Exxon spills some Oil, Flight of the Conchords concludes on HBO a decade before Tenacious D debuts, Troop Beverly Hills is an underrated classic, Betty White loves opioids, Doug’s first and last movie, and John Cena goes a dozen rounds as gamers reaquaint themselves with Wrestlemania Legends. All that and more this week on Thirty Twenty Ten, your weekly look back on the week that was 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
I’ll stand up for Damned United; it’s charming and just a little bit nasty.
Since for whatever reason you three failed to discuss them, 976-Evil was the Horror film directed by Robert Englund, yes Freddy Krueger himself and co written by Brian Hedgeland of L.A. Confidential fame.
Been a while since I’ve watched it but I recall it being pretty bonkers. I feel I should just for kicks. I do know Robert Picardo but onky in voice over but the dude can sound threatening when he wants to. But Chris, I’m surprised you failed to bring it up.
And the other one is Rooftops which should interest Diana a bit because it was the last theatrical film directed by Robert Wise. Never saw it but it’s an action film about a street fighter taking on street gangs. That’s it. I think I can understand why it was his last but I doubt it’s his worst. That title belongs to Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Doug’s 1st Movie I did see in theaters unfortunately. First off, I saw the trailer on a Disney VHS when it used to be called The First Doug Movie Ever. Probably when it was supposed to be direct to video.
But yeah, saw it in theaters and well, not worth it. Obviously is not worth watching. Not to mention, it’s kind of out of nowhere based on its premise because the show itself was relatively down to Earth save for that one Halloween episode but then comes this movie and they just flat out made it about a lake monster that turns out to be real. Which, okay. I guess that was the best idea they could think of but honestly, there’s s reason I prefer Pepper Ann. That show was actually funny.
Quantum Leap however I watched religiously on the Sci-Fi channel when I was a kid. Stuff went over my head but I always engaged.
Futurama I only watched on Fox once and the rest reruns via Adult Swim. Quite a funny show really.
It’s another week and that means another look at AYAOTD season six. This week is another episode I’m not quite fond of: The Tale of the Hunted. The story follows a girl whose father is a hunter and she has a crush on a boy that hunts with her father. She’s going to go hunting with them when one of her friends complains about the cruelty of hunting. By some magic force the main character is turned into a wolf and is being hunted by her father. It’s not a terrible episode, it just is a little too heavy handed with getting its message across. If you removed most of the friends complaining and had more realization with the main character figuring this out on their own it probably would’ve been a better episode. We’re at the halfway point for the season, and I’m a little sad, but I’ll see you next week for another recap.
Troop Beverly Hills began my dependence on Evian. Now that I am old and have access to Sam’s Club a whole wall of my room is boxes of Evian (I drink 2 liters of it a day), almost like the scene where Shelley Long is in her bedroom watching her Ex Husband’s old commercials surrounded by empty bottles of Evian. Now I sit in my bed and watch old commercials surrounded by boxes and bottles of Evian.
I think for years I used to get Flight of the Concords confused with Good Mythical Morning before Link Neal began wearing his hair in a more modern hairstyle. oops.
aw, edtv. When Ellen wasn’t doing anything with her career because noboby would hire her.
Also, the oversaturation of Ally McBeal begins. Doesn’t those half hour “Ally” episodes begin soon? I think that was fall of ’99.
I thought football and NASCAR killed Futurama?
I wanna see Chris’ ghost dad t-shirt.
Hi Diana, British pronunciation is silly sometimes. Brian Clough’s name is said ‘Cluff’ and would rhyme with ‘ruff’.
Also re. birthday quiz, shame on you Chris and Sarah, hang your heads in shame, minus 1 point each.
The Golden Girls episode about pain pills. The media we consume in our youth often stays with us the most not because it was the best examination of a topic we ever experienced but because it was the first. Thus all other exposures to that same topic build upon the foundation that it has already laid in our mind. For me such was definitely the case with this episode covering addiction to prescription medicine. Being a child of the 80’s I can’t remember a time when I was not exposed to media warning about the evils of illegal drugs (“No! No! The Right to say no!”) but before this episode the idea that you could become addicted to something a doctor gave you was completely alien to me. They were doctors after all. You took whatever they gave you and that was that, right? Of course not but 10 year old JR just assumed that was the case. He then watched this episode and without him even realizing it, this sitcom laid a seed in his head that sprouted and remains alive to this day. Because like a lot of people, I’m on some regular medication. And for the most part I just keep taking them. But every couple of years I do like to write my doctor and ask if I should continue doing that. I’d like to say that’s because of the articles I’ve read on how to best manage your own health. I’d like to say that but the image that usually comes to my head when I write those emails is of Bee Arthur saying, “Rose, I don’t think your doctor meant for you to take those for 30 years!” and it shows me that because the seed that a single episode of a tv sitcom that aired in 1989 and that I might not have ever seen since then is apparently still bearing fruit.
Quantum Leap: Oh boy did I get a lot from watching this show, including my use of oh boy! I didn’t really watch any drama shows from the time but because this one had a time-travel gimmick it roped me in and roped me in hard. I became a huge fan and it was probably my favorite tv show of the time and is one of only two shows I ever paid money to read professional fan-fic of, I mean officially licensed novels of. I remember the novel which got solely focused on Sam and Al trying to start the Quantum Leap project and the machinations involved in Sam leaping before the system was fully ready as being an exceedingly powerful piece of literature, and no I will never look it up to check thank you very much. But I read that novel because the show pulled me in with historical drama after historical drama. At the time I watched it, I really didn’t know any history. Every historical era was pretty much just a setting; Star Wars had a setting, Star Trek was a different setting. The 1950’s were a setting and the 1970’s were a setting to me in the same way, but I had no concept of how the events of one ended creating the other. The show didn’t really change that, that took book learning, but the show did a pretty good job of exposing me to how much of an alien place my country could be as little as 25 years earlier. To my young mind the Civil Rights episodes seemed to take place in a different world (before racism was cured forever) than the one I was living in. It could be hokey at times but I think it had a really good heart. I fell out in later seasons though and have always meant to go watch the episodes where apparently there is an evil leaper.
I’m just going to say it, Futurama has the best first episode of any cartoon tv show of all time. Think about it; in the first episode we see Fry’s old life (which will be important to multiple episodes later), we see him get frozen (with Easter eggs like Nibbler’s ears in the background that won’t pay off for a long long time), we see The World of Tomorrow and are introduced to all the most important characters in the show, and it has a number of really great comedic bits that really stand out.
Ayumi Hamasaki (Next Level 2009) is a very talented artist. She was at her peak when I lived in Japan and I liked her well enough, but I was never that into J-pop to really get into her music so she mostly faded from my view. So it feels kind of odd when I occasionally hear that she is still singing and still a huge star. In my mind she will always be this fairly young fresh faced new singer but then I’m reminded that the Junior High students I taught who exposed me to her music are now in their early 30’s. It’s always important to remember that life happens to other people even when you aren’t looking at them.
Monsters Vs. Aliens. In 2009 when this film came out it cost $175 million and was the second most expensive animated film of all time (Wall-E was number one at $180 Million). And… I don’t see why. Wall-E seemed cutting edge to me with some really amazing stuff but I don’t remember being wowed in the slightest at this film when I watched it with my kids. They seemed to have liked it well enough but have never asked for it again. Where did all the money go on this film?
Troop Beverly Hills is a movie I definitely remember watching as a kid and have wanted to rewatch it again. I first saw Jack Black on one of my favorite X-Files episodes called “D.P.O.” where he is the friend of Giovanni Ribsi, who can kill people with lightning.
Quantum Leap is a crazy show where Scott Bakula once leapt into a vampire, a chimp, and Elvis, but the absolute craziest episode is Season 5’s “Goodbye Norma Jean”, where Scott Bakula goes back in time to stop Marilyn Monroe from dying in 1960.
I know what you’re thinking, Didn’t Marilyn Monroe die in 1962? You’re right! But that’s because Scott Bakula saved her in 1960.
The episode ends with Al telling Sam about Marilyn’s ultimate fate, but Sam’s intervention gave her enough time to make The Misfits…without Quantum Leap, we wouldn’t have The Misfits.
So I’m 8, and I’m like, “Mom, Dad, we gotta watch The Misfits.” And they said, “How about Some Like It Hot instead?” (recently on Classic Corner). Which was a great choice. Thanks Mom & Dad and Quantum Leap!