"I Drink Your Milkshake" SNL Sketch

Happy Academy Awards Day! There will be milkshakes for old men, Juno.

Homer Simpson Rocks

Last Sunday's episode of The Simpsons totally rocked. While there have been issues about series continuity, everyone needs to realize that the children (at the very least) haven't aged in 18+ years...I mean, how many last day of school episodes for the same school year did they produce? Exactly. So roll with it, identify with the parody, and laugh. A lot. And possibly cringe. A little.

Here's a selection of songs by Homer Simpson's grunge band Sadgasm (check 'em out while they are still on Hulu):

"Politically Incorrect" sounds like Nirvana's "Lithium" with a bit of "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle."

"Save Me" is reminiscent of an L7 song and Nirvana's "Rape Me." Stick around a few minutes after the song for Weird Al's parody-of-a-parody "Brain Freeze."



Homer goes post-grunge - or as Spin magazine once called it, scrunge - with "Margerine," which is obviously is a reference to the Bush song "Glycerine" (ah, most of the '90s, when Bush meant the band Bush).



And for context, here's the entire episode, entitled "That '90s Show":

Archived Forum Post: Arrested Development

On November 20, 2006, Jason Loya wrote:

I've been watching the Arrested Development first season DVD set (I know it's not a "film" but without the commercial interruptions and the fact that it is shot single camera qualifies it for this part of the forum). Being someone who doesn't actually watch any television at all, I wasn't sure what to expect when I borrowed the DVD set from a friend of mine. I was half expecting to have to lie to said friend and tell him how fantastic the TV show is just before I gouge my eyes out. This same friend usually doesn't hold back his opinions much regarding my personal favorites such as David Lynch - but what can I say - I'm a nice guy. In any case, with Arrested Development, it didn't even come to this. I am able to save the charade for another day because after just a couple episodes I found myself actually enjoying it! It is a 3 disk set and follows the Bluth family's endeavors and antics in a very film-like fashion. This is perhaps the first reason why I like it - the show doesn't reek of television. It is a 16:9 presentation with camera work that is far more interesting than a 3 camera studio setup. Most of the time, the shots are hand held, making you feel like you are a close observer of the family - like you're in the room with them and not really just some bored and listless lump on the couch. The characters are unique and entertaining and again - not usual television stock. The story for the most part is funny and witty and easy to follow while the writing is relevant to the show's contemporary audience.

The entire first disk is excellent. As the characters are set up in their world, I found myself easily engrossed and regularly laughing out loud. The first half of the second disk has signs of a production that was in turmoil. They swapped actresses for the same character and made about three or four episodes that just do not seem to go anywhere, lacking the same vibrancy as the others. At that point in my viewing, I almost gave up on the show. Certain characters that I had grown to like were not acting like themselves at all while certain themes began to seem redundant. However, right when I was about to chalk the first disk up to luck and banish the set to TV hell, I watched 1, then 2, then 3 more episodes and laughed my ass off. So at this point I'm 2/3 done with the set and the show has new life. So far, I definitely recommend this DVD set for some fun, lighthearted, and sometimes enjoyably crass entertainment. I'll write again when I finish the series.

On February 14, 2007, Katy Savage replied:

Arrested Development has got to be one of the funniest shows in recent TV history -- I'm glad our friend John strong-armed me into borrowing the DVDs. And although it's sad that it's off the air, I'm glad the show's writers wrapped everything up in the last episode and gave it some closure.

Remember that show The Wonder Years? My roommate's friend brought over a bootleg copy of the entire run of the show (some 800 episodes or something like that) and it just D R A G G E D... And in the end, the show never satisfies you. Winnie and Kevin never fulfill their companionship, and all the time you invested in the show is utterly wasted. Arrested Development, on the other hand, gives you everything you want... Even the cousinly sexual tension that keeps you on edge the whole show is resolved.

And YES YES YES, DVD is the ONLY way to go when you're watching anything with a continuous plot...

And today, using the company's Blogger account, Ryan DeRamos posts another episode of Arrested Development, hosted on Hulu:

Haiku Current Events

Oscar nods today.
Heath Ledger, twenty-eight (!!!), dead.
More comments later.

Doogie's "Blog Entry" Turns Eighteen

I pretty much wrote this entry on another blog, but here's a blog entry from the First Blogger, Dr. Doogie Howser, apparently written (or in reality, broadcast) exactly 18 years ago, on Wednesday, January 17, 1990:

Doogie writes:

January 17, 1990... Jealousy. You never outgrow it. As Bogey might have said - the only thing worse than a jealous lover is a slug from a .44... then again, there's nothing better.

WORD.

Doogie Howser's words written by the writers of Doogie Howser, M.D. Support the Writers!

Haiku Current Events

Pats' perfect season.
Major labels quasi-change?
Double-O neighbor.

Haiku Current Events

Broadcast NFL!
Conspiracy theories rock.
Letterman's writers!

Haiku Current Events

Musharraf to blame?
Is this a democracy?
Let fascism reign?

Haiku Current Events

Here's to Stu Nahan!
Radiohead's Greenwood's score.
I need to catch up.

Haiku Christmas Night

Hope you partied well...
Musicians, read Byrne's Wired.
"Storming the Castle":

Haiku Christmas Eve

Rodriguez in jail.
Gewürztraminer, Munster.
"My Mother the Car":

Haiku Current Events

Damn health care system.
Ground control to Major Dan.
"Visiting Ou-rs":

Haiku Current Events

No new shows? Wrasslin'!!!
Jackson to exec Hobbit.
Mutiny TV:

Haiku Current Events

Britney and sister
Make a Merry Spears Christmas!
Just like the Bluth clan:

Haiku Current Events

No script for Awards...
Kimmel also to return...
More Development:

Haiku Current Events

Jay, Conan return...
Legend, box office legend...
More Arrested D.:

Haiku Current Events

Dave and the Writers.
Baseball, apple pie, and 'roids.
Arrested pilot:

Movie of the Week: Steve Martin's "The Jerk"

Truthfully, Mutiny Universe Television isn't going to post a Hulu-approved movie every week, but do you remember when television stations weren't part of networks and/or owned by general managers who also owned network affiliates?

Today's VHF television in the Los Angeles market:
2 - KCBS is a CBS affiliate
4 - KNBC is an NBC affiliate
5 - KTLA is a CW affiliate
7 - KABC is an ABC affiliate
9 - KCAL is owned by the same guy who owns KCBS, which is a CBS affiliate
11 - KTTV is a FOX affiliate
13 - KCOP is the sister station of KTTV, which is a FOX affiliate. KCOP is also part of the quasi-network "My Network TV," which is owned by FOX.

While these stations still show movies during the lull of the weekend, the overtly oligopolistic nature of today's broadcast media gives these stations the clout to play modern movies - recent (two or three year old) blockbusters and pseudo-indie films. Back in the day, at least when I was growing up, the non-network stations either broadcast classic movies or hideously obscure films or box office bombs (licensed for cheap, I'm sure).

As I remember it, so I could be wrong, the LA television market looked like this, in VHF:

2 - KCBS (CBS)
4 - KNBC (NBC)*
5 - KTLA (independent): Family Film Festival! I met the host (the Popeye guy) at Marine World, but I was but a wee lad at the time.
7 - KABC (ABC)
9 - KHJ (independent): Elvira, baby!
11 - KTTV (independent)
13 - KCOP (independent)

Enough reminiscing. I'll leave that for my memoirs. Anyhow, here's that classic film starring Steve Martin, The Jerk:

*My family's old TV set was hooked up to a monstrous VHS deck, which consisted of two pieces. The VCR was set to show on Channel 4, and to relieve the TV from contradictory signals, KNBC was set on Channel 3 - if I remember correctly.

"It's Always Sunny" MU TV Finale (for Now)

This is the last episode available on Hulu, called "Charlie Gets Molested":

We'll celebrate (Charlie being molested, of course!) with a podcast episode and move on to another show or two!

Haiku Current Events

Ike Turner is dead.
"The Gang Finds a Dead Guy" from
It's Always Sunny...