Pop Culture – Page 25 – Cannibalistic Nerd

Carried Away – Yes, Even You Can Have a Punny TV Show

I love a good pun. Ok, so perhaps the very essence of the pun means they can’t be “good.” But, still. However, the naming-a-television-show-with-a-pun-of-the-main-characters-name has got to stop. In flipping through my Entertainment Weekly fall TV preview issue, there are two new shows with these titles:

Hart of Dixie – Rachel Bilson plays doctor Zoe Hart, who leaves NYC for a practice in Alabama.
Reed Between the Lines – Tracee Ellis Ross plays Dr. Carla Reed, a psychologist who works AND has kids, people.

Other examples:
Raising Hope
Hope and Faith
Hart to Hart
Grey’s Anatomy
Better Off Ted
Saving Grace
Joan of Arcadia
Grace Under Fire
Sonny With a Chance

And on and on and on…

Here are my predictions for future television shows just waiting their chance at word play and ratings glory:

Itis What It Is – Jo Itis is a single mother raising three kids and juggling her juggling career and the rest of life’s hassles.

Two Birds, One Stone – Kendra and Patrick Bird are jewel thieves wrapped up in international intrigue and love for each other.

Old Hat – Gary Hat, a resident of the local retirement home, is a retired cop. Everybody bugs him for advice on cold cases. (Spin-off will be Old Adage, about a lady named Adage Adams)

Tossen Cookies – Cookie Tossen is a baker, and perpetually single. She needs a man to do it with her and some help in the kitchen! She also has a sensitive stomach.

Fall on the Sworde – A sci-fi show where the entire nation has mysteriously stopped experiencing Winter, Summer, and Spring. It’s up to scientist Harold Sworde to figure out why.

Steve All About It – Steve Hunch is the managing editor of a struggling newspaper. His life pretty much sucks.

Half and Half – Two detectives – Ronnie Half, an idealistic newbie, and Dan Waite, a grizzled and cynical dwarf – try and get along while stopping crime in the city of Atlanta. If it’s on the same network, maybe they can get occasional help from Gary Hat. And oh my God, there has already been a show called Half & Half about half sisters. It ran for four years. Crap. Potential new names for my show: Half-Pint, The Ron and Short of It, or The Waiting is the Halfest Part.

E = M.C. Squared – Twins Michael and Charlie are aspiring rappers. Their rapping duo act is called Energy. They rap at the local town square for tips and also help the locals with their various problems.

MY TV show will be called “Carried Away,” about a woman obsessed with coming up with TV show titles with puns in them.

I could do this allll day.

Saturday Morning Ridiculousness – Super Friends S1 Ep2

This is part of my weekly Saturday Morning installment dedicated to archiving and commenting on the wonderful “what else can we put in here to make it an hour” ridiculousness that is the cartoon series, Super Friends.

Season 1 – Episode 2: “The Baffles Puzzle”

Airdate was September 15, 1973.

The Super Friends consist of Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Batman, and Robin. Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog are the “Junior Super Friends.” They haven’t made partner yet. They also have no super powers other than Wonder Dog’s ability to almost speak.

Short Synopsis: Professor Baffles keeps stealing stuff, but not really. He’s using a chemical that disintegrates everything except for glass and ways to escape when in peril. The chemical smells like almonds. Professor Baffles is destroying art and literature because he believes that’s what corrupted man. PB is shocked and appalled to find out the two henchmen who have been helping him are only in it for the money. The henchmen kidnap PB, Wendy, and Marvin – everyone is (eventually, good lord, eventually) saved by the Super Friends. Wonder Dog is allergic to almonds.

Weekly Meeting Shenanigans
This is the 2nd episode with the Super Friends in their weekly meeting. From what I can gather so far, the weekly meeting is in the same vein as a book club where no one has read the book or a band practice where no one can play an instrument. This week, at their weekly meeting:

supermanwaits — Superman waits by the phone for an emergency like a desperate woman waits for a date to call.

Important Super Friends Acronym: S.D.I. – Secret Department of Investigation. They are totally legit.

Lamest Proof of Skillz Ever: Professor Baffles calls the S.D.I., stating that he plans on absconding with rare lithographs that France has lent to the U.S. for exhibition, currently residing at the American National Museum. To prove that his threat is very real and that there’s nothing anyone can do to stop him, he cops to a previous sinister theft – he totes stole all the encyclopedias from the local library, y’all.

Logistics! Not a Super Power.
Professor Baffles clearly explains that he will steal the lithographs at precisely 8 p.m. No kidding, this is what the narrator says in the next scene: “That night at ten minutes before 8, the Super Friends stake out the American Museum.” Are you shitting me? Ten minutes? I think this sums up why there’s no reason they couldn’t have at least committed to a half an hour prep time:

Superman Thinks He’s the Bees Knees
“If they’ve tricked me, then they’ve tricked the others, too.”

Best. Instructions. Ever.
“You check the coast of Spain, and I’ll see about Batman and Robin.” – Superman

Shut Up, Batman
Superman (double checking that the money they have been tasked with protecting is still in fact, there): The money is gone!
Batman: I suggest we investigate.

“Learning is something only Marvin can do for Marvin – right, Superman?” – Batman

keepoffgrass — Batman chiding Robin for not keeping off the grass.

My husband doodled this at work last week. Unrelated, but eerily appropriate:

If you would like to witness these shenanigans in all their glory, the first season of Super Friends is available on DVD. This is an affiliate link.

The Goonies vs Super 8 – A Sign I May Be Ready for Parenthood

Whether to have kids is a much discussed topic in our household. One of my concerns is that I don’t feel like an adult. I still feel like a kid – I don’t know how the world works, I’m not responsible enough (and don’t do enough adult-y things like know how the stock market works), I like the freedom to watch all the violent R-rated movies I want to, and so on.

I’ve “grown” to realize that most people either don’t feel like adults, are actually irresponsible/crazy/just shouldn’t be a parent, or are an adult but still don’t have all their adult bases covered like I expect myself to. “Adult bases covered” sounds like some term from the Hays Code, but I assure you I don’t mean public indecency.

Like most things in my life – I have used Pop Culture to help me understand where I’m at as a person.

We saw Super 8 when it came out this year. It’s about a group of adolescent kids trying to solve a mystery/avoid being eaten about/by an alien. Additionally, one of my favorite movies is The Goonies – it came out when I was roughly 8 years old – which is about a group of adolescent kids trying to find a pirate’s treasure/not be ruthlessly murdered by a trio of ex-cons.

As I was watching Super 8, I was hit with the strangest sensation: I’m not reacting to this movie, which has the same general theme and plot, as I do to The Goonies.**

These are my feelings while watching The Goonies:

Skeleton Piano — You play that skeleton piano until you make it to the treasure or someone gets impaled, there’s a neighborhood at stake!

Troy's Bucket — Don’t go up Troy’s bucket to ensure your safety and let your parents know they don’t need to release an Amber Alert, it’s your time, your time down there! Your parents don’t understand! Obviously y’all battling homicidal maniacs for a pirate treasure is the only viable option to preserve your happy childhoods!

Sloth Love Chunk — Wow, that’s so great that Chunk, an 11 year old boy, offered up his parents’ home and life to a giant, mentally handicapped man-child.

In summary: I identify with the kids. I now know the reason for that is because I saw this movie for the first time when I was a kid, because watching Super 8 was very different:

super8girl — That girl stole her father’s car? Oh dear, she must come from a troubled home. I hope she doesn’t wreck it because the insurance premiums will go through the roof.

super8dad — What in the fuck are these parents’ deals? They are setting horrible examples and emotionally neglecting their children. I certainly hope they come around to understand how great their kids are and get themselves together.

So, if I end up with a kid, I can tell them that a movie about One-Eye Willie’s booty and a movie about a bunch of teens making a zombie movie had something to do with their existence.

**I understand that E.T. is the blueprint for Super 8, but I’ve only seen that movie once, when I was 5 years old. But, I’m sure the identification with/concern for dichotomy exists there as well.

Saturday Morning Ridiculousness

If you’re my age, then you probably know and watched the Super Friends Saturday morning cartoon show when you were a kid. If you are unlike me, then you did not watch reruns of it after midnight in your 20s in college (NOT stoned, completely sober – no excuses for me). If you haven’t seen this show since you were a kid, you may have forgotten how utterly insane it was. This show is endlessly amusing to me.

I delight in watching Superman not using his powers out of sheer laziness. In watching Wonder Woman offer to be in charge of a schedule for helping balloon-like aliens as if they didn’t have an intern to do that. In the seemingly random things the Super Friends find shocking and the ones that don’t phase them at all.

It is a spectacle for the eyes, ears, and the “wait, what?” part of your brain.

So, for probably mostly my own amusement, I will be watching every episode (or until I grow tired of it) – one a week, in order to document the marvelous ridiculousness that is Super Friends. And so, I present to you:

Season 1 – Episode 1: “The Power Pirate”

Air date was September 8, 1973.

Short synopsis: An alien comes to earth to steal energy because his planet used all theirs, thus wreaking havoc on lil ol’ earth. Superman solves the problem by deciding to “polish” their moon until it is “as smooth as glass,” allowing the aliens to…something about the sun.

Best Jerking Around Moment:

Superman pretends that he can’t beat Marvin at arm wrestling and the rest of the Super Friends jokingly discuss whether they should help Superman. This is happening during the WEEKLY SUPER FRIENDS MEETING. Which, Wendy baked a cake for.

Important Lesson and Theme:
“Don’t forget, not everyone has super strength. But, everyone has a brain. You can do super things with your brain.” -Batman

Hey, Can I Get a Ride?
You will never see a show more obsessed with how superheroes got somewhere. In this episode alone, they address the issue FIVE TIMES: