Reviews: Anything Else [1/12 - 1/16]

[livingfruitvirus]

Here's an experimental review thread we're trying out. We used to do it but it was done away with as of the premiere of ASA.

This thread is for chat and review for the Adult Swim reruns showing this week. This week, Sealab 2021, Oblongs, Aqua Teen, Brak, Ripping Friends, Mission Hill, and Home Movies will be replays. So talk away.

[stanteau]

Futurama - #1ACV01: Space Pilot 3000 (semi-NEW)

A great introduction to the series

A

The Oblongs - #236-010: My Name is Robbie

Horribe episode form a horrible series

F

Sealab 2021 - #2104: Little Orphan Angry

Worst Sealab ever,not a single funny joke in it,almost as bad as the MC Chris farewell or 7211

F

Sealab 2021 - #2105: Waking Quinn

Just too ****in weird with no real punchline

D

The Brak Show - #2106: Mobab


**** this show sucks

D

ATHF - #2202: Ol Drippy

Here we go,one of my fav ATHF's

A+

The Ripping Friends - #RF-02: The Infernal Wedding

...so...bad

F

Mission Hill - #3950-02: Andy Joins the PTA

A good episode,though not my fav.I loev the one kids mom though,classic.

B+

[Joe Tully]

I thought you were supposed to review after the episodes aired. :/

Try to keep the Futurama comments in the other thread. This shouldn't be the new ASC review thread.

[stanteau]

but I've seen it all before

[KingKoopa]

Great. More Herculoids Babies...

[sl4]

Originally posted by KingKoopa
Great. More Herculoids Babies...

Aquaman Booty Groove, we hardly knew ye...

[JTurner954]

Well, it was nice to see a half hour of Sealab 2021 and a commercial for Home Movies. That show deserves at least one DVD release.

The only things I did not like seeing so far were those Herculoids babies and The Oblongs.

If they replaced The Oblongs with a half hour of Home Movies, the block would be great.

[IWDP Lim]

Well, even if it's not reruns, guess it goes here...

Wonder Twins - HA HA. Lets hope we get more new shorts. And maybe a return of a salty shaker...

New look - Oh dear god. The first thing I thought on this? "THEY ROBBED THE SCHOOL OF TITO!" This whole thing just feel slike a bad Apirl Fools joke. I mean, ok, the new graphics I can handle, even if Safty Guide and Airtoons is better that kind of thing, but that music....WHO CAME UP WITH THAT PEICE OF CRAP?! No, actually, THAT is the best they could come up with? Come on, BOOMERANG'S theme is better than that sludge. Theres just no life to it, and it's supposed to be a comedy theme? It's just a flat drum beat with some small "whoops" in there, that's not comedy, thats suckity. And now we're stuck with this bland and flavorless song? I'd rather just have Tito back, even if it IS just stock :(

[Killtacular]

Watering Hole: It was decent. I'm glad they're going with a sort of adlib route.. unlike Lewis Lectures. My god, that was drek. This was okay.

[IWDP Lim]

What was that animal thing Nick Park did? This kinda had that feel to it. Anyway, this was good, I just wish they didn't stick it all the way at the end though. I hope there are more of them.

[Nik Jam]

Looks like ala Mobile Suit Gundam. The first episodes of all the shows they were supposed to show (Except Futurama) have been skipped. (Sealab, ATHF, Brak, Ripping Friends, and Mission Hill) Oblongs too. Oh well.

[EightOh]

I'm logging in from someone else's computer while waiting for my Bellsouth DSL stuff to get here in a few days... stupid DirecTVDSL. First they have to shut down, then they do it A WEEK before they were supposed to. :mad:

On the plus side, it's nice to be able to visit TZ again, even on slow, slow dial-up. I was having withdrawals.

Anyways, like Koopa said in the Futurama thread, I've seen everything that was shown tonight before, but it all felt new(well, other than "Infernal Wedding"...). I liked the packaging, and commend MK12 on the fine work, though I can see it getting old after a while. When I first heard the Bluetube music that I'd been waiting to hear on TV for so long, I suddenly felt very reassured that this was the right move. Big fat A+ to the "new" Adult Swim tonight and hopefully the look for the action section will be just as good. Guess we'll find out soon.

[The Landstander]

Oblongs - Didn't watch

Sealab 2021 - Hmm...They started out with my two least favorite of all the Sealabs from season 1. Little Orphan Angry just didn't seem to be funny or seem to be trying, while I just didn't "get" Waking Quinn, Waking Quinn just seemed pointless to me, the only gag I liked was how Stormy kept electricuting Quinn. Okay, maybe some of the skits were funny. So:
Little Orphan Angry: D-
Waking Quinn: C-

Brak Show: Mobab: This was actually a good one. Mobab was one of the few non-main characters on the Brak Show that was funny. At times this episode just sort of lagged on, but in general it was entertaining. A solid B+

ATHF: I loved this episode. This showed Shake at his meanest, Frylock at his wisest, and Meatwad at his, Meatwadist. Ol' Drippy was a great character, and his kindness was the perfect thing for Shake to get jokes off of. Also, this had a great ending line, "Go make a doll out of that!" A+

Edit: Argh! My dad stopped my tape halfway through the Oblongs. I missed most of the new openings. Oh, this isn't my day.

[MothMonsterMan]

Originally posted by stanteau
Sealab 2021 - #2104: Little Orphan Angry

Worst Sealab ever,not a single funny joke in it

I totally agree

[MothMonsterMan]

Originally posted by superloud4
Aquaman Booty Groove, we hardly knew ye...

Well, how many places could they do that? Wasn't that supposed to become its own show at one point?

[Jethro_McB]

What's with all the "Waking Quinn" backlass? That is a great episode! One of the best! So many quotable lines...I've actually done the "The average fish today contains more mercury than a rectal thermometer. WOULD YOU EAT A RECTAL THERMOMETER? Well I would," thing to people, it never fails to get a laugh. The constant electrocutions, Chubby Cox, and that last line - "Check out this b****in' homemade Tesla Coil!" I give Waking Quinn [B]"Not Last Place." Ding!

But "Little Orphan Angry"? Worst Episode Ever. You don't even get a ding.

[Mynd Hed]

Well I finally got a chance to look over my tape of Sunday's Adult Swim-- I have school in the morning, can't justify staying up all night on a school night for cartoons, even sweet William's Street cartoons. (-:

Anyway I must say I MUCH prefer the new bumpers over the old ones. They actually have a JOKE to them, for crying out loud, and I find them more visually pleasing as well. Good times. And their dark, sadistic humor really fits Adult Swim IMO.

Anyway, what's to be said about the shows that hasn't already been said. Sealab has definitely improved since back in the day. Those old ones are all right, but the new ones are pure gold. Ditto the Brak Show: too much singing not enough funny. I hadn't seen that particular Aqua Teens yet, it was all right, but again, not quite up to par with some of their later ones (Happy Time Harry, anyone?).

As for Mission Hill and Ripping Friends... meh X 2. I set my VCR to switch to Comedy Central and record me some classic Critic action instead.

[The Landstander]

Originally posted by Mynd Hed
Anyway, what's to be said about the shows that hasn't already been said. Sealab has definitely improved since back in the day. Those old ones are all right, but the new ones are pure gold.

hmm. i dont know about that one. imo, season 1 was much better than season 2. season 1 had about 2 bad episodes out of 14 (both of which were on last night). season 2 had some bad episodes (bizarro, 7211 [its only funny the first time]) and some mediocre episodes (baggy pants, policy). also season 1 had HESH. gotta love hesh. plus, the best season 1 episodes were better than the best season 2.

[JTurner954]

Those 2 episodes of Sealab that aired last night are considered bad ones?? :confused:

Anyway, the only really bad one was that one where it was an old episode with new dubbing.

[J.C.]

The Oblongs - Not one of my favorite episodes out of the few there are, but a decent one.

B+

Sealab 2021 (Little Orphan Angry) - Never really liked this episode. Just about any other episode would be better then this one, IMO.

C-

Sealab 2021 (Waking Quinn) - Again, not a very strong episode, but it does remind me of something that Ralph Bakshi might of done back in the 70s. Definatly better then the other episode they showed, just not by much.

B-

The Brak Show - Meh. About average for this show, but the singing makes it loose a few points.

C+

Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Now here we go. Other then Futurama itself, I felt this was the best episode shown in last nights block.

A-

The Ripping Friends - Watched The Critic instead.

Mission Hill - Ended up falling asleep during The Critic. :D

Really enjoying the new look over the old one with the swimmers. Heck, they're actually animated, and that's almost always a plus when it comes to an animation block. Could of gone without seeing the Herculoids Babies again but just loved the Wonder Twins segment.

[KingKoopa]

Home Movies: The first season was seriously weak. I'm putting the animation aside, it just seems weaker. Still, it's not BAD, just not as good as season 3. 80/100.

Yu Yu Hakusho: The Suzaku fight draws to a close, but the Dark Tournament puts the rest of the series to shame. 80/100.

Cowboy Bebop: Definately one of the top 10 of the series. Maybe even in the top 5. The use of foreshadowing is very good for effect, and the fortune teller's prediction does come true. 95/100.

[JTurner954]

Home Movies: Well if this was the pilot, I could see why the show didn't do so well on UPN. The stuff with Brendan's mom wasn't as funny as it usually is. For some reason, I think the show got better when Paula Poundstone didn't do her voice. Plus, Brendan sounded like he had a cold. Some good moments as usual with McGurk and Brendan. Good episode though.

Overall grade: B

[sl4]

Home Movies: Is it just me, or did some parts of this episode seem to move really quickly compared to other parts? Brendon and McGuirk's voices seemed a little bit higher than they are now, and Paula Poundstone as Brendon's mom was just really had to get used to. This episode wasn't all that funny, but I've seen a few of the later season one episodes, so I'm glad it picks up after this slow start.

B+

[JTurner954]

Yeah, at times the episode felt like Home Movies and other things it did not.

Lupin the 3rd: Wow, I'm impressed. The animation is very pleasing to the eyes and not trying to be super-spectacular (it's definitetely from the 70's). Each character is very different in personality which shows that this show can become a favorite of mine. The show has DBZ-ish humor which I am very happy with since it helps lessen the waiting of having DBZ restart from the beginning. I anxiously look forward to the next episode.

Overall grade: B+

Yikes, I wish these commercials were a little longer so I have time to type these comments without missing the beginning of the show.

[livingfruitvirus]

Originally posted by JTurner954
Yeah, at times the episode felt like Home Movies and other things it did not.

Lupin the 3rd: Wow, I'm impressed. The animation is very pleasing to the eyes and not trying to be super-spectacular (it's definitetely from the 70's). Each character is very different in personality which shows that this show can become a favorite of mine. The show has DBZ-ish humor which I am very happy with since it helps lessen the waiting of having DBZ restart from the beginning. I anxiously look forward to the next episode.

Overall grade: B+

Yikes, I wish these commercials were a little longer so I have time to type these comments without missing the beginning of the show.

we have a thread for that.

[Spike Mcdougal]

There goes Yu Yu's opening

[JTurner954]

There is?? The subject said "anything else" so I figured I would put it here since I already subscribed to this thread. Oh well, it makes sense since it is a new show.

Inu Yasha: I wasn't so much into the whole Kikiyo-Inu Yasha segment, but I did like everything else. Shippo and The Monk (did he have a name?) are getting more and more entertaining. What will Inu Yasha decide to do?? Hmm..... looking forward to the next episode.

Overall grade: B

[Killtacular]

I hate Smile Bomb anyway. It won't be missed.

[Anyone00]

"...shapeshift to the form of......craaap."

I laughed for almost 5 minutes.

[Spike Mcdougal]

Originally posted by Matt Wilson
I hate Smile Bomb anyway. It won't be missed.

I'll miss it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ohh boy if Tank got the axe it's gonna be hell

[Killtacular]

And doesn't every single person that comes to this forum have the damn song on mp3 by now? I know you all do. Somewhere.

It's a great song, but after 5 runs of the series, I tire of it so. What Planet Is This is a much better song.

[Artemis]

Originally posted by Anyone00
"...shapeshift to the form of......craaap."

I laughed for almost 5 minutes.


You and me both brother! XD

[Sir Gatts]

Originally posted by Spike Mcdougal
There goes Yu Yu's opening
<- Starts waving bye-bye to Cowboy Bebop's opener. :(

[Spike Mcdougal]

Originally posted by Matt Wilson
And doesn't every single person that comes to this forum have the damn song on mp3 by now? I know you all do. Somewhere.

It's a great song, but after 5 runs of the series, I tire of it so. What Planet Is This is a much better song.

Yeah whatever.

[Killtacular]

Look, I know it's the principle of the thing. But CN said they were going to do this. It was supposed to happen when Inuyasha's OP was removed.

We were lucky to have the OPs for an extra 5 months.

[Sheamon]

So this is early Home Movies, eh? Touches of the later episodes are there, but man, the animation and music were bad, not to mention Brendan's Mom's voice. Luckily McGurk was still a psycho and the movie was as off the wall as usual, so it wasn't a total loss.

[Spike Mcdougal]

Originally posted by Matt Wilson
Look, I know it's the principle of the thing. But CN said they were going to do this. It was supposed to happen when Inuyasha's OP was removed.

We were lucky to have the OPs for an extra 5 months.

I knew that.

[Dogasu]

Regarding "Smile Bomb":

It's a great song, but after 5 runs of the series, I tire of it so.

More like two runs. Well, not really. YYH hasn't even finished its second run-through, now has it?

If anything, you should be sick of "Tank!" Five or six runs (forgot the exact number), 26 episodes (as opposed to YYH's 21)...

At least the redone Inu-Yasha opening is better than the old AS Inu-Yasha opening. Still miss Change the World, though...

Ohh boy if Tank got the axe it's gonna be hell

I'd be pissed if they kept it in. I mean, I want all the OP's intact, but for consistency's sake, if they cut one, they should cut them all. It looks more professional, more deliberate. If they kept Tank but cut out all the others, it would basically give us even more proof that Cowboy Bebop is sleeping with Cartoon Network, sharing the same bed as Dragon Ball Z and Scooby Doo. Leave 'em all or cut them all, don't just leave some in because they're "better" than others.

I know CN has its reasons for cutting the OP's. I know that it isn't just some Toonami-emulating behavior on AS's part. But the fact is, the OP's are gone, and that just flat-out sucks.

EDIT: *watches Tank!*
Who's CN's whore~? Who's CN's whore~?

[Spike Mcdougal]

Hmm what do you know Tank lives. Though it may just be for tonight

[Killtacular]

Tank is saved.

Smile Bomb dies.

I love this configuration, actually. No thank you for waking me up.

[Moof]

Bebop OP

HAPPY NOW?!?!?

[Killtacular]

More like two runs. Well, not really. YYH hasn't even finished its second run-through, now has it?

If anything, you should be sick of "Tank!" Five or six runs (forgot the exact number), 26 episodes (as opposed to YYH's 21)...

I -was- talking about Cowboy Bebop. Cowboy Bebop had five runs (starting now).

[Sir Gatts]

Originally posted by Sir Gatts
<- Starts waving bye-bye to Cowboy Bebop's opener. :(
Woah! It's still there... what happened? Maybe they couldn't remove it? :confused:

[Dogasu]

I -was- talking about Cowboy Bebop. Cowboy Bebop had five runs (starting now).

Whoops. My bad. Guess that's what happens when you don't look at the post above...

[IWDP Lim]

Considering that Tank! started after the opening flashback, it might've been a little weird in an edit. Maybe. Next week we see if we're gonna need to be pouring prairie oysters into the gutter for it.

[Arde]

Or this could be that "If the OP looks not adult-ish, remove it" speculation we had sometime ago...
Well, I'm just glad they decided not to remove Tank and replace it with a Toonami-ishthingiemagik.
It would feel quite weird to watch Bebop with a Toonami-ishtingiemagik opening.
Inu Yasha and YYH's OPs cut were fine since they weren't exactly the definitive adult-ish OP 'mature' people expect, although I can't say much also for the ASC OPs...

[Killtacular]

I think the real problem is that the ASA shows haven't been pulling in enough 18-34 viewers to interest advertisers, so the costs are reduced, which means less money for CN. In order to compensate, they air 2 extra minutes of advertising per half hour, instead of airing an interstital.

The only reason Cowboy Bebop would keep its OP is because it HAS gotten adult viewers. Plus the fact that it's on so late at night anyway.

If ASA can prove to get 18-34 people to watch it, then maybe CN will restore the OPs. So try and get college chums to tune in.

[Metadream]

I only watched one show that evening:

Brak show: A+

After that, I turned on MK: DA and didn't watch the rest of the block. :D

[IWDP Lim]

Bah, forgot the rest of the stuff to touch on...

Wonder Twins - Form of...crap. That'll probably go down as one of the more classic lines of this block ;) . A+

New Adult Swim Action bumper thingys - OK, now THESE I like. I'm jsut a fan of that kinda of art and whatnot, and it's neat seeing the more modern shows getting that kind of feel to it too, even if it's jsut for a few seconds. The music isn't too bad, but the old song wouldn't fit in too well with it, so, oh well. A

Watering Hole - Yay, still good. No idea what else to say here. A

[Nik Jam]

Interesting how they still used Toonami music. The theme to Gundam 0080 and eventually most of AS should have been kept for YYH's opening. Though I would have liked for Cowboy Bebop to get an Adult Swim intro and the OP anyway. But I guess it would be a waste of time. Shame though.

[KingKoopa]

My theory on Bebop's OP staying:

It would simply be a crime to remove it. Tank just needs to be there. It appears there's some hope for Adult Swim after all, I was afraid they'd wind up cutting ALL intros, but I was wrong, thankfully.

[sl4]

Originally posted by KingKoopa
My theory on Bebop's OP staying:

It would simply be a crime to remove it. Tank just needs to be there. It appears there's some hope for Adult Swim after all, I was afraid they'd wind up cutting ALL intros, but I was wrong, thankfully.

Maybe they're afraid they could get arrested for removing it....

::crickets chirp::

Huh, it sounded like a good idea to me at least.

[The Landstander]

since i never had the oppurtunity to review home movies when the episodes first premiered, i shall now enlighten you all with my review...

Home Movies: "Get Away From My Mom" I've seen this episode a couple of times, and every time I saw it, I didn't like it. Maybe it was the fact I was watching it "live", or because I was slightly tired, but I liked it a lot more when I saw it yesterday. Alot of people bash the first season, however it had a certain (for lack of a better word) charm that wasn't in season 2 or 3.

First off, as a pilot for a new TV show, this episode wasn't that good. It barely managed to include Melissa and Jason in the episode, and Melissa was mostly with her father. McGuirk and Brendon seemed way off in this episode (compared to their relationship as of the new episodes) such as Brendon calling him "McGuirk the jerk". Everything in this episode seemed a little off.

The positives in this episode included McGuirk talking to the soccer team (something he hasn't done much in the new episodes) Brendon staying on the phone with Paula and McGuirk and McGuirk's tattoos. The negatives included the infamous Jason snot scene (this was the scene that got associated with the show back in the UPN days, if I remember correct), and a lack of any Brendon, Jason and Melissa moments. Also, what was with that "Duck Talk" sequence? I thought that was just dumb.

Rating: C
Positives: McGuirk on the soccer field, Retroscripting, the tattoo bit, The Dark Side of the Law Trailer
Negatives: Duck Talk, Gross-Out Jason Humor, Lack of Brendon Jason and Melissa, Paula on the phone (I'm glad they stopped doing this), Off Characterization

[EightOh]

The new ASA bumpers are great. I really dug the look. Much better than the past ones, though I liked those a lot, too.

I was somewhat saddened after Yu Yu came on sans intro, but forgot about it altogether a few minutes later. I'm dumb like that. If they had removed Tank!, however, I might have broken the TV screen.

The Watering Hole was funny again and should be a welcome little addition. Same goes for the Wonder Twins. "Form of... craaap. *zap*" Heh.

And Home Movies was... wow.

[J.C.]

Home Movies - This is the first time I've seen this episode since it originaly aired on UPN a few years ago, and it's better then I remember it to be, but still has several problems with it which were already brought up in this thread. The snot coming out of Jasons nose was my biggest problem as it seemed a little too lowbrow for this show. Can see why a lot of people may of been turned off by this series at first, but it's still a fairly good episode.

Grade: B-

Yu Yu Hakusho - This episode scores major points for just killing off that blasted bird. Great finish to the saga.

Grade: A-

Cowboy Bebop - Not much to say about this episode that hasn't been said before. Nice to see that Tank is still in there.

Grade: A

The ASA bumpers were very well done and I loved the Wonder Twins skit. Makes me kinda wish they'd make an ASC type show based around them sometime down the line.

[dino boy]

I'm going to have to disagree with a lot of people here--I love the first season of Home Movies. I like the later stuff too, but there is a certain type of humor in the first season that is lost in the later seasons.

Examples: When Brendan says "You know Mr. McGuirk, that big fat crappy Irish guy?" and Erik says "Well, I wouldn't...well yeah..." The timing and delivery is just perfect. Also, McGuirk telling Brendan about the limerick is hilarious--just the way they sort of interrupt each other--it's great. In general, just the way they talk to each other, go off on tangents, interrupt each other, throw in little phrases here and there, just is very funny to me.

I think the humor here is a subtler, stranger, and in general a little more unconventional. I can see why people wouldn't think it is as funny (and there are certain things that I think have improved, like Brendan's mom), but I personally find season one to be absolutely hilarious.

[JTurner954]

Don't get me wrong, I liked the episode (best stuff was the home movies and all the Mcgurk scenes). However, it's a lot different than the current season (not just the animation) so I can see where people wouldn't like it.

Something about Paula Poundstone's time on the show just didn't make it as good. She left during the first season,right?

[The Landstander]

Originally posted by dino boy
I'm going to have to disagree with a lot of people here--I love the first season of Home Movies. I like the later stuff too, but there is a certain type of humor in the first season that is lost in the later seasons.

Examples: When Brendan says "You know Mr. McGuirk, that big fat crappy Irish guy?" and Erik says "Well, I wouldn't...well yeah..." The timing and delivery is just perfect. Also, McGuirk telling Brendan about the limerick is hilarious--just the way they sort of interrupt each other--it's great. In general, just the way they talk to each other, go off on tangents, interrupt each other, throw in little phrases here and there, just is very funny to me.

I think the humor here is a subtler, stranger, and in general a little more unconventional. I can see why people wouldn't think it is as funny (and there are certain things that I think have improved, like Brendan's mom), but I personally find season one to be absolutely hilarious.

actually, what you seem to be describing is called retroscripting. basically, instead of having any scripted lines, the actors just have an outline of what to do (i.e. brendon talks to erik about beating up mcguirk) and the actors spend some time in the studio improvising. eventually, they'll have a take they can use. season 1 was entirely retroscripted (as is very apparent, especially in the UPN episodes). when they reached season 2, they still used retroscripting, but to a lesser extent (i think they retroscripted scenes and included scripted lines in the process).

just a little tidbit. :brendon: :melissa: :coach:

Edit: JTurner, Poundstone left after the 5 UPN episodes. The first Ditullo episode was "Director's Cut" (the first episode to air first on Adult Swim)

[Artemis]

Season 1 Home Movies feels like a radio show. You could close your eyes and just listen to the entire episode and still catch 99.9% of the funny. They didn't rely on visuals much at all. All the humor was in the dialogue.

[JTurner954]

Originally posted by DrWeird
Edit: JTurner, Poundstone left after the 5 UPN episodes. The first Ditullo episode was "Director's Cut" (the first episode to air first on Adult Swim)

How many episodes were in season one? Did Season Two start before or after Poundstone left?

[Artemis]

13. Poundstone was replaced in episode 6 of Season 1.

[The Landstander]

well actually if you get technical, some people consider it like this:

Season 1 - Ep. 1-5
Season 2 - Ep. 6-13
Season 3 - Ep. 14-26
Season 4 - Ep. 27-38

but for the most part it's considered the normal way. poundstone was only around for "The UPN five".

[JTurner954]

Something about Paula Poundstone as Brendan's mother just bothers me. It's like her character isn't that funny or entertaining like usual.

It seems when she left and was replaced and when music was becoming more involved ("Don't Put Marbles In Your Nose") that the show improved.

[JTurner954]

Home Movies: I really, really, really, wanted to rate this an A or B+ episode, but Paula just brings it down (though I did laugh at the "relative of Tourett's" segment). Mcgurk's scene were very good and so were all of Brendan's (minus the scenes with Paula). Nice to see a little bit of music involved and the home movies itself were once again excellent. Then there is Paula ....

Overall grade: B

[The Landstander]

Home Movies: I Dont Do Well In Parent Teacher Conferences: Im with JTurner on this one. This was a Great episode that was brought down by several problems.

First off, Paula was just too different in this episode. When you look at Poundstone as Paula and Ditullo as Paula, you can see they are taking the character in two different directions. Since I've seen Ditullo's version so much, the Poundstone version just comes off as weird. However, Paula had a couple of good lines at the conference (OCD). Also, Jason once again was a grossout character in this episode. He had a really funny role as the monster in the movie, but then they had the eczema discussion, which was bad grossout humor. Also, the babysitter character was unneccessary and sort of broke the pace of the episode.

However, looking beyond that you have an excellent episode. Brendon's lack of effort and focus in his report was well-done, as was Melissa's attempt to "help him" (take my speech!). The ending video with Brendon talking to himself was the best bit of the episode. Even though McGuirk really had no plot in this episode, his scenes with Lynch in the Teacher's Lounge were great. Lynch was funny as well, in both his Brendon scenes and his McGuirk scenes. The monster movie was excellent. The movies in this show are supposed to: A) Be funny in and of themselves and B) Make a connection to what is currently happening in Brendon's life. The movie did both of that (it wasn't very subtle, but still).

Rating: B+

Positives: Monster Movie, Brendon's Final Speech, McGuirk vs. Lynch, Melissa's "Take My Speech"
Negatives: Paula, Babysitter, "Cradle Tap"

[Cactusjack1999]

Censored Flinstones

[CENSORED] great man. Really [CENSORED] funny. I laugh my [CENSORED] [CENSORED] off.

[Moof]

Cowboy Bebop
Ein is so cute.... I know I sound like a little schoolgirl, but come on; the little fuzz ball just makes me laugh every time I see it, and it is so cute...so naturally this is one of my favorite eps.

I say we petition for an "Ein" Smiley :sheep:

[Arde]

Originally posted by Moof
I say we petition for an "Ein" Smiley :sheep:
I prefer an "Ed" smiley although who can say no to those adorable puppy face?? (Ein's not Ed's)

[Arxane]

Just wanna say a few things:

- Yesterday's mini-short with the Wonder Twins was funny, although if you knew the Wonder Twins you knew Jace (or Jan...who's the guy again?) could only turn into water. He couldn't turn into crap. Still, funny as hell.

- Today's Flintstone cursing routine was also funny as hell. That's all.

[Moof]

Looks like the "Watering Hole" bits will be the closers...they are kinda funny i guess

[StrangerAtaru]

Personal opinion about the first two HM:

"Stay Away From My Mom": As far as pilots go (and I have seen this one several times), there are parts that work and parts that don't. What worked included the movie trailers for "Dark Side of the Law", McGurk, and some of Brendan's lines ("Play Freebird!") Unfortunately, there are some parts that felt a little off and were completely pointless to the story. And because I am so used to the other Paula, Paula Poundstone just doesn't work with me.

"I Don't Do Well at Parent-Teacher Conferences": I missed most of this, partially because it is not one of my favorites of the early episodes. My guess is that the whole Jason gross-out stuff (as well as similar jokes in the UPN episodes) were inspired partially in trying to make this a more intelligent version of "South Park", with wit and sick stuff. (which was sort of in when this show premiered) And there are other parts that were pointless as well (the babysitter). But luckily the intro to Mr. Lynch and Brendan's speech save the episode.

Tonight: The first, and only, appearance of Walter and Perry this season. Oh yeah, and Brendan and the bully.

[Karl Olson]

"I Don't Do Well at Parent-Teacher Conferences" still has to be one of my favorite episodes of Home Movies ever because of the Monster Movie. It's just way too funny, especially Jason's performance.

[JTurner954]

Home Movies: Didn't like it too much. The stuff with Mcgurk was funny, but everything else just wasn't funny. Maybe it's because I don't like bad people always getting the upper hand. The end kind of was funny with Brendan's expressions, but that was it. Tomorrow's looked familiar, and I think I like that one.

Overall grade: C

[sl4]

Home Movies - #103 - The Art of the Sucker Punch
This is my first time seeing most of season 1, and so far I like what I see. This episode was hilarous. The ending, with Brendon jumping and spinning around, was pure genius. Is it just me, or did the Squigglevision seem to be more noticable in the first episode than it is in the rest of season 1?

Rating: A+

Filler: Thundar the Barbarian Babies
Uh huh. Well, it looks like Williams Street has been churning these things out like crazy, and while they're not any funnier than the old ones, they're still a little entertaining I guess.

Rating: C

Filler: Not For Air - Scooby Doo
After last night's Not For Air - The Flintstones and tonight's Not For Air - Scooby Doo, it looks like this is going to be a daily thing. Funny, but it's going to get old fast. I watched a tape of the beginning of this, with the "Not For Air" short clip, in slow motion, and found words like "REEL", "AIR DATE", "TAPE DECK", "NOT FOR AIR", and get this one: "SMTCP UNIVERSAL LEADER". Subliminal messages? Probably not, but funny anyways.

Rating: B

Yu Yu Hakusho - #02 - Koenma Appears
This is a great episode from before Yu Yu Hakusho turned into nothing but a fighter, back when it was more reliant on the plot to keep the episode going. The scene towards the end with Yusuke in Kuwabara's body talking to Keiko managed to be happy and sad at the same time.

Rating: A+

Cowboy Bebop - #03 - Honky Tonk Woman
An alright episode. It did a good job of introducing Faye, and had some funny moments, but it's not one of my personal favorites.

Rating: B

[Joe Tully]

Cowboy Bebop seems to be starting a couple of minutes early now. I guess it's to make up for the OP.

[Nik Jam]

I think they could make a good 30 second OP for Bebop. but keep the original opening (they did that with several Toonami shows) I think the lack of it made Bebop seem out of place. Dunno why.

[sl4]

Originally posted by NikJam
I think they could make a good 30 second OP for Bebop. but keep the original opening (they did that with several Toonami shows) I think the lack of it made Bebop seem out of place. Dunno why.

The week before the OPs were replaced, they aired the original OP and a replacement Toonami OP for all of them. A few of them were just generic ones, but the Bebop one was great. I don't remember any other ones that were really good, but it would be great to be seeing those right now instead of the current openings we're getting.

[The Landstander]

Home Movies: "The Art of the Sucker Punch": This is the first Home Movies episode I would call a "classic". It had a great central plot with really no subplots (which rarely happens on home movies), great dialogue sequences, and if thats not enough, Emo Philips!

The most interesting part of this episode was seeing the different advice and comments from the main characters about Brendon's fight. Melissa seems to think it's a bad idea, but supports Brendon anyways. Jason seems a little jealous of Brendon's attention and wants to be interviewed. Paula wants her son to settle this without fighting. And McGuirk tells him to fight dirty (no big suprise). Even though it is pretty obvious that Brendon is going to lose the fight, the fight scene itself was still great.

The best bits in this episode include Brendon & Paula playing around on the couch and Brendon nearly crying (the best part of the episode), Jason getting mad about not being interviewed, Shannon's advice to Brendon on the phone, the fight itself, Walter & Perry's first appearance...it goes on and on.

Oh, and about the ending...the ending might've seen like the bad guy won, but when you consider what happened, everyone's happy. Brendon feels he got Shannon back, while Shannon knows that he was just helping him out. I liked the ending, personally.

Anyway, overall, an easy A+.

Positives: See above
Negatives: Nothing comes to mind.

[JTurner954]

Thursday's episode: Now THIS is the Home Movies I remember. This episode was great. The music was there, and even Paula was good (I still prefer the other voice though). And the thing that shocked me the most: This episode had no Coach Mcgurk and it was still a good episode. :eek: This is an episode you show to people to prove how good Home Movies is. I would get a Home Movies DVD for this episode alone.

Overall grade: A

[J J Gittes]

Whoa. I've seen tonights home movies episode before, but tonight was the first time I've noticed that Mitch Hedberg was doing one of the voices. He played the hippie that read the eulogy for the cat. He's the funniest comedian around, and I'm pretty happy about seeing him do a show like home movies.

[Moof]

OH my god

The "What they were really thinking" Bits are hillarious!

"Lets see how YOU like that, dick"

[The Landstander]

Home Movies: "Brendon Gets Rabies" Two of things I wanted to say have already been said, but I'll say them again. First of all, I never noticed this, but this episode is McGuirk-less. Second, my favorite comedian, Mitch Hedburg, played the hipppie cat guy (he has also done a couple of other Home Movies episodes).

Anyway, onto the review. This episode had a mildly stupid plotline, but didn't suffer much because of it. The opening bit at the pet store was good ("Actually, I didn't get to pet it very much"). Other good bits were the trio searching around for the cat and Paula's conversation with Brendon (the anti-depressant story).

I thought the Peabodys were good characters. They're two snobs, who think they are better than everyone, and therefore the only people who like them are themselves and their cat (Paula just wanted them at the next block party). I also really like the fact that Brendon was mature enough to be above the doctor's "Making Cotton Candy" with the cat, yet Mr. Peabody wasn't ("I like the cotton candy thing"). As for the lack of McGuirk, I'm sort of split. On the one hand, the episode was fine without him. On the other, I would've liked to hear what advice he would've given Brendon about the missing cat. Mitch Hedburg also gave a great performance as the hippie cat guy ("A ball of yarn is fun, humans never figured it out"). B+

Positives: MITCH, The Peabodys, Pedaruddi's Pets, Anti-Depressant discussion, No McGuirk
Negatives: Plot wasn't that great, No McGuirk, Paula still off-character

[Mugen]

I don't like the music they use for the customized intro of Yu Yu. Ugh, it's bad enough that Transformers: Armada is on Toonami, no need to take it to Adult Swim. Why can't they use the music that FUNi uses for it's promos of Yu Yu in their DVD's? I swear, WS has really gotten lazy with the promos.

[randomguy]

Well, I guess I'll pretty much just sum up how I feel about Season 1. It's widely-berated now, but Season 1 is unquestionably my favorite Home Movies season, and I'm really enjoying revisiting. To be fair, though, you can't really compare it to seasons 2 and 3... they're almost different shows. The tone of HM, the humor, just the whole "flow" of the show is completely unique in Season 1. The Squigglevision is pretty bad in the first episode, but after that, it stabilizes, and at that point, I really don't think it's better or worse than the Flash.

Whereas Seasons 2 and 3 often feature comedy focusing on the onscreen mayhem or misadventures, Season 1 is 90% dialogue based. The retroscripting was much more utilized at this point, and it shows. The exchanges are wittier, but also more everyday-sounding. The real meat of the comedy is found in Brendan's interraction with others, be it Paula, McGuirk, or Eric, and HM definitely shines in this regard. We simply haven't had a Season 2 or 3 ep which matches the quality of Season 1's better conversations. It's worth noting that I actually like Poundstone a good deal more than Ditullio... not on account of her acting (which is at about the same level), but on account of the fact that she seems to handle the retroscripting better. Poundstone's Paula is a little more level-headed and a little wittier than Ditulli's Paula. She also seems to have a better chemistry with Brendan.

It's also kind of weird to be reminded that during Season 1, HM was a fairly down to earth, realistic show... or it was, at least, for an animated comedy. Brendan genuinely seems like a kid, not a mini adult as he does now (the best example of this is when he cries after Paula hits him in the Shannon ep, or the way Paula scolds him for not doing his homework). McGuirk and Brendan's relationship is much more possible, instead of being the grounds for a restraining order in real life friendship that it is in current episodes. And sub-characters were far less important. The core cast was Paula and Brendan, and maybe Melissa. McGuirk, Lynch, Erik, Dwayne, and Jason were little more than background noise at this point. I was glad that Jason (who is the only character who improves exponentially past the UPN 5) and Lynch were featured more prevalently in later episodes, but I think that McGuirk is probably overused by this point.

Overall, it's a great season with a unique charm. I hope HM continues to do well enough to warrant new episodes. And I can't believe I just wrote that much on a relatively unimportant show...

[The Landstander]

well said, randomguy. i agree with the "two different shows" comment. though i think that seasons 2 and 3 were more generally funny, season 1 was the obvious king when it came to home movies's dialogue humor and real-life feel. hopefully, season 4 will be able to mix the best of all the seasons.

[StrangerAtaru]

My reviews of classic HM I have seen continues:

-"The Art of the Sucker Punch": I can't believe I have actually forgotten about this episode when looking at the first season! While I do look at certain eps. this season to be the cream of the crop (such as "Director's Cut"), I always seem to forget this one. It is interesting how we do see Brendon set himself up to take this huge fall fighting against Shannon, and just seeing everything leading up to the fight was hilarious. It does fall apart a bit once the fight is over with, but I guess to me it is a neglected gem.

-"Brendon Gets Rabies": For some reason, and I don't know why, there are just some things in this episode I find funny and others, well, that don't work. The snooty couple didn't work (making it funnier when they did interact with Paula or other characters), but the whole situation with the cat, especially after it gets rabies, does work. (of course, Jason does get the best line with the infamous "Don't go searching for something because when you find it, it will have rabies") I also somewhat like the scenes at the pet shop for getting Brendon out there and interacting with the world a bit more. (BTW: Sure McGurk is not in this episode, but I think that his take on the whole thing could be seen in the "Mr. Freckles" incident in season 2.)

Note: Personally, while I do see several differences between both sets of HM episodes, I just think both of which are of a somewhat more consistant quality that works on a different level for each one. Season 1 episodes, at their best, has funny engaging conversation with the occasional visual bit. Meanwhile Season 2 still has the conversations (albeit without Retroscripting), but has also some more weirder bits visually to compliment the actions on the screen. (see "History") Also, sometimes I do think that the characters in HM seem older than they really are, but I guess that could have been the intentions all along. (but even if they are "little adults", they are still kids at heart) And one final note: glad I am not the only one complaining of the overusing of McGurk.