Adult Swim in Review - 10-21-01(spoilers)

[Killtacular]

Home Movies - "The Art of the Sucker Punch"

PLOT SUMMARY: Shannon, the polite bully, beats Jason up, so therefore Brendan must fight in honor of his fallen friend.

POSITIVES: I liked this episode so much more than the previous ones, because of Emo Phillips(voice of Shannon), and because the interviews were very funny. Especially with Walter and Perry. Their laughing is so contagious. McGuirk listed a lot of kung-fu moves that sound more like sexual positions and games that I personally have played.

NEGATIVES: I think it started rather slow at first. That seems to be the main problem with a lot of HM episodes.

GRADE: A

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Home Movies - "Brendan Gets Rabies"

PLOT SUMMARY: Brendan loses the neighbor's cat, and finds it later, only now it has rabies. It bites him, and leads to a mess of euthanization and confusion.

POSITIVES: Some great dialogue between Brendan and Paula. I especially liked how they explained the basic premise of this show. The point is that people forget that Brendan is a kid when they're talking to him. And that is the whole point of Brendan. If you can't understand that, you just won't understand the show. The video tribute was cute too.

NEGATIVES: Where was McGuirk?! I'm sure he'd have.. SOMETHING funny to comment about all of this...

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THE BRAK SHOW - "Mobab"

PLOT SUMMARY: Mobab steals Mom away for some lovin', and Brak's the only one that can save her. Sort of.

POSITIVES: Brak's fantasy is funny, and the costume gag is funny.

NEGATIVES: The songs are not funny and... yep. The messy house scene was stolen from Duckman. I hate stealing. Some of it was just..blah.

GRADE: C

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SEALAB - "Waking Quinn"

POSITIVES: I dunno. Chubby Cox? I guess that's....ha ha..uh..

NEGATIVES: Oh, screw it. This was complete STUPIDITY. This wasn't funny stupid like Flipmode. It was stupid stupid. I could tell they were so desperate that they just started putting in penis innuendo to save it. But that's backwards thinking, because penis innuendo is what turned me off from the show in the first place. Bad, Williams St. Bad.

GRADE: F

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COWBOY BEBOP - "My Funny Valentine"

PLOT SUMMARY: Check out Fate Morgana's site for info.

EDITS: As far as I can tell, few, if none. They didn't even edit Faye when she was semi-nude.. if you remember that OS episode where Melfina was digitally clothed, despite having a blanket over her..... this is an improvement.

POSITIVES: Good past revelation, fat implant?!, Edward wants some chocolate!

NEGATIVES: Can't think of any. It was a really good Faye episode.

GRADE: A

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COWBOY BEBOP: "Black Dog Serenade"

PLOT SUMMARY: See above.

EDITS: Take THAT, FCC! This episode is a declaration of independence for Williams St. If the FCC still regulated, do you think CN would run it? Hell no. Anyway, the edits. THERE WAS PLENTY OF BLOOD IN THIS EPISODE. If you can't be happy with the amount shown, then I would consider you a masochist. There was blood removal in some of the deaths and some slight cleaning up of the dead bodies.

POSITIVES: Wonderfully depressing episode. Plenty of good action and death.

NEGATIVES: Slightly cliched ending.

GRADE: A+

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Originally posted by Matt Wilson

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COWBOY BEBOP - "My Funny Valentine"

PLOT SUMMARY: Check out Fate Morgana's site for info.

EDITS: As far as I can tell, few, if none. They didn't even edit Faye when she was semi-nude.. if you remember that OS episode where Melfina was digitally clothed, despite having a blanket over her..... this is an improvement.

POSITIVES: Good past revelation, fat implant?!, Edward wants some chocolate!

NEGATIVES: Can't think of any. It was a really good Faye episode.

GRADE: A

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I would argue that the coincidence of Whitney showing up right after Faye told her story is slightly contrived. But then, the show pretty much acknowledged that from the outset--("I wonder why I suddenly thought of him out of the blue like that?"--Faye)

Despite that, all Faye episodes are my favourite because she's the most complicated character in the show. Can't wait for "Speak like a Child" and "Hard Luck Woman."

[Killtacular]

I wanna see Mushroom Samba myself..

[Calhoun07]

No review on SGC2C? Oh well! Those always deserve A's anyway!

Regarding Sealab 2021...I've seen traffic accidents look better than that episode. Were they on drugs when they put that together?

[DR. BELCH]

Like the man said, "Black Dog Seranade" wasn't for the kiddies or the women. That's one sure-fire way to give up smoking for good.
Not to sound too obvious, but an interesting juxtaposition in "Funny Valentine"--Faye is a woman desperately looking to unearth her past, and Jet and Spike are two men desperately looking to bury theirs. Which makes their oil-and-water dynamic all the more interesting. "How long were you listening to my story?" "Too long. You need to do some editing." As for Ed...well, she's Ed. Got a good laugh at the eyebrows Faye drew on the dog with a felt-tip pen. Also found the concept of an abdominal fat implant interesting, considering the lengths of the current fitness craze in America.

Space Ghost still leaves me scratching my head, though I did get a laugh out of the rerun Bjork short. "Now are you sure you remember the difference between a toilet and a couch?" "It smells like rotten eggs." But that second act bordered on incomprehensible (though I did like seeing Hanson die! Hahahahahahaha!!)

Though I did like seeing Brak's father jealous--and out of the house--I've seen better Brak shorts. I didn't get the whole giant moth thing. "I think I will be bunking with you tonight." My mom isn't sure if the guy is very short or if he married a tall woman and fathered a tall kid. "My mustache needs trimming. Hop to it!"

What was Sealab supposed to be? Quinn hallucinating while drifting in and out of conciousness after being electrocuted? interesting line: "You drink tea. Why won't you kiss me down there?" In the context I took it--um--wouldn't it be her diet that'd be a concern instead? The Chubby Cox joke and the radio guy flatulating were about the only really funny moments. Watch for a Tesla coil made from a car battery and a potato....

[The Mad Hatter]

Yup, Mushroom Samba is a hoot. I'm impressed at the way they somehow make Ed work without having her being excruciatingly annoying...

I'm glad I wasn't the only one confused at the latest Sealab episode. Honestly, the average episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force made more sense than that. (Of course, I have to admit that I find that show fairly tolerable. Yes, I'm a weird one.)

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Originally posted by DR. BELCH
Like the man said, "Black Dog Seranade" wasn't for the kiddies or the women.


And that's the truth! I was surprised that so many young people (but not on this board...so far) genuinely thought it was the worst CB episode so far. It wasn't "fun" or "amusing," they thought. I'm a fan of hard boiled film noir, so this was a nice change of pace. I wouldn't like it if CB was always like this, though. It did indeed start off quite slow, but it gained intensity as it went on. I guess it is for the old guys--the episode, like them, takes a while to get going.

Though it isn't much "slower starting" than an average episode of Sopranos or Buffy, so I don't know what the fuss was about. Maybe because it's animated that people expect a quicker pace.

(For the record, I thought the second CB episode, "Stray Dog Strut," when they first got Ein, was the worst episode of CB--very flimsy plot, no character insights, no depth, no drama, jokes paced too slowly...)

I saw yesterday's Sealab too, thanks to my friend. I think the premise doesn't lend itself to much range, hence it can lose its cuteness rather quickly. I guess you could call the show rather "flimsy." But I guess as long as it can amuse one with a cheap laugh, people will continue to enjoy it.

Home Movies does indeed feel more like a radio show at times--it's very dialogue driven, and maybe squanders its potential as an animated show. But it has some good dialogue.

[Killtacular]

Stray Dog Strut reminded me of Scooby Doo, for some reason..

[Dante Bunny]

I kinda concerned about Cowboy Beebop. When they finished running episodes of Cowboy Bebop, are they going to rerun it? I'm afraid they will take it off the aif, because of the terrorist attack.


Please answer.

[Dante Bunny]

And PS: I like to see Faye episodes and I also like to see Ed episodes too! They are my favorite characters on CB.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Originally posted by G.I. D'oh!
I kinda concerned about Cowboy Beebop. When they finished running episodes of Cowboy Bebop, are they going to rerun it? I'm afraid they will take it off the aif, because of the terrorist attack.


Please answer.

Terrorist attacks don't take shows off the air--ratings do. I guess it depends on how satisfied they are with CB. It does not seem to be doing horribly bad, and seems to be holding up well in the uncompetitive and rarely watched 12:00am-1:00am time frame.

I hope they eventually air the unaired episodes, though. They've skipped two so far, and I have a nagging feeling an upcoming one ("Cowboy Funk") will be iffy to CN.

IMO, 2 runs is all CB needs. After that, they can tale CB off the air and do what they want.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Originally posted by Matt Wilson
Stray Dog Strut reminded me of Scooby Doo, for some reason..

Do you mean that Scooby Doo has poorly paced jokes, no drama, flimsy plots, no character insights, no depth...?

Yep. "Stray Dog Strut" and the upcoming "Wild Horses" are the weakest CB episodes, IMO.