Random Thoughts-Superman (2025)

When this was first announced, I was intrigued. I didn’t care for Man of Steel or the Snyderverse in general. Then I heard the casting announcements. Guy Gardner? Mr Terrific?? Metamorpho????! I dreaded the movie, not because I couldn’t let go of Henry Cavill no longer being in the role (seriously guys move on already) but figuring it was going to be a clustered mess and more of a pre-Justice League movie and not a genuine Superman movie. This became worst when images and scenes appeared, and David Corenswet wasn’t wowing me as Superman. So at last the movie was released, and critics mostly liked it!

So the time has come to watch this and see if my fears were justified, or if I finally get a decent version of my favorite character since 1982! I should mention I know the story and the surprises going in, I don’t worry about “spoilers” and have heard plenty of reviews at this point. 

And what did I think?

Random Thoughts-Strange New World's

When it comes to the newest Star Trek shows, I am firmly in the "it's not my Star Trek" camp. I don't have a problem with them existing or anything, but I feel the same way my parents felt when TNG first came on. Namely, it's not the Trek I love and can't get into it.

I watched the pilot for Discovery and thought it was ridiculous. I never went back and things I have heard did not exactly make me regret that choice. Picard is..passable. I like that it's a continuation not another damn prequel series. But the episodes drag and some of the choices made are..head scratching. I find it funny how these shows respect and disregard continuity all at the same time. I have not seen the animated shows.

Strange New Worlds is the latest show and it focuses on Captain Pike. Yeah another prequel about 10 years before the original series. The premise is good, taking us back to the planet of the week concept Trek used before becoming serialized. But is it good?

Random Thoughts-Are these sitcom episodes really offensive?

Oh man, this year has been just plain nuts. In April I tried to have a little fun to forget the virus for a minute, to mixed results, but another issue has come up this year that I feel needs to be really discussed. With racial tensions up thanks to that horrible murder a month or so ago, and yes it was murder, suddenly everyone is extra sensitive to anything that might be offensive. And that includes the appearance of black face in sitcoms.

Yeah. this is one article I’d had preferred not discussing. But not discussing something doesn’t make a problem go away. So, let’s discuss it. In the 80’s and 90’s a few shows did episodes that involved a character wearing black face. As hard as it is to believe, this is a very common occurance a long time ago. Go hunt down the movie “Holiday Inn” for instance. There is a Presidents Day scene that is just plain AWKWARD. However, in that movie it was done legitametely but usually sitcoms do it as a joke.

 

Random Thoughts-Are Multi-Camera Sitcoms Becoming Extinct?

When The Big Bang Theory ended it also seemingly ended something that has been around for ages. The multi camera setup that so many sitcoms use. You know, three cameras on a stage while a studio audience watches? Many of the greatest shows ever made utilize this method, starting with Lucille Ball herself on I Love Lucy all the way to  Mary Tyler Moore  to Family Ties to Cosby to Seinfeld to Friends to Will & Grace to Everybody Loves Raymond (and dozens more). These differ from Single camera shows, poorly named for a show which uses more of a movie format than the three camera one with no studio audience or (usually) a laugh track. These have been around for ages too. From Andy Griffith to The Munsters to The Brady Bunch to Happy Days first two seasons to MASH to Doogie Howser, M.D.—there are plenty of classic examples of that format.



While single camera is great, for me it’s the classic multi camera show that I am a sucker for. It just doesn’t feel like a real sitcom when it isn’t.  It was one of the things I liked about The Big Bang Theory, that it was a traditional sitcom! I like shows like The Wonder Years for example, but it’s a different feeling when watching single camera shows as opposed to a multi camera show like Frasier. In 1988 The Wonder Years won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series and I was appalled. How is that show a comedy?  I still don’t quite get it. Last week I watched the Emmy Awards and as they went through the nominee’s for outstanding comedy show, they were all single camera shows which felt like light drama’s more than a “sitcom”. And don’t get me wrong, I am sure Barry and all the others out there are fine. But to me, that just isn’t a sitcom!

Random Thoughts-The New Lex Luthor (no spoilers)

So I talked about the new Superman when he showed up on Supergirl, it was only fair to discuss this week’s newest casting. Yes my friends we have  a new Lex Luthor. Let's go over his appearance this past Sunday Supergirl, without any spoilers and real quick.

 

Not gonna lie, I was not excited about it. I have never been much of a Jon Cryer fan. The only thing’s I’ve really seen him in were Superman IV and Two and a Half Men. Course he was ridiculous in Superman IV and while he was ok in “Men” he was kind of a tool. Add to that the ghost of the last new Luthor, Eisenberg who trashed the character, I had my concerns.

What did I think?

I was very, and happily, surprised! So again with no spoilers, Cryer really did a fantastic job. He’s a much better actor than you would realize after that lame sitcom he got stuck on. This was a Lex that had everything. He had  a sense of humor and some humanity in him. But he was still smart as a whip and cunning. Luthor is always 2 steps ahead of everyone, except Superman, and that showed. He’s still got another two episodes so it’s hard to say for sure where he will rank on my list of actors who played Lex. He doesn’t beat Rosenbaum or Shea, or Hackman, but he is sure hell better than Eisenberg. Cryer seemed to really get Lex, and while I don’t think he physically fit the role 100% I think he nailed the rest of it. His scenes with Lena were superb. I was very impressed by the end of the episode, and that final scene was perfect it may be one of my favorite Arrowverse moments from any of the shows. Can’t spoil it so go watch it!!! It’s a shame these DC TV writers don”t write the movies, why couldn’t we have had this Lex in Batman V Superman rather than the Joker wannabe we ended up with?


I also loved the nod to the old comics, especially the plot point of Luthor having cancer by kryptonite exposure which was a real thing once. By the way I haven’t been thrilled with this season on Supergirl, but this episode as a whole was pretty damn good. Wonder what next week will bring?


So that’s it. my initial reaction to seeing the new Luthor. What did you guys think? Comment and let me know.

Random Thoughts-Is It Ok To Still Like “The Cosby Show”?

Yeah I wont lie, I was one of those who did not want to believe the truth about Bill Cosby. Not because I think sexual assault or the like should be ignored or not taken seriously. But because I have been a fan of his for years, since before The Cosby Show (anyone remember Picture Pages?) so it was hard to accept. Not to mention the large number of accusers which is just, amazing. But a conviction is a conviction and while that number of accusers still seems large, you can’t deny the facts.

 

 

Random Thoughts-70th Emmy Awards

Almost eight years ago to the day one of my earliest blog's was a short piece on the Emmy's. And really it just sounds like me doing Linkara's Superboy prime voice saying "Everything was better in my day!!". I even make a crack about HBO asking how many people really watch stuff on there. Uh, quite a few! Game of Thrones anyone? The simple fact is that times change and while I love nostalgia (duh) that doesn't mean I can't accept that things are different. With HBO, Netflix, Amazon, and whatever else it's just a different world today.

So I watched the 70th Emmy's last night and was disappointed. There was hardly any real "celebrating". Maybe anniversaries were a bigger deal in my day (there I go again) but I would have liked more of a celebration of what has come before. All we got was Betty White (which was awesome) and a short montage which lasted about three minutes. No clips or callbacks? What did we get instead? All sorts of diversity stuff which I am soooo sick of. Can we stop being upset that there "weren't enough" of a certain race or gender nominated for something? It's one thing to say they should have opportunities. Of course they should! Everyone no matter their race, gender, or sexual preference should have the same opportunities as everyone else. No brainer. But The Emmy's, and all awards shows, are meant to reflect the best in something. If actor Bill Smith is the better actor he should win! If he's a white guy, hey that's how it goes. I get so tired of this idea that if it's anyone but a white person it's "racist" or "offensive". How?  The topic went on forever, with the opening number (which just plain sucked) and then the monologue. The one sketch we got was more on black people not getting their just deserves. Ok it was nice to see those old TV stars again, that was literally it for that in the show, but by then it was like WE GOT IT!

Random Thoughts-Channel Awesome (sigh)

I didn’t want to talk about this. I really, really didn’t. When it all began I tried to ignore it, since it was mostly on twitter that wasn’t hard all it meant was ignoring the people talking about it (or even blocking them). FYI if you don’t know what I am referring to well it’s all over the place so no need to rehash it here. Anyway, I tried to ignore it. Why is that? Because that site and contributors has come to mean a lot to me. I’ve talked about the how and why in other articles and will not bore everyone by repeating it. Suffice to say, I loved the glory days of ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com and without them I would not be doing this at all.

Random Thoughts-Is It Time for Big Bang Theory to Go Away?

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If you’ve read my stuff you know how much I have raved about “The Big Bang Theory”. I discovered it in the middle of the shows 3rd and 4th seasons and just loved it. It was really funny and all I wanted was to see more. I loved this show a point when I thought I was done with TV (little did I know the DC TV universe was coming). Three years ago they announced that the show would be renewed through Season 10. That sounded cool, a nice fitting run for a good show (despite what some think. Seriously what is up with the hate this show gets? It’s not nerd blackface!!)



This season that is now ending is that 10th season. And a few weeks ago it was announced that the show would get two more years after this. And I just have to ask, why???? The show is not what it used to be, though I can’t go so far as to call it awful. What started as a show about four nerds and the pretty blonde across the hall has moved way past that. I didn’t object when Amy and Bernadette joined the cast and the show evolved into the Friends knock off its become. But after all this time we have Leonard and Penny married, Howard and Bernadette married with a child, Sheldon and Amy living together and have even had sex, and Raj has overcome his problems talking to women. So, what is there left to do??


Now one could argue you can still do stories about the group raising their own kids. They’ve already started this with Howard and Bernadette. And forgetting that is about as far from the original premise that you can get, even if I accepted that what else is there? Besides having Leonard and Penny fight, again. Or Sheldon and Amy fight, again. Or maybe actually let Raj have a female that lasts for once. Oh I know let’s bring other characters in like the annoying Stuart or Bert who was in tonight’s episode. He was such a minor character that I had no idea who the heck it was when I saw the episode description. I guess we’re supposed to care about this guy now? I talked before about how it’s always a bad sign when show’s begin to create new characters for us to care about, it means even they know that there isn’t much left for the original characters anymore.

Random Thoughts:That Four-Way DC Crossover

Since there is no where else for me to discuss this here we go. And yes spoilers ahead if you have not seen any of these episodes but I wont spoil everything.


This year all four DC TV universe shows, well the one’s on CW anyway, all crossed over in one mega crossover event. It started in Supergirl and went right through Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow.This was pretty ambitious and was eagerly awaited. It finally aired this past week. So what did I think that crossover?

Random Thoughts:Is The New Superman Any Good?

Before I begin there will be no spoilers for the season premiere of Supergirl, this is just my initial thoughts on one aspect of that episode.



Is The New Superman Any Good?



When Supergirl premiered last year it was understood that the focus was Supergirl, so Superman was around but off in Metropolis. And that made perfect sense, they did that in the comics for years! But then they did silly things to keep Superman out of the picture too much. I mean, we would see Superman and Supergirl conversing over instant messaging and texts, and that was all! Forget that no on instant messages anymore, but the two never ever spoke in person! I mean, couldn’t he at least have a voice? How were we supposed to get the fact they were cousins if we never saw them interact in any way? We also got told things about Superman from others, making him even less of a character. The worst was when situations arose Superman should be aware of, the excuses why he wasn’t got silly. And it got even sillier in the final episodes when their attempt to keep Superman out of the story made him look, well, pathetic!


So when the series moved to CW the creators must have realized the same thing, so they set out to cast Superman. Who did they choose? First, I need to point out that those hoping for Tom Welling were foolish. Not only does Supergirl not fit into the Smallville universe, but while Welling a good Superman would not have worked in this series. Instead we got Tyler Hoechlin who has a nice resume including Teen Wolf. I knew nothing about him, and then they released a photo.



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Random Thoughts-Happy Back to the Future Day!

I’m know I know, but how could I resist talking about this one? Back to the Future was a movie I adored and watched a million times. Then Back to the Future II was released, and it was one of the coolest movie experiences ever. Seeing the scenes from the first movie recreated was something that amazed me for years. We take things like that for granted today. The bifforhific 1985 was just awesome, and what can I say about the future portrayed in the movie? Which is, today Wednesday, October 21, 2015!

Yeah there were problems. The story could be picked apart. And one thing that bothered me was all the promo’s for the third movie. I mean, we had Doc wearing a western shirt, Doc exclaiming the old west was his favorite time period, Marty playing a western shooting game  on a video game, Biff watching a Clint Eastwood movie (gee, I wonder if the scene he’s watching would come back to the play in he next film?), and the Delorean inexplicably show the date of 1885 a couple times in the film. Not to mention the trailer at the very end which for some reason made it on to the VHS release. That always bugged me, why end with a cliffhanger just to spoil it? These teases hurt the second movie and for me anyway, spoiled the third in many ways.



Ok, getting way off track. Of course the reason why this day is special is because the date that Marty and Doc went to in the future was in fact October 21, 2015. And I am not going to lie…that is so cool! It also makes me feel old, since it means it’s been nearly 25 years since I first saw the movie. I love that this movie is so famous and so loved that BTTF Day is a thing. When most movies set in the future hit their predicted date no one cares, or notices. Not with this movie! We have a beautiful book coming out, a new release for the movie, and countless articles and tributes. As I said before these articles seemed to start as soon as 2015 did. This trilogy doesn’t often get the respect it deserves which I get. Putting it up against trilogies like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings it probably doesn’t measure up. But the fans of this movie are loyal and passionate about it and this movie will never go away. I could do a list (and probably will) of hit movies that no one hears about anymore. This is not one of them! So why is this future so loved? Because it’s a happy one not an apocalyptic hell!

Random Thoughts-Five Things I've Heard which Are Not True

Well my friends, one month from today I will be 40. Yeah, I know. It makes me little nauseous too. But as I look back over the last forty years I realize there are lots of things that were considered fact or people just believed that have been disproved since then as nonsense. For instance the whole “no swimming for at least an hour after eating or you’ll get a cramp” crap which was probably invented by parents to shut up whiny kids (FYI it’s not true go ahead and jump in). And yet people still think these things are true, in some cases to the present day.  It’s funny when you think about how serious they believed this stuff, and you wonder what stuff we take seriously today will be laughed at in another forty years.

Here are five other examples :



Sitting to Close to the TV will Hurt Your Eyes?

Maybe this is just some nonsense that parents made up, but I heard this a lot as a kid. And what do we have today? People shoving their phones or pads up to their faces all day long. Yeah I’m pretty sure that where we sit in relation to the TV isn’t going to hurt our eyes. I used to love the hate adults would throw at TV calling it “the boob tube” or “the idiot box”. Man if only they could see what TV was like today!!

Random Thoughts-Family Guy/Simpsons Crossover

Your first questions may be, why did I even watch this? People who follow my stuff regularly probably know I am very passive Simpson fan. Even worst, I hate Family Guy. So, why then would I watch a crossover between a franchise I hardly like and a franchise I despise? Because I’m a sucker for crossovers. Whether they be TV, movies, or comic books–I love them! So when I heard about this event I had to watch it.

Then I saw the five minute preview that was released a few weeks ago and…I found many people were all ready disappointed. Now I am no major fan or either as I made clear so it could be that while it seemed cool from a casual viewer like me maybe it was lacking something a real fan would catch. So I watched the whole episode Sunday night called “The Simpsons Guy” . The premise being the Grifin’s have to leave town. Their car is stolen and they end up in Springfield.  And?


First of all I have to say one thing. That shot when we establish the Griffin’s are in Springfield was BEAUTIFUL! Nothing anyone else says will take that away, I loved that reveal. It was one of the best reveals EVER! Taking in the town with the Simpsons theme music, perfect! All capped off by the obligatory joke about which Springfield they are in (“I’m sure we’re not authorized to say”).

Random Thoughts-Muppet Most Wanted

Wait….didn’t this movie come out months ago? Um…..let’s pretend that I am re posting this because of the new site and that I didn’t wait nearly six months to watch it on pay per view. Yeah…that works for me.

So, I finally got to see the long awaited sequel to The Muppets. Honestly, I have a lot of pressure on me here. As some may remember when The Muppet’s came out, I roasted it and the article got much deserved hatred. So I want to do this latest movie justice and give an honest impression of it. I have to stress, this all opinion! Oh and there may be spoilers if you’ve never seen it. What did I think?


Eh, it was ok. Honestly this movie makes me want to apologize to The Muppets for being so hard on it. Because while I hated the love story in that movie it really was a decent Muppet film. This one….had it’s moments. But for the most part, to be honest, I was bored. It really is just like The Great Muppet Caper, a decent Muppet film with nothing that really stood out or made it great. The gags were funny, and some even made me laugh.  The stuff with Kermit in the Gulag was good but went on to long. Constantine was actually a decent villain believe it or not, even though the idea that none of the Muppets could figure out it was Kermit was a stretch. I ordinarily hate Ricky Gervais but I liked him here. And the plot was actually kind of well thought out and clever, for a Muppet movie anyway. The stuff with Walter was well done especially the way and Fozzie worked off each other. And that final fight and helicopter scene was pretty decent even if Piggy never did her classic Hi-Yah!!

Random Thoughts-Why I Love Re-Run's

Over the last forty years I have often heard people groan when a re-run is on. Some people find it crazy that I would watch a TV episode that I have already seen. Why would I want to do that? Not only do I do that, but I have tapes in my closet of shows if I can’t find anything on regular TV. I love those tapes and would never part with them.


Now I admit I sure as heck prefer a new, fresh episode over a re-run. I mean, who wouldn’t? But to me watching re-runs is no different than popping your favorite movie into the DVD player (or netflix, whatever). If you haven’t seen the show in awhile you smile remembering the jokes and memorable characters. If you watch them more often you feel comforted with the familiar program. Why else would The Big Bang Theory air so many times IN ONE DAY. It’s why re-runs air after work hours and late night and have aired then for as long as I can remember. Scrubs summed it up best in one episode which spoofed goody sitcoms. It’s always nice after a long day to come up and unwind with your favorite programs.

Random Thoughts-The OTHER Diff'rent Strokes Curse

I love sitcoms of the 80's, but you may notice that I hardly talk about a show that was on before 1984. Why is that? Because most of the shows on in the late 70's/early 80's were so bland! Everytime I look at a list of the greatest sitcoms there is always this gap from around 1978 to 1984. Today I decided to try to take a closer look at this, and figure out


Why Did So Many Early 80's Sitcoms SUCK?




Now let me be perfectly clear. I am not saying these shows were BAD, if you love them fine. But there was something about these shows which just made them, unique? We all know the story, the sitcom was considered dead. In 1982 only one sitcom was in the top 10, Three's Company. In 1983 only one once again, only this time it was Kate & Allie. Then in 1984 Bill Cosby came along with The Cosby Show, and single handedly saved the sitcom (not to mention NBC). But the question is, what happened? What made the sitcom go stale in the early 80's?



Was it because they weren't funny? Not with shows like MASH and Taxi. Is it because there were not big stars? Three's Company was huge not to mention a little show called Happy Days. Was there an onslaught of boring and fake reality TV which made people forget about good scripted shows? Nah that wouldn't happen until 2002.  Of course there were major hits of the time (Mash anyone?) but many of the sitcoms of that era just didn't make people want to watch.

Random Thoughts-The Kathie Lee Gifford Syndrome

This is a term I made up, what does it mean? This is what happens when a female celebrity is famous and wealthy, not to mention very nice and happy, and the whole world hates them. Now I am not talking about their work, I get that, I am talking about hating THEM. Now some people are hated with reason. Take Rosie O'Donnel, she was loved unil she started shooting her mouth off and offending people. But some celebrities are hated just because they are nice people who are succesful. That really doesn't seem fair. Here are some examples to explain what I am talking about.

Kathie Lee Gifford

I named this after Kathie Lee because I have never seen a better example of this phenomenon than with her. What in the world did Kathie Lee do to warrant the hate she gets? She has two beutiful kids, a nice husband, and a succesful career. She can sing you know! When her son Cody was born she talked a lot about him, because on her show she and Regis discussed their lives and like any new mother Cody was her life. And man, people would not let it go! I mean yeah I guess it can be annoying listening to someone act like they are the only people to have a kid, but good lord! Then the Wal Mart scandal broke. Even though she had nothing directly to do with it, her name was connected and finally people had something to really hate her for so they did. But this started long before that story broke, and I never understood it. I am glad this has faded, but I just never understood what this woman did to deserve such HATE.

Random Thoughts-Gravity

Hey folks, I just came back from seeing Gravity in the theatre and wanted to share my thoughs off the cuff real quick and no spoilers. So what did I think? It was really good. The effects were amazing, it really felt like you were out there.

I know, this has been said to death. Pretty much I agree with the consensus. It's not the worst way to kill an hour and a half. In fact, I like that the running time is so short. There are so many times I wish a movie would just tell its story and not feel the need to pad the thing out. For the most part, everything happens the way you would imagine it might happen in real life (ok, maybe a bit faster here and there).

The effects were superb. There was only one small moment when I could tell it was CGI, and considering how much CGI makes up this thing that is high praise! What about the actors? Sandra Bullock was great. She can be hit or miss and I have to say she is 100% hit here. She has to hold the whole movie and does wonderful job giving us a good character and keeping the film from being a borefest. George Cloony is also very good in the movie. While its true this is not a story driven movie they did an adequate job of giving characters that feel real and letting us know just enough to care about them.

Is this the greatest movie ever? It would be more fair to see it is one of the best LOOKING movies ever. At times it almost felt like a 3-D attraction at Disney World, but I swear that is meant more as a compliment. I also like that the movie gives this intense action moments while also giving us time to breathe and just soak everything in.

I do have a few gripes. Don't I always? The third astrronaut may as well have been left out entirely. And the trailers did spoil some moments. I once did an article on movies that were ruined by trailers showing to much, and while I am not saying it is in that category I do think it would have been more exciting to go in fresh. Also, avoid spoilers if you can since this is one time they can spoil things a bit.  How was the 3-D? As good as usual I guess. As for the ending, I think that it could be open to interpretation to be honest. The story ended where it should have, nice.

So bottom line, I am glad I got to see it in theatres but this is one of  those movies I will probably never have the desire to see again on DVD or anything. I say check it out, if you you're looking for a fun ride that is not that deep in story or character developmentt than this will not disappoint.

Random Thoughts-To Boldly Flee:One Year Later

Doing something a little different, I had some thoughts I wanted to share and will be doing this off the cuff so to speak. This article is directed to fans of TGWTG, so if you aren't then you may find this article confusing.

It was a year ago (give or take a week or two) that To Boldly Flee ended and we were all left in shock. No more Nostalgia Critic??????? I knew it was coming but that didn't lessen the impact. I mean, wow! Nostalgia Critic had come into my life at a very low point and become a very important routine. The laughs I got from watching were genuine and real, and I couldn't imagine not having him around.

However, we know now that even Doug Walker himself couldn't imagine having him around and the critic was back six months later. True, the character has changed a bit but it's still funny and I still enjoy it. But it raises the question, how does his return affect the ending to To Bodlly Flee? Is it still as strong now that the critic is back?

Let's talk about the amazing 4th anniversary movie for a second. It was a space story and considering the time and budget, done very well. All the characters, and there were a lot, got their big moment and the story makes sense. Yeah it could have used a little trimming here and there. They should have dropped the Prick character entriely and they never did resolve the SUCKA story line. All the acting was decent and yes the references got annoying but overall they were used in a context that made sense. For instance Lupa didn't just rip off the line from Alien for no reason, it made perfect sense in the context of the scene. But the plot hole stuff was done well and had a satisfying payoff.  The final space battle was awesome, including Linkara's appearance in Comicron One which I loved!