Analytical Episode Review-Everybody Loves Raymond, “Super Bowl”

I have done a few of these by now but I want to try something a little different here, and put more analysis in this analytical review. I hope you guys like it.  Today let’s take a look at a show I just love analyzing over and over :

Since this weekend is The Super Bowl,  I wanted to review a Super Bowl related episode. But I don’t want to just review it, I want to try to really analyze just how/why this episode’s writing could have failed so hard.

“Super Bowl”

Aired Jan 29, 2001

Animated Episode Review:Winnie the Pooh, “Find Her, Keep Her”

My friends today I start something which I will hope will carry on for a long time. Using the style of my episode reviews for sitcoms, I want to start discussing cartoons.  Today I am going to discuss an episode I have wanted to discuss for a very long time.  It’s from a Saturday morning cartoon that I fell in love with…even though I was a bit grown up when I did. For years Winnie The Pooh never did much for me. I was only familiar with a few stories (and the god awful “Welcome to Pooh Corner”). I literally used to wonder if there were more than the two or three I saw over and over! Then I discovered :

And while the episodes were cute and silly fun, one really stood out! Which one?

First aired September 24,1988.

A Look at Actors Mostly Remembered for One Role

It’s funny how typecasting can work. It can really hurt some people’s career. Some manage to avoid it, like Robin Williams who left Mork’s shadow behind very quick in his career. How about Michael Gross who feared typecasting when Family Ties ended, until Tremors killed those worries. Betty White could have been typecast after Mary Tyler Moore ended, but she did a total turnaround on The Golden Girls as a character who couldn’t be more different than Sue Ann Nivens…and it worked!! And often the actor will simply change fields, the way Henry Winkler and Penny Marshall became directors.




Then you have those actor’s who were really good actor’s even at the top for their field, until typecasting changed that. Suddenly an actor who was once regarded as serious and respected is known for something…not so serious and respected. But loved by millions! And no matter what they do after they can’t seem to shake that image, they will always be known best as that one character.


Here are a few example of what I am talking about.









Adam West


Ok it my be a stretch having him on here. He was a serious actor but respected? Hard to say. But still when he started his career it wasn’t as a comedian. It was as a real actor, he even tried out for James Bond. Then a little campy show called Batman came along in the 60’s. I don’t think I have to explain how this changed his career, do I? West was perfect in the role and knew exactly how to play Batman so it didn’t come off as ridiculous. That of course was to let the campy stuff around him be silly while he stayed totally straight. And it worked. West didn’t have the easiest career when the series ended but is happy to be associated with that remarkable series.

Ten Great Movie Trailers I Never Forgot

So I decided to give this a shot. I know many others have done this, but as Nostalgia Critic pointed out in his video these lists can vary. I mean what made a cool trailer for him may not be the same as for me. Though I do match one of his choices. In order for this to work there is one rule, these are trailers I personally saw, never forgot, and just love even if there are better and more remembered trailers out there (so no Alien trailer as good as that was). And they have to be trailers for movies that I saw because no matter how cool a trailer is if I did not see the movie than it still has to be a fail in my opinion. And yes teaser trailers are fine, they exist for a reason-to wet our appetite and get us pumped for the movie. When done right anyway.


So anyway, movie trailers! The whole point behind a trailer is to excite you and make you want to see the movie. It should also be memorable and even entertaining. I think it’s fair to say that some trailers are almost better than the movie that ended up being released. I also hate trailers that tend to give a little to much info, like a lot of classic Disney trailers did. But when done right they are effective as hell.





Here are ten that I loved and/or never forgot (in no particular order)







10.Independence Day

Yeah yeah, I know. But what can I say, this ad worked! All it showed was an alien ship literally blowing the White House to pieces. WTF?? No plot details, heck I didn’t even know who was in the movie until I saw it. But I just had to see how The White House blows up! Yeah today it’s been done to death, but at the time it left a huge impression.

Top 5 Worst Star Trek Virus Episodes

Recently I had a pretty nasty cold. It’s probably the same virus that everyone seems to be getting in different degrees. So I watched Star Trek to pass the time, and got to thinking about all the disease episodes that the various series have done. From decent episodes like “The Deadly Years” to goofier fare like “Genesis”. I guess it makes sense why there are so many since often these episodes are light on plot. I’m not sure why, but I would be lying if I said that these weren’t often my favorite episodes.


However, while some are great others are just dumb. That’s what I wanted to discuss today. Since this is a top 5 it will be one episode per series. And just to get one obvious one out of he way, no Genesis will not be on the list. Why? Because I already discussed, and as silly as it was there was a TNG episode I think is even worst! But we’ll get to it.




#5.Miri (TOS)

I may be alone on this one, but I hate this episode. It is just so uncomfortable that I can’t even sit through it. After the Enterprise beams down to a planet which is exactly like Earth (for some reason), they find only children alive. The adults have all been killed by a disease which the landing party now has. The disease cause sores to form which lead to insanity and death. There’s more but I think I have said enough. I know this is not hated by most but for me it’s just a bad episode though it does feature the talented Kim Darby in the guest cast.

Five Comic Book Artists I DON'T Like

Over the last decades there have been many artists who have worked on Comic Books. Some are amazing, like Alex Ross, and transcend the medium with their art style. Then there are others…I just don’t like it. One of the great things about comic books and why I think they endure, is the disagreeing. Kids disagree on which superhero is better. Adults disagree on which company makes the better books. And in that vein, artwork can also be subjective. Here now are five famous artists that I simply DO NOT like. I am sure they are great people and have legions of fans for their work, I simply am not one of them.

Ranked in order of artists I admire even if I don’t like their style to artists I have no use for. Period.




Gil Kane



Yeah this is a big one. He was huge working on Superman, Atom, and Green Lantern just to name three. Not to mention his Marvel work. He was around for ages until he passed away in 2000. It’s his Superman that is best known to me. He was one of the definitive artists of the Silver Age and worked everywhere. And while I have happily read the stories he has drawn, I really have to admit I am just not crazy about his work. The way he draws characters they look more like cartoons than people. And there have been one or two stories where his style was even distracting for me. It’s hard explain but it’s kind of noisy artwork and it gives me a headache. Plus the characters look awful. I respect the guy he’s done amazing work, a lot of which I enjoy, but I am not a fan.

Five Things I Hated in The Batman TV Series

So this Christmas I got a cool gift. A box set of every single episodes of the 1966 Batman series. Obviously I wasn’t around in 1966 but it was huge in re-runs when I was a kid. And I loved this series, couldn’t get enough of it. This was my introduction to the character Batman and his vast
 supporting cast.

 

No I did not get all of this cool stuff, wish I had…….

So I put the DVD’s in and….



was kind of disappointed

Several things struck me. The writing was awful, one episode had the exact same bit of dialogue used three times in the span of a minute or two. We all know that the episodes were two parters, but it seemed like to fall into the trap required Batman had to be a complete idiot/clutz for a few seconds. Aunt Harriette was only there to keep people from thinking Bruce and Dick were gay, and she really contributed nothing to the episodes. Yeah I know she was a feature in at least one episode, but I actually hate that one. And Bruce and Dick’s lame excuses to dart away were stupid. It was one thing when Clark had to trick Lois…….




I guess this really was a kids show, because it seems silly watching it as an adult. However, I could still put my nostalgia goggles on and remember why I loved it as a child. It was based on the Silver Age so the silly dialogue was excusable, the traps were pretty clever for the most part, the comic book action panels can be ignored, the stupid bat gadgets, and the fact that the villains were all goofballs was understandable. Adam West really owned the role and he made it work, being funny but also very deadpan. The actors also loved their roles which is why Burgess Meredith, Frank Gorshen, and Cesar Romero (to name three) will always be associated with this show and the characters they brought to life.



It really is pretty good, if dated…except for a few things which I just can’t look past. Five things which just annoy me from the 1966 Batman TV series.

Underrated Trek:Q-Less (DS9)

Welcome back to Underrated Trek, where I take a special look at Star Trek episodes that I love…which may not be the most popular or even liked by most. Q was such a popular character on TNG it only made sense to have him pop up in the spin-offs. On paper anyway, because it was clear the writers on DS9 had no idea what to do with him. Not all the Q episodes were great, Q-Pid (the episode this is a sequel to) was awful and The Q and the Grey on Voyager was even worst. So, where does this fit episode fit in? Today I give you:









DS9 was so good I forget sometimes how awful the first season was, so different from the rest of the series. TNG had an excuse, but the creators for this show should have known better. Not that all the episodes were bad, just check out “Duet”. Let’s see where it went wrong here.

Look at Sitcom Cliche’s-I Hate You (at first)!!!

It just wouldn’t be a normal sitcom if two characters didn’t have some sort of inexplicable hostility between each other. Sometime it is within the main cast, and sometimes with a recurring guest star. Often they are in-laws who never learned to get along. Other times they are just friends who got off on the wrong foot and remained antagonistic. The thing that annoys me about this cliche, is that very often no matter how much hatred these two characters have they will almost always be friendly at some point before the end of the series. It’s as if the writer’s can’t come up with a way to get keep them rivals so they give up on it even if it hurts the characters (or even the show) a bit.

Of course in TV Tropes these are rivals or “arch enemies”. And of course they are not limited to sitcoms. But we will ignore drama’s for now.


Before I start my list, here is one huge exception:



Seinfeld

I give this show a lot of credit. There were times when if this were another sitcom, Newman would have become friends and even a permanent part of Jerry and their little group. At the very least he would have made a regular part of the cast and appeared in every single episode. But this is one show that did not give in to that, and Jerry and Newman were rivals for the whole run of the show. Of course every character had their own rival. Elaine had Sue Anne Mishky, Kramer had Mickey, George had various people including Lloyd Bruan, and Jerry had Kenny Bania.

And yes this is not the only show to keep a good rivalry going. Check out Married..With Children. But most series are unable to do this and fall in thos cliche. Here are some examples :