d e v o n
Not today Justin
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祝日 / Permanent Vacation
Love Begins
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Janaina Medeiros
Stranger Things
dirt enthusiast
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NASA
TVSTRANGERTHINGS
todays bird
Kiana Khansmith
Product Placement
$LAYYYTER
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occasionally subtle
almost home
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@badasscomic
Randy Rhoads tragically passed away too soon but I like to believe he lives on whenever some kid picks up a guitar.
It’s very easy to become envious of others’ achievements and skill, especially if you’re older than they are. It’s worth the effort to be encouraging. Surround yourself with awesome people and cheer on their success.
There’s plenty of young rockers I could link here but I’m going to share the happiest-looking, Li-sa-X :D
Watchimals were these huge toy watches for kids. I mean, they’re a cute idea, but just look at the size of these things.
If you were a kid with stuffed animals at the time there wasn’t much distinction. A soft, fuzzy friend I can wear on my arm? Of course, other commercials made it very clearly a product aimed at girls.
Advertising for the Wearimals, similar-themed accessories you could mix and match with clips, went even further with it.
I’ll give the folks at Hasbro credit, though. The Slime Time spots showed both boys and girls enjoying the creepy crawlies.
It still confuses me who would want a life-sized frog strapped to their arm, but watches were one of those passing fads in the 80s. I guess it’s like calculators. If you have to have one it might as well be cool looking.
Yes… candy… that’s certainly what Billy’s looking for. Such strange behavior while Uncle Bud’s visiting.
Disney’s The Wuzzles was the studio’s second television animated series premiering alongside Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears. The art, character designs, animation, are all of the high quality standards their productions are known for. It ran for one season on CBS and reruns played on ABC the following year.
The show saw a lot of merchandising for it’s short run, including toys:
And storybooks:
I remember getting Bumblelion confused with the Crispy Critters mascot when I was younger.
For a more in-depth look, check out this TV Trash episode.
The Space Shuttle Challenger and the disaster of it’s final flight are tragic reminders of the real dangers of space travel. It’s important we remember them in our efforts to achieve and discover.
Richard Feynman is known for explaining very simply and eloquently how the O-rings failed.
Yes, Billy, what is wrong with you indeed?
I smell storyline here.
My Pet Monster was a toy in 1986
that spawned a made for TV movie
and an animated cartoon series.
It’s notable for being a successful toy doll marketed at boys. Other attempts, like My Buddy, didn’t really take off.
For a better look at the movie, check out this Nostalgia Critic review:
For those still wondering, the toy doesn’t make the memories, the kids do.
The McDonald’s Happy Meal is linked as much to childhood as the rest of the McDonald’s experience.
McDonald’s commercials looked a lot like kids’ TV shows at the time with puppets, songs, plenty of bright colors and seasonal flavoring.
There are plenty of Best of and Worst of lists out there. I prefer to think back to the uniqueness these simple toys added to a meal. Take the Changeables line, for example. Transformers knock-offs on the surface, but they were fun and pretty well made. And of course they had a version with dinosaurs.
The Adventures of the American Rabbit is an American/Japanese co-production between Murakami-Wolf-Swenson based on the character created by Stewart Moskowitz. A 1986 animated movie about a rabbit who transforms into a super hero in American flag colors with roller skates. I rented this one a lot in my childhood as I ran around hopped up on cereal.
Remembering very little when I watched it later in life, the story meanders at a strange pace. The hero and his friends are constantly harassed by bad guys who are evil for evil’s sake. There’s turning points that are confusing and it really makes you wonder how the world as it’s presented is supposed to work.
For deeper reviews you can check out this one by Necro Critic
And this one by Media Hunter Reviews.
The Sears Wish Book started in 1933 and was copied by many other stores. It mixed holiday merchandise, toys, and festive imagery. They’ve since been archived online and are still distributed in Canada with an iPad app in 2013.
Viewing these catalogs today is like seeing a yearbook of pop culture. They’re such an eclectic mix you’re bound to find something strange in them. For another look at wish books, check out the Angry Video Game Nerd - Episode 116 - Wish List "Part 1"
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reigndeer is a famous Christmas special by
Rankin/Bass
you’ve more than likely seen. I applaud the message of saying it’s ok to be different but
there are some issues with it
viewers have caught over the years.
It makes sense the other reindeer don’t let Rudolph play their games - they’re kids who don’t know any better. But Santa himself tells Donner he should be ashamed of having a kid with a red nose! What kind of horrible sense does that make? Then Hermey’s ostracized for wanting to be a dentist. (He’ll be a deeeentiiisssst…) I understand it’s an excuse for him to be useful later, and plenty of people say it’s 60s code for being gay, though today I think they’d take it even farther by making him want to be a tooth fairy. And he pulls the Bumble’s teeth!
1.) Have you ever not noticed your teeth were being pulled even with novocaine?
2.) He pulls the monster’s teeth out! That sounds like the kind of thing you’d see a horror movie villain do.
Then there’s the idea of misfit toys. Toys. Yes, even toys have freaks that are unwelcome in normal society. Dolly for Sue has the Toy Story 2 malady of being unwanted by her owner. (The elves make toys, shouldn’t they consider Hermey a god?)
There’s been a number of edits over the years, such as a new scene added for the misfit toys showing them getting new homes. There’s also plenty of parodies.
It’s Punky Brewster is the animated spinoff of the original Punky Brewster series. Following the adventures of a plucky little girl being raised by her foster father, the last episode of the second season was noted for reacting to the recent Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. (Looks like Billy’s going to have another anonymous letter to write…)
Animated versions of live-action shows were fairly common in the 70s and 80s, with programs like Jeannie, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Laverne & Shirley in the Army, Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour, and Gilligan’s Planet. The idea of adding a magical talking friend to the cartoon is nothing new, though the way they shoehorn him in with the 80s-iest opening theme is amazing. Glomer’s home, Chaundoon, is in reference to the 1947 musical Brigadoon about a vanishing village. A number of shows had episodes with similar concepts, including Beetlejuice, The Smurfs, Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears, and My Little Pony.
The Great Gazoo was more of a Hail Mary Pass of a final season. He probably has more in common with Scrappy-Doo, Cousin Oliver, or Seven. However you must admit a wise-cracking invisible alien in a cavemen sitcom makes about as much sense as a floating leprechaun gopher in a show about a lovable orphan.
For a deeper review of Punky, check out this episode of TV Trash.
Pinwheel isn’t quite H.R. Pufnstuf or Lidsville but you can see the influence. It started on C-3 in Columbus, Ohio which became the Pinwheel Channel and eventually Nickelodeon. There were 13 seasons and 260 hour-long episodes which ran from 1977 until 1990.
The show would often run in 3-5 hour blocks. Similar to Sesame Street, there would be live-action skits mixed with animated segments. One of those segments was Picture Pages. The host would use his marker, Mortimer Ichabod “M.I.” Marker, to teach basic arithmetic, geometry, and other lessons that could be followed along at home.
For a more in-depth look at Pinwheel and early Nickelodeon, check out this episode of What Went Right? by Omega Geek.
Thanksgiving, at least in the US, has become something akin to the middle slice of bread in a Big Mac. It’s technically part of the holiday sammich between the Halloween and Christmas patties but you’d be hard pressed to find anybody that says it’s their favorite part. The day itself could easily be considered Black Friday Eve from the way it’s celebrated.
Growing up it’s taught as a coming together between the Indians and Pilgrims. As we mature and learn the truths of the world it becomes about family. For many of us it can become more of a hassle than a joyous occasion.
Ultimately we interpret the holidays through the lens of our own lives and experiences. Whether it be having kids of our own and helping them enjoy the things we fondly remember, reconnecting with family and friends we’ve lost touch with, or coming together after an intense year, there’s always things to be thankful for.
So wherever you may be on your journey through life, to you and your’s, Happy Thanksgiving!
Calvin and Hobbes is a classic. It encapsulates what makes comics so wonderful. There’s been a documentary on it and it’s creator, Bill Watterson, a man who enjoys his privacy, fairly recently did an interview as well as painted the poster for the comics doc Stripped!
As we approach it’s 30th anniversary, I can think of no better way to celebrate than encouraging everybody to read the funnies with somebody they love.
Today’s Special was another Canadian children’s show, this time about the inhabitants of a department store at night. It featured a mannequin brought to life via magician Waldo the Magnificent named Jeff, Jodie the store’s display designer, and puppets like Muffy Mouse and Sam Crenshaw the night watchman.
Ending the same year Mannequin came out, this show seemed odd to me even at the time. The setting of a children’s department at night is a little creepy. Then there’s Jeff who, like Frosty the Snowman, is given life by his magic hat. If it comes off he turns back into a dummy. If he leaves the store he stays a mannequin forever. I always found that rather unsettling.
And yes, they really did an episode on alcoholism.
You Can’t Do That on Television is a Canadian sketch comedy show starring kids. It’s perhaps best known for featuring Alanis Morissette and introducing Nickelodeon’s green slime. Episodes revolved around a theme with two actors playing all the grown up roles.
Sketch shows rarely hold up well and since this one re-used bits regularly you notice the hokey writing and hammy acting. The thing is, growing up with it as a kid, it was targeted at you. You saw people your age on it, not as the annoying little sibling of the main character, but as the stars of the show. It was fun for what it was at the time and similar programs down the road improved on the idea.
Check out the Nostalgia Critic’s review of it as well as several other live action shows on Nick.