Top 10 Star Trek Uniforms, Worst to Best

I really should have done this one last year. With all the talk about the cool stuff on Star Trek from the effects to ship designs, there is one area I never really addressed. And that is those awesome uniforms that everyone wore. From classic TOS through the new movies, the uniforms were always awesome and were as much a part of the show as any other element. Would it be Spock without that sky blue shirt? It just wouldn’t be the same. It’s no surprise so many people have their own copies of them. So I thought it would be fun to go over the various uniforms and pick my favorite. And as I no nothing about fashion, don’t expect specific details we are going purely on superficial appeal.

Course it’s hard to separate DS9 from Voyager or the movies, which is a shame it’s the one series that didn’t have it’s own special look. And for simplicity sake, just Starfleet uniforms and I’m keeping it standard dress and no casual attire or else this list will go on all day (so no comments on the silly stuff Seven of Nine, T’Pol and Troi wore).


#10.Star Trek TMP

Anyone surprised? Pretty much everything about that first movie was wrong right down to the awful uniforms. It’s not just the bland as hell colors, they look like pajamas! I mean Kirk’s kind of looks neat with the white vest thing he has one, the rest are just ridiculous!

Analytical Episode Guide:Everybody Loves Raymond (Season 9, Part 4)

Time to wrap things up my friends……



Season 9, Episode 13
Sister-In-Law

Plot Summary-Ray doesn’t appreciate when Amy tries spending time with him

Nitpick of the episode-I’ll never get why Ray can’t sit with someone and just listen to them talk. There’s a great continuity nod I hope was intentional. In her first appearance Amy mentioned loving to eat raw cookie dough, and when Ray insults her that’s exactly what Amy eating in the kitchen!

Best Line-“We should get in there dads probably got the fondu pot on his head like Winnie the Pooh”…Ray

Episode Fun Fact –

Deleted Scenes-Robert tries to find out if Amy is still angry, Marie embarrasses Ray

Syndication Edit-The tag where Ray does talk to Amy…of course enraging Robert and Debra. Maybe Ray shuts up because he just can’t win?

Best Character-Amy, probably her best episode and she even gets angry which is nice to see. Though fondu date night? Really??

Worst Character-Ray, once again we see the simple act of sitting next to someone while watching a sporting event is too much for him to handle. The only difference is its Amy this time. Even she admits she knows Frank better than Ray!

Final Thoughts-One thing I didn’t get about this episode was how quiet Marie was, did they have nothing for her to say? She did have some lines in the deleted scenes so I guess that answers that. The episode addresses something which has come up before, why the hell is Ray incapable to talking to people? It’s why his conversation with Pat last season was so nice to see. He can do it! All he has to do is sit there and let Amy prattle, why is that so hard? To be fair Amy is a talkative person but when Ray can’t seem to talk to anyone it’s hard to put the blame on her.

Grade-B-

Analytical Episode Guide:Everybody Loves Raymond (Season 9, Part 3)

Season 9, Episode 9
A Date for Peter

Plot Summary-Debra tries to arrange a date for Peter, but Ray is enraged when Peggy is included

Nitpick of the episode-Anyone remember “Sleepover at Peggy’s”? Don’t feel bad if you don’t clearly Ray forgot it. More on this below. It’s amazing how they made Peter go from someone we hated to someone we fully sympathize with here.

Best Line-“what if they start dating? We already have enough horrible people in this family”…Ray

Episode Fun Fact –Obvious this episode is one last chance to see some recurring characters. We get Peggy, Stefania, and Peter (who actually does have one more appearance)\

Deleted Scenes-Ray giving Peter advice

Syndication Edit-teaser, we find out who the women in the back who never speak are during the party

Best Character-Debra, for once I’m on her side

Worst Character-Ray, ughhhhhhhhhhhh

Final Thoughts-This was the final episode on my “Top 5 Worst Everybody Loves Raymond Episodes” list, and it still sucks. I’ve talked a lot about the creators tended to add conflict when they didn’t need to. Is that why Ray is a jackass here? His reasoning is just lame, he accuses Debra of trying to set up Peter and Peggy so that Debra will have another solider in her war with his mother. Um, how? Even if they did marry, which neither are thinking of by the way, that’s Robert’s family and has nothing to do with Marie. And of course he has to bring up the cookie incident, and even Peggy can’t believe he hasn’t let that go yet! I admit I have no idea what the episode could have been filled with without this, but Ray is just plain ridiculous here. At least he apologizes in the end. Roberts panicking when Stefania appears  is lame too but this obviously just one chance to see her again.  By the way when Marie and frank storm over the creators didn’t even try to give a good reason, guess there isn’t any point by now.

Grade-C-,still annoying after all these years

My Five Comic Book Guilty Pleasures

So I was thinking about guilty pleasures. These are the things that are silly or stupid, but we love them anyway. I have plenty from movies (Independence Day, Star Trek Generations) and TV shows (Small Wonder, The superhero shows on CW). And I started to wonder, can there be comic book guilty pleasures?


And the answer is, sure there can be! Heck AT4W covers a lot of them from Game Boy Comics to Mr.T comics, to Brute Force and US 1. Linkara freely admit that the comic is stupid, but is o stupid that they’re fun! So I thought about it and came up with five comics which are either so silly they’re fun or were failures but I can’t help up but love them anyway.

Of course, only DC here :


CAMELOT 3000

I don’t think this one has ever been panned per se, though I don’t think that it was at Watchmen levels of popularity either. This is a guilty pleasure because it’s two things I normally hate. It’s not a story about superheroes (which I hate) and instead involves the legend of King Arthur (which I also hate) fighting an alien invasion in the year 3000. Yeah it sounds crazy but, it really works! Mike W. Barr is one of my favorite writers for a reason, and I enjoyed this and read it more than once. Though it’s been awhile since I picked up I do remember enjoying it.

Ten Awesome Ad Campaign’s That I Just Love!!

Last week I talked about advertising campaigns which just drove me nuts. So it seemed only fair to look at the other side of the coin. After all a good ad campaign does more than just inform you about the product. It gives ads you almost look forward to seeing, and in some cases the slogan and/or sales mascot in the ads become so popular that they become icons, growing beyond the ad, and become part of pop culture.



For example, can you believe there is an ad that was made in the 70’s that I remember seeing in the 80’s? Impossible! Not if it’s this one..

Once again this has to be a series of ads. Also no cartoon mascots, I’ve covered that before in another list (so no Energizer Bunny which is the best example ever!)



This is NOT you’re Father’s Oldsmobile
If I’m wrong please correct me, but these are the ads that made the phrase “it’s not your father’s…” popular. Of course in this case these were not your father’s Oldsmobile. To highlight this they would have children of celebrities talking about how much cooler their car is than their parents. A great idea, and the actual celebrities even appeared! Here’s an examples :

Analytical Episode Guide:Everybody Loves Raymond (Season 9, Part 2)

Season 9, Episode 5
Ally’s F

Plot Summary-Ray and Debra are concerned when Ally gets an “F” in math

Nitpick of the episode-Yeah that teacher may need vacation. I get teachers are stressed and even burned out, but geez! And if he knew what the problem w as with Ally why didn’t he pull her aside and discuss it with her? Isn’t that part of a teacher’s job? Even Debra realizes that the guy is a bit out of touch. Guess Ray is right when he says some teaches can’t relate to kids.

Best Line-“It’s just a midterm ok. It’s just a stupid grade and I’m gonna pass. God why do you have to overreact!?”…Ally

Episode Fun Fact –

Deleted Scenes-Ray and Debra arriving at the classroom to meet with the teacher

Syndication Edit-top of the teaser, which was a bad edit since we see ally talking on the phone foreshadowing the boy she liked. We also see in the teaser Ally favors Ray

Best Character-Debra, well it only took nine seasons for Debra to realize talking to your kids is a thing. That final scene between her and Ally is just great. I also give her credit for realizing the teacher is a bit high-strung and they it may not be all Ally’s fault.

Worst Character-Ray, I actually love it when he steals the teacher’s throat lozenges but what is up with that bit at the end when he acts like a jealous father? Maybe the idea was that Deb and Ray had changed places, Debra talking while Ray overreacts and yells, but  Romano cannot pull those scenes off.

Final Thoughts-I like this one because it’s the show exploring a common problem. Ally having trouble in math makes sense and the reason is perfectly normal for a teenager (she’s obsessed with a boy in her class). It’s also nice to see a little flaw in Ally. While I’ve said I liked her I’ll be the first to admit she often comes off as a little too perfect. Here she feels like a normal a teenager (and it’s jarring to remember her in season one; they do grow up don’t they?) The scenes with the teacher is funny. Again the family stuff feels a bit shoehorned, only there to give them some lines. But it’s not awful either as it does further the plot when we discover the real reason Ally is having trouble in math. The only complaint is that final bit where Ray gets all stupid and is yelling. It seems like when this show doesn’t have a joke to end on then making Ray a loon is the go to move.

Grade-A-, for season nine this is a true standout, it’s just Ray’s nonsense at the end which is lame.

Analytical Episode Guide:Everybody Loves Raymond (Season 9, Part 1)

Welcome to Season 9! As I mentioned last time the season was more the networks ides than the creators. In fact they had a the final episode all ready to go the season before but shelved it. They agreed to come back with an abbreviated season, only sixteen episodes. Which means these final articles will also be a bit abbreviated with only four episodes per article. So was the season any good or should did they stay to long at the party?


(My DVD crapped out on me so forgive me if I forgot something). Let’s start:



Season 9, Episode 1
The Home

Plot Summary-Frank and Marie shock the family by announcing they are moving to a retirement home

Nitpick of the episode-This a hard one to grasp, why would Marie and Frank suddenly want to move to a retirement home? And why are they suddenly getting along so well? This one requires a little suspension of disbelief though it’s not a shark jumping moment. And why weren’t the kids around to say goodbye to their grandparents?

Best Line-“Oh, Debra… do you know what your problem is? You’re always so dramatic. I’m fine with the way we are.”…Marie

Episode Fun Fact –

Deleted Scenes-Marie giving stuff away

Syndication Edit-top of the teaser

Best Character-Marie and frank, kudos for the writers for giving them something so against their character,  but at the same time keeping the characters in character. It works.

Worst Character-Debra, when Frank and Marie are finally moving its Debra who’s sad about it. DEBRA!! What the hell? Debra has spent more episodes than I’d care to count hating having the family so close and bitching every chance she gets. What??? Feels like filler.

Final Thoughts-I’ve commented before on how the writers will switch something up so an episode will go somewhere you weren’t expecting. This happens here, doing the idea which would have been an obvious finale episode as the premiere episode. Is it good? It’s feels a little odd, maybe because everyone is happily getting along here. The whole episode feels like one big act 1. Except you have to wait till next week to get the second half. The scene where Ray and Debra and Robert and Amy celebrate the announcement is pretty much all for laughs. I complained that it’d ridiculous Debra is sad but on the other hand why aren’t Robert and Ray even a little sad? They seem a little to eager to get rid of Marie and Frank.

Grade-B