Quick recaps

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I LOVE TV-on-DVD. It's my favorite. I am obsessed with making sure I've seen every episode of shows I love, so I don't miss anything in the overall arc of the series. Because of this, my friends and family often get me seasons of shows I love for birthday and holiday gifts. This past Christmas, I received Full House Season 5, Will & Grace Season 7, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Volume 5. I finished them all last week (slow pace for me, but with the move, I was without a DVD player for two weeks), and had a few thoughts.

One, while a lot happens in that season of Full House (26 episodes), they were all episodes I watched in their original order, so nothing was surprising. Here's the rundown of what happens in those episodes... Michelle starts kindergarten and thinks her dad should marry her teacher, DJ gets her own room/learns to drive/starts dating so Danny starts spying even more than before, Joey becomes Ranger Joe and has his own afternoon television show (and starts dating Danny's sister Wendy who has a pet monkey), Michelle starts tap-dancing while Stephanie joins an elite dance team (and the famous dance sequence to "Motown Philly," Michelle turns five while Becky goes into labor with twins (and Jesse has an emergency appendectomy), Jesse mixes up the twins and they footprint them to tell them apart, Danny gets "Bay Area bachelor of the month" and starts dating but then ends up falling for his new co-host Vicki, Michelle learns to read and ride a bike (and runs away because Jesse gets her in trouble), Stephanie has singer Tommy Page at her birthday, and the Beach Boys allow Jesse to make a music video of "Forever."

In that season of Will & Grace (24 episodes), there are a bunch of blah shows combined with a lot of action. Grace comes to terms with the fact that Leo cheated on her, Jack works with J. Lo then Janet Jackson then OutTV (a new gay network) and gets his own talkshow, Karen does some actual interior design work when Grace freaks out at a client, Will and Vince have some rough times (Vince's best friend doesn't like Will, Will cooks Thanksgiving dinner for Vince's family, Will chooses to console Grace instead of be with Vince, Vince is fired from the force but is afraid to tell Will), Will gets named partner but then quits the firm to become a writer, Will and Grace update their wills, and Will finds out that Stanley is alive.

But I actually started this post to write about TMNT. The twelve episodes on this volume basically cover episodes with "special mutants" such as the frogs, the alligator, the rat king, and the bunny. But what stuck out the most in these episodes were two hilarious scenes... First, the Ninja Turtles put an ad in the paper to Kasey Jones (the hockey-masked vigilante) to get his attention, saying they were going to rob the candy store in the park. So… why didn’t the police see it and come too? LoL. Next... the turtles and Kasey Jones are all tied up. Leonardo finds a saw mounted on the wall with the TEETH STICKING OUT. No lie. So of course, he saws himself free. What are the odds?

Suicide is Painless

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I had done an extremely long entry last Thursday, for the Oscars, so I decided to hold off until today for the newest topic. Being a Monday, I'm featuring another long-running television show. And for anyone who might be wondering how long I continue doing this series, I'm thinking maybe another three months, maybe less. Depends on how many other television shows I'm familiar with that fit the bill. I'll start taking recommendations for future series, though!

Today, I chose M*A*S*H. It's kind of an older show, in that it was finished almost a year before I was even born. My parents were big fans, as was pretty much anyone else I think I ever knew... growing up, I don't think I ever saw the television switched to something else if M*A*S*H was on. I can remember being seven or eight and being confused that a name as strange as 'Radar' was used for both the "radio guy in the army hospital" (my own words) and Big Bird's stuffed teddy bear. This was further complicated by the song "Radar Love" that my parents had on cassette.

Okay, since the show ran for eleven seasons, from 1972 to 1983, there's kinda a lot to cover. Luckily, the meta-narrative of the show isn't that complicated, so I'll cover the major characters and what happened to them throughout the show's run. Now, I have not seen all 251 episodes, nor can I even estimate how many I might have seen, particularly since the characters don't seem to age. A few Christmases ago, I gave my mother the entire boxed series, and I hope to borrow them at some point, since my husband and I watch the show every now and then, and I'm kinda dying to see the finale (which I'll get to in a bit).

Mobile Army Surgical Hospital is what the title stands for, and the show takes place in such, during the Korean War. Somehow they filmed eleven years of episodes while covering an event that only lasted three years. It had consistently high ratings, and the final episode was watched by 105 million people, which still gives me chills when I think about it, especially considering it was a record two-and-a-half hours long.

First, the four characters who took part in all eleven seasons: Hawkeye Pierce, Father Mulcahy, Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, and Klinger. Hawkeye (Alan Alda's character) played in every episode, and was the joker of the group. Father Mulcahy was the resident priest, a source of morality, an aide in surgery, and fulfilled the notion that not everyone in the service was close to his family beforehand. Houlihan grew up an army brat who entered the service and had been in it for ten years by the time the fourth season of M*A*S*H rolled around. Unlucky in love and a hidden alcoholic, Houlihan could speak Korean and took her position seriously, being in charge of all nurses in the 4077. Klinger is one of my personal favorites, particularly because of his early attempts to get a Section 8 discharge by dressing in women's clothing. He also tried to eat a jeep, claimed to be a Communist, and said he was a serial killer in his hometown. When the war ended, he was married to a Korean woman, and chose to stay behind instead of returning to the US.

Radar O'Reilly is my other favorite. He is kinda clairvoyant, and has exceptional hearing, which is how he earned the nickname. An Iowa farmboy, he was very young, earning his high school diploma by mail in the first season. He represented the young boys who were shipped off to war, returning as men, symbolized by his leaving the teddy bear in Hawkeye's possession. Trapper John McIntyre was a sidekick to Hawkeye for the first three seasons, and made a surprise exit, without Hawkeye even knowing. BJ Hunnicutt came to replace Trapper, and I like him a lot better. The chemistry between him and Hawkeye is pretty great. I can only wait until the day I see "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" to fully appreciate the sentimentality of his final scene with Hawkeye.

I don't know what to say about Major Frank Burns. I'm not a fan, mostly because of how strict he was, and what an idiot he was. He was on there for the first five seasons, and was sent stateside because of a psychiatric evaluations after he went AWOL and couldn't get over Houlihan after she married Donald. But, Winchester came to stay until the end, with great reluctance. He was an odd guy with a passion for classical music.

Then there was Colonel Henry Blake, who was too easy-going for Houlihan and Burns, but pretty beloved by almost everyone else. I was a big fan of Blake, and was heartbroken when it was revealed that he never made it home (his plane carrying discharged Blake was shot down). Then there was Potter. He understood the need for humor, but wasn't as easygoing as Henry was.

It sure is an entertaining show, and while I haven't seen a lot of the episodes, I've also seen some of them several times. Particularly episode twenty in the first season... the one with a propaganda bomb in the compound at the same time as the annual Army-Navy football game, for some reason I've seen it at least three times. But, I leave you today with just a nice collage of photos from the show set to the full version of the theme song.

The Oscar Nominations have come in

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Sunday, February 22nd is Oscar Night, but this morning was Nomination Morning! I never even knew there was such an 'unveiling' until I was in graduate school and a colleague became excited about it. Well, the internet told me it took place this morning, so here's the nominees and my thoughts. Of course, you'll have to keep in mind that I'm not the biggest fan of the type of movies that get nominated, so my commentary is not like most you'll read, I'm sure.

Best Motion Picture of the Year :
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Frost/Nixon
- Milk
- The Reader
- Slumdog Millionaire
Well, seeing as how I haven't seen any of these, it's a difficult call. I want to see three out of five (Frost/Nixon just isn't an interest to me, and I haven't heard of The Reader), but haven't. It does, however, make me want to try harder ton convince Jonathan to see Benjamin Button with me.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role :
- Richard Jenkins for The Visitor
- Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon
- Sean Penn for Milk
- Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler
Again, haven't seen any of these. But, I'm a Brad Pitt fan, and I'll root for him (almost) any day. Sean Penn will be my back-up. :)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role :
- Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married
- Angelina Jolie for Changeling
- Melissa Leo for Frozen River
- Meryl Streep for Doubt
- Kate Winslet for The Reader
Well, I promise I've been to the movies this year, but it wasn't to see any of these, either. In fact, this is the first I've even heard of The Reader, I believe. I love me some Anne Hathaway, but she's not that good of an actress, so I'll hold out for Meryl Streep, because while I haven't seen the film, I know the role.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role :
- Josh Brolin for Milk
- Robert Downey, Jr. for Tropic Thunder
- Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt
- Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight
- Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road
Okay, finally something I've seen. But, as much as I've been a Heath Ledger fan since 10 Things I Hate About You, I think he's been getting waaay too much publicity about his posthumous nominations. That doesn't mean I don't think he deserves an Oscar... I thought his performance was wonderful in the role of the Joker, but I won't be upset if it goes to Josh Brolin instead.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role :
- Amy Adams for Doubt
- Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona
- Viola Davis for Doubt
- Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler
More movies I haven't seen. And I haven't even heard of Henson other than in passing. I will be voting against Penelope Cruz, because I don't like her, plus the film she was nominated for had some awful trailers. I'm also not a Marisa Tomei fan that many others are, so I'll go with Amy Adams.

Best Achievement in Directing :
- Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
- Stephen Daldry for The Reader
- David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon
- Gus Van Sant for Milk
I'm not the best judge of a director, so I won't even pretend. I hardly ever pay attention to who directs what, and people don't seem to understand my lack of concern in that area. But, I've not heard of any of these directors, and I haven't seen any of the movies. I'll go with David Fincher, for the simple reason that I've read about how difficult of a project Benjamin Button has been, and how different people have been trying to do it for years.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen :
- Frozen River (Courtney Hunt)
- Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh)
- In Bruges (Martin McDonagh)
- Milk (Dustin Lance Black)
- WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, Peter Docter, Jim Reardon)
Really? WALL-E was nominated for best writing? There's a lot of silence in that film... and a lot of robot-speak. I don't know that I have any other comments, as I don't know three of the five in this category. So, Milk it is, although I have a striking suspicion that the writing can't be all that good...

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published :
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Eric Roth, Robin Swicord)
- Doubt (John Patrick Shanley)
- Frost/Nixon (Peter Morgan)
- The Reader (David Hare)
- Slumdog Millionaire (Simon Beaufoy)
I'm going to go with Doubt, because it's a well-written play. LoL, silly circumstances, I know.

Best Achievement in Cinematography :
- Changeling
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- The Reader
- Slumdog Millionaire
Here's the thing about cinematography. I am the first to walk out of a movie and discuss how poor it was in said movie. I frequently point out wonderful cincematography in television shows. But verrry rarely do I take the time to recognize great cinematography in a film. And, as I can't possibly compare these films (having only seen Dark Knight),I'll go with Changeling, based on the trailer.

Best Achievement in Editing
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- Frost/Nixon
- Milk
- Slumdog Millionaire
Eh. I don't think that Editing is a category in which any old bozo can have an educated opinion. I've only taken one film class, and editing was not given much lecture time. So any answer that I might give would be unfounded, and because of that I will refrain from making any guesses. I welcome your thoughts on ways of looking at the award category.

Best Achievement in Art Direction :
- Changeling
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- The Duchess
- Revolutionary Road
I love this category. And I loved it for the first time last year, as I was taking a course in the history of architecture and decor. I look forward to seeing the nomination clips in this category on Oscar night, and until then will stand by Revolutionary Road, based on the commercials I saw on television.

Best Achievement in Costume Design :
- Australia (Catherine Martin)
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Jacqueline West)
- The Duchess (Michael O'Connor)
- Milk (Danny Glicker)
- Revolutionary Road (Albert Wolsky)
Here's a category in which I feel I could give a great hypothesis, had I seen the films. Costume history is one of my favorite things. I'm wavering between making uneducated guesses on Duchess or Australia... maybe I'll try to see them and make a choice later.

Best Achievement in Makeup :
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- Hellboy II: The Golden Army
I'd love to hand this right over to Benjamin Button, but as I've only seen the trailers, I can't. While I'd never believe it was Heath Ledger under the makeup of the Joker, I have a feeling that believably aging people will trump that. And Hellboy, well, he just looks like Darth Maul, redone. Benjamin Button it is.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score :
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Alexandre Desplat)
- Defiance (James Newton Howard)
- Milk (Danny Elfman)
- Slumdog Millionaire (A.R. Rahman)
- WALL-E (Thomas Newman)
Here we go again. I saw and loved WALL-E, but I am not willing to give it a music award. Based on plot summary, I'd go with Benjamin Button or Slumdog Millionaire, because either storyline could be greatly enhanced with a killer score. I'm going with Slumdog, on a hunch.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song :
- Slumdog Millionaire - A.R. Rahrman, Gulzar ("Jai Ho")
- Slumdog Millionaire - A.R. Rahman, Maya Arulpragasam ("O Saya")
- Wall-E - Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newton ("Down to Earth")
No songs stuck out to me in WALL-E, so I'll go with one of the Slumdog songs. Based on title alone, I choose "Jai Ho." Yeah, I know I could do much better if I listed to the nominees. And maybe I will, but I feel like extra research will taint my opinion without actually listening to the songs in the contexts of the films.

Best Achievement in Sound :
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- Slumdog Millionaire
- WALL-E
- Wanted
Wanted? Really? I don't really know who nominated that. But you know, there's a reason why I'm in Northern California, LoL. It's difficult for an overall movie's sound to blow me away, and while I can say that overall, I enjoyed WALL-E's sound, I don't know if it's Academy Award-winning. Dark Knight gives me no reason to vote in his direction, and I have yet to see the remaining two candidates (which might actually make this the category in which I've seen the most nominees, LoL), I'll give it to Benjamin Button, which has some nice sound in the trailers alone.

Best Achievement in Sound Editing :
- The Dark Knight
- Iron Man
- Slumdog Millionaire
- WALL-E
- Wanted
Sound, sound editing, no difference to me. Why? Because I'm not really sure what makes them different, and I don't know anything about how a person might judge sound editing. So again, I will abstain from voting in this category.

Best Achievement in Visual Effects :
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- Iron Man
I'll say that Iron Man will trump Dark Knight, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Benjamin Button will top Iron Man.

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year :
- Bolt
- Kung Fu Panda
- WALL-E
Now here's a category that I can fully evaluate, as I've seen all three films. Kung Fu Panda was awful, and it makes me sad inside that so many people enjoyed it. WALL-E was good. Bolt was good. I loved the characters in Bolt, but the storyline in WALL-E kicks Bolt's behind. Bolt has the downfall of having Miley Cyrus voice Penny, but WALL-E suffers in its own way. Still, I'll say that WALL-E will probably take the cake, and probably deserves every last piece of it, too.

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year :
- Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (Germany)
- Entre les murs (France)
- Revanche (Austria)
- Okuribito (Japan)
- Vals Im Bashir (Israel)
I don't really do foreign films. Every one I've seen (with subtitles), I've hated. And I'm talking films like Pan's Labyrinth and Amelie, both of which ended up being loved by so many. Yeah, I can't stop hating them. And that's all there is to say about that.

Best Documentary, Features :
- The Betrayal - Nerakhoon
- Encounters at the End of the World
- The Garden
- Man on Wire
- Trouble the Water
I enjoy documentaries, but since I no longer live in Tallahassee, the land of limited-release and documentaries abound (well, compared to the other four cities I've lived in), I haven't seen any lately. Man on Wire sounds interesting. ;)

Best Documentary, Short Subjects :
- The Conscience of Nhem En
- The Final Inch
- Smile Pinki
- The Witness from the Balcony of Room 306
see response to previous category, but switch Man on Wire with Conscience.

Best Short Film, Animated :
- La Maison en Petits Cubes
- Ubornaya istoriya - lyubovnaya istoriya
- Oktapodi
- Presto
- This Way Up
Last year was the first time I paid attention to this category, and our satellite dish afforded us the opportunity to watch several of the nominees. This year, not the case. I'll give it to This Way Up, as it is the most humorous title.

Best Short Film, Live Action :
- Auf der Strecke
- Manon sur le bitume
- New Boy
- Grisen
- Spielzeugland
As we reach the end of the ballot, I've got nothing left. No ideas, no thoughts, no seemingly meaningless ways of choosing a film to support. So, completely on the fact it has a 'z' and a 'g,' I go with Spielzegeugland.

And there we have it! I've cast my votes, what are yours??

I'll be there for you...

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

The Rembrandts had it right. Friends will be there for you, and you'll be there for them, too.

I had to leave most of my DVDs in Melbourne when we moved to California, but 3 out of 4 of our seasons of Friends got shipped (the other one didn't get shipped because we couldn't find one of the discs when we were packing). And since they made it here last week, it feels oddly obvious that this 7-Emmy-winning series gets today's spotlight.

I think the weirdest thing about this show is that I was old enough to watch the entire show in its original run, yet I only saw two of the episodes back in the day. My now-husband used to have a roommate whose girlfriend was a big fan of the show, and so he saw pretty much every episode with them. After I moved in (part-time, LoL) we began watching them in syndication on weeknights, and now have gotten to the point of owning a few ourselves. I also picked up the Scene It : Friends Edition at a Waldenbooks right after the holidays a few years ago at around 80% off.

The show premiered in the fall of 1994, and ran for ten seasons, yielding 236 "The One With ...'s." It amuses me to no end that the episodes are named that way, mostly because of the familiarity factor... with other shows (like Full House) you never learn the names, you just say, "hey, have you seen the episode where Kimmy convinces Michelle to buy a donkey?" or "you know, the one with the pink bunnies!" With Friends, all of the episodes already point out the memorable moment for you.

I didn't have any close friends who watched the show in first-run, but I sure knew a lot of people who did. In fact, my very first program as a Resident Assistant was getting the girls together, ordering pizza, and watching the 10th season premiere in the lounge. This came about after gathering notecards the girls gave me, and 18 out of 40 of them listed Friends as their favorite television show. Having never seen it before, I had a heck of a time when asked to re-cap the finale from the previous Spring, but with the help of the front-desk receptionist (Mario was a big fan), it was do-able. I only vaguely remember the episode, mostly because I was busy trying to make sure I had ordered enough pizza, LoL. Funny enough, at the end of that season, my best friend and I were over at one of her friend's houses when the series finale came on. So, we stayed to watch it. I don't know why, but I remembered nothing at all from that episode until I saw it again years later. All I remembered was that Bethany and her mom were both tearing up as the end drew near.

Okay, enough of my personal experiences with the show, let's get down to the basics. There's Ross, my personal favorite. He's a paleontologist, often made fun of by the others, a good soon, and unlucky in love (three times divorced). His sister, Monica, is a chef, clearly second-tier in her parents' eyes, hungry for love (dates several people seriously before marrying), and obsessively compulsive about cleaning. She marries Chandler, who was Ross's college roommate. He works in business and later marketing, has a commitment phobia for the early seasons, and is the resident funny guy. His roommate pre-marriage is Joey, a struggling actor with a weird agent. He's Italian and has seven sisters, all of whom he is very protective. Rachel, Monica's childhood best friend and Ross's long-time crush, starts out a waitress and ends up in fashion. She's the one of her sisters who has stopped living off of "Daddy's money" and made a life for herself. While she has a few boyfriends throughout the series, she eventually has a baby with Ross (although they're not married at the time). And that leaves Phoebe, the most removed of the group, who works as a masseuse after having grown up on the street, an orphan. She's been married at least twice (possibly a third time when you consider her reaction at one point during "The One in Vegas), but only once was clearly for love.

Guest stars were plentiful throughout the series, and there were other semi-regular characters, including Gunther, who ran the coffee shop that the gang frequented. Central Perk, as the cafe was called, was a popular setting for the episodes, and probably the second-most filmed, aside from Monica's (grandmother's) apartment. The show was well-watched, and commercial slots during the series finale went for $2 million per 30 seconds.

I have a couple favorite episodes, and since they're long (and the top one has Asian subtitles), I'm going to provide links instead of embeds.

The One with the Lesbian Wedding : Carol (Ross's first wife) and Susan decide to tie the knot, and Ross ends up having to encourage Carol when her parents don't want to attend. Additionally, this is the beginning of Joey as Dr. Drake Ramoray on Days of our Lives. The best part is that there is a spirit haunting Phoebe, who only leaves after she's seen "everything."

The One with Ross's Tan : Ross decides to try a spray-tan place, but just can't seem to get it right (that's the funny part of the show). Joey and Rachel discuss dating each other, and Phoebe and Monica try to ditch a friend they don't like. I couldn't find a good full-length episode, but this has the tanning parts spliced together.

4th Grade in Colorado

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Yeah, so I've only been to Colorado once. And I certainly wasn't in 4th grade (although that was a good year for field trips...). But every week during the broadcast season, we get a glimpse of a small, perpetual-winter town where fourth graders are the main characters.

South Park will begin its thirteenth season this March, and I keep forgetting that it's still running (and will continue to run for at least another three seasons). It premiered when I was in the eighth grade, and it was very popular for my friends to wear "Who Killed Kenny" shirts on the weekends (especially at the skating rink, LoL). And while I was intrigued enough to watch it a couple of times (when there's a character named 'Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo' you have to find out what he is). After it had been on the air about nine months, I stopped watching... I thought it was too dirty, and a bad influence on youth. Since then, I've probably only seen about five episodes, but I've seen the opening to the movie a bunch of times (more on that later). It's really no wonder that the show has been banned completely in Argentina and Russia.

The show centers around four young boys (Kyle, Cartman, Stan, Kenny) who have gone from third grade to fourth grade, but over the years numerous other characters have become very involved with the main cast. Comedy Central has been running the show the entire time, which makes sense given the TV-MA rating. Butters and Token are on the show all the time now, similar to Timmy a while back, and both Jesus and Satan make regular appearances. (Who knows what happened to the Chef? He was a big deal back in the day, LoL.)

The first movie came in 1999, and a straight-to-DVD movie came in 2007. The first movie (and really the only one, when you consider how the second is really only a 3-part episode arc strung together) is a musical. I worked for a professor who loved it, and used the opening scenes to teach students about musicals. Ironically (and this might only be funny to my theatre scholar readers), she also constantly confused South Park characters Terrence & Philip with Ancient Greek playwrights Terrence and Plautus. haha.

There really are no taboo subjects for the show, although parody is the medium in which most serious issues are explored. Religion, terrorism, immigration, gay marriage, racism, and living wills are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to topics. Current events are pretty central to the episodes (I mean, you saw the "About Last Night..." episode that ran less than 24 hours after Barack Obama won the US Presidential election, right?), and what's most amazing about that is the turn-around time. Granted, anyone who has ever seen the show knows the animation is not the best (especially considering how far animation as a whole has come in the past decade), but the producers are actually able to create an entire episode in just six days, with 4-5 days being the average. They've even done a complete episode in just three days before! (Of course, that means putting in a 100-120 hour work week for the team...)

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut had so many funny songs in it. My junior year of high school, my now-husband and I often got rides home from a friend who always had the soundtrack playing in his car. The two songs that stand out the most are "What Would Brian Boitano Do?" which is still joked about ten years later, and "Uncle Fucka" (which I won't link to since it's not a very nice song), because it's just ridiculous. Yet, somehow, just like The Simpsons, there have been a few scholarly works published on South Park. This excites me, simply because I love to write about popular culture (I have a paper presentation coming up in April that is on Fraggle Rock), trends, and cult classics. And with that, I'll leave you with the opening scene to the movie. Because, well, I've heard it too many times, it does give a good introduction, and I don't really know other good clips, LoL.



oh, and if you want to watch some full-length, legal episodes, check out South Park Studios.

2008: A Year in Television

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Similar to my earlier post this week about memorable movies for the year, I'll also do a segment on television, again like EW did. However, their focus on The Colbert Report, 30 Rock, and Lost will not be echoed here. (Note that the order means nothing)

1. The Moment of Truth : Although EW listed it on their "Worst Series of the Year" list, I find the concept absolutely amusing. The premise: get strapped to a polygraph machine and be asked personal questions. You lie, you lose, bottomline. So here's my question... if you know they're going to try and ask you something that will crush a loved one, and you're not willing to answer, what's the point? You tell the truth, they get mad at you; you lie, they find out anyway. So grow some balls and be honest.

2. Dexter : A show I love to hate. I had no idea it was in its third season, I had thought it was a new show when I caught part of it on DVR this year. It was an episode with a fire, and there was a guy trapped in a cage inside. Weird.

3. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog : I'm going to go ahead and count this as a television show. This might be the best thing to have come out of the WGA strikes. I have the videos on my Zune (it's in three Acts), and often listen to them at the gym. Perhaps it's because I have a special place in my heart for Neil Patrick Harris, but I find the music and lyrics very interesting.

4. How I Met Your Mother : I was introduced to this show in its second season, so I have been following it for a little while now. While most of this season has been bad (seriously, I now fear for its future, even on CBS), there were some great moments. Back when Ted was first starting to court Stella, he takes her on a two-minute date along the sidewalk outside her office, something to remember. :)

5. Beverly Hills, 90210 : not a new show at all. And while a spin-off began this past fall, I have not seen it, nor do I have plans to. When the show was in its original run, I was too young to appreciate it. However, this year I discovered it on hulu.com, and then on SOAPnet. It's now part of my daily routine when I'm home. I've seen about 70% of the episodes up until the Valentine's Day when Cliff surprises Donna (today's episode). Too bad Andrea's character has peaced out already.

6. ER : While many people (critics and fans alike) have been criticizing this season's use of guest stars (past stars of the show), I love it. Carter and Green will always be well-remembered in my book. I cried at Abby's last episode, and am anticipating a full waterworks for the finale this spring.

7. House, MD : well, last season's idea of using half of the episodes to "pick" a new team to work with Dr. House was pretty interesting. And, like any good person, I hated Amber (better known as "cut-throat b!tch"), but couldn't handle her surprising death without shedding a tear or two. As Cuddy is one of my favorite characters, her struggle with having a child has been rough, and I am excited that it looks as if she will have a daughter come next week's episode.

8. The Simpsons : as I mentioned in a recent blog, I am not a huge fan. Still, I have caught episodes over the years, and because the Sunday night FOX line-up has been pretty good as of late (my then-regular crew watches all those shows), I've seen this season's episodes. This year's "Treehouse of Horror" episode was really good, probably because I love parodies and I love Peanuts.

9. The Secret Life of the American Teenager : This ABCFamily sitcom centers on a fifteen-year-old girl who finds out she is pregnant in the pilot. I am a little partial to her because we share the same first name, but I think that the relationship dynamics in the show are very true-to-life, and worth exploring and learning from. And with the new season starting, I look forward to more episodes focused on Grace's family as well.

10. Jon and Kate Plus Eight : they've been doing specials on the Gosselin family since the sextuplets were born, and they've had a television show for a couple years now. This year I've really gotten into it, and adore the family. I can tell the kids apart (although Cara and Mady are a bit difficult for me), and admire each of their personalities. While they remain mum about how long they will film the family, I do hope that they at least continue doing specials, as I would truly love to see how these kids grow up.

A Review of Movies in 2008

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

EW did this in a double issue, and I'm a few days late reporting. They did best and worst lists in several areas, I decided to combine some of both and create my own 10 Most Memorable (for one reason or another).

1. Wall-E : It actually is one of the few movies of the year to get an overall A- in EW. Hooray for a good silent picture. Well, not entirely silent, but there are long pauses between speech where many different activities take place. This is one of the few movies of the year that I'm going to want on DVD, and am going to want to pass on to future generations.
2. Milk : Nope, I haven't seen it yet, mostly because by the time it came to Melbourne, I was wrapped up in the joys of Christmas. But since I am quite familiar with the story (thank you, Mary Karen and Docudrama), I am still looking forward to seeing it, and believe it's worth a mention of being a possible "Movie of the Year."
3. The Dark Knight : Heath Ledger aside, it was a good movie. However, it was also a long movie. Too long for the plot.
4. Iron Man : "Yeah, I can fly." Gotta love Robert Downey, Jr. More importantly, how about the cars in that film! niiiice.
5. Speed Racer : I saw this movie on the fly. As in, we rushed out to see it from a bbq. And it was a bad call. There were five of us, and three of us regularly reference it as the worst movie we saw last summer. Unfortunately, my husband loved it (although he has been a Speed Racer fan since childhood), and we've seen pieces of it several times since.
6. Burn After Reading : I'm not sure why anyone liked this movie. It really is horrible. Nobody I went with enjoyed it. It's even a poor job of Brad Pitt, who can usually save a movie. The only funny parts are when the CIA assistant reports to his superior about what is going on and what the gym woman's demands are. What a waste of an hour and some.
7. Bolt : This is the very first film that I have ever seen completely in 3D. That makes it memorable in itself. But furthermore, it's the best movie that Disney has put out in recent years (even though it doesn't come close to the masterpieces of the 1990s).
8. 27 Dresses : I usually don't see very many romantic comedies (I think the only other one I saw this year was Nights in Rodanthe). The premise of this one intrigued me simply because I find it crazy how some people choose their bridesmaid dresses. On television, you always see people in insane, civil war-era ballgowns and the like. When I chose mine (which, technically, I didn't, I wasn't able to be at the final shopping day so the girls just sent me a pic on the phone), I was so in love with it that I wanted one just like it, LoL. The movie was so-so. Fortunately, I am a Katherine Heigl fan so it worked out in the end.
9. Mamma Mia! : This one will be memorable because of the crowd with whom I saw it. Just a friend and I went, but we happened to go to a Monday matinee, so there were a ton of blue-hairs in the audience who found the men strappingly stunning and the need to sing along, in whatever key they could.
10. The Women : Again, not the best movie, but worth thinking about again because of the extremity of the efforts set forth to make sure no men were in the film, even in crowd scenes.

You Knew it was Coming...

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

It was only a matter of time before I covered The Simpsons. After all, it has been on the air non-stop since December 1989, and holds the record for the longest-running scripted comedy. (And yeah, I know I missed last week, but I was busy packing and enjoying the holidays.)

I saw the pilot when I was five years old, on a black-and-white television in my bedroom. Laying on the top bunk, I laughed at baby Maggie being dressed in a star suit (for those who don't know, the first episode of The Simpsons was the Christmas Special where they find the doggie, Santa's Little Helper), and rooted for Lisa, the clear angel in the family. About a year later, I received a blue sweatshirt for Christmas, with Bart on it, and the caption "Underachiever, and proud of it" or something very similar. When I figured out what "underachiever" meant (albeit it took me a while), I refused to wear it anymore, and also was appalled that my parents didn't find anything wrong with my wearing it to begin with. Similarly, there's a clear reason why so many people had such a big problem with using the Simpson family as role models.


Because it's virtually impossible for you to be reading this blog and not already know a fair bit about The Simpsons, I won't bother doing an overview of the show. Instead, I'll just cover some weird things about the show (which have to happen because the characters don't actually age).

For one, why make a movie in 2007? Especially since the plot was lame.
Congrats on those 24 Emmys. Although it does make me sad that so many people would vote for this show, when it teaches no values. While it is a very funny show, I think it's marketed for children who are too young to be subjected to it.
Each of the show's six main voice-over actors are paid $400,000 PER EPISODE.
Danny Elfman wrote the theme song (of course).
The "Treehouse of Horror" episodes were intended to be seen the week prior to Halloween, but Fox's deals with MLB have forced the episodes into the first week of November in recent years.
2,000 people can ride The Simpsons at Univeral Studios in one hour.
Quite a few scholars have done work on The Simpsons, and multiple reference books have been published as well.
The three-eyes fish is named, "Binky." (this makes me laugh when you think about "Binky the Clown" in the Garfield comics)
The scientist is named Professor John Frink.
Barney was named as such to match Fred Flintstone's sidekick.
The Happy Little Elves were modeled on The Smurfs.
The conductor of the Springfield Elemntary Band is Dewey Largo.
A team of sixteen writes the episodes.

Alrite, well I'm off to work some, hope you learned thing or two!