I haven't watched "Very Personal Injury" quite as many times as "Shaggy Busted" but it proves to be much funnier this time around. Apache Chief, the Native American former Superfriend who has the power to grow very large, saves the city once again. Afterwards, he heads into Javalux for a cup of coffee and accidentally spills the hot coffee on his lap. Ouch! Myron Reducto (one of my fave characters) sits in the prosecutors chair and is hilarious from start to finish. He even gets to win the case, and help Apache Chief find happiness and true love in the process. Yay! Even better than this, this episode introduces the silent Bear who goes on to appear in many, many episodes.
The Tick. Episode 1. I've finally got around to watching The Tick on DVD. My Tick collection - up to now - has consisted of video tapes with Voice Overs on the closing credits. Very annoying in Season 3 when The Tick was reading out letters from fans and you couldn't hear the jokes. Thank goodness for DVDs. Yay!
Anyway.
The first episode opens with The Tick and Arthur talking about their time together as superheros. We flash back to see how The Tick first came to The City and met Arthur for the first time. His arrival is typically hilarious, and Arthur is a wonderfully sweet and likable character from the get-go. This first story gives us a great view of The City, with it's scores of superheroes running around bumping into one another (literally at one point). Die Fledermaus and American Maid get little more than cameos and if this episode has a weakness it is the Villians: the Idea Men (the very definition of a one note joke). They wear masks. We can't hear what they are saying. That's it. Funny once, yes. After that? Not so much.
But this is the story of the Tick all the way. "You don't eat crackers in the bed of your future!" he yells at one point. He's crazy. He's idealistic. And he's one of the best superheroes they've ever put on TV.
Stacked. Episode 17. Stranger and stranger. "Stacked" started life as one of the funniest shows on TV. Yet, curiously, all these later episodes are somewhat devoid of laughs. Strange. Gavin, Stuart and Skyler try to reason with a noisy neighbour for most of the the episode. Brian Scolaro and Steve Valentine get laughs, but everyone else falls flat.
Futurama. Season 2, Episode 10. A very funny episode with focus firmly on Professor Farnsworth who - depressed at his advancing years - unveils his clone for the first time. Cubert is a jerk, however, and seems to prove that Farnsworth has created another failure. There are a lot of great gags, as always, but - as with the best Futurama episodes - there is some honest sentiment at the core of the episode, and it makes for a very rewarding outing.
Highlight? Futurama.
