No adult swim topic this week?

[Lachesis]

Still lurking between chapters of Plato's Republic and the selected writings of Karl Marx (midterms are coming. . .midterms are coming. . .)

Ahem.

I was wondering what those new to the series thought of Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV's introduction to this week's installment of Cowboy Bebop.

And did long-time watchers notice anything cut?

[Maxie Zeus]

Well, this was the week that The Brak Show disappeared and we got a second Home Movies in its place. I like Home Movies, though not as much as much as Dr. Katz. But it's not good enough that I'm looking to double my pleasure. "Of Marbles and Mortgages" had some nicely satirical swipes at the idea that "just say no" messages will actually work, but as a Coach McGurk palls pretty quickly and I wasn't happy to see him figure so prominently in back-to-back episodes.

In fact, the unrelieved sameness of back-to-back Home Movies forced me to ponder the wisdom of CN's strategy of programming their middle hour and a half with Williams Street productions: Last week's Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law was brilliant, and I liked this week's SeaLab 2021 with its absurdly overlapping time-traveling characters (especially the Jedi refs at the end). But Aqua Teen Hunger Force (or whatever it's called) goes to the same well; even if it were more successful (and it isn't very successful at all) having three such shows in a row is a bit tiresome; when The Brak Show returns at the 10:30 hour, and with Space Ghost: Coast to Coast at the 11:30 slot, you will have six of them (2 Braks, 2 SGC2Cs and 2 others sandwiched in-between) all in a row. Much as I like the Williams Street style, I think that's more than a bit glutinous.

I'm wondering if CN wouldn't show greater wisdom if they reached for a bit more variety in the middle. "Adult," after all, does not entail adult treatments or situations, and a show with the stylized art or humor of The Powerpuff Girls or the Kricfalusi-era Ren and Stimpy would fit right in and give some fresh oxygen in the middle of the package. Variety is the spice of life, you know.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Originally posted by Lachesis
Still lurking between chapters of Plato's Republic and the selected writings of Karl Marx (midterms are coming. . .midterms are coming. . .)

Ahem.

I was wondering what those new to the series thought of Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV's introduction to this week's installment of Cowboy Bebop.



Those that are watching it, that is. Belch could tell you, or maybe I.R. Joey.

There's a site that lists edits. I have to find it...

Apparently, most sites say that the two episodes were completely unedited. But then, they were tame episodes.

[DR. BELCH]

Home Movies is beginning to grow on me, probably because of the deadpan vocals of comedian Jonathan Katz. I'm thinking I'd like to see him work with Ben Stein on a project. Coach McGurk is a horse's butt, and the scary thing is, I actually know guys like that. He doesn't even know what a mortgage payment is and winds up stuck when he moves out of his apartment before waiting for the paperwork to move through, eventually staying with his real-estate agent (Katz). The funniest part was how the video encouraged kids to shove marbles up their nose rather than discourage it--that's child psychology for you.

What the hell was Space Ghost all about? First they air a mediocre episode, and then they reair the entire thing, except shot at a writer's meeting with the actors reading their copy in voice. Invariably this show either bores more or leaves me scratching my head.

Cowboy Bebop was a strange one--we meet a satellite gone rogue with an artistic bent and a passion for ancient Incan/Mayan carvings...and a new character, the manic child hacker Radical Edward. The funniest thing is that folks think "he" is everything from an alien to a seven-foot-tall giant to a drag queen/transvestite. Turns out they don't even have the gender right. Faye at the ends shrieks, "Hey! You're a girl!" I'm afraid to ask how she arrived at that realization. Edward, who looks a little like Kiki from [i]8 MS Team[i] and talks about herself in the third person incessantly, can tap into any compute-- including the Bebop's, which is how she integrates herself into the crew. "There are three things I can't stand," Spike fumes. "Children, animals, and women with attitude. So why am I stuck here with all three of them!" Watch also for the conspiracy theorist who sounds like Peter Lorre being interviewed about the mysterious land carvings.
The second short was more sentimental, focusing on Jet's past with a woman who walked out on him leaving only an old pocket-watch and a one-word "Dear John" letter. The stuff sountry music songs are made of. Seems after eight or nine years a bounty leads Jet back to his old home and the dame who broke his heart. When he realizes her new boyfriend is the guy he's after, he's forced to put aside his emotions and do his job. It's a matter of honor for the man they call "Teh Balck Dog", but it isn't easy when the woman he once loved is training a pistol on him. Note also in this one Spike, Faye, and Ed's odd little pseudofamily dynamic. Strange little scene with Ed hugging up on Faye's bare leg while she sunbathes and seeming to enjoy it too much. :D

[Maxie Zeus]

Originally posted by DR. BELCH
What the hell was Space Ghost all about? First they air a mediocre episode, and then they reair the entire thing, except shot at a writer's meeting with the actors reading their copy in voice. Invariably this show either bores more or leaves me scratching my head.w

Well, "Fire Ant" was just a standard SG:C2C, and one I like quite a bit. But "Table Read" was not just a "reairing" of the whole thing with the actors: Though the interview is the same, and many of the bits are there from the eventual show, they are rehearsing a different version of the show, or an initial draft for the final one.

Mostly I think that the second one is aimed at hard-core SG:C2C fans, curious to see how it works behind the scenes. The practice of "retroscripting" (a topic on CCF) is really thoroughly portrayed here, and you get a sense of just how many ways it is possible to tear apart one interview and fit the pieces into different SG:C2C shows.

But SG:C2C is definitely show which you either get or don't.

[The Mad Hatter]

You know, I was just wondering what everyone else thought of Edward. I usually don't like kid sidekicks... but Edward's just so unhinged that she's kinda growing on me.

Then again, I'm getting to skip ahead... I found out my local video store has the ENTIRE Cowboy Bebop DVD set! Joy...

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Originally posted by The Mad Hatter
You know, I was just wondering what everyone else thought of Edward. I usually don't like kid sidekicks... but Edward's just so unhinged that she's kinda growing on me.



Well, the cool thing about Edward is that she knows her role. With the exception one weird and darkly funny episode, she doesn't take over the show--she isn't a "Can I fight too?" kind of kid. And she never upstages the adults in the action sequences because she doesn't participate in the action sequences. She basically lounges around and acts as their "research assistant." Mostly, she provides a quirky brevity to an otherwise lonely cast of characters. And poor Faye has to have SOME female character to talk to "hang" with...

Anyone seriously following Aqua Teen Tomato something or another?

[Calhoun07]

Originally posted by Leaping Larry Jojo
Anyone seriously following Aqua Teen Tomato something or another?

hell no.

[Joe Tully]

I'm wondering if CN wouldn't show greater wisdom if they reached for a bit more variety in the middle. "Adult," after all, does not entail adult treatments or situations, and a show with the stylized art or humor of The Powerpuff Girls or the Kricfalusi-era Ren and Stimpy would fit right in and give some fresh oxygen in the middle of the package. Variety is the spice of life, you know.

Yeah, that could work well, esp. since I'm sure most of us aren't happy with back to back Home Movies. I'd like to see something like this:

-Home Movies
-Various Williams St. programming (Brak, Aqua Teens, Birdman, Sealab to take up 30 min.)
-"Adult"-type cartoon reruns for 30 min. (Dr. Katz for example, maybe banned Cartoon Cartoons could fill up this block for at least 1 night.)
-SGC2C for 30 min.
-Cowboy Bebop

though I think there's already been a lot of talk about how Dr. Katz could work better than Home Movies. I dunno why they don't try that since they seem to have most of the same voice talent working on Home Movies.

[Lachesis]

I always appreciated Ed for being the perfect amount of comic relief for the show. She's by no means my favorite character (Spike and Faye are still duking it out), but it was nice having her own brand of quirkiness thrown into some otherwise straightforward eps.

And Mushroom Samba was just priceless.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Originally posted by Lachesis
I always appreciated Ed for being the perfect amount of comic relief for the show. She's by no means my favorite character (Spike and Faye are still duking it out) .

I think I liked Faye better, after watching all 26 episodes. For some reason, anime females seem to come across as more complex than anime males. IN my opinion.

I wonder what AS will do in 12 weeks or so? By November, Home Movies will probably have aired most of its episodes, Cowboy Bebop will have ended (no sequels, either) and the rest of the shows will be in reruns as well.

[Calhoun07]

I got kinda tired of Ed at times in the series, and agree with Larry that Faye was a better female character in the series. Not that Ed didn't have great qualities, but I think that they weren't realized as well. Which is why I kept hoping they would have done a Cowgirl Ed series, where she was older and wiser and they could bring out some of the stronger qualities of the character.

[James Harvey]

I would reall ylike to see adult programming. I don't mean like TV-18 or whatever, but good mature entertainment. Mission Hill is a great show. So far I've got to see 3 shows not aire din the US and if they aired - there would have been praise. Dilbert would fit great on AS as well, I think.

[Vigo Sprax]

I like Home Movies now, the first episode didn't interest me at all but the following ones have been pretty funny.

I was disapointed there was no Brak this week, whats up with that...2 weeks of reruns and then nothing at all?

I actually kind of like Aqua Teen Hunger Force, this is another show I dismissed on the first episode only to look at the others and realise I enjoy it.

SeaLab is probably my favorite show on the block, in my opinion this episode was a little blow average of what we've seen so far but I still enjoyed it - just not very rewatchable.

Space Ghost I haven't gotten around to watching yet.

In my opinion, I'd like to see a full hour of the Williams St. programming, like it is now, but instead of having 2 episodes of Brak, have all 4 shows air. I don't know if this is possible because of production constraints.

Also, I think they need to balance the block a little more. It seems a little jarring to watch 2 hours of weird, whacky comedy and then bam! You're into fairly serious Cowboy Bebop. I'd probably like to see more of a transition show in between the comedy and serious shows.

[Lonestarr]

Both "Home Movies" eps were good. The second one was patently ridiculous, with Brendon's little sister sticking marbles up her nose, and Brendon's subsequent desire to make a video about why kids shouldn't stick marbles up their noses. The ensuing video is what makes the ep so ridiculous.

Didn't care much for ATHF. No news there.

"Sealab 2021" was a lot like the time travel ep of "The Brak Show" and I almost died laughing at this version, too.

SG:C2C I missed. Oh, well.

"Cowboy Bebop" was good. And as for Ed...it reminds me of a line from Dana Carvey's excellent special Critics' Choice: "The power of [her] cuteness is making me weak."