Monday, December 10th, 2007
10:00 Harvey Birdman
10:15 Harvey Birdman
10:30 The Tick
11:00 Stacked
11:30 Futurama
Harvey Birdman. Episode 3. "Shaggy Busted" is my favourite of the early HB installents and it's probably the first one I saw. I've seen it so many times now, over the years, that I no longer know if I still find it funny or not. I just love watching it. There are many things to love here: First and foremost the inclusion of Scooby-Doo, Shaggy Rogers, Fred Jones (who?), Velma Dinkley and (the very sexy) Daphne Blake. Secondly, this is the episode that introduces the character of Peanut (Harvey's clerk at the law firm of Sebben & Sebben) and their scenes together at the start of the episode are some of the funniest ever given the two characters. Harvey's "you'll never use that" attitude to the law, and Peanut's links to murder (?) and sexual perversion (!) are given an ample airing. His full-on advances towards Daphne later in the episode are equally hilarious. But this is Harvey's show. His arrival at prision (to be greeted by a chorus of disgruntled former clients) and his willingness to get hammered the night before trial all server to generate a lot of laughs.
Apart from that, neither the judge (Hiram Mightor) nor the prosecutor (Spyro) are among my favourites. Neither are very funny, but this is still my favourite early episode of the this wonderful series.
Harvey Birdman. Episode 2. Maybe because I haven't watched "Very Personal Injury" quite as many times as "Shaggy Busted" but it proves to be much funnier this time around. Apache Chief, the Native American former Superfriend who has the power to grow very large, saves the city once again. Afterwards, he heads into Javalux for a cup of coffee and accidentally spills the hot coffee on his lap. Ouch! Myron Reducto (one of my fave characters) sits in the prosecutors chair and is hilarious from start to finish. He even gets to win the case, and help Apache Chief find happiness and true love in the process. Yay! Even better than this, this episode introduces the silent Bear who goes on to appear in many, many episodes.
The Tick. Episode 1. I've finally got around to watching The Tick on DVD. My Tick collection - up to now - has consisted of video tapes with Voice Overs on the closing credits. Very annoying in Season 3 when The Tick was reading out letters from fans and you couldn't hear the jokes. Thank goodness for DVDs. Yay!
Anyway.
The first episode opens with The Tick and Arthur talking about their time together as superheros. We flash back to see how The Tick first came to The City and met Arthur for the first time. His arrival is typically hilarious, and Arthur is a wonderfully sweet and likable character from the get-go. This first story gives us a great view of The City, with it's scores of superheroes running around bumping into one another (literally at one point). Die Fledermaus and American Maid get little more than cameos and if this episode has a weakness it is the Villians: the Idea Men (the very definition of a one note joke). They wear masks. We can't hear what they are saying. That's it. Funny once, yes. After that? Not so much.
But this is the story of the Tick all the way. "You don't eat crackers in the bed of your future!" he yells at one point. He's crazy. He's idealistic. And he's one of the best superheroes they've ever put on TV.
Stacked. Episode 17. Stranger and stranger. "Stacked" started life as one of the funniest shows on TV. Yet, curiously, all these later episodes are somewhat devoid of laughs. Strange. Gavin, Stuart and Skyler try to reason with a noisy neighbour for most of the the episode. Brian Scolaro and Steve Valentine get laughs, but everyone else falls flat.
Futurama. Season 2, Episode 10. A very funny episode with focus firmly on Professor Farnsworth who - depressed at his advancing years - unveils his clone for the first time. Cubert is a jerk, however, and seems to prove that Farnsworth has created another failure. There are a lot of great gags, as always, but - as with the best Futurama episodes - there is some honest sentiment at the core of the episode, and it makes for a very rewarding outing.
Highlight? Futurama.
Futurama, Harvey Birdman, Stacked, The Tick
