Here is is, the super secret Venture Bros. Christmas E.P. Good luck finding this anywhere. [adult swim] isn’t even promoting it. And they promote everything. but now you can have it for FREE! only at the Songless Circus.

VENTURE BROTHERS CHRISTMAS

Hey everyone, feeling a little list deprived? Well, good news! We’ve got a ton more for you! All this week (and some of next week) we’ll be giving you our Best of 2009, starting with this list of our 15 favorite TV episodes. We didn’t rank this one, but feel free to argue in the comments about how wrong we are or offer your own rankings:

“Racial Sensitivity” – Better Off Ted
Sometimes, all it takes is one great episode for a decent show to jump to must-see, and that’s exactly what Better Off Ted did with “Racial Sensitivity,” an inspired bit of corporate satire that combined all the show’s best elements for 30 exhilarating elements. Like “Slap Bet” before it, “Racial Sensitivity” announced the arrival of a show with a truly unique comic point of view.

“Come Ye Saints” – Big Love
Big Love started as something of a novelty, a story about a guy with three wives. By the time the show hit “Come Ye Saints” in its third season, all of that was more or less in the past. After Anna divorces Bill, he takes his family on a trip across the country, visiting important Mormon sites. The trip turns into a disaster, most notably after Sarah’s pregnancy comes to light when she has a miscarriage. Not only is the family intensely fractured, but Bill himself questions his faith and decisions more than ever. It’s a powerful episode of a show that was as good, if not better, than the other big dramas in its third season.

“ABQ” – Breaking Bad
You could basically choose from any of the 13 episodes in Breaking Bad’s engrossing second season, but we settled on the finale, which ties up the recurring images of the pink bear and body bags with Aristotlean flair. Walter White’s descent to hell completes itself in showy, fiery fashion, putting an exclamation mark at the end of one of the best seasons of television ever.

“Bad Breaks” – Burn Notice
“Bad Breaks” trucks along for its first ten minutes like every other episode of Burn Notice. Michael Weston starts investigating a case while also working on his larger mission of figuring out who burned him. But then the bank Michael is in gets robbed and, from there, its off to the races. Loaded with cool spy tricks and breakneck pacing, “Bad Breaks” was one of the most exciting and frothy hours of the year.

“Debate 109″ – Community
Community has quickly endeared itself to its fans in a lot of ways, and “Debate 109″ showcases the goofy charm the show has. Jeff gets roped into doing the debate team with Annie where he quickly finds his “lawyer skills” will be of no use. Fueled by an obnoxious rival and the promise of a parking space, Jeff and Annie get tough, and awkward together, and beat rival City College. Meanwhile, Pierce tries hypnotherapy to help Britta quit smoking and Troy and Shirley freak out over Abed’s films that predict the future. When it all comes together, it’s easy to see the quirky sweetness that has made Community one of the best new comedies of the season.

“Seinfeld” – Curb Your Enthusiasm
Larry David folded the comic universe in on itself at the climax of Curb Your Enthusiasm’s seventh season, when he threw on a sweater vest and portrayed George Costanza, the fictionalized version of Larry David from Seinfeld. The series of events that got us there, involving Mocha Joe, a pamphlet sized book on acting (without acting), and respect for wood was as hilarious as the show has ever been.

“Unnatural Love” – Flight of the Conchords
Americans might not fully grasp the never-ending feud between New Zealanders and Australians, but Flight of the Conchords made it one of their central jokes in their two season run. “Unnatural Love” finds Jemaine falling in love with an Australian after a night on the town goes a awry, much to the chagrin of Brett and Murray. Nearly all the jokes in the episode are about Australia, but told through the subtle humor of the show, it’s absolutely hysterical. The episode also features one of the band’s best songs, “Carol Brown.” Though maybe not their funniest or most memorable, it is a really terrific, catchy song with probably the coolest looking sequence the show’s done.

“The Son” – Friday Night Lights
[WARNING: This is an episode that has only aired on DirecTV. If you're waiting to watch on NBC in the spring, do not read further!] “The Son” might be the best episode the show has ever done. Matt Saracen emerged in the first season of FNL as an unlikely hero, a second string quarterback who was never supposed to play or get the girl. Matt was perpetually in an uphill battle, with a grandmother with dementia, a mother that left him, and a father who’d rather fight in Iraq than be at home. The latter comes to a head when Matt’s father is killed in Iraq, sending Matt into a downward spiral he seemed destined to have. Zach Gilford delivers an Emmy-worthy performance in an episode of FNL that will put a lump in the throat of even the most passive viewer. Television writing really doesn’t get much better than this.

“Benefits” – How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother once again showed its ability to take a pretty typical sitcom premise and add some life to it. Here, Ted and Robin become friends-with-benefits to ease the tension of their roommate situation, much to the chagrin of a lovesick Barney. The nimbleness with which the show deals with it, especially during the sequence that goes through the entire sequence of events in about two minutes, makes for another top-notch episode.

“The Incident” – Lost
Lost’s finales aren’t always their strongest episodes, but those looking for resolution from “The Incident” were left with their heads spinning. After a season of mindbending, time-travel weirdness, Lost raised the ante even further, raising questions of fate and predetermination while building to the most painful cliffhanger in the show’s history. Add in our first intriguing glimpses of Jacob (in a series of some of the show’s finest flashbacks ever), the Locke payoff, and the tragic end to the Juliet-Sawyer relationship, and you’ve got a bang-up finale.

“Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency” – Mad Men
There are plenty of memorable moments in television history, but there are few as horrifying as the lawn mower scene Mad Men used in their terrific third season. But really, the shocking scene is only one part of a terrific episode changed the gang at Sterling-Cooper tremendously. Don is teased, first by Cooper’s suggestion that he might be promoted to work in London, and then by the prospect of working for Conrad Hilton. Joan’s departure from Sterling-Coop is hampered when her husband doesn’t get the chief residence position. Betty stays a bad mother. Lane get’s transferred to Bombay, then gets to keep his job. Oh yeah, and Lois ran over a guy’s foot with a riding lawn mower. For a show that likes to keep it’s plot moving slowly, this was an episode that put into action the events that would define the end of another season of Mad Men.

“Fizbo” – Modern Family
Modern Family has been fairly consistently hilarious, but “Fizbo” is super-extra-double hilarious. Featuring a story line that finds a fleet way to make use of the entire ensemble, an interesting structure, and the sight of Cam threatening someone in a clown suit, the episode is an inspired bit of work, as showed by the meticulously built Rube Goldberg device that leads to the episode’s climactic injury.

“The Hunting Trip” – Parks and Recreation
If there’s any episode to show just how much Parks and Rec improved between its first and second season, it would be “The Hunting Trip.” Leslie maneuvers herself, Tom, Donna, and Anne onto a hunting trip previously reserved for Ron, Jerry, and Mark, trying to prove herself to be one of the boys. This would probably have only played out as a decent half hour of television, but when Ron get’s shot in the head, it becomes fantastic. Ron’s instant reaction to take 8 pain pills and down scotch, Tom’s suggestion that the Predator was hunting them, Donna’s distress over her car, and Leslie’s reasons for why being a woman caused her to shoot Ron are priceless. If you didn’t believe in Parks and Rec after its first season, watch this episode right away.

“Kerplunk” – Pushing Daisies
Pushing Daises met it’s too soon demise with “Kerplunk,” an episode not intended to be a finale, but one that functions fairly well as one. The episode finds Ned and Olive working for the Darling Mermaid Darlings on their comeback tour to solve the mystery of who sent a shark after one of their rivals. the mystery wasn’t the best the show did, but it was done with such gusto and with an attempt to tie up loose ends before the show’s end, that the episode is more bittersweet than any others. The brief epilogue tacked on at the end to wrap up the show may have been a bit too quick, but it’s a fitting end to a show that went too soon.

“Blood of the Father, Heart of Steel” – The Venture Bros.
Cartoon Network shows are nothing if not user-friendly. Beyond the show’s basic set-up, you usually don’t need to know too much going in and don’t need to watch that closely to get what’s going on. The Venture Bros’ fourth season premiere, however, tossed all that aside, wallowing in its dense continuity and crafting an episode that made no concessions to linear storytelling, creating as exhilarating and captivating a half hour as Adult Swim has ever aired.

We’re going to Popcorn Comedy tonight – they asked us if we could get a goodie bag together to give away as a prize. Pretty sure they told us what it was for, but, to be honest, just as truth is the first casuality of war, short term memory is the first casualty of Christmas, so we have no idea what you have to do to win it. Turn up maybe?

We stamped the bag with the web address...

Anyway, here’s what’s in it:

Robot Chicken DVD Box Set

Rosy Apple sweets from the new M&S pick n mix dept

Bloody shower curtain, which we were meant to give away via Funny or Die UK, but we couldn’t get it together in time to coincide with our Horror Month theme in October …

Two very exclusive [adult swim] T-

...sadly they wiped off pretty much the minute we left the office - leaving this rather cryptic image

shirts. One that kind of combines Christmas, Twitter and evilness

A picture of a Toucan (we think. Who are we? Bill Oddie?)

Venture Bros Season One DVD (Hells, yeah)

Meatwad stressball (quite stinky)

Homemade Mighty Boosh wrapping paper

[adult swim] USB stick wristband thingy

Adult Swim calendar from the states – VERY RARE and collectible – if you’re thinking of Ebaying anything, this is the cheese, right here.

Adult Swim plastic bag from Williams St (authentically scuffed in Atlanta, GA)

Chocolate Champagne Bottle, as seen (soon) in the new Adult Swim Christmas continuity

Kid Robot Toy: Carl

Catnip. You can have it. It makes our eyes itch.

Goodie bag – lovingly drawn on by our head designer, using imagery he found hidden in some photoshop layers from Williams St.

DVD Screener from last year with loads of eps on it (and typed out list with no spelling mistakes whatsoever)

UPDATE

Needless to say, when we got there, we won our own goodie bag by proving we watch waaaaay too much YouTube. We guessed closest to the number of YouTube hits bestowed upon all the ‘innernet favourites’ voted for by the Popcorn comedy people. After much ado, ‘Tom & Anna’ were chosen as the new winners – something to do with a joke about lesbian millinery.

So yeah a good night. Although we’re still a bit traumatised after the Misery Bear Christmas Special…

Okay, so, I’ve been thinking that I should actually use my blog a little bit more. I did some tidying up of the about me section, on the side of the page (look to your right). So to get things started:

I have finally narrowed down my two cosplays for next year’s AvCon10. On saturday, I will be playing the part of Pete White, the gay albino from venture Bros:

Probably the most easiest cosplay I will attempt. Ever. Well, Apature Science employee wasn’t that hard. Anyway, on the list:

. White shoes, preferably with that buckle
. Pink tights
. Silver/white wig, long, ask a hairdresser to style
. Pendant (easy to make)
. White coat with/without shoulder pads

The next cosplay that I will be in, and probably terrorising people with is the Builder’s League United Spy:

Shit to get:

. Polyester dark blue balacava
. Fitted suit
. Dress shoes
. Gloves
. French accent
. Cigarette case
. Disguise masks (probably from Ubercharged.net)
. Cigarettes (Ha, if I was in the legal age of perchasing them, I’d use real ones. Fake ones will have to do, for now)

So I have a pretty busy couple of months ahead of me. The convention isn’t until July next year, but in cosplayer terms, it takes awhile to get all this stuff. Other than that, if anyone is heading down to AvCon10 next year, feel free to come and find me. I’ll probably either be hassling any Engineer cosplayers or at the Pocky stand, oh how do I love Pocky!

During the weekend, my long time friend died. My tablet decided to go an up and carck it on me while I just installed the trial version of PainterTool SAI. Not happy. I was talking to my dad about it, he said that the best way to go about it is to buy one off of eBay. I saw a Wacom Bamboo tablet for around $97, which is pretty cheap consider the fact that most graphics tablets these days cost around $500. However, my mobile is starting to fail on me (weeeee, technology!) so I think i need to get a new one. Or just leave it and focus on getting my cosplay items. In all honesty, cosplay comes first, pretty sure we have a spare mobile hanging around here somewhere.

On a good note, I’m getting my iTouch sometime this week. Hopefully today, but I highly doubt it. If it comes tomorrow I’ll be just as equally pleased. Sunday made my week for me. Went to see Zombieland with James, it is a fantastic movie. I suggest people to see it. It’s packet full of punch and originality, double tap.

That’s about it for now, god I’m a boring little fuck.

 I have a huge collection of television shows on DVD: I own over 70 seperate shows, nearly all of them in completion with all seasons. As such, I’ve seen many a different box set. I always appreciate when one is well-made and creative, so that’s what this list is dedicated to. It took a while to scan the shelves for the best of the best, but in the end I came through. Unfortunately, I had to leave some great sets to the side: The Wire, Invader Zim, and Deadwood are just some that didn’t make the cut.

This one looks harmless. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing special. Nothing even remotely interesting about the packaging. I mean, sure, it’s The X-Files and that’s interesting enough, but it’s exactly the same as any other DVD case, just like a movie you’d pick up from the bargain bin at Wal-Mart.

Except… wait. Does that say 6-disc set?

And it’s that thin?

Don’t worry, this isn’t some weird paranormal case for Mulder and Scully to solve – it’s reality. It’s like seeing a UFO and then having everyone actually believe you. This is so unbelievable simple and yet it took them years to figure it out. What you see above you is 2009’s re-designed packaging for all nine seasons of The X-Files. Box set after box set with multiple thin cases (Family Guy, Arrested Development) or miles of flip-out pages (Lost, The Simpsons) to hold each DVD… and nobody thought of stuffing as many discs as they could into one standard-size DVD case? It’s compact and efficient, though honestly it’s also a bit heavy.

Discs 2-5 rest on a pair of plastic rings that attach on the inside spine. The most amazing part? No discs are covering each other or overlapping, a travesty that would normally require you to remove the disc you’ve already watched to reach the one below it! This is truly a modern marvel. I’ve noticed a lot of other DVD’s following suit recently, and that’s great news. I gladly welcome more box sets like this one.

Bonus points for the uniform design of all nine seasons: they look great shelved in a row and they’re all designed nearly the same way (save for the seasons with only 5 discs.)

This one wins more for its creativity than its quality. Not many box sets can say that they perfectly mimic the atmosphere of the show they encase, but Six Feet Under succeeds with a majestic simplicity. Built to look like a grave, this 5-season set lets you know exactly what you’re in for before you even pop in the first disc.

Yes, that grass on top really has a texture. It isn’t real grass, but if you’re angry about that then you should really invest in a Chia Pet. The gravestone crowning this baby is a very nice touch, and the inscription of 2001-2005 is a fun tribute to the show’s time on the air. All four sides are meant to look like dirt below the surface of the tomb, and they all bear the same text as the plaque above.

Open up the front flap and you get all five seasons of the show along with a cute little booklet profiling the characters - it also contains the soundtrack CD’s. HBO is always very generous with their box sets. The artwork inside the flap is yet another great choice to set the mood as we gaze out at the Fisher family and friends from within a coffin.

The box sets for each season are actually pretty standard fare, which is why this entry isn’t higher up on the list. It does the job, though, and there’s no room to complain unless you were expecting a body in there.

Considering that the packaging of a DVD box set is practically advertising in and of itself, it’s no surprise that Mad Men really delivers on the goods here. This is the Don Draper of DVD box sets. At first glance you might think I’ve made some sort of huge mistake and this is a picture of something I got at Men’s Wearhouse (which, by the way, is a dumb name for a store.)

Look closer. That’s just the cover art for the DVD case within. The case itself is a standard multi-disc fold-out package, but it gets points for style. It looks classy, and you feel classy looking at it. The discs themselves are emblazoned with elegant symbols of the show they feature. The first season had a limited edition box set that looked like a Zippo lighter, but I still feel like this is a step above even that. I mean, on top of being extremely creative, the packaging of a shirt functions extremely well when similarly employed for a DVD box set.

Plus it comes with a Mad Men-branded tie clip! Oh, and even the advertisements packages with it are hilariously clever!

Right, that’s a Chlorox ad. With a lipstick stain on a white collar. And it says “Getting ad guys out of hot water for generations.” When your packaged advertisements are so good your customers probably won’t throw them out, you know you’ve got a great box set.

We’re in the big-league now. Everything before this has just been a warm-up. The Seinfeld Complete Series box set is DVD perfection. To this day I have not witnessed a classier way to condense multiple discs.  All nine seasons are here – 32 discs housed in two amazing flip-out cases. This is even better when you remember that every disc is filled with Seinfeld episodes! No longer must you rely on TBS re-runs to get your fix.

The quality here is outstanding: the materials are sturdy and tough, the design is clean and simple, the discs are accessible and numerous. It even comes with a coffee table book with a complete episode guide and tons of trivia! Unfortunately, the coffee table book doesn’t have fold-out legs that transform it into its own coffee table. The back page has a pocket for a DVD with the Seinfeld reunion interview.

Behold these angelic disc booklets! Each one holds 16 discs, with 8 plastic pages that fan out on either side. For a sitcom, this is some serious business. There’s tons of loveable quotes from the show scattered throughout the pages of both the cases and the coffee table book, which is a very welcome addition.

The only downside is that it collects dust easily and it’s sometimes hard to get the disc booklets out. However, that’s like saying “You’ve won the lottery but you’re going to eat a cake tomorrow that isn’t as delicious as you’d like it to be so you’ll be mildly disappointed but it won’t really bother you in the long run.”

And now we face the king. The Mafia kingpin of DVD box sets. This thing is a behemoth. Who needs cement when you could just tie this to someone’s feet and drag them into the watery abyss?

It’s almost a hassle to get to the discs: first you must remove the top of the box, then you must use the ribbon to pull out the velvet sleeve, and then you can peel away the sleeve and draw out what appears to be a large hardcover book.

This is when you realize what you’ve gotten yourself into. Opening it up, you find beautiful artwork and hard pages with pockets for each DVD. Not to mention it also holds the soundtracks. HBO has a great track record for quality box sets packed with goodies and content, but this one pushes it to the next level.

Like the Seinfeld set, this one also attracts a lot of dust – both the box and the book. This is a small price to pay, however, and it’s easy to keep dust away if you’re careful.

Hard. Pages. With discs in them. Discs with episodes of The Sopranos on them.

This is the holy grail of quality DVD box sets, and I cannot stress that enough. It’s pricey but worth every single penny. Remember, you’re not just paying for this quality box set, but you’re getting one of the greatest television shows of all time on 32 discs. Just don’t be disappointed when it ends mid-sen

See what I did up there? Anyway, there’s a few more box sets that I would have liked to include but they didn’t make the cut aside from some small details I found noteworthy. I’d also like to once again mention The Wire, Invader Zim, and Deadwood: each also deserve to be included here. Without any further ado, the honorable mentions:

I’ve always liked the Entourage box sets, and it’s for one simple reason: they’re sturdy. The material is much like a hardcover book, and it feels like you’re getting your money’s worth when you carry them to checkout. Unfortunately, this trend died around Season 4 in favor of a more traditional approach.

The biggest problem, though, is that none of these seasons are uniform. Some are taller, shorter, wider, longer… they look awkward when grouped together on a shelf.

Inside it’s standard fare, but HBO does a nice job with the graphics and discs.

This one is all about the creativity and how much Adult Swim accomplishes with the most basic of DVD packaging. There’s a traditional soft outer case and a two-disc case inside. The material even feels a bit sub-par. So why is this here?

The vintage design. Those aren’t real fold-marks or coffee stains. This box set was designed to look like it’s been worn out and it does the trick very well. It’s a really cool and interesting approach. Everyone can relate to having a drink spilled on one of their precious belongings and being unable to get the stain out… but here it actually adds to the flavor of the box set. The Venture Bros. is an absolutely fantastic show that I think is one of the best-written cartoons of all time, so it’s no surprise that their box sets are just as fun. Season 3’s is great as well (it’s made to look like an old Atari game box) and I had trouble choosing between the two.

Those beautiful coffee stains.

This box set is as difficult to figure out as it is to deal with Larry David. I mean, granted, it won’t really take you more than a minute… but this is still a weird way to package your discs.

There’s a flap, so you pull it. Only there’s no discs, just an episode guide. That’s when you notice the little flap that says “PULL.”

And bam! You pull on it and both discs slowly show their faces from the top and bottom. I’m embarrassed to say that this took me a few minutes to figure out, but now I love it and I was sad to see this design go out the window for the Season 6 set.

We’ve spent so much time praising box sets that we haven’t even regarded the opposite side of the spectrum. I’ve done some thinking, and without a doubt this is the most pathetic box set ever.

The Prisoner. A classic. What could be wrong with this? It looks like a pretty solid box set. It has 10 discs, so it must fold out or something, right?

Then you realize it doesn’t fold out. There’s no conceivable opening. You’ll likely spend a few minutes fumbling around trying to find out how to find the discs. You’ll start to doubt there are even any discs inside there in the first place.

That’s when you think of something. But no! It can’t be… can it?

Yes. That is how you open this box set.

This is barely a step above how I open my cereal boxes! I’m half-expecting to find some Cinnamon Toast Crunch in there. Absolutely unacceptable.

Our best of the decade lists roll on with our list of best TV shows of the last 10 years. In judging these, we looked at the shows quality over its overall run or run up until this current season (our year end list will touch on that), as well as its degree of influence. Disagree and think we’re a couple of idiots who don’t know what real comedy or drama is? Think we’re the greatest people to talk about TV since it was invented? Sound off in the comments section below!

25. House
One of the more popular shows of the decade, House combined ER, CSI, and Scrubs into a consistently satisfying show that produced one of the best TV personalities in its title character. Hugh Laurie’s portrayal of the sarcastic genius Dr. House is worth tuning in for on a regular basis, but the show always manages to keep the tension rising for the full hour before reaching its conclusion. Perhaps the best part of house is that you don’t need an extensive background on the show to watch it, making it easy to enjoy each time you turn it on. (M)

24. Dexter
As time goes on, Dexter has kind of flown off the rails (let’s just not talk about this season’s unfortunate repositioning of Dexter as America’s Favorite Serial Killer: how will he adjust to life in Suburbia?) but even at its most ridiculous, Michael C. Hall is there to ground the show. Hall isn’t afraid to embrace Dexter’s nasty, dark side, but he’s at his best when playing Dexter as an alien thrust into human society; squirming and struggling to pass for normal when surrounded by constant threats. (J)

23. Extras
Ricky Gervais took the cringe comedy he perfected on the The Office and brought it to Hollywood with his fantastic Extras. The premise of the show is simple, Gervais plays an extra who strives for more, while having wacky run ins with celebrities playing themselves. Each episode was essentially a set up for an awkward moment with a celebrity and for Andy, and it usually was incredibly cringe inducing while gut-bustingly funny. Standouts include a graphic Kate Winslet, a childish Daniel Ratcliff, a stoic Ian McKellen, and of course, an perverted Patrick Stewart. (M)

22. The Venture Bros.
The Venture Bros. isn’t really a parody, even though a quick plot summary reads as such. But parodies are generally a loosely strung-together series of one liners and jokes (see pretty much everything else on Adult Swim), whereas The Venture Bros. manages to balance together some extremely intricate mythology, legitimate character development, cultural criticism, and, yes, a very long and very funny series of one-liners and jokes. In episodes like “The Doctor is Sin” the show is at its best, turning the hero-villain dynamic on its head and showing that even superscientists and arch-villains in butterfly suits have feelings too. (J)

21. Scrubs
Though it veered off course towards the end of its run (we’re counting this new season as a spin-off), the first few years of Scrubs were fantastic television. The show never hesitated to add the crushing aspects of working in a hospital, but also never relied on gimmicks seen in hospital dramas. Instead, Scrubs always featured a high degree of goofy humor while highlighting the actual ups and downs of working in a hospital. The characters were all lovable, especially the constantly grumpy Dr. Cox, played to perfection by John C. Riley. The popularity of the show has grown since it went into syndication, and rightfully so, as it was one of the better, unique comedies of the 2000s. (M)

20. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s genius lies in how harmless it can seem at first. “A group of friends who hang out in a bar and get into schenanigans? I’ve seen this show before.” But Sunny takes its schlocky tropes in such wrong directions, and with such deranged glee, that it quickly becomes obvious that this isn’t like other sitcoms. Like a 2000s Seinfeld, Sunny stretches the limit of what is acceptable behavior within a sitcom until there are no limits left. (J)

19. Firefly
People forget that there was a time when Joss Whedon was a successful television wunderkind with a JJ Abrams-level ceiling. But that was before Firefly, his difficult, heady sci-fi western about a future that looks a lot more like our past. Whedon cleverly inverts the utopic social order of Star Trek, turning the Federation (actually called the Alliance, but its the same general idea) into the bad guys, making a show celebrating ingenuity and individualism, while avoiding any sort of heavy-handed sermonizing. Plus he recurited a stellar cast, led with Han Solo swagger by Nathan Fillion (who deserves to be a much, much bigger star thanks to this role). Sadly Firefly only lasted one season, but what a season it was. (J)

18. Friday Night Lights
Perhaps the most naturalistic show ever on television, Friday Night Lights quickly grew past its premise of a town obsessed with high school football. In addition to the drama you’d expect, the show has touched on a father in Iraq, racism, class difference, paraplegics, and the enormous expectations placed on high school stars. Rather than just keep the same cast, even after some have graduated, the show hasn’t been afraid to keep its cast revolving, consistently bringing in well thought out characters. As a result, FNL is not just a show for football fans, but for fans of great TV. (M)

17. Big Love
What started as a show with a gimmicky concept, a Mormon man with three wives, evolved to become a family drama about faith and convictions, which has gotten better and better as it has gone on. The show is driven by a terrific cast, most notably the three wives played by Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin. While it’s not a show you can just pick up and watch at any point, Big Love is a unique drama that puts the pedal to the floor for every episode and is a pleasure to watch each week. (M)

16. Pushing Daisies
Cheerful whimsy is a hard tone to carry through a 13-hour season, but Pushing Daisies pulled it off by weighting down its twee elements with a genuine sadness. Constructed like a fairy tale and set in a world that looks like a Tim Burton-directed Amelie, Pushing Daisies was an hour of happiness beamed directly into your living room, buoyed by an amazing ensemble without a single weak link or overwhelming personality (although, if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Chi McBride). One of the great tragedies of the strike is that it sabotaged the burdgeoning success on one of TV’s most unique shows. (J)

15. How I Met Your Mother
The only show on our list with a laugh track, How I Met Your Mother started as a sitcom with a clever premise and expanded to become one of the most inventive and hip shows on TV. While the performance of Neil Patrick Harris as ultimate ladies man Barney has drawn the most praise, the rest of the cast is equally as fantastic in their less over the top roles, especially Cobie Smulders as Canadian newswoman Robin. If you remain unconvinced, check out the Season 2 episode “Slap Bet.” There are few episodes of TV in the last 10 years better than that. (M)

14. Flight of the Conchords
Blending deadpan silliness with genuinely catchy songs, Flight of the Conchords turned into a minor phenomenon, as word of mouth spread about just how hilarious the show was. Even as the quality of the music teetered off a little bit in the second season, the show’s hilarious writing and talented supporting cast (including two of the decade’s funniest creations: Rhys Darby’s clueless manager/New Zealand consulate drone Murray and Kristen Schaal’s creepily obsessed superfan Mel) carried it through. (J)

13. The Office (US)
After a lackluster first season, the American version of The Office looked like a flop. But with the Season 2 opener “The Dundies,” The Office started having its own identity and it paid off big time. Rather than stay focused on just a few characters, the show expanded through the offices of Dunder-Mifflin, giving a whole new set of options to the show. It still goes for the cringe humor of it’s British heritage (more on that in a bit), but it has also relied on a deeper emotional depth for its cast of characters, providing more than just laughs to a great show.(M)

12. Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica had giant “Stay Away” signs posted all over it – like the fact that it was remake, appearing on a channel not exactly known for quality original productions. But Ronald D. Moore and David Eick beat the odds and made a show that, during some of our most turbulent years, directly engaged the political situation with more sophistaction than any other show on TV (inlcuding cable news or, for that matter, most films). While Moore didn’t quite stick the landing, he still made an immensely thoughtful show, packed with characters who transcended their pulpy roots to become genuinely fascinating and empathy-enducing figures. (J)

11. Veronica Mars
The first season of Veronica Mars is an intricately plotted masterpiece that serves as compelling evidence of what television is capable of on a storytelling level, balancing a tightly-wound mystery that would give Sam Spade pause with a fascinating depiction of class warfare in a California high school. While the next two seasons didn’t quite live up to that first one, they were still excellent and all three gave us a chance to see the brilliant work Kristen Bell did in the title role. Balancing a world-weary, sardonic edge with a measure of innocence and idealism, Bell played the most realistic teenager to appear on television since Sunnydale High School’s destruction. (J)

10. Breaking Bad
When it started, Breaking Bad’s premise sounded awfully familar. But, over the course of two brief seasons, it morphed into a pitch black look at male anxiety, drug trade in the Southwest, and one man’s transformation from an upstanding chemistry teacher into a monster. Giving one of the best performances of the decade, Bryan Cranston guides that transformation by showing that those traits had always existed inside Walter White, it just took something like cancer to bring them out. There have been many antiheroes on TV this decade, but none started seeming as docile only to become as horrifying (in such a convincing way) as Walter. (J)

9. 30 Rock
When 30 Rock debuted, no one had any doubt that Aaron Sorkin’s dramedy Studio 60, also about a sketch comedy show, would be much better. Now, in it’s fourth season, 30 Rock has had 3 more seasons and Emmy’s for Best Comedy than it’s former counterpart. A zainy show that combines the in jokes of Arrested Development with the absurd parts of the The Simpsons, Tina Fey’s show is a weekly laugh fest, even when it’s not at its best. 30 Rock stands out from other sitcoms for it’s joke first, plot later structure. Above all, 30 Rock has proved it’s okay to pander comedy to smart people, and has become a show that doesn’t take its viewer for granted. (M)

8. Curb Your Enthusiasm
No one, not even Larry David, acts like “Larry David,” the main character of Curb Your Enthusiasm. But part of the fun of the show is picturing what it would be like if, just once, you could verbally abuse the people who take too many samples or eat a couple of your shrimp after taking the wrong takeout box. Free of the conventions and restraints imposed by Seinfeld, Larry David was able to run wild and make a show that is so painfully, terrifyingly awkward that you can’t help but laugh. (J)

7. The Daily Show/The Colbert Report
Sticking out from the other shows on this list and forever being tied together, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report were perhaps the most important shows for late night TV since Johnny Carson. Taking aim at not only politicians, but the media and hypocrisies everywhere, both shows became more and more important as the second half of the decade went on. In the 2008 election, both Daily Show host Jon Stewart and the Stephen Colbert took Republican candidate John McCain to task for his remarks about the economy, and the media followed suit. Both shows stood at the intersection between comedy and politics while managing to play both sides. How long they can last remains to be seen, but in the 2000s, they were incredible. (M)

6. Mad Men
There was a recent study that watching TV shows regularly and following the characters has the same effect on your brain as forming actual friendships. While I don’t know this for sure, I suspect that vast majority of participants in the study were Mad Men viewers. Sure the show’s period trappings are beautifully realized, and the central concept of an ad man who is so committed to his craft of building consumerist fantasies that he has sold himself on his lies is compelling and rich, but its Mad Men’s characters and the humanity with which it treats them that makes it so hypnotically compelling. Mad Men is a collection of little moments that build a larger picture of alienation, depression, and things we do to try to fight them off. (J)

5. Lost
No other show has ever captured the curiosity of its fans while demanding so much attention as Lost. A combination of mystery, adventure, and sci-fi, Lost was a cultural phenomenon upon its arrival, and those that have stuck around have been treated to a show that has grown strongly over time, making its mythology deeper and deeper. Many imitators have tried to steal Lost’s formula, but to no avail. When the show returns this spring for it’s final season, one of the great TV mysteries will come to its conclusion, but our fascination with it may never end. (M)

4. The Wire
What’s left to be said about The Wire, David Simon’s depressingly realistic portrayal of how the system rewards sloth, greed, and inaction? There are no good or bad guys in The Wire, just people trying to do what they can to get by. Simon’s multi-layered, intellectually taxing storytelling takes a while to acclimate to, but before you realize, you’re sucked into a world spiraling further and further towards bleak, bureaucratic dystopia; and then you turn off the show and realize you were already living in it. (J)

3. The Office (UK)
Before there was Michael Scott, there was David Brent and his band of weary office workers who were perpetually terrorized by the antics of their boss. The original version of The Office really brought together the cringe comedy of Larry David with Sam and Diane, while at the same time presenting the dull drums of the workplace. David Brent is right up there with Ralph Cramden, Lucy, and Archie Bunker in the TV comedy hall of fame. His very presence on screen will make you cringe. Without The Office, who knows what would have happened to sitcoms in the 2000s. (M)

2. The West Wing
While Aaron Sorkin was at the helm, The West Wing Was a show unequaled in quality. Before Sorkin left the show following the fourth season, the show was as much a human drama as it was a political one, thanks in large part to the quality of a cast that made their characters impossible to dislike. Perhaps the most overlooked part of the Sorkin Years was that the show was often hilarious, breaking the seriousness up, and really making for four seasons without a bad episode. When the show changed hands for its final three seasons, it suffered at first, and improved towards the end, but seasons 1-4 remain some of the best television you’ll ever see. (M)

1. Arrested Development
Without a doubt the best comedy of the decade, and possibly ever, Arrested Development is a masterpiece of comic writing and execution. Whether you’re watching an episode for the first time or the tenth time, you’ll always laugh as the jokes pile up. With countless running gags and jokes (Franklin, “Her?”, Mr. F) that continued to pay off as the show went on, Arrested Development is a show that rewarded its small, loyal fan base, and easily won over more after its cancellation. If  you haven’t met the Bluths yet, you have no idea what you’re missing. (M)

There are few shows, let alone comedies, that are still as impactful the 80th time you watch them as they were the first. But Arrested Development actually gets better with repeat viewings, allowing you to fully drink in the world that Mitch Hurwitz created. The vividly realized, slightly askew universe of Arrested Development most closely resembles a real-life Springfield, with grotesquely wealthy privilege replacing middle-class ennui, but Arrested Development succeeds by packing it with characters who have beating hearts underneath their cartoonish exterior. Under appreciated in its time, Arrested Development’s cancellation had one positive: it guaranteed that the show’s run ended without a single bad episode. (J)

[the Monarch has Brock Sampson right where he wants him]
The Monarch: Release the butterflies.
[Dead butterflies fall on Brock]
The Monarch: Okay, whose job was it to feed the butterflies?

 

For Halloween Violet dressed as a Monarch butterfly, one of her favorite Earth creatures.  Sage, just wanted an excuse to fire a cap gun and carry a “pistol” so he went as his hero from the movie/book Hidalgo, Frank T. Hopkins.

As a huge fan of the series Venture Bros., I couldn’t help but find some sick connection between Violet’s costume and my favorite character from the show, The Monarch.

Right before we were to head down main street to gather some goodies, my Monarch discovered she had lost an antennae.  I tried to tell her this just made her costume more realistic, as this often happens to butterflies in nature.  She wasn’t buying it.

I couldn’t make her feel better, but obviously the candy filled bag did the job.  I love Halloween.

Modern Enemy Monthly
Dr. Girlfriend NAKED AGRESSION

I hope they are able to do a tie in with the season 4 DVDs to include a copy of this hot number!

They were going to write another boring article with that d-class supervillain The Monarch. Sources tell me that Dr Mrs The Monarch had ordered a special dinner on the day of the interview, which gave The Monarch an upset stomach, forcing him to cancel. I don’t think she did it on purpose, but she sure can steal a spotlight.

edit: better picture here from doc’s blog

3/5 — Good, but not great.

The Venture Bros.
Episode 42/”403″: “Perchance to Dean”
Wherein we discover a remaining though deformed Dean clone, and Dean discovers some epic metal music.

Ok, so maybe the episode deserves better than a 3/5, but I’m holding the episode to the standard of Venture Bros., and as far as this episode goes, it wasn’t very exciting and is somewhat forgettable. The really only redeeming bit for me was Dean’s imagination during the segments where he listens to music because they are, in fact, without a doubt, absolutely fantastic. The episode’s events are essentially a deranged Dean clone, that was originally aborted due to its hideousness, coming after Dean to take his place, Hank thinking he’s killed Dean when he hits a clone with the car, and Sgt. Hatred creating a bunch of mock Dr. Ventures that explode on contact. And then a delivery guy who seems to have the Shining and convinces police to storm the Venture Compound. It’s fairly insane, sort of fun, but a bit of a let down, especially from the excitement of the first episode. We’ve gone two episodes with no real changes in the cast and no update on Brock’s activities. Sure Dean gets his time in the sun, but even that’s sort of lackluster.

4/5 — Coo-reepy.

The Venture Bros.
Episode 41/”402″: “Handsome Ransom”
In which the Monarch kidnaps Hank and Dean Venture and holds them for ransom, but a very disturbed hero named Captain Sunshine comes to what can hesitantly be called a rescue.

It’s nice to see some proper Venture Bros. villains again, and Dr. Girlfriend seems to becoming a more interesting and prominent character in this episode. We had a lot of her backstory before, but she actually comes off as pretty cool in this episode. So the Monarch kidnaps the kids, but rather than trying to kill Dr. Venture via this success, he holds them ransom for $10 mil. An aging hero named Captain Sunshine arrives to sort of save the day. He takes a disturbing liking to Hank and installs him as the new Wonder Boy sidekick after Monarch killed the old one. The episode as a whole doesn’t contribute anything really to the overarching Venture Bros. storyline, so for all intents and purposes it’s basically filler. Still, it makes for a pretty good episode and lots of fun disturbing humor, as only Venture Bros. and pedophiles can deliver.

4/5 — Original. Awesome. Confusing.

The Venture Bros.
Episode 40/”401″: “Blood of the Father, Heart of Steel”
Wherein we follow Brock’s recent history, see Sgt. Hatred as the new Venture bodyguard, and there are Nazis with Hitler’s soul in a bulldog.

A new season of Venture Bros. is always an exciting time. I’ve been a big fan of the show for awhile now, and since it’s animated, here come the reviews! The first episode of the series is insane, taking what I would call the Lost approach to writing, where a series of scenes are slung together mish-mash, making deciphering an episode something like figuring out what your Japanese co-workers are trying to tell you when you have a fairly limited vocabulary in the language. Ok, so maybe there’re only a few of us that can relate directly to that scenario. Regardless, the episode is encrypted, and putting it altogether is damn hard. The first time watching the episode I didn’t care for this approach, but having seen it several times now, I actually rather enjoy the effect. If they did it for every episode, it’d be too much, but as a season debut it’s effective in that it builds a lot of intrigue very quickly, and the action zips right along. We see Brock Samson trying to get his revenge and ending up back in on the spy game. His travels throughout the episode are rather entertaining, especially when he puts on weight and becomes just a mountain of a man. Hank and Dean also get some spotlight time, where they start to become like real characters — well, at least Hank does, Dean is sort of lame in this episode. The episode sets up the next season well, and it makes me want to see more, but many things are overlooked in putting all efforts towards the goal of having an explosive opening episode. My favorite bit is the way the CGC rating of an issue of Marvel #1 that 21 gives Dr. Venture, in payment to clone 24, can be used to track the chronology of the episode: the comic’s value starts at half a million dollars, and you can tell events that come later than that because the value is lower.

I had a lovely time at Comedy Death Ray at UCB last night. Scott and BJ run an incredible show. I followed the delightful Andy Kindler, no small task, but the crowd was cool and I enjoyed doing a show where people were literally sitting on fucking stage. People lined up around the block to go to CDR, just as they do each and every week. It’s really inspiring and awesome to see people wait in line for literally hours to get to see live comedy. Also performing: Jimmy Dore, Chip Pope, Moshe Kasher, Aziz Ansari, and my beloved friend Reggie Watts.

This is the promo poster for the off-Broadway play we're not doing.

I also got to hang out with my excellent friend H. Alan Scott. If you only meet one ex-Mormon with 12 siblings in your life, this young geigh comedian should be the one.

Earlier in the day, I had the unique pleasure of visiting (“Queer as Folk” star and) beloved activisit-actor-comedian Hal Sparks at his wonderful renovated 70-something year old home, which is filled with magickal statues and a wonderland of photographs and paintings and special art and music and colors. I told his assistant, Amy, who is awesome, “This is exactly the kind of house I would want if I had the chance.”

We shot an episode of Gettin’ Wet with Sara Benincasa, and a VERY special guest stopped by.

This is me as an extra in someone's gay wet dream.

I also went and visited Mr. James Urbaniak, starrrr of stage and screen and the voice of Dr. Venture on the crazy cartoon series “Venture Bros.” His twins were at nursery school, so he allowed my trusty friend Adam Finmann and I to invade his abode and interrogate him about his life and work.

GO TEAM VENTURE! I asked James to show me how to do this because a fan had demanded it, on the online.

I got to know and work with a really cool gent named Damion Dietz, director of Dog Tags (2008) and many other films. I voiced a Sarah Palin movie involving dildo puppets. NO. BIG. DEAL. We went out for Mexican food in Silverlake to celebrate the conclusion of a cumulative 12-ish hours of recording voice magic, and I got to check out a really cool altar for the Days of the Dead.

When I lived in New Mexico, we saw beautiful displays like this everywhere.

Later that night, back in Beachwood Canyon, I walked past a dude who was out grilling his dearly beloved deceased’s favorite foods. It smelled so good, and he looked kind of proud, as if he knew that people were stopping by and watching in curious admiration.

Did AGORAFABULOUS! at Largo again on Monday night. It was a really different show from the previous outing. After the first out at Largo, I think I finally got what the shape of it is going to be, thanks to some really fucking helpful notes from friends and strangers alike. So the second outing was a lot closer to the eventual “final” form it will take. Sometimes I do the show and it’s too heavy on the funny and not enough on the sad. Other times it’s too heavy on the sad and not enough on the funny. Eventually it’ll balance out. Looking forward to bouncing some ideas off the wonderful folks at Ars Nova when I get home. They’re insightful birds and bees and I know talking to them will be great. My friend Soce the Elemental Wizard and my friend Jessica Delfino are doing their ANT Fest ‘09. If you’re in NYC, check that shit out.

Mal sehen, Dinge, die ich mag:

-Cartoons

-Superhelden/Superbösewichte

-Rockmusik

-Referenz-Gags, die mit Filmen und Musik zu tun haben

-Fremdschämen

- 3 Typen, die für die Synchro von ca. 50 Charakteren zuständig sind

TADA!

Venture Bros, aka, der beste Cartoon ever. (Naja, einer der Besten, nicht dass sich “Ren & Stimpy” vernachlässigt fühlen)

I’ve spent the last two nights editing the layout of a newspaper. Grueling, annoying work – but I got it done. And hope never to do it again. Well, okay, I’d be willing to do it again – with a bit more help and input, rather than being abandoned by the rest of the crew to suffer this ordeal.

I spend way too much time second-guessing myself to get things done quickly. Oh well, if it looks like shit, everyone will tell me and I’ll learn from it.

In lighter news, I saw the premier of the new Venture Bros. season (thanks to a handy program that guards my IP and thus lets me watch all those American video sites). They’ve set up a lot of interesting stuff for future episodes, and I can’t wait to see how they pan out. Plus, the first episode has Nazis (“Nein, we’re not!”) trying to clone Hitler from a dog descendant of Hitler. And they screwed with the timeline of the episode, and it’s always fun to see an experimental story succeed.

It was a good weekend for cartoons, what with Clone Wars taking on Hitchcock’s Notorious on Friday night and The Simpsons’ twentieth (!) “Treehouse of Horror” (not its best offering, in my opinion — that honor will always go to episodes IV and V — but still entertaining) on Sunday.

But Sunday night also brought possibly the best news for cartoon-loving nerds everywhere: Venture Bros. is back, baby!

It’s hard to sum up what makes Venture Bros. so damn entertaining. On the surface, it’s a parody of the old Johnny Quest-style adventure shows. But reducing Venture Bros. to a one-note premise like that is like saying that Battlestar Galactica was about homicidal space robots. It’s the truth, in a way, but it’s missing all the layers and complexity that made the show compelling.

Like the very best comedies, Venture Bros. builds its jokes on the strength of its characterization and continuity. Any particular scene will have numerous things going on: the omnipresent pop-culture references, in-jokes specific to the audience’s knowledge of the show’s history, foreshadowing for future plot lines that will only make sense upon later rewatches. As with shows like Arrested Development – or the The Simpsons in its heyday — I can (and have) watched episodes of Venture Bros. over and over again, and gotten something new out of them every time.

(Spoilers for the premiere after the jump)

“Blood of the Father, Heart of Steel” starts season four off with a bang. (Yes, literally — we pick up directly at the explosion which ended season three.) The episode has a typically Byzantine dual story structure: the A plot follows Brock’s recovery and quest for vengeance in linear fashion, while the B plot — involving Sargent Hatred’s new bodyguard duties, 21’s quest to bring 24 back from the dead, and… a bunch of Nazis with a dog containing Hitler’s soul — is intercut in reverse chronological order. In other words, this is an episode that really won’t make sense until you’ve watched it at least twice.

God, I love this show.

The usual dense layers of pop-culture references abound, of course. My favorite is the extended Raiders of the Lost Arc gag, complete with Orpheus wearing Belloq’s outfit from the climactic Nazi face-melting scene. The larger plot has also been moved forward a great deal with Brock’s initiation into the mysterious S.P.H.I.N.X. organization and the revelation that Hunter Gathers has been undercover since his (supposed?) sex-change operation in season two.

Apparently, this season will be split in two, with the first eight episodes airing this Fall and the last eight next Summer. I can’t say I’m happy about that, but it means there will at least be plenty of time to rewatch and dissect the first batch before we push to the end.

Of course, if you’re already a fan of the show, you probably already know all of this. And if you’re not, all I can say is: do yourself a favor and DON’T start with season four. Really. The first three are out on DVD. Watch them in order and you’ll enjoy them a lot more, I promise.

… unless you don’t like cartoons that expect you to pay attention because they’re not going to spell things out or dumb them down; complex, multi-generational storytelling; serial plotlines with an enormous cast or colorful, recurring characters; non-stop historical, literary and pop-culture allusions and homages; or humor that’s both sophomoric and sophisticated. Then this probably just isn’t the show for you.

Tonight I took on 1957’s Funny Face, starring Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn, and Kay Thompson.

My reason for watching this movie goes back to season 2 of Venture Bros, episode “20 Years to Midnight.” Doctor Venture is using Sally Impossible’s crush on him to gain access to the basement of Impossible Plaza. When he realizes the elavator didn’t take them to the basement, he calls to her, “Funny Face? This doesn’t look like the basement.”

Kay Thompson plays fashion magazine editor Maggie Prescott, who is looking for a certain je ne sais quoi in order to do something different with her magazine. We meet Fred Astaire’s fashion photographer, Dick Avery, shortly thereafter trying unsuccessfully to get a Brooklyn Holly Golightly to look intellectual. Maggie gets inspired to take the photo shoot into an intellectual place in order to bring out the needed photos, so they load everybody up and head to a bookstore, where they meet Audrey Hepburn’s Jo Stockton. They trash the place, and as Dick and Jo begin cleaning up, Jo begins explaining her fascination with a branch of philosophy called “empathicalism,” which is pretty easily summed up as putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. After trying to do just that, Dick steals a kiss, he lets himself out.

The next day, Dick convinces Maggie to use Jo as the face of the new line that her designer contacts will create and that she will debut in Paris. He then convinces Jo to go along with it because of the photoshoots in Paris. It turns out that the father of empathicalism, Professor Émile Flostre lives in Paris.

Everyone goes to Paris, Jo is transformed into the very model of a modern model and Jo and Dick start to fall for each other. The night before her big debut, Jo finds out that Professor Flostre is speaking at the local beatnick café and discovers him to be much younger and handsomer than she expected. Dick comes looking for Jo, and finds the professor to be a threat and calls him a fraud while yanking Jo out of the cafe in front of everyone.

This leads to a big fight backstage just before Jo is to be presented and the moment is ruined.

Mortified, Jo locks herself in her hotel room until she gets a message from Professor Flostre that he’s having a salon in his home and he’d like her to come. Maggie and Dick hear about the message after bribing one of the hotel staff, so they disguise themselves to gain access to Chez Flostre and do a song and dance to try to get Jo to come back. They’re unsuccessful and Dick resolves to head back to New York.

After they leave, Jo discovers that Dick was right and that the Professor is a fraud and interested one thing, and one thing only. She runs back to the fashion show redux looking to apologize to Dick, only to find that he’s planning to leave. Maggie convinces her to do her show while she takes care of getting Dick back before he leaves.

After a number of missed connections, the two finally meet back at the church where they did the photo shoot of Jo in a wedding dress and then do the happily ever after thing. The end.

Okay, bear with me here. The only Audrey Hepburn movies I’d seen up to now was My Fair Lady in which I thought she was positively awful, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, in which she was a hell of a lot better, but still not great. She was positively radiant in this movie and only now do I see a reason for her adoration. Interestingly, and kind of off topic, I see an awful lot of Audrey Hepburn in Audrey Tautou. I wonder if anyone else sees that.

Fred Astaire’s dance numbers were incredible, particularly the mating ritual where he turns his coat inside out to show the red and uses it as a matador’s cape. The dance number he does at Professor Flostre’s Pot Emporium with a disguised Maggie Prescott was also excellent.

Now that I’ve got the good things out of the way, let’s get to the interesting stuff.

During a scene where Jo hides in a darkroom to escape some people and finds Dick in there, she tells him, “I have no illusion about my looks.” Are you kidding me?! You’re Audrey Fucking Hepburn, damn near an iconic beauty up there with Bettie Page or Marilyn Monroe. And it’s not like they even tried to turn her into an Ugly Betty. “Ugly” Audrey is merely Audrey Hepburn wearing plain colors. Oh, oh! And the song that takes place in this scene, Dick sings that she has, “all the qualities of Peter Pan.” What the Hell does that mean, that she has the ass of a 12 year old boy?

During the first scene in Paris, there are a number of Parisian cab drivers singing about “the great American tourist.” I think that is singlehandedly the most unbelievable thing about this entire movie.

Something I found particularly amusing to 21st century ears was when Jo is explaining that she can’t just give up Epmathicalism. She tells Dick that he, “might as well tell [her] to never eat again.” Given that she’s a model now, that’s kind of fitting in a sick way.

I’m saving my strongest ire for last. The first time Dick goes looking for Jo along the streets of Paris, he comes across the café Jo’s been hiding in, Jack Kerouac’s Beatnik Paradise, Paris branch. Outside the café, a woman angrily yells at the person across the table from her, gets smacked by the guy, and then she starts fawning over him as a result. RAGE. I’m sorry, but things like romanticizing abuse really piss me off. I don’t care if the movie was made in 1957, it’s still not cool. And not more than five minutes later, in Jo’s best, “yo Daddio, don’t be such a square,” voice, says about the cafés denizens, “we aren’t constrained by outmoded social conventions.” I swear, I just about facepalmed at that.

I’m close to beating Uncharted 2.  I’m going to play through it again on hard when I beat it, which will probably be tonight or tomorrow.  I just want everyone to know that it’s completely bad ass, vastly improved over the already excellent original game and very fun.  I recommend plunking down the requisite $60 to pick this up.  There are a few minor issues with the game and I have a few criticisms, so I think I’ll write up a full-on review later in the week.  Probably on Wednesday.

In case you haven't heard, this game kicks ass

On Friday, I read a Cracked.com article about 5 reasons why it sucks to be a Joss Whedon fan which made me think about things a little bit.  I’ll admit, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is kind of what inspired me to write about a female character, and originally, Willow was the inspiration behind Adrienne (it’d be difficult to see it now).  I am something of a Joss Whedon fan, even if I don’t like Dollhouse or Buffy Season 8 (I did like seasons 6 and 7, go figure), so I was a little surprised when I found I really kind of agreed with what he said, at least on points 5 and 4 (the other three aren’t really about his writing).

5 really bothered me, because, yeah, most of his characters do only achieve growth when something terrible happens.  I once said that “writing tragedy is easy, you make a guy likable and kill them, everyone loves you.  Writing comedy is hard.”  I kind of use it as my manifesto for writing.  I like happy endings.  I like to see people grow and learn from their experiences and the dark places those take them.  I don’t really like tragedies, because people just die.  Yeah, it’s sad, realistic (maybe) and dramatic, but it doesn’t necessarily mean anything and can even feel cheap, as was often the case in Buffy.

I like to focus on characters and their development when I write, so when I realized my novel was originally inspired by Buffy and Buffy kind of embodies a lot of things I hate about Whedon’s writing, I pause a little bit.  I want my characters to grow and learn and love.  Yes, I want bad things to happen to them.  I put poor Adrienne through the wringer, but I don’t want her to only grow because bad things, particularly death, happen around her.  That just means her life is nothing but misery and woe.  That’s not a character I think is worth writing about (and might be why I have no interest in Buffy season 8 anymore).

The 4th one is something I wholly agree on, and something I’m glad to say I’ve kind of averted.  I’m not too worried about Adrienne or Danielle becoming faux action girls or succumbing to chickification.  The reason is, because there are two glaring exceptions to that.  Yes, a lot of female characters are really just stereotypical women (except on Angel, but that was the show Whedon had the least to do with), but that doesn’t apply to either Buffy or Zoe.  Why?  Because those are the characters that the writers remembered that gender is a description, not a character trait.  If you made Buffy into Buster the Vampire Slayer, the only change to the series you’d have would be that you’d have to make Angel into a woman (kind of a femme fatale type.  Interestingly, this really wouldn’t change Angel very much, either.  Show or character), and that would be it.  Hell, you can even keep Buster’s affinity for fashion, and have an older woman use him up in early season 4.  Why?  Because Buffy was built as a person, not as a “female type.”  Yes, she was a woman, but I think the reason she was empowering was because she was interesting as a person.  She’s a hero, she saves people.  She doesn’t get locked in the basement by the villain and she kicks ass.  She’s also not driven by wanting a man, and thus her desire for a relationship comes off more as appropriate for her age than stereotypical.

I’ll admit, Zoe is similar, but that’s partially because she didn’t get much character growth.  It’s kind of sad, really.

Season 4 of the Venture Bros. started last night.  It was awesome.  Click that link to watch it on Adult Swim’s website.

Lastly, I’ll leave with some food for thought.  I saw this over at Io9.com while I was typing this giant essay.  It’s about a book that predicts the next cold war and international politics over the next 100 years.  I think it’s a pretty interesting read.  Click the link and let me know what you think.

In the beginning, there was calm after a terrible storm, “Hey Monarch, I’m taking your car.” Suddenly, there is only madness and confusion. Welcome to season 4 of the acclaimed Venture Bros. series on Adult Swim. On many a show you have seen a 2 minute clip showing you what you can expect from the season. Jackson Publick gives you an entire episode full of scenes spanning the season. I was treated to a confusing blur of tits, Hitler, illegal surgery, man-tits, reunions, farewells, nazis, poop, skydiving and bigfoot. The best part is that I did not make up anything in that last sentence. Season 3 of the show was sheer greatness and this new season is looking to take it several notches higher. People, get ready.

Turn your television dials to [adult swim] tonight. The first episode of Season Four will be available for your viewing pleasure at midnight. If you aren’t in the know we’ll be getting two halves this season. Eight episodes now in the fall, and another eight in the Spring. Head on over to Jackson Publick’s LJ for more details. Now its time to decide, OSI or 24 memorial shirt…

Venture Bros. Oct 18 MIDNIGHT