chris mcculloch

(S02E07) Every once in a while, I'll watch a show that makes me feel guilty about not liking Star Wars. Yeah. I don't like Star Wars. I've tried getting through all the films, but I just can't take it (the Lucas-style dialogue and PowerPoint screenwipes aren't for me). Although I've seen enough to get the occasional reference (like, I know what it means to call someone a Lando and I caught the tauntaun thing after the "Escape to the House of Mummies Part II" credits), this episode made me feel like crap. I'm sure it was riddled with great Star Wars bits that went right over my head because I'm such a terrible geek. I probably would have enjoyed the ride a lot more if I caught all the jokes.

Oh well. Maybe once Doc and Jackson do an episode of only zombie film homages, I'll feel a little better.

(S02E06) I am seriously amazed. Somehow, every episode manages to one-up the episode preceding it (or come close to doing so). I mean, the "House of Mummies" and "Twenty Years" are still my all-time favorites, but this episode was wickedly strong. Not as much action as "Twenty Years", but quite a bit of melodrama and loads of funny moments. I kind of feel like if a bad or barely decent episode comes up soon, it's just going to hit even worse because these past few episode have been so great. I really hope this trend of awesomeness (for lack of a better word) continues. No pressure, Doc and Jackson.

(S02E05) It's been two weeks since a fresh episode of The Venture Bros. Two viciously agonizing, heinously miserable, adverb adjective weeks. However, "Twenty Years to Midnight" made the wait completely worthwhile. The amount of action was a nice surprise, a true throwback to the show's original roots: a take-off of the 60's cheesy, mystery-adventure cartoons. All these amazing elements have caused me some inner conflict. See, in my last VB post, I said that "Escape to the House of Mummies Part II" had become my favorite... Well, now I don't know how to feel. My heart is now painfully torn between a Doc Hammer script and a Jackson Publick script! Ohh, "Twenty Years" is truly worthy contender for my love. The guest appearance by Stephen Colbert didn't hurt, either.

(S02E04) Reason #528 to love Doc Hammer: He wrote the most bizarre Venture Bros. episode ever. Oh, man. I think I have a new favorite episode. The weirdness of the priorities in storyline and all the adventure show clichés were totally hysterical. Plus, what other television show can beautifully weave in appearances by Edgar Allan Poe, Sigmund Freud, and Caligula in the same episode? None. None, I say!

There were a hell of a lot of memorable moments in this particular episode, so my review is pretty much stuffed to the rafters. Just a warning. We also have to wait a few weeks for a new episode, so maybe reading this review very, very slowly can help fill the void.

(S02E03) After seeing such major plot development in the first two episodes of the season (read some brief thoughts about them here), "Assassinanny 911" feels a little out-of-place. It's as though I could take the entire first season and easily shuffle this episode into the mix. I think the only things that could even possibly affect future episodes is the fact that Hank develops a crush on Molotov Cocktease and we get a bit more Brock/Molotov back story. That said, this was yet another extremely funny episode. Season Two is coming along beautifully.

I've got lots of Venture Bros. related tidbits to share that, individually, aren't quite enough to fill up one entire post, but are still too important to ignore. So, join me as I take you through a very Venture update! Take notes if you know what's good for you.

If you've purchased the season one DVD already (and if you haven't, why not?), you've probably noticed that not all of the episodes have commentary. For those of you that wanted more, Quick Stop Entertainment has a special "lost commentary" for episode three, "Home Insecurity". It's pretty much the same sort of thing as the other commentaries, same tendencies to stray off-topic.

It looks like AdultSwim.com is going to continue premiering episodes two days early on their Friday Night Fix. However, if you want to be a good little fan and obey your masters, Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer are both pushing everyone to wait until the 10:30 Sunday premieres "to see it in the way it was intended, in GLORIOUS EXTRA-COLOR" (as Doc tried to convince me. Alas, I couldn't help myself to the Fix... C'mon, I have Broadband).

After the jump, the names of all the episodes for season two (names and running order are subject to change), followed by my personal thoughts about the current season, and some random trivia... Don't look if you don't want things spoiled, of course.

It was about a week ago. Late at night. Insomnia had wretchedly peeled back my eyelids. I forced myself to stay in bed and try to get some sleep, but I allowed the TV to stay on. Adult Swim gently blinked on the screen. After a few more hours, I could feel insomnia letting up. Finally. Sleep. The shadows on my wall danced to the changing images on the screen. Ah. A commercial about Saved By The Bell coming to Adult Swim -- Wait a second. Saved By The Bell? On a late-night cartoon channel? I panicked. The shadows on the wall surrounded me. The commercial was still on the screen. I helplessly flailed my arms. Immediately, my limbs became tangled in my sheets. My mind raced. "Does not compute! Does not compute!" And that was when my spinal column leapt up and throttled my brain. True story.

I wasn't hallucinating, and neither were you. Adult Swim really is going to air a bunch of Saved By The Bell episodes. No joke. They've just announced a schedule (and I see they've put [crappy 1980's live action tv show network] at the bottom right hand corner during some of their programming). I have yet to hear a good explanation as to why they're doing this instead of doing a Venture Bros. marathon and making me a happy girl, but I'm sure it's all part of Adult Swim's master plan to take over the world. Or they're just being silly.