Aqua Teen Hunger Force Season 8 Teaser

Here it is, [adult swim]'s teaser for the upcoming season eight of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. I sincerely hope you enjoy it and that my once-beloved ATHF has leapt back over the shark it completely jumped back in season... whatever. The movie was total shit, too. Still, ATHF gave me so much joy in its early years that I'd be remiss not to point it out to you.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

ATHF: The Movie on [adult swim] Tonight!

I knew there was something I meant to tell y'all:

[adult swim] is showing the full-length Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon the Movie tonight, starting at 10:30 PM, CST. Of course, I'm sure it will be cut all to hell, but still, it's pretty cool.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Adult Swim Scores!

Well, tonight was a good one! FINALLY!

It's been a pretty damned long time since Adult Swim actually had an entire night of decent entertainment. Over the past year or so, we have gotten a lot of nights with one or two good shows, a few nights with an entire night of pretty good shows, and night after night of abject shit.

Tonight's Aqua Teen Hunger Force was actually funny! My guess is that someone got sick and they had to let the intern who really, really loves the show step-in at the last minute to do punch-ups ("Punch-ups? Like donkeypunchin'? Like DP? Remember - you remember that one? What... like what was your thought process - like, what were you thinking when you wrote that one?"). They even got to be subversive while they did it! See? Being subversive and funny are actually not mutually exclusive concepts, y'all! Let's try to keep it up, can we?

After that was the premiere of Fuh-risky Dingo, and those cats just can't do no wrong. Truly funny stuff.

The OddBlog template upgrade did not go as planned, but the good thing is that the feed is working again (for now). I found a template which should work and I am going to try and get it online tomorrow, once I am done doing all my bill-paying and stuff. If I don't end up back in jail (knock wood). In the meantime, I am going to leave it on the BlogSpot server so I can get more done; it takes way too long to publish via FTP. There is also another option I am looking into tomorrow, but couldn't find out more about before then because my ISP's customer service is closed over the weekends. After that, I am going to change the template here to our fair Rundown.

There is a whole lot of new RPG content headed for The Weirding this month, as well. I am trying to get sponsors and advertisers situated before I start publishing, because once I publish them, I am going to be aggressively promoting and marketing the entire thing. There will be a general sitewide update, but it will mostly be transparent to viewers - minor changes and bug corrections.

So, here's to new beginnings all the way around: Adult Swim is finally funny again (knock wood) and The Weirding is actually getting some content (God willing)!

It's like Christmas without all the condoms.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

New ATHF & Squidbillies - A Review

Well... let's talk about the good stuff first.

And with that out of the way, let's look at the bad:

The new seasons of [adult swim]'s Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Squidbillies premiered just a few minutes ago and I could have jumped up and set about reviewing them immediately, but I really had to wait. I started to wait until I see the replay, but I honestly don't think I'm going to make it; they just weren't good enough to stay up for twice.

Squidbillies is still fairly consistent - it never makes much sense and relies on non-linear progression, but it generally makes you laugh at least once, and it's usually a pretty good laugh. ATHF, on the other hand...

Aqua Teen Hunger Force has literally been a semi-underground pop-culture phenomenon for going on six years now (I know - I didn't realize it had been that long, either!), but it completely jumped the shark last season and, if this premiere is any indication, it has yet to find its way back. I think we may just have to accept that not being funny is part of ATHF's neuvo "allure." ATHF has gone completely Adam Sandler, where it doesn't even bother to try and be funny - it just tries to be pointless and stupid in the hopes that the audience will giggle because we don't know what else to do.

Like I said, I started to wait for the replay to see if maybe I missed something, but the first go-round was like taking a Sominex with a shot of vodka - it didn't quite kill me, but I'm mighty drowsy...

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

New ATHF & Squidbillies Tonight!

Well, tonight is the night many of us have been waiting far too long for: finally, some new episodes of both Aqua Teen Hunger Force (ATHF) and Squidbillies! And you already know the Blogosphere is going to be scorching with peoples' opinions of the new shows tomorrow... so I'm going to review them mere moments after they premiere!

I am extremely excited about this whole thing, because I don't think there's any way [adult swim] could make worse episodes than last season's ATHF. God in Heaven, I hope they can't, anyway! We'll find out in just about two hours, regardless...

Make sure to check them out and I'll be back later on to let you know what I thought about ATHF, if not both shows.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

How Boston Extorted Money from [adult swim]

Months ago, we reported how the city of Boston thought that signs showing one of the Mooninites (I can't recall which one, maybe Ignitnok or whatever) flipping the bird were actually explosive devices. Why, we have no idea.

As I first reported, I thought maybe I could understand how such a mistake could be made, specifically because they were first referring to them as "vandalism" and possibly "incendiary devices." I didn't find it hard to believe that anyone would not know what Aqua Teen Hunger Force is, but I found it pretty damned hard to believe that everyone would not know what ATHF is. And then I thought about that scene in Fight Club, where they scale the building and set it on fire and paint the smiley face on it. So I guessed I could understand the mistake.

That's before I saw the signs.

There's no way anyone in their right mind could mistake the obviously silly ads for anything other than possibly "vandal art." To charge someone with vandalism over these signs is a stretch, but to make a Homeland Security issue out of this whole thing is shameful.

But, now, let's not forget: Boston is a known Mob-run city, so such extortion tactics have obviously become ingrained in their collective population. They charged the independent contractors who were hired to place the signs around town, then used that as a bargaining chip to extort $2 million from Time-Warner and Cartoon Network for supposedly harming their city.

People of Boston? You harmed your city. You elected these dipshits who can't tell the difference between a cartoon character and a bomb! You didn't have one person in the entire city that even knew what the cartoon was or had the balls to stand up and say, "That's a cartoon character, you dummies!" You opportunists sat down and kept your mouths shut and profited off the entire thing.

Boston should be ashamed of their knee-jerk reaction, their collective inaction, and their extortive action. As a city, as people, as Americans, and as human beings.

Were I these two contractors, now that charges have been dropped, I'd sell my homes, move my families as far away from that shithole as humanly possible, and write a book. Then I'd call [adult swim] and get a few guest spots doing voice-over work to help promote them, then send out a press release to bloggers like myself, and make sure you get your part of that $2 million.

After all, why should the politicos of Boston, Massachussetts be the only ones whose hookers and dope are paid for by your simple mistake?

Rundown 05-23-07, Star Wars, TV, Studio 60, more

I've had a little list for a new Rundown for several days now, but it wasn't really long enough to post just yet. Still, I figured I'd better get it out there if I was going to before it all became old news:

• Here's 30 bits o' Star Wars trivia from the trustworthy BBC. I'm not sure what their fascination with the series is as late, but this is about the third or fourth article on Star Wars that they've run this month.
• Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip returns Thursday night for what will most likely be the last 6 episodes. A critical hit and cult favorite, Studio 60 started out very strong as a premiere, big-cast dramedy, but quickly faltered and became a talking-heads romantic drama, and never quite picked back up from there.
• Shrek IV is already underway and a Puss spin-off is being talked about.
• FOX announced they are renewing their entire Sunday night animation block.
• Time-Warner will pay San Francisco $85,000 for another Aqua Teen Hunger Force sign that was considered vandalism. That's right: San Francisco. No, I'm not kidding. No, I'm serious. REALLY!
• Charges have been dropped against the workers who placed "terrorist/guerrilla marketing" signs in and around Boston, after they made court-ordered apologies and performed community service work around town. The signs were for [adult swim] network's ATHF. More on this shortly.
• Rosie O'Donnell and that Elisabeth Hasselbeck chick got into a knockdown drag-out argument on The View this morning, ostensibly over politics and the war in Iraq that lasted for over 5:30 minutes.
• Rumors have it that recent rehab alum, Lindsay Lohan, approached a vodka company to sponsor her 21^st birthday party.
  

And that's your entertainment Rundown for May 23^rd, 2007.

[Adult Swim] 2007 Schedule Announced

[adult swim] has had a pretty darned good year, so far. They set a new basic cable record in January, released Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Movie Film For Theaters, which has so far netted around $5 million (and only cost $1 million to make), and have recently announced a slew of new and returning shows for the 2007 Fall season.

Notably, Lucy: Daughter of the Devil will finally hit the airwaves. If you missed the pilot episode, which has already aired, you didn't miss much. From creator Loren Bouchard (Home Movies), the animation was cute, but the story went absolutely nowhere. Hopefully it's been retooled a bit since the premiere. Tim & Eric's Awesome Show returns, along with Saul of the Mole Men - why, in either case, I just don't know.

Luckily, Venture Bros. returns with new episodes, along with Robot Chicken, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Metalocalypse. Venture Bros. returns to the schedule with repeats tonight. Hopefully, ATHF won't suck as hard as it did this season, but I'm not holding my breath because I don't want to be disappointed (keep your expectations low, I say). In fact, ATHF has already been confirmed for the 2008 season, as well. Frisky Dingo returns and Harvey Birdman's last season will premiere.

Lastly, [as] is finally going to be on 7 days a week, taking over the Friday night time period from its parent station, Cartoon Network.

ATHF: MFFT

Well, talk about being out of the loop and missing the boat. I came up a day late and a dollar short on seeing Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon the Movie Film for Theaters (ATHF: MFFT) when they showed it in its entirety during the [adult swim] block last week. Didn't hear anything about it until earlier, when I saw a commercial for it.

I told you I'd given up on [as] for the time being. They were showing the same old crap for several weeks there and I was only tuning in to catch SGC2C and Frisky Dingo, so - of course - they pulled a coup and showed the whole film April 1^st. Just to spite me, to mock me.

At any rate, ATHF: MFFT will be in theaters next weekend - starting Friday the 13^th. As usual with [as], you never can tell what they're going to do until it's actually done and they may regret having done this in this manner. In general, I think they did it intentionally to "weed-out" the fanboys from the die-hard fanatics (keepin' it real in the hood, y'all), but it may blow up in their faces this time. After all, I haven't heard anything about it in the blogosphere nor anywhere else until tonight and I really am a die-hard fan... of the earlier seasons. And one week before opening is a little late to start promotions.

ATHF: MFFT is rated R.

On a further note, I did catch most of [as] tonight and they mixed in some of the better dramas/anime with the comedy shows and I really enjoyed it. I've always wondered why they kept them separate instead of mixing them together, which I think makes for a better block o programming.

Turner Broadcasting to Pay for Aqua Teen Hunger Force Fiasco

Turner Broadcasting has agreed to pay the Boston City Government $2 million for the city-wide "bomb scare" that erupted as the result of unusual advertising for the [adult swim] hit, Aqua Teen Hunger Force. As we first reported here a few days ago, Boston somehow got the idea that devices put in place for advertising the television program were actually the result of some bomb squad or something equally ridiculous, reactionary, and retaaded.

Now, I could make a slightly off-color quip concerning the Irish and bombs (and get away with it, because I'm short with a big nose, red hair, and green eyes), but the real issue here is whether or not Turner Broadcasting ever should have agreed to pay the city anything to begin with. And I have to say, I'm not sure.

In a sense, I disagree with it because the city government's response was knee-jerk reactionary in the same sense that, say, killing someone who is a registered sex offender is; it's not quite as officious or serious, but it's the same basic principle at play: they over-reacted without assessing the situation, and then still charged the people who put the advertising units in place with a crime, even after they realized no real crime had been committed! 

This happens all too frequently in this country and has for years, and is the very damned thing I have been railing against: To whom are they teaching a lesson, and what is the lesson they're teaching? Don't advertise in our city, or don't use new technology in our city, or... what?

They sound more like the Mafia thugs most people associate Baaston with than the Haavaad graduates with whom Baastonians like to associate themselves.

On the other hand, this is the day and age where these are very real concerns. Which brings up the question of just how much the government should be involved in these things. I mean, if you accidentally invented a time machine in your gaaraage, should the government be allowed to swoop in and lock it down? And, even if you say, "Yes, I think that sort of technology is dangerous enough that the government, or some governmental agency, should definitely be involved," there is still the question of whether or not the person who did it should be charged with any crime. After all, even if you were consciously developing such technology, is that a crime?

We have a right to be scared of technological advancements. My own opinion is that far too many agencies (specifically corporations, not general individuals) work toward such things far too recklessly; they work to develop new technologies and advancements without thoughtfully considering their application and repercussions -- the whole H-bomb/Madame Curie bit. And, whatever is applied to individuals most definitely needs to be applied to corporations.

Corporations don't think so, the government doesn't think so, but this individual demands it be so.

So, if Basstaan is going to charge the individuals who placed the advertising units with some form of treason or what the hell ever, and if Turner Broadcasting is going to pay Baastaan for whatever their wrong-headedness led them to believe -- even though they now know better -- then when is Pfizer going to be charged for all the crimes they've committed against humanity? When will televangelists finally be taken off the air?

And who do we charge for Sleepaway Camp? Those people should be strung-up.

Aqua Teen Flaunts Law

Two men have been charged after placing the neon Mooninites signs around Boston.

As we reported here months ago, [adult swim] spent a lot of money on promotional advertising for the show, which involved lighted signs of Ignignokt and Err_ flipping the bird, "as hard as they ever have." And now, Peter Berdovsky, 27, of Arlington, and Sean Stevens, 28, of Charlestown, were each charged with one count of placing a hoax device and one count of disorderly conduct, according to state Attorney General Martha Coakley. 

Highways, bridges, and a section of the Charleston River were closed down and bomb squads sent in before authorities were able to determine that the devices were harmless. Authorities are investigating whether or not Turner Broadcasting or any other companies should be charged, as well.

The state may pursue restitution which might exceed $500,000! Similar devices have been in place for two to three weeks in 10 cities: Boston; New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Atlanta; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; Austin, Texas; San Francisco; and Philadelphia. No complaints have been lodged by anyone in any of these cities, but Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke praised Boston authorities for their quick-thinking in informing authorities.

I think the whole thing is effing retaaded; definitely one of the stupidest things to have been in the news in a week or so, and it's already Thursday, so that's saying something. One spokesman noted that hoaxes are threatening and cause a burden to the taxpayers, but I find it hard to believe they cause anymore a burden than the self-righteous morons who have caused this stir.

Some Clarifications for the New Year

As I mentioned, my New Year's Eve was thoroughly uneventful. I drank a bit too much, listened to music a bit too loudly, counted down the new year with my neighbor, then crashed and slept in the new year. So when I got up today, I was reading over the blog and then Dave Sim's Blog & Mail, then sauntered on over to Eddie Campbell's (which is really funny, btw), and I got to thinking about some of the things I have said here and how they may have been misconstrued, so I wanted to take a moment to clarify a few things:

I don't dislike Alan Moore or Dave Sim. I don't dislike Matt Maiellaro or any of the ATHF staffers. I don't really know any of these people personally, even if I have met them (even several times, as in the case of Sim) or corresponded with them. I am not an all-out Frank Miller fanboy. 

Okay, yes I am; I'll own that one.

I completely love everything Frank Miller does. He is one of the few people I can think of in whose presence I would literally just be awed -- starstruck, what have you. I am not saying I would perform oral sex, or sex of any kind, on or with him -- that's going a bit far. MAYBE some consensual heavy-petting, but it would take a few drinks to make that happen. Or at least the promise of a few drinks afterward. And then what if he didn't call? I'm just not sure I can handle that sort of rejection at this point in my life, but I digress...

I do think this season of Aqua Teen Hunger Force is exceptionally bad -- I mean downright awful -- and am really dismayed by that. This season is to ATHF what The Black Album was to Metallica; calling it a "nine-inch nail" is an understatement -- it's the death of the art behind the Product and not the Product, itself. I don't even bother to talk about the show with others anymore. I actually feel slightly insulted, which makes me question my priorities and so it has become a sort of albatross, which is really messed-up because like, how shallow am I? What else goes on in my life that I should have the luxury of obsessing over such a thing to such a degree?

I do think Alan Moore is overrated within the comics field. He is great -- of that, there is no question -- but I think that his name value exceeds the value of his work in most cases. He sells books simply by name power and, while that's great for him and I applaud his success, I find myself most often disappointed with his work. It's not a bitter disappointment, but more of that sort of, "That's it?! Is this the lead-in to a new series? Did I miss a page?" Some will say that I miss the point and am possibly incapable of ever "getting it" because they assume I are dum. And I guess that's fair, but that's my opinion of it. I don't think it's his fault; I don't think he set out to do it. I think the industry and the fans did it and I could use a break from it. Like 20 years ago.

I think Dave Sim one of the most incredible talents in the field. He excels in literally every department -- writing, pencils, inks, lettering, pacing, characterization, I could go on for days -- but the guy holds some major views, and a bit of an attitude on paper. Of all the creators -- in any field, really -- Sim is one of the few guys I'd enjoy literally just hanging out with. I've done so a few hours at a time at a few cons, but I was just a kid (really a kid -- like 12-13, around in there). 

 Still, he had a profound influence on me and my work -- he gave me encouragement, graciously signed all my Epics with his work, talked in-depth about the pieces and told me little inside bits like who this character's face was and so on -- even more now that I have so many of the Cerebus issues and have been reading them. And I will say this: Dave Sim is one of only two, maybe three, cartoonists who has ever made me literally laugh out loud -- full-on, wide-mouthed bellylaugh -- through sequential art alone: no dialogue, no captions, no text (probably some sound effects, but I don't recall), just the deliberate pacing and set-up through the images and sequence of events. (The other was Bill Watterston and I threw Jack Davis and Don Martin a bone there, because MAD cracked me up as a kid).

It gets hard to be critical of others' work sometimes, but it's not just out of pettiness or sycophant..y-ism? or anything like that. I truly love the things I talk about and they often move me, sometimes for the good, sometimes in the bowels. I usually try to remain objective about them, but specifically because I love them so much, I often develop a personal attachment to them. I need a girlfriend or at least a bike or a boat or something -- something to get me out of doors.

At any rate, I just wanted to clear those things up so we can all start our New Year brightly. I have resolved to make no resolutions and I'm sticking to it, so far. (Fingers crossed.)

[adult swim] Redeems Itself! - ATHF, Assy McGee, Frisky Dingo

Okay, so most of us here to The Rundown have been lamenting the demise of our once favorite (well, except for Mayren's) [adult swim] show, Aqua Teen Hunger Force (ATHF), as of late. Especially since we waited something like 2-3 years for this new season, as well as the second season of Venture Bros., and that was only like 6 episodes, so we had every right to be a little cheesed.

Well, I'll lay it down and give it up for, give a shout-out to, buy a round for - or whatever it is all the hip-cats and school kids are saying these days - the guys over to Williams Street because last night's ATHF was rocking! Granted, by this point, even watchable is a step up, but last night's episode was actually as good as just about any of the earlier seasons'!

At first, I wrote a numerically-pointed chart, listing the reasons why this episode was good and the preceding ones were not, but it boiled down to one thing: the magic was in this one. There was no gimmick, the characters acted in a manner consistent with their established character, the dialogue was funny and all the lengthy pauses were in place - it was Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and the episodes up to this point simply were not. They were just... crap.

And I sincerely hope someone knocked on their door and said something along the lines of:

"We just spent a few million dollars on billboard advertising for your little dog and pony show you got going on here, and we just gave you the last few years off to make an as-yet-unreleased movie, because this is one of our flagship shows. And for that, we thank you. Can you... excuse me, can you put the bong down for a second while I'm speaking? Yeah, thank you ever so much - really. But we, along with your legions of fans - for they are legion - have noticed you aren't even bothering to phone this season in. 

It's like you've got a chip on your shoulder about the fact that people like what you're doing, so you decided to go on and cock it all up, maybe just to see if people would still watch because you think they're all mindless morons who will blindly accept whatever crap you serve them, maybe because you wanted to see just how far the network would let you go, maybe because you banged a stripper once and suddenly thought you were some kind of rock stars - I don't know - but I do know this: 

You either get your shit together and start delivering some good shows, or you'll be doodling your little snackpack cartoons on the backs of your fucking unemployment checks and working the con circuit for the rest of your natural born lives, got it, hippies?! GET THE METH OUT YO BRAIN AND SOME SKETCH ON THE PAGE, OR I'LL RIDE YOUR ASSES 'TIL I SEE ONE OF YOU TAKE A SWAN DIVE OFF ONE OF THOSE EFFING BILLBOARDS I JUST PAID FOR, GOT IT, HIPPIES? GODDAMN HIPPIES!"

I'm not exactly sure how Cartman got a job as a TV executive over to [adult swim], but it could happen. Either way, welcome back to the fold, ATHF!

At any rate, did you catch last night's Frisky Dingo? Man, I laughed so hard, I nearly went blind! In fact, I had some company over last night that has watched [as] casually, but are not regular viewers, and we were all rolling on the floor! What a great show! Too damn funny.

And since [as] bumped that they wanted to know what, exactly, we dig about it aside from little Miss Antagony (and yes, I freely admit, that girl's a real selling-point), let's give 'em the rundown:

• Frisky Dingo got The Funny.
• The dialogue is crisp, true to character, hilarious. Someone wrote jokes -- funny jokes! -- which is not exactly a prerequisite for a lot of [as] shows... I'm just saying.
• Easily the best artwork since Venture Bros. and Oblongs (which I'm glad to see back!).
• Brilliant voice work. Too good, too good.
• The juxtaposition of the Haves and the Have-Nots and how an unbalanced division of finances leads to a societal rift in which the Have-Nots end up being victimized by the Haves for the latter's mere pleasure, to the point that the Have-Nots want to glue a wig to the Haves' heads and mouth-rape them. I believe it was Descartes who noted that while Zero has value, the value of Zero is Nothing, which can be philosophically applied to both... um, did I mention The Funny?

Assy McGee was actually not bad last night, either. You have to admit, it's visually funny, if nothing else. I had a feeling that it must be pretty good for them to allow it to go so far, but the premiere wasn't exactly explosive. Still, it wasn't bad, and I have a feeling it's going to get in a few good turns as it goes along.

Tim and Eric are coming back with something called The Awesome Show, and while I skewered Tom Goes like my name was Handbanana when it first came out, it won me over before it ended, so I'm looking forward to checking it out. There's also Saul and the Mole Men, but I haven't seen another episode of Lucy: Daughter o the Devil since the first one (which wasn't all that great).

All in all, last night's [as] was as good a block as any I've seen in the last year or more, and I thank all involved for a truly enjoyable night o TV-viewing! If I weren't so jumpy, I could almost get used to it!

The Torch Has Been Passed - Frisky Dingo Rocks

Let us take a moment to mark the passing of one of cartoondom's greatest showings in the last, oh, 50 years or so. Yes, it's true: Aqua Teen Hunger Force has jumped the shark.

Now, some of you may think that waterskiing over an actual, live shark is a bit stronger a jump to plain awful than an episode full of dicks or a completely unfunny cartoon where one of the characters develops Melanoma, but you have to admit that it's not far off. And these are the plots to two of the three newest ATHF episodes we've seen so far. This week, professional whore/pornstar, Tera Patrick, will be making a guest-appearance. Now, I don't care how you feel about pornography -- love it, hate it, find it empowering or sinful, whatever -- think about that for a moment: An adult film star is making a guest appearance on a cartoon.

ATHF
---
Shark

That's all I'm saying.

Luckily, the same week the new season of ATHF premiered brought us the show to which it has passed the mantle: Frisky Dingo. If you haven't seen this one yet, you need to set your alarm clock (I don't know what time it comes on) and get out of bed! Frisky Dingo is the best fare [adult swim] has to offer since Venture Bros. -- and is doubly-welcome since this season of the latter hit fell so woefully short!

It has to do with a multi-billionaire superhero looking for a super-powered arch-nemesis so he can release a line of action figures, capitalizing on their relationship. Some fans will recognize the idea as being very similar to that of The Watchmen, but Frisky Dingo is hilarious. And, unlike everything on [adult swim] today except Venture Bros. (and the early seasons of ATHF), the humor derives from the characters and dialogue, as opposed to shocking language or childishly "adult" situations (like a lot of peni).

Not to mention that the art is freaking rockin!

Comics and Cartoons

ATHF (Aqua Teen Hunger Force) has officially jumped the shark. I'd love to say something to defend it, but I shan't blow smoke. I'm as disappointed as anyone out there, but we have to face facts: ATHF put on its skis, said a word or two to Richie Cunningham, and jumped the friggin' shark. Nothing else should be spoken of this, ever again.

In fact, next week, ATHF has a celebrity prostitute for a guest-star (no, not Paris) and a cartoon named Assy McGee debuts, about a character that is literally a human rump and hindquarters. It actually looks kind of funny, but it also looks so much like a one-trick pony that I'd be remiss if I didn't mention it. It may turn out that the entire [adult swim] network has jumped the shark. I mean, if they had a better track record...

Oh! Voltron is replacing Gigantor at 4:30 CST weekdays. That's a saving grace.

I started all my comics subscriptions this month. I get them advance order, so I can afford two or three more than I'd get if I bought them at newsstand. I have been out of the loop for a very long time when it comes to the monthlies, so I bought a bunch of zombie comics because I like zombies. And, apparently, so does everybody else! There's been a real resurgence of zombies in the last few years. But, I figure I'll be good with them and after I see the previews for a month or two, I'll decide on the supers I want. I got Daredevil already and Moon Knight, too. I backed-off Uncanny X-Men because I don't know who any of the creative team are. Any suggestions are appreciated.

I got lucky and caught an A&E special on Superman Saturday afternoon, called Look, in the Sky, It's Superman! It gave a very replete account of the entire history up to the new Superman Returns flick. If it mentioned the one about George Reeves' death, I missed it because I left at the last ten minutes or so. Great examination of the iconic superhero, though. In fact, I don't have any gaming consoles because I don't game, but I saw that the Superman Returns video game is going to be released on the 22^nd, just a week or so before the movie comes to DVD, and the video game really kicked ass. I may have to buy it and let my neighbors play it just so I can check it out.

The new Dr. Who season starts on BBCA sometime next week, I believe. I'm not 100% positive, but it looks like the one that's been playing already, Friday nights on Sci-Fi. This is a really good series, if you haven't checked it out. It's smart, funny, and fast-paced -- much like Eureka but with a much greater span of sci-fantasy.

Oh yeah, I knew I was forgetting something: Spiderman's Tobey Maguire and his wife had a baby girl early Saturday morning! Congratulations to them both.

Adult Swim Scores

Guest Blogger: Mayren

[adult swim]'s ratings got a boost among young adults. Nielsen ratings show a boost last week for all it's regular demographics. That demo is focused on adults in general 18-34 and men 18-34.

Apparently [adult swim] has such a following that it ranks 16^th in the Top 50 programs watched. Not too shabby for basic cable programming that is competing with regular networks. For more detail check out my source: thefutoncritic

Could the boost be due to the ATHF phenomenon Manodogs fills us in on?!? I may have to recant my cruel initial assessment of this seemingly interesting animation. Maybe.

I think there is a general lack of cool new American TV animation. I'm a huge fan of the Cartoon Network and I'm a geeky chick but hey, gimme a break. I've been hearing some buzz on the new Class of 3000 that has started to appear on Cartoon Network. I know the demo is for lil guys up to age 12 but buzz is still Buzz in this town [L.A.].

Has anyone caught this yet? If so, please comment a little review for us!

It's apparently Andre "3000" Benjamin's new series who has a character named "Lil D" very loosely based on his childhood and his musical growth. The buzz claims racial diversity with musical talent. For Anyone who needs to know, Andre 3000 is apart of one of my fave groups = Outkast.

ATHF Showing at 11:00 Weeknights

I guess The Smoking Dud ran its course, but it doesn't seem like two weeks. I'm too lazy to go check the blog entry I made to see for sure, but had I been watching it, it would have seemed like three. What a really bad show and even worse idea.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force (ATHF, for short) started its new season off dismally, but seemed to redeem itself with the second showing, Hand Banana, which was far more in line with the older episodes. It had that same sense of humor and subdued vocal work, but it brought with it the newfound "shock" and irreverence for itself that Dickesode showcased. Still, it was a step in the right direction and I thought things were going to be okay.

The episode this weekend, which I have completely blocked out of my mind, proved otherwise. I wanted to write about it that night, and now I wish I had, because I truly do not remember one thing about it. I only remember it was pretty bad.

Luckily, [Adult Swim] is rerunning the original ATHF episodes in the 11:00 timeslot (CST -- where Smoking Gun and Robot Chicken have been playing recently). If you are jonesing for the good stuff, have never really watched the show, or have rowed in your appreciation of the finer things (Mayren... ahem!), now is the time to watch! They aired the first two episodes tonight and they only get better from here.

ATHF Flouts Censors - Python Member Fights Cancer

If you saw [Adult Swim] last night, you are probably either a regular viewer or you tuned in to check out the new episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. We've waited two years for a new ATHF episode and, depending on your take, the wait was either totally worth it or we got dragged into a fight between the artists and standards and practices.

All shows have to deal with Standards and Practices which are, basically, a kind of review board of censors who tell the stations/shows/producers/etc. what can and cannot be aired on the network. These things are usually handled long before the show is anywhere near its scheduled time, but not always. South Park, in particular, is famous for finishing things extremely close to air-time -- tweaking the episodes right up to the time it airs (well, like a day or two before -- before it airs). 

ATHF has taken on S&P before, with the episode pertaining to a billboard on which Jesus was supposed to be evident in a stain (S&P apparently would not let them refer to the Messiah by his name, instead the references called him things like "J-Man" and so on), but never quite like this.

The episode was entitled "Dickesode" and the entire thing dealt with... um, a penis that went around, chopping off folks' manhood in order to build a spaceship out of... um, peni. Yes, that... is what it was about. There were over 4000 graphic representations of... um, peni -- not including the major enemy, who was very obviously a phallus -- not a "phallic representation," but an actual weiner, replete with actual testicles for feet. The word, "dick," was used 53 times.

Some older readers -- particularly those who are interested in comics and sequential art -- will recall the late-80s run of Bloom County in this same... um, vein. Opus became a garbage man forced to wear a face mask which made his oversized nose look exactly like... um, a penis. Several major newspapers, including The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, TN (a city known for its open sex trade ¹ and, perhaps not ironically, the setting for both the Deepthroat movie trial and the recent rap-based movie, Hustle & Flow, the title track of which -- It's Hard Out There for a Pimp, by Memphis-based rappers, 666 Mafia -- won last year's Academy Award), refused to run the strip for at least part of this storyline. But even that was nowhere near as blatant as last night's ATHF episode.

The question is: Was Dickesode necessary or simply overkill? I welcome your comments.

But, I will say this much: For all the hoopla over censorship in this country, specifically as late, very few people have even the faintest notion of what actually constitutes such. To wit, a number of concerned citizens banding together to make sure [what they consider to be] obscenity is not made openly available to members of their community and/or their children is not really censorship; that's community standards. It's the same thing as telling someone, "Don't use that language here because it's inappropriate for this setting." That's a far, far cry from actual censorship, regardless of what any of those damn, dirty hippies tell you.

AOL commits censorship. The ACLU favors, and fights for, censorship. The Muslim community uses terrorist tactics to enact censorship. Your local church group protesting the aforementioned South Park is not censorship; it is, in fact, merely an attempt to effect community standards -- however misguided.

Put simpler: Just because you cannot do whatever the hell you want to do when and wherever the hell you want to do it does not necessarily mean that you are being censored. It simply means you cannot control yourself, or refuse to, to the extent that others have to step in and enact restrictions to keep you from offending them. OTOH, enacting laws to ensure no one is ever offended by anything you might do or say is censorship. And there is a difference.

Terry Jones, former member of Monty Python and director of their films, as well as others, including The Wind in the Willows, is recovering from surgery he underwent to fight cancer. I'm sure I speak for us all in wishing him a speedy recovery!

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¹: M.E.M.P.H.I.S.: Making Easy Money Pimping Hos In Style