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So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man #113: Wonder(ful) Man

So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man #113: Wonder(ful) Man

Posted on by Marc Alan Fishman

While attempting to enjoy the new season of Daredevil: Not So Foggy, I hit the wall. I didn’t see that the current season was being rolled out weekly…because I accidentally started it when four episodes were live. Frustrated, I turned back to the main hallway of Marvel offerings on Disney+ to find something already completed that I could successfully binge in my normal “one a night until I’m done” method. Staring back at me first? Wonder Man.

Prior to clicking into the eight-part miniseries from the prestige micro-brand within the MCU (“Marvel Spotlight”) my knowledge of the actual comic book hero was as thin as the newsprint he was printed on. I knew he had nebulous ion-based superpowers that always made him sound way more powerful than he was ever depicted. I knew he was a West Coast Avenger — making him as valuable as a designated hitter on a National League team in 1983. I vaguely recall him being an actor. And that wrapped up my entire knowledge of the character. Let’s go.

After the first episode credits rolled, I went ahead and pressed “skip credits” to consume the next thirty minutes of story. And then again. Keep in mind kiddos: I typically will not binge a series in this manner. Ever. One-a-night has served me well ever since my home-with-gout Breaking Bad overdose marathon of 2014 (I was a late-comer to that series too). Something about this well-crafted carefully executed superhero farce simply compelled me to over-indulge instead of politely dosing out the enjoyment. Continue reading “So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man #113: Wonder(ful) Man” →

So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man 111: My Irrational Hatred of Jane Wickline

So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man 111: My Irrational Hatred of Jane Wickline

Posted on by Marc Alan Fishman

When I last wrote about Saturday Night Live, it was 2019. The show’s cast back then was led by stalwarts Kenan Thompson (the ever-living), Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, Aidy Bryant, and a lively crew of other decently-rounded sketch performers. I’d denoted even then that my personal proclivities as to the show’s success or failure rate had started to err towards a grouchier side. But go back and reread me; I wasn’t an old man yelling at the clouds… yet.

Well, I am now.

After drudging through the fifteenth episode of this, the 51st season of the NBC lynchpin of comedy (on Sunday morning, like the rest of us olds), I found myself yet-again leaving rage-baity comments on video after video. Recognizing that this propensity for ill-will after every single sketch finally permeated my thick skull, I rushed to an empty Google Doc to capture my sinful confession for you all. 

I don’t really like SNL anymore, and should stop watching it. It’s no longer for me. 

I pulled up the cast list, and realized I had an overt hot take on every single one: Continue reading “So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man 111: My Irrational Hatred of Jane Wickline” →

So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man 109: Scrubbing Back In

So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man 109: Scrubbing Back In

Posted on by Marc Alan Fishman

In my forty four years orbiting the sun, I have consumed a rather large mountain of content. Be it comic book, youtube video, literary work, film, long-playing cassette tape, CD, MP3, or television show… to wad it up and assign it a value? A nerdsworth seems fitting. According to the TikToks that flood my feed, my undiagnosed adult onset ADHD has likely pushed a comfort series or two upon my addled mind. (TikTok? I feel seen. Thank you.)

When it comes to the mélange of media I metaphorically masticate, nothing has been a repeat meal more than Scrubs. By my estimate, I have watched the original series run of 182 episodes around ten complete times. Yes, that includes the oft-maligned final season — which even series creator Bill Lawrence would denote the desire to either remove from canon or denote it as a failed spin-off. But bad Scrubs (to me) is akin to cold pizza… it’s really never bad-bad. But I digress.

When word came down from on high that there would be a continuation of the series — not a “reboot”, not a “retcon”, nor a “re-imagining” —, I was excited, but perhaps a bit terrified. The fact is, the season eight My Finale (part 2) ended things so astoundingly well I didn’t want to see the show dust itself off. What was said was poignant, hopeful, and so of itself that there wasn’t room to keep going without treading back over the same waters. Luckily, Bill Lawrence doesn’t have access to my dream journal (it also features a unicorn, but his name isn’t Justin. It’s Poppyseed.) They went ahead and brought Scrubs back for a new season (on ABC, and Hulu the next day). 

The story itself picks up some twenty years after we left Sacred Heart the last time. Spoilers from here on out on the first two episodes to drop thus far. Over the course of twenty-two minutes, Lawrence and crew reset the table:

JD left the hospital after he and Elliott couldn’t make their marriage work. He became a suburban concierge doctor — handing out pills, taking temps, and making bank. Elliott stayed at the hospital. Turk, now Chief of Surgery, deals with 3 daughters at home… and clear ennui at Heart. Carla remains the same mother hen she’s always been (so far…), and Dr. Cox? Greyer. No less acerbic. And by the end of My Return, he’s stepped down to pass the torch of Chief of Medicine over to Dr. John Dorian.  Continue reading “So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man 109: Scrubbing Back In” →

Brainiac On Banjo: Born? Yes. Again?

Brainiac On Banjo: Born? Yes. Again?

Posted on by Mike Gold

I step into the ring like a kingpin, giving all I got. Gonna take my shot; let’s go. I hit ‘em like a kingpin. Going hard non-stop. Coming out on top.” From Kingpin, written by EDVN, Sam Tinnesz and Deane.

“The older the habit, the harder it is to break.” Yeah, well I think I just broke a habit I’ve had for 65 years. I’ve got habits that are old enough to collect Social Security.

Back towards the end of the Eisenhower Administration (google it), one of my local teevee stations started airing old — even then — Buster Crabbe Flash Gordon serials. Great, great stuff. All three of them, although the first is the best. The villain, Ming the Merciless, was played by the great 1930s character actor Charles Middleton, who also performed in Gone With The Wind, Duck Soup (He was Chico Marx’s prosecutor.), Show Boat, and the original 1943 Batman serial. He immediately became my favorite film villain. In my unreasonable mind, he beat out brilliant performers such as Roger Delgado, Bette Davis, and Christoph Waltz.

Charles Middleton (L)

Until now.

Vincent D’Onofrio has been playing Marvel’s Kingpin Wilson Fisk for ten years — ten years next week, in fact. A brilliant performer, he’s one of those guys I’d watch in anything. He even played Robert E. Howard. And he was at the top of his game the first five times he did the role: on all three Daredevil series on Netflix, on both Echo and Hawkeye on their respective Disney+ series. Now he has returned to the role in the current Daredevil: Born Again series based upon the Frank Miller / David Mazzucchelli storyline back in 1986. But the Kingpin has evolved over the course of all of those previous episodes: he still has his ego and his charm, but now he’s successfully run for mayor of New York City and he wants to clean up the city… his way. To do this, he must discover how to fake humility. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: Born? Yes. Again?” →

Brainiac On Banjo: Birds of a Feather (Hey, Kids! It’s Spoiler-Free!)

Brainiac On Banjo: Birds of a Feather (Hey, Kids! It’s Spoiler-Free!)

Posted on by Mike Gold

“Oh, she said we are penguins on the ice. We’re not meant to fly, but god knows we can try. And I see a hope that’s in her eyes — oh,  can you see the love in mine?” From Penguins, written by Ed Sheeran.

Watch much television lately? If you subscribe to the correct overpriced streaming service, you have the opportunity to catch the latest pre-James Gunn DC Comics spectacular, The Penguin, featuring the classic Batman villain of the same waddle. The entire eight episode story is up there right now.

If IMDB is to be believed, this series has been very well received. Of course some knee-jerk haters lurk in the shadows of internet camouflage bitching about perceived insult. That’s what they do instead of wasting time having sex.

I am among those who thought the series was brilliant; one of the best gangster stories ever filmed. To those who dislike the differences between the comics and this movie, I ask two questions: 1) which comics version of The Penguin are you referring to, and 2) what works in a comics story with long continuity tentacles often cannot work in a movie or teevee series. If you’re pissed off that they shortened Oswald Cobblepot’s name or gave him a much more interesting mother, you’re missing the forest for the trees.

But let’s look at the backstory — the one in “real” life. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: Birds of a Feather (Hey, Kids! It’s Spoiler-Free!)” →

So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man 95: Catching Up with The Boys

So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man 95: Catching Up with The Boys

Posted on by Marc Alan Fishman

Ah ha! I was gone for a week, and I bet you thought “well, we got quite the run there for a little while…”. Well, I’m back baby! Last weekend I simply had nothing worthy to say. Unless you wanted a 1200-1500 word screed on the entirety of Billions. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? 

Once I’d completed watching the run of that rather well-done drama, it was time to dig into some shows who had their next season drop whilst I was occupied elsewhere. Top on that list? Amazon Prime’s adaptation of Wildstorm/Dynamite’s “The Boys”. With the penultimate season’s whopping eight whole episodes available, I let the blood and foul language bring me back to the fold. 

If I’m allowed to be a bit cranky? With two years in between seasons, all the nuance of the previous seasons has long been forgotten, and it forces me each time I start up a show again, having to ask myself: do I want to go back to remember all the details, or can I allow the show to just bring me back to speed? Well, call me impatient, as this time around I just hit play. As I recall, season three is the (spoiler alerts now, duh) “Soldier Boy comes back, everyone tries to kill Homelander, it doesn’t work, Billy Butcher is fake-mean to Ryan” season. Any and all other plots have long been forgotten. Save only that Victoria “head popper” Neuman was secretly evil-or-maybe-not, and that everyone was kinda in the dumps.

And that brings us right back in! Season 4 of The Boys can be summed up pretty easily: sad. Everyone is sad. Starlight / Annie is sad because she now leads an Antifa-esque group called the Starlighters and feels shame for her past. Hughie is sad because his father (played by the always awesome Simon Pegg) is hospitalized after a massive stroke. MM is sad because he’s leading the team and clearly doesn’t want to. Frenchie is sad because he’s always sad — but this time he’s sad because he’s allowed himself now to feel remorse for previously being a drug-addled murderer. Kimiko is sad because Frenchie is sad, and she’s still dealing with her personal trauma as a childhood super soldier, kidnapper, and murderer. Butcher is sad because he took too much temporary Compound V and is now terminally ill with a CGI worm wriggling around his head. Homelander is sad because he’s still essentially an invulnerable god-like being now surrounded by only sycophants and betas. Oh and he has Ryan, but Ryan and Homelander are both pretty sad they have each other. I’m sure I’m missing some other folks, but trust me: they’re sad too. Continue reading “So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man 95: Catching Up with The Boys” →

Brainiac On Banjo: Who Dis?

Brainiac On Banjo: Who Dis?

Posted on by Mike Gold

Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? — From “Who Are You” written by Pete Townshend. Of The Who.

Truth be told, I don’t think there’s a single person who’s been cast as the lead in Doctor Who whose work in that role I have not enjoyed. Double-negative much?

The writing, howsoever, is another thing. And before you overstimulate your hackles, I am in awe of the writing on this season’s run thus far. I am also aware of the controversy that surrounds this season, but I am hardly in awe of the incredible stupidity and hatred within all too many of those in the ethersphere who pound on keyboards with anger from the safety of their internet-given anonymity.

(That by-line you see on everything I write? That’s not simply my ego shouting at you; that’s also my sense of responsibility that I’m shoving in your face.)

The previous Doctor was a woman and the little bitty incel community (if, indeed, living alone in your mother’s basement makes you part of a “community”) completely lost their minds. Their petty, hate-filled minds only can handle binary decisions: man or woman, war or peace, conservative or Communist. They cannot process anything in between. They are so black-and-white even Ayn Rand would tell them to grow up.

Some blame it on their religion, as if hatred of those who don’t smoke the same brand of cigarettes as you matters in any way. If your Supreme Being is a hater, exactly what is it about him that you find so goddamned supreme? And, yes, I said “him” specifically.

But actor Jodie Whittaker and the rest of her talented cast deserved better scripts. Sure, I’ve lived through worse writing, but many of the stories during her run seemed illogical, unhappy and unending. There were a number of good villains, but that has been the case in the most poorly written seasons as well. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: Who Dis?” →

With Further Ado #301: Guest Columnist – Communication in the Unknown – A Shogun Review

With Further Ado #301: Guest Columnist – Communication in the Unknown – A Shogun Review

Posted on by Ed Catto

It’s another week and time for another winning entry from our annual student competition. This one’s a great read.

Communication in the Unknown
By Sean Tierney

You’re steps away from entering an unfamiliar building, surrounded by unfamiliar faces, in an unfamiliar land; it’s your first day at a new school and the only thing you know for certain is that you don’t. Now imagine we bottle up this tense sensation of being engulfed in uncertainty and crank the dial up to eleven, that’s the feeling encountering main character John Blackthorne in FX’s Shogun. A character who is not only navigating the trials and tribulations of an unfamiliar culture and language, but one who is also coping with the understanding that his life is in another man’s hands and even the slightest false step could put him six feet under.

While Blackthorne strives to understand the foreign land he has stumbled upon, even more is hidden behind the stoic expressions of the Samurai and their culture. Blackthorne effectively serves as a tour guide through this renowned culture as both he and the audience are uncovering the many layers all at once. There’s a notion surrounding film culture that exposition is cheap and film/TV should ‘show don’t tell’. By utilizing Blackthorne as a tour guide, Shogun subverts the need for exposition allowing the audience to see Japan for the first time through a newcomer’s eyes. That is the superpower of Shogun, the show’s ability to demonstrate rather than explain, utilizing its main character for both practical and impactful purposes.

Japanese culture has always seemed to have somewhat of an aura around it; there’s a natural intrigue surrounding the uniqueness of it, yet also kind of a mysterious nature surrounding their culture. The podcast Hardcore History, hosted by Dan Carlin, did a six-part series called “Supernova in the East” centered around the Pacific Theater during World War II. This series focuses heavily on the fanaticism of Japan’s culture and the prevailing narrative surrounding them is that “The Japanese are just like everyone else, only more so”. Continue reading “With Further Ado #301: Guest Columnist – Communication in the Unknown – A Shogun Review” →

Super Bowl LVIII Reaction – Commercials and Trailers

Super Bowl LVIII Reaction – Commercials and Trailers

Posted on by Bob Harrison

Well, the latest season of NFL football is over. It has been quite the spectacle and veered closer into the Pop Culture atmosphere than it has in recent years. With the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime, there is no way you can say this season was not filled with drama.

Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. PHOTO: EZRA SHAW/GETTY

Much of the added attention had to do with the intersection of music and sports with the very public romantic relationship between Kansas City Chiefs tight-end Travis Kelce and mega pop star Taylor Swift. Swift’s presence anywhere generates buzz, and this season, her travels to support her boyfriend and the camera time that she received on NFL broadcasts were the cause of a buzz that rivaled the rumble of a 747 on takeoff. A lot of the noise was generated by those same folks who were upset that a quarterback had an opinion and kneeled to protesting police brutality. For many of us, the apoplectic reaction to a woman attending a football game to support her romantic partner was gloriously rewarding karma.

The Super Bowl is the ultimate showcase for new advertisements and film trailer releases, and this year despite prices around seven million dollars for thirty second ads, plenty of companies and organizations plunked down their cash to try to ride the Taylor wave of football viewership. Let’s breakdown what we saw.

PSAs – Hit or Miss

There were a bunch of spots during the game that were not trying to sell anything at all. Some Public Service Announcements were well done, and some were head scratching to say the least. On the positive side, there was a body positivity ad sponsored by Dove and a couple of anti-bullying promos staring NFL players as well as a PSA calling attention to homelessness and another calling for people to stand up to hate. Continue reading “Super Bowl LVIII Reaction – Commercials and Trailers” →

Brainiac On Banjo: A Million Pounds of Bond

Brainiac On Banjo: A Million Pounds of Bond

Posted on by Mike Gold

Diamonds are forever. Hold one up and then caress it, touch it, stroke it and undress it. I can see every part. Nothing hides in the heart to hurt me. “Diamonds Are Forever,” written by John Barry and Don Black.

Generally speaking, I’m not interested in “reality” television. It’s not really reality, and when I want reality from my ol’ cathode ray tube I’ll watch the news until I decide what I really should be doing is updating my will.

There are exceptions. A thousand years ago, I watched Ice Road Truckers because the contestants were as ludicrous as the concept of hauling many tons of stuff across frozen-over lakes that, under the weight of same, could kill the aspirants and — more important — destroy their swag. Much more recently, I’ve been enjoying the challenges of James May, of car wrecking fame, as he ridicules modern manhood by attempting even more ludicrous but somewhat more useful DIY projects. However, these shows (Man Lab is the best, Toy Stories and The Reassembler are almost as entertaining) are built, by James May, to revolve around James May, who is clever, honest, committed and wonderfully sardonic. He’s a mere 60 years old, but probably looks a bit older because he’s spent decades working next to Jeremy Clarkson. He’s also done a number of food-oriented shows and has lunched with Gordon Ramsay, consuming bull penis and rotten shark. Funny stuff. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: A Million Pounds of Bond” →