Jackie Robinson, or The Meaning of Life the Universe and Everything

Despite the pretentious title, this blog post actually has nothing to do with baseball or The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. But the two things both tie in with the number 42, which is a component of this entry's content.

Several months ago, I decided that I should finally hunker down and start making an effort to watch all the movies on the American Film Institute's list of "the 100 greatest American movies of all time" (hereafter referred to by me simply as "AFI's Top 100"). In the past I would occasionally give the list a once over and see how many I had seen and how many more I had NOT seen, but it didn't get much further than that. Realizing that method meant I still had seen less than half of them (a dismal 38 in total), I made it a goal to start watching them in earnest and am now up to a whopping 42 in total. Hey, progress is progress, no matter how slow it is...

Since one of my problems with the list is that for some of the movies, I cannot recall if I actually did see them in their entirety or not, I also made a decision to write up a quick review of each movie after watching it and will be posting those here, probably in batches of three or four movie reviews at a time.

Without any further ado, here are my random thoughts on the first four movies I've intentionally watched just for being on AFI's Top 100 list. (FYI, there really is no order to the way I am watching the movies from the list; it's whatever happens to be accessible at the time.)

Easy Rider
(released 1969, #88 of 100)

What a start to this project; this movie was practically unwatchable. I know it has its fans, but I am certainly not one of them, nor was my friend who watched it with me. It's as if Kenneth Anger made Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas and then amped up the trippy factor by about a thousand.

This movie opens with dullest drug deal scene ever depicted (and that’s saying a lot) before two guys embark on a road trip across America for Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Along the way, they cross paths with some unusual characters from hippies to bigots to farmers. I would have loved to hear more about the women they encounter and their lives, but this is a "bro" sort of movie so that would never happen.

The movie starts out with some rather weird cinematography choices that only get weirder as the movie progresses (and as the characters get higher from all the cocaine and other drugs they are doing). All along the "plot" is slow moving, the dialogue is mostly rather poor and uninteresting, and there is literally zero character development. On top of that all, the ending is really bizarre to the point that my friend and I were both kind of like 'was that the end? what were they even trying to say with this movie???' This may have been the movie I did the most research on after watching it, because it was absolutely puzzling to me what its purpose was or why it was on AFI's Top 100 list. While I do enjoy when I read or watch something that has so many layers that a critical analysis might help me learn more, a film should stand up well enough on its own that you don't have to see what critics are saying in order to "get it." (And quite frankly, it still doesn't seem like there was much to "get.")

The handful of highlights were good music to fill the soundtrack while the guys ride along the highways and byways, which then of course included some nice shots of American landscapes (mostly deserts but also some small towns in Louisiana). The very earnest definition of the slang version of the word "dude" (I guess it was still new enough in 1969?) was humorous. And finally, the real star of the movie was a very young Jack Nicholson, who put in a stellar performance as the day-drunk ACLU lawyer, a role fittingly quirky enough for him. I have to agree with The New York Times critic whose review of the movie at its release noted, "Nicholson is so good, in fact, that 'Easy Rider' never quite recovers from his loss." I am resigned to the fact that I will never understand why this movie is on AFI's Top 100 list.


The Third Man
(released 1950, #57 of 100)

Thankfully, AFI's Top 100 list quickly redeemed itself with this selection. This is the kind of movie that I really enjoy -- an older noir film that immediately grabs you and is compelling from start to finish.

This movie takes place in Vienna after World War II, with the main character looking into the mystery of a friend's death, supposedly an accident but surrounded by a few pesky details that just don't add up -- including the rumor of a third man at the site of the accident but not listed in the official report. There is definitely a lot of intrigue, with every character having some piece of the mystery but refusing to reveal more.

The ambiance of the film throughout is wonderful. Filmed in black and white, it plays with lighting and shadows. There are long shots, unusual angles, and other cinematography reminiscent of Citizen Kane (not surprising, considering Orson Welles was associated with both projects). The dark lighting and unusual camera angles add to the sense of unease the film is trying to portray for its main character, especially when coupled with some dialogue in untranslated German (unless you happen to understand German, it further solidifies your sense of unknowing). There are several scenes of characters running around Vienna's cobblestone streets, complete with echoey footsteps, which further adds to the mysterious tone.

But the movie isn't all seriousness at all times. There are little jokes here and there, and throughout the movie, a jaunty jazzy tune plays its soundtrack. This fun instrumental music is all played on the zither, which is an unique choice that made a distinct impact. The storyline also has a romantic subplot underneath all the mystery and intrigue. Joseph Cotton as the protagonist put in an A+ performance. Alida Valli as Anna was also excellent as were some of the supporting cast (some others of the supporting cast were a little too campy, e.g., the fellow with the dog).

Overall, this was definitely an enjoyable film and I could see why it was on the list. (A fun side note -- there is actually a small curiosity museum in Vienna dedicated specifically to this film.) Those who like film noir mysteries and/or spy-type thrillers would probably enjoy this one.


The Apartment 
(released 1960, #93 of 100)

Like The Third Man, this movie is one I'm surprised I hadn't watched before actually, given it's up my alley of movies from the late 40s to early 60s. Once the opening credits showed Billy Wilder's name, I knew I was in for a treat; there’s a reason he was referred to as "the world's greatest movie director."

The Apartment has many similarities with Wilder's other movies, including elements such as:

• a voice-over introduction (but further narration is never heard),
• a New York City setting,
• a perfectly fitting instrumental soundtrack,
• snappy dialogue,
• black and white filming despite color being available,
• an overall comic tone but serious at turns, and
• issues like infidelity and suicide that can't exactly be shown on the screen (in 1960) but which are nevertheless artfully portrayed.

However, this movie has a rather different storyline from the other Wilder films I've seen in the past. A hard-working, ambitious accountant nicknamed Bud wants to succeed at his corporate life insurance job and therefore finds himself trying to curry favors with the higher-up suits. Unfortunately, the favor these men want the most from him is use of his apartment to carry on their extramarital trysts. Things only devolve further when the top boss finds out about this and wants to meet his mistress there -- a woman whom Bud has secretly had a crush on himself.

The late 50s/60s corporate culture highlighted in this film might make it of interest to fans of Mad Men, with similar explorations of gender, sex, power, and money, although with a far less serious tone. This movie has excellent performances from Jack Lemmon (indeed, he carries many scenes where it’s just him puttering around the apartment alone with no dialogue or only some mutterings to himself) as well as from Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray. The happy ending feels a little tacked on / rushed, but otherwise this was an engaging watch. This wasn't my favorite movie of all time (it's not even my favorite Billy Wilder comedy; Sabrina tops that list, followed by Some Like It Hot) but it's a solid addition to AFI's Top 100 list.


Fargo 
(released 1996; #84 of 100)

This movie I went into expecting NOT to like, especially because I disliked the only other two Coen brothers' movies I had previously seen (The Big Lebowski and Intolerable Cruelty). While quirky movies hold a special place in my heart, the Coen brothers tend to operate in a zone of oddness that just isn't my cup of tea. However, this movie turned out to be weird in an acceptable sort of way for me.

The movie takes place in the dead of winter in Minnesota and North Dakota, where a car salesman with ambition pays a couple of criminals to kidnap his wife so that his wealthy father-in-law will pay the ransom. The trio assume no one will be the wiser and they will all walk away a little richer. But, of course, Murphy's law comes into play and things quickly escalate from bad to worse.

Despite the film's opening screen-cap claiming to be "based on true story," this is a work of fiction. But it is not outside the realm of possibility, which does give the film's absurdity a ring of truth. The actors in the movie -- from the leads to the supports -- are all excellent in their roles. The repartee between the two criminals, played by Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare, is definitely a highlight of the film, along with Frances McDormand's award-winning performance as the police chief working to catch them. And, William H. Macy is almost *too* good as the slimy salesman, convincing me 100 percent to hate that character.

Despite the violence at the heart of the movie, it really isn't overly gory (especially in light of what's considered acceptable in film and television today). Also, McDormand's character is a refreshingly independent and strong woman, which had been missing in the other three films reviewed above. (The Third Man and The Apartment get points for at least featuring women more so than Easy Rider, but they're not exactly going to be held up as feminist standards. I'm not doing the statistical breakdown because that's more effort than I want to put into this project, but I wouldn't be surprised to see if a great number of the movies on AFI's Top 100 list are unable to pass the Bechdel Test.) Also, the one Asian character seen in the movie is surprisingly not just stereotype after stereotype, which is sadly saying a lot for 1996. (Unfortunately, the one American Indian character in the movie doesn't quite pass the same low bar. His character is way too much the strong, silent, proud 'native' stereotype -- his last name is even Proudfoot.)

That all being said, I cannot see this being a movie I would purposefully view again, nor do I have any interest in watching the new series of the same name. However, I do understand why it made the list, if for no other reason than that it's a movie that is often referenced in pop culture.

***

Well, that's all for now folks. Catch up with you again when I have a few more movie reviews to add.

The Podcast's the Thing Wherein I'll Catch a Laugh ... (Part 4)

My last few blog posts have been about my year or so long adventure in the world of comedic podcasts. I started by discussing The Thrilling Adventure Hour in the first part and ended the most recent post with the discovery of and delight in The Dead Authors Podcast. As I mentioned in the first post in this blog series, The Thrilling Adventure Hour podcast has been including a number of behind-the-scenes interviews in which they discuss things like the writing process and the history of the show. With the latter, the cast and creative team frequently mentioned Paul F. Tompkins's show/podcast as a means of introducing them to various other actors or even their current location for the live show. At first, I thought they were referencing Paul F. Tompkins's work with The Dead Authors Podcast but over time I realized they were not. I searched for other podcasts that Tompkins worked on and thus stumbled upon The Pod F. Tompkast.

The Pod F. Tompkast is one of the stranger things I've heard "on the air," so to speak, with the show being introduced as full of "comedy-type ramblings and bitlets." The podcast features comedian Paul F. Tompkins narrating in a stream-of-consciousness way and composer/musician Eban Schletter providing musical accompaniment to these ramblings. In addition to this odd introduction (which, trust me, could get really odd sometimes as Tompkins would go down the proverbial rabbit hole with his thoughts ending up in unlikely places), the show offers a handful of other segments. These consist of:

• "A Phone Call with Jen Kirkman." During this part of the show, Tompkins literally calls his friend and fellow comedian Jen Kirkman and the two talk about random things, often Kirkman's phobias or other humorous real-life ancedotes she might have to share. Despite the concept sounding rather blasé, Kirkman's funny-because-they're-true/sad-because-they're-true stories make this segment very engaging.
• 'Trapped in the Internet' interviews. [This segment doesn't have an actual name as far as I know of, and this is the best descriptive name I could think up.] Presumably due to scheduling conflicts, the phone calls with Jen Kirkman stopped at some point; the comedic conceit is that Kirkman got "trapped in the Internet" and neither she nor Tompkins know how to get her out. As a result, Kirkman (or sometimes the "sleepy voice of the Internet," one of the side characters on the show) sends another person to help with the situation. Of course, this person also never knows how to get Kirkman out but instead ends up sitting down for another strange conversation with Tompkins. Guests on this segment have included Paget Brewster, Justin Kirk, and Dave (Gruber) Allen, amongst others. This segment seems to be more interesting if you know of the guest/have an interest in said guest; however, most of the guests are pretty funny and/or Tompkins will come up with some silly/strange scenario to make this part as compelling as the rest.
• "The Great Undiscovered Project." This was an ongoing story that Tompkins wrote and for which he did all the impressions. The absurd story involved a plan for a movie written/produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ice-T to be directed by Garry Marshall. The movie would star Ice-T as well as John Lithgow, John C. Reilly, and the artist Mr. Brainwash. Cake Boss also played an essential role in this bit as he brought together several of the creative types and had the gift of seeing the future. Other notable Hollywood types made an occasional appearance over the course of this story. The vast majority of "The Great Undiscovered Project" was revealed through recordings of phone conversations held between various pairings of the main characters. This segment was a tad too ridiculous at times, but I always enjoyed being stunned by how well Tompkins did the many different impersonations as well as the silly factoids he invented for these real-life people (i.e., John C. Reilly's addiction to the cake decorations known as dragees or John Lithgow's favorite actor being the presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth).
• "The Paul F. Tompkins Show." At this point, Tompkins features a clip from his live comedy show. These are often short sketches including a guest star such as Matt Gourley or Jon Hamm; some of these sketches are far more out there than others, but most will have you at least chuckling a little. One of my favorite parts from here is when Tompkins does "Advice to the Probably Dead," a bit in which he goes through letters written in to "Dear Abby" columnists (and the like) from the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Because some of the questions (submitted most often by women in eras different from our own in many respects) are so flat-out ridiculous, Tompkins can reply with helpful advice while still being hysterically funny. Another great bit is Tompkins's "Google Voice Transcripts." Tompkins would send well-known speeches from political history or classic cinema to his Google voicemail and then read aloud what the auto-detect translator would spit out as a transcript. The resulting gibberish is absolutely ridiculous and therefore very amusing.
• "Paul F. Tompkins Comes to Your Town." Basically at this point, there's just a listing given of Tompkins' travel schedule for comedy shows, but this is usually done in some big theatrical way with a different theme for that particular podcast. Any other plugs for Tompkins' and/or Schletter's work appear here.

The podcast wraps up with some final rambling thoughts from Tompkins, sometimes related to the stream-of-consciousness remarks at the beginning of the podcast.

One thing that I very much appreciate about Tompkins's humor is that he shows how it's possible to be incredibly funny without being crass in terms of foul language or wise-cracks that make people - either specific persons (i.e., the ever popular "my wife" jokes) or a whole class of people (i.e., an ethnic group, a misunderstood subculture, etc.) - the butt of the joke. But what do you expect from the man known as "Comedy's One True Gentleman?" Tompkins's brand of comedy can also lend itself toward the "nerd humor" of comedians like Demetri Martin. (Actually, I'm surprised that more people don't make a connection between Martin and Tompkins given that they both show a proclivity toward stream-of-consciousness comedy). This kind of humor might not be for everyone but if you're tired of comedians who get too many of their kicks from potty humor (literally and metaphorically) and want something slightly more highbrow, Paul F. Tompkins in general and this podcast in particular are a good route to go. Tompkins is also obsessed with grammar and will often stop to correct his own speech if he thinks it is not polished enough the first time around. Hearing comedians laugh at themselves is one of the things I often find the funniest in any comedy show, and so Tompkins laughing at his own inability to get a random thought out in the correct grammatical order will make me laugh as well.

The stream-of-consciousness humor with no apparent purpose/endgame in sight takes a little bit of getting used to (if I recall correctly, Tompkins himself refers to the humor on this podcast as an acquired taste); at first, I wasn't sure if I would stick with this podcast past a trial episode or two. By the time I got through all the available episodes, I was absolutely hooked and found myself missing the podcast in the months I've had without any new episodes. Sadly, despite reassurances in the last episode that Tompkins was hard at work preparing future episodes, there hasn't been an update since nearly a year ago. I'm not sure that we'll see more of The Pod F. Tompkast in the future, which is a sad end for a podcast once rated as the top comedy podcast out there by Rolling Stone.

The Podcast's the Thing Wherein I'll Catch a Laugh ... (Part 3)

At the end of my last post, I mentioned that The Thrilling Adventure Hour podcast had a number of cross-overs in its line-up, which I'm going to discuss here in part three of this blog entry.

War of Two Worlds

This was an ongoing collaboration between The Thrilling Adventure Hour and the podcast SuperEgo. Honestly, this was absolutely without exception, the least interesting thing put out by The Thrilling Adventure Hour. The different styles of the two podcasts means that these episodes were both written and improvised, making for a rather interesting show - in theory. In practice, they were sort of weird and incoherent, with thin plot lines and poorly drawn one-dimensional characters. I was glad when this series ended, and a bit disappointed to hear in a recent Q&A episode that members of The Thrilling Adventure Hour ensemble hope to do more collaborations with SuperEgo in the future. I for one am not looking forward to that.

This American Wife

This American Wife is a podcast that spoofs on the public radio show This American Life (although, at least regarding the cross-overs done with The Thrilling Adventure Hour, the NPR show it most seemed to parody was Fresh Air). The cross-overs done here consisted of interviews with various actors - speaking in character - from The Thrilling Adventure Hour segments. These were pretty funny, and I enjoyed hearing some more about the characters' back stories as well as their interactions with each other. If these two podcasts chose to collaborate again, I certainly wouldn't mind that. However, there was nothing so very compelling about the concept of This American Wife that made me want to go check out that series on its own.

The Dead Authors Podcast

This was less of a cross-over than it was a plug for another project from one the show's actors, that project being the ongoing improv comedy podcast known as The Dead Authors Podcast. The episode of The Dead Authors Podcast featured in The Thrilling Adventure Hour line-up was the December 2012 feature with the authors of the Gospels, which happened to be one replete with actors and guest stars from The Thrilling Adventure Hour: Paul F. Topkins, Craig Cackowski, Mark Gagliardi, Matt Gourley, and Hal Lublin. This episode was so hilarious that I ended up going back and listening to all the past issues of The Dead Authors Podcast -- and subscribing to the podcast for all future episodes.

But let me step back a moment here and explain the basic premise of the show. Like The Thrilling Adventure Hour, the podcast is a recording of a live show but unlike The Thrilling Adventure Hour, The Dead Authors Podcast is not a staged reading but a work of improvisational comedy. Paul F. Tompkins is the host of the show, and he plays it in the role of H.G. Wells, the British author known as one of the fathers of science fiction. The show's conceit is that Wells owns and operates a functional time machine, which Wells uses to go back in time and transport now-dead authors into the present where he interviews them regarding their lives and works. The author changes from month to month and is always played by a different comedian who comes up with answers to Tompkins's/Wells's interview questions on the spot. The result is always something hilarious, although there are some episodes that are even better than others. For instance, John Hodgman as Ayn Rand was one of the most hysterically funny things I've ever heard, Kristen Schaal as Tennessee Williams was also laugh-out-loud funny, and Brian Stack as Brendan Behan had me in stitches. James Adomian as Walt Whitman responding to every question in a Leaves of Grass-style rambling poem (remember, these were all invented on the spot) was another recent highlight.

So to recap, The Dead Authors Podcast is an absolutely hilarious romp through literature in a improvisational sketch matter, although of course with some historical background done in advance by the participants and Paul F. Tompkins as the interviewer. Of course, both the "author"/comedian du jour and Tompkins roll with the punches and come up with new answers/questions as that night's show progresses and goes in different directions than one might expect. I definitely recommend this podcast for fans of literary humor as it does not fail. But even if you haven't read all the authors featured on this podcast, it will still be funny and you won't be lost. In fact, with Tompkins providing some details of the author's life via his interview questions, you might even learn something in between your peals of laughter!


Speaking of Paul F. Tompkins, The Dead Authors Podcast was not the only trip down the rabbit hole I took as I delved into the world of comedic podcasts over the past year or so. But that's a story saved for the fourth and final part of this blog post ...

The Podcast's the Thing Wherein I'll Catch a Laugh ... (Part 2)

In my last post, I wrote about a podcast that I have been enjoying over the past year, which is recorded from a live monthly show called The Thrilling Adventure. Short recap: The Thrilling Adventure Hour is a humorous staged reading done in the style of old-time radio programs, complete with music and campy sound effects. The show always begins with the segment "Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars" and ends with the segment "Beyond Belief." The middle show varies from month to month, although it is usually one of the segments listed below.

The Adventures of Captain Laserbeam

After "Beyond Belief," this is my favorite segment from The Thrilling Adventure Hour. "Captain Laserbeam" is a goofy superhero story featuring a campy Superman/Ironman-type protagonist who is helped out by a bunch of teenagers known as the Adventurekateers. As with "Beyond Belief," the stories of "Captain Laserbeam" as not serialized in the way that "Sparks Nevada" is; nonetheless, there is some development over the years in terms of character arcs, and I think it would be wiser to start listening to this segment from the beginning rather than trying to catch on now. Captain Laserbeam gets himself in all kinds of jams involving the various villains that plague his hometown of Apex City. He ranks this villains in order and like any good superhero, his villains are all ridiculously named and themed characters of their own. My particular favorite has been the Die-brarian (along with his henchman, Papercut), as his presence is a golden opportunity for a ton of bookish-based jokes. (I should have mentioned this in my earlier post: The Thrilling Adventure Hour isn't funny just because of situational comedies or witty repartee; it's also rife with tons of intellectual/nerdy jokes.)

Like with most of the other segments on The Thrilling Adventure Hour, part of the comedy comes from establishing regular catchphrases, but then "Captain Laserbeam" takes it a step further by eventually messing with the now-familiar phrases. Unlike most of the other segments, there isn't really a duo central to "Captain Laserbeam." Captain Laserbeam is more or less on his own, with an occasional bit of information supplied by the ever-rotating cast of Adventurekateers. That means there isn't the same tension of two opposites like Sparks and Croach in "Sparks Nevada" or a symbiotic working relationship like that of Frank and Sadie in "Beyond Belief." Still, Captain Laserbeam's short adventures usually do just fine with him more or less on his own.

Over time, however, the writers ingeniously introduced a new character as a great foil to Captain Laserbeam. The ever upbeat and optimistic Captain Laserbeam found an unlikely alliance with the darker, more pessimistic vigilante known as Phillip Fathom, the deep-sea detective. In one of the behind-the-scenes interviews released on the podcast, Hal Lublin (the voice behind Phillip Fathom, as well as a variety of other characters on The Thrilling Adventure Hour) discussed his process in coming up with an appropriate sound for the deep-sea detective: Lublin noted that the writers were clearly riffing on The Batman character with Phillip Fathom, causing Lublin to contemplate which Batman portrayer he should seek to imitate. Would it be Adam West? Michael Keaton? George Clooney? No, Lublin decided Phillip Fathom should be voiced like Christian Bale as Batman. Nothing is more hilarious than hearing Phillip Fathom on stage shouting something like "My parents were murdered at sea!" in that deep, gravelly voice. In fact, one of my absolute favorite episodes of "Captain Laserbeam" is the one in which Fathom is introduced; hearing him shout "I'M NOT A GOSSIP!" cracks me up every time I hear it. I would love to hear more from Phillip Fathom in the further (and I suspect we will), and I think a spin-off of "Captain Laserbeam" with Phillip Fathom's solo adventures would be a great addition to the current rotation of segments.

One of the compelling things about Captain Laserbeam is that his mythology is not completely fixed yet, and the audience is slowly learning things about his alter ego and history, including his relationship with fellow superhero Dream Girl. Between this and the possibly of exploring Phillip Fathom's background further, there is plenty of fodder for new "Captain Laserbeam" episodes in the future.

Tales from the Black Lagoon

"Tales from the Black Lagoon" is the one anomaly in The Thrilling Adventure Hour cannon. Unlike all the other segments, it is not read live in front of an audience and it's got a much darker vibe. It's certainly still funny, but in a far less obvious way than the other segments. "Tales from the Black Lagoon" plays like a 1940s film noir with the characters all pulled from the Golden Age studio lot, although of course all with some new twist for comedic effect. We've got a cannibalistic Cary Grant, a dope-dealing Shirley Temple, an opium-using Jimmy Stewart, and so forth. This segment challenges the vocal actors in a different way than all the others - it's not just a matter of creating a new tone or accent, it's taking on a well-known personality and voice. The smooth jazzy music, the narrative structure, and the storylines all fit the noir mystery tropes; in sum, this is a great comedy version of old detective stories and very fitting with the idea of an old-time radio program. Unfortunately, this segment hasn't been on the podcast in recent years; the muted comedy may have been less popular than some of the other segments, although the likelier explanation is that the technical aspects of this one made it more difficult to execute.

Jefferson Reid, Ace American / Amelia Earhart, Fearless Flyer

These two segments are similar enough for me to feel okay with wrapping them up together. Like "Tales from the Black Lagoon," the "Jefferson Reid" segment hasn't been on in several years. In this case, it's likely because the usual actor behind Jefferson Reid was Nathan Fillion who has since been tapped to play Cactoid Jim when he's available for a show. "Jefferson Reid" and "Amelia Earhart" are both set in an alternate reality World War II, with Jefferson Reid acting as a sort of super solider and Amelia Earhart a time-traveling pilot (who did not actually disappear without trace over the Bermuda Triangle, rather hiding herself so that she could take part in clandestine operations to stop Nazi victories before they happen). These two segments are my least favorite on the show; the stories seem to be the same thing over and over again, and there's only so many times I can hear Jefferson Reid, Amelia Earhart, or one of their compatriots talk about "dirty Krauts" before I get tired of it. Basically, unlike the other segments in The Thrilling Adventure Hour, these two programs seem unoriginal. Also, despite having two female leads, "Amelia Earhart" tends to annoy me by suggesting that the two women are lesbians. Because of course two women trying to be patriotic during a world war have to be homosexual. Otherwise, they'd be home tending to their Victory gardens and adjusting their cake recipes to account for sugar rations.

The Cross-Time Adventures of Colonel Tick-Tock / The Algonquin Four

"Colonel Tick-Tock" is one of the weaker segments on the show, although it's definitely grown on me over numerous episodes. Colonel Tick-Tock is a member of the Queen's Royal Chrono Patrol, meaning that his job is to police the timeline and time travel at a moment's notice if something goes wrong (i.e., a dinosaur shows up in the modern day). "Colonel Tick-Tock" is notable for its clever use of language/wordplay around time and time travel, and sometimes for coming up with some rather ridiculous historical mash-ups. For some reason, Colonel Tick-Tock is rather effeminate and hinted at being gay, even though he is married to a woman. Another odd thing is that the Queen of England is voiced by a male actor, although that ends up being rather funny (think Jon Stewart's impression of Queen Elizabeth II).

"Colonel Tick-Tock" has earned its own spin-off in "The Algonquin Four," although as I far as I can recall, they have had only one or perhaps two solo episodes. The Algonquin Four consists of a quadruple of historical figures who have been given superhero qualities via a cosmic event: Harry Houdini has an elastic body, Woodrow Wilson can make things invisible, Robert Benchley "has dominion over flames," and Dorothy Parker is more or less the female version of The Incredible Hulk (She literally shouts "Dorothy Parker smash!!" at a moment's notice. In the behind-the-scenes interviews, Annie Savage who voices Dorothy Parker notes that the writers' helpful description of how to play this character was simply "dumber.") The four characters find themselves having to battle various enemies at times. "The Algonquin Four" is not one of my favorite segments either, but it's entertaining enough as an occasional episode.

Down in Moonshine Holler

"Moonshine Holler" is the "fairy tale" of The Thrilling Adventure Hour, but also is the most realistic (if you can actually call it that) out of the selection of segments. "Moonshine Holler" is about a rich man who met a woman at a party and found out she was the "Hobo Princess" when she left behind a fingerless glove. He immediately gave us his riches, changed his name to "Banjo Bindlestuff," and began traipsing the Depression Era-landscape in search of the "hobo paradise" named Moonshine Holler, where he hopes to be reunited with the woman he loves. On the road, Banjo finds a mentor in fellow homeless wanderer Gummy, and they navigate the world of hard luck together.

As with "Sparks Nevada" and "Beyond Belief," we have a comedy that works well because of the two leads and how they play off of each other. One of my favorite running jokes is when Gummy tells Banjo to do something like say hello or thank you, noting "It's the hobo way!!" and Banjo sighs, pointing out that it's actually "the regular people way also." Gummy (who is unbelievably voiced by Hal Lublin, the force behind Phillip Fathom) is a fan of shivving people and eating pie, although not necessarily in that order. In fact, Gummy's favorite exclamation is "Apple pie!," which somehow never fails to make me laugh.

"Moonshine Holler" also works by having a number of situational comedies arise. Most episodes follow a standard format in which Banjo and Gummy come across someone(s) who Banjo hopes either is the Hobo Princess or has information about her. Instead, this person(s) has a problem of their own, which Banjo could solve but only if he reveals his true identity as a millionaire. In the nick of time and with Gummy's encouragement, Banjo thinks up a solution that will solve the current crisis without blowing his cover. Despite being rather formulaic like this, I always find the story in "Moonshine Holler" to be hilarious. The combination of the new and interesting characters, the absurdity of yet another situation, and the funny jokes always leave each episode feeling fresh. This segment feels the most like it could have an end date though, as there is clearly a conclusion coming at some point when Banjo at last finds the Hobo Princess. Still, it's been some time since there was a "Moonshine Holler" episode released on the podcast, so I feel like there's potential for plenty more adventures in store for Banjo and Gummy.

I do have to note on "Moonshine Holler" that this is the segment that most walks the dangerous border between comedy and insult. Personally, I find it very funny because it's all meant in good, ridiculous humor and obviously no one out there currently (or during the Depression) is giving up millions to chase after a Cinderella-like character to a place that may or may not exist. Still, homelessness is a real problem and using these old stereotypes of jumping trains, making stone soup, and warming oneself by trashcan fires is not a flattering (or accurate) portrayal. I try to take it in stride and just go with the humorous aspects, but I could definitely see how some might find this offensive. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea.

Jumbo the Elephant Saves ... [insert appropriate holiday here]

"Jumbo" is a rather sporadic segment that only appears around certain holidays. In fact, the writers have noted that it's unlikely we'll hear from Jumbo again, although there are still other holidays that could use a little elephantine cheer. Jumbo is a jazz band-playing elephant of Cuban descent living in Miami. Yes, he's an elephant from Cuba, because that makes geographical sense. However, it does mean that he pronounces his name as "Yumbo," which absolutely kills me for no good reason. It's just hilarious every time I hear it. Jumbo's main function is to tell holiday stories and talk about how he manages, against all odds, to make holidays run smoothly. There isn't too much to say about Jumbo, being as he's only been featured on two episodes, but they were very funny episodes, and I hope that he might appear for another holiday special in the future.

That covers all of the recurring segments featured on The Thrilling Adventure Hour, minus a couple of cross-over podcast episodes, which I will cover in part 3 of this (never-ending?) blog post. Stay tuned, solid citizens*!


* Don't get that reference? I suggest you crack in to those "Captain Laserbeam" episodes right away! :)

The Podcast's the Thing Wherein I'll Catch a Laugh ... (Part 1)

As I've mentioned before, I absolutely love Paget Brewster as an actor. So much so in fact that I follow her account on Twitter because she posts funny and random things and just generally sounds so down to earth. Frequently, she would mention on Twitter a podcast that she participates in, and I wouldn't even bother to click on the link because I had given up on podcasts years earlier. (When I first got an Ipod, I was obsessed with the idea of podcasts and downloaded so many different ones, including a great too many news ones that released an episode every day, that I soon became overwhelmed with the number of unheard episodes I'd have queuing up at any given moment. So then rather than being a reasonable person who weeded out only some of the podcasts I was subscribed to, I simply deleted them all.) Eventually though, repeatedly seeing Brewster make reference to her role in the podcast compelled me to finally check out the premise of this particular podcast. When I found out that the podcast in question was The Thrilling Adventure Hour, a self-declared "new-time podcast in the style of old-time radio," I knew I'd have to check it out. Having spent a great deal of time with my grandparents when I was growing up, I had developed a love for classic movies, old-time crooners, and even Golden Age radio programs. The Thrilling Adventure Hour started as a staged reading out in Los Angeles and was eventually recorded to be shared with a listening audience throughout the country (perhaps even world?).

From that point on, I downloaded all the old episodes of The Thrilling Adventure Hour and would listen to them while doing all kinds of mundane tasks - usually housework like laundry or dishes. It's amazing how much faster and cheerfully these tedious tasks go when you're listening to something that grips your imagination and makes you laugh. The episodes are generally fairly short (about 20-30 minutes on average, with some exceptions) and come out with just the right frequency so that you are neither up to your elbows in backlog nor sitting around waiting impatiently for the next one to arrive. The monthly staged show is roughly one hour (hence the name) with three segments and some interstitial materials including advertisements for made-up products (WorkJuice Brand Coffee and Patriot Cigarettes, with the former eventually becoming an actual product). The podcast breaks each of the three segments down into its own episode, releasing them one at a time. (In the past, it occasionally had separate very brief episodes for the interstitials as well but those have not surfaced in quite some time.) The staged show always opens with the segment "Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars" and ends with the program "Beyond Belief." The middle show changes from month to month, although there is a limited universe of available choices at the moment (of course, the writers could keep on inventing new programs, or spin-offs of the other segments, to fill this time slot). Lately, podcast episodes have also included behind-the-scenes interviews with the show's writers, creative team, and actors as well as an ongoing Q&A session with two of the actors.

The show is written monthly by television writers Ben Acker and Ben Blacker (writers of the show Supernatural, amongst other things) with other members of the creative team including a director, composer, and live orchestra. The staged show is performed by a standard cast known as the WorkJuice Players (who all play a set role in one or two segments as well as guest spots on other segments) in addition to a variety of guest stars (some recurring). The Thrilling Adventure Hour attracts incredible talent, many of whom are well-known television actors. As the show has gotten increasingly popular, the guests have become bigger "names" in the business. The Thrilling Adventure Hour has become so popular that it's branched out to other media, including a graphic novel that tells the further stories of the characters introduced in the staged show/podcast. In this blog entry, I'd like to talk a little bit further about the main two segments of the show, "Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars" and "Beyond Belief." In a follow-up post, I will explore the other programs as well.

Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars

"Sparks Nevada" is a segment that is basically a Western-themed space opera. As the name implies, it takes place on Mars, where for some reason Earthling Sparks Nevada has been put in charge of all law enforcement. His deputy-of-sorts is a Martian named Croach the Tracker who feels he must re-pay his debt of onus to Nevada (with the onus constantly being added to or subtracted from in a balance that only Croach maintains). Each episode sees Sparks and Croach battling some new enemy of sorts, whether a literal attack by robots or something more metaphysical such as Nevada's depression when the woman he loves chooses someone else over him. "Sparks Nevada" is the most serialized of all the segments on The Thrilling Adventure Hour; therefore, this is the one that is best to start with from the beginning rather than trying to jump in now and hope to catch on to all the character arcs and in-jokes.

One of the funniest things about "Sparks Nevada" is the interaction between Sparks and Croach. Sparks is more of a "go with your guts" kind of guy while Croach tries to rationalize and reason through everything. Both have hilarious speech patterns with Sparks spluttering along and Croach coming across rather stilted. As I mentioned, there are numerous in-jokes, including oft-repeated lines and variations of them - for example, Nevada's famous catchphrase "I'm from ... Earth" and Croach constantly explaining Martian things to Sparks with "which you designate [insert English word here]." But as Marc Evan Jackson, the voice talent behind Sparks Nevada, noted in a recent Q&A session about the show, the characters in this show are more than they seem - and they are certainly growing. Jackson pointed this out particularly in the context of Croach, who can seem rather robotic, especially when the show first began, but who has come to developing a wider range of emotions.

However, the "Sparks Nevada" universe is more than just these two characters. There is a host of interesting recurring characters, including the Barkeep (who doesn't want trouble in his place), the artificial intelligence that operates Barkeep's space saloon (and does a lot of thinking on her own), Felton (an everyday citizen who is like the hypochondriac of trouble: he thinks it's there no matter what), the Red Plains Rider (potential love interest of both Sparks and Croach as well as a gunslinger in her own right), Cactoid Jim (a helpful and handsome vigilante; Sparks is often as jealous of Jim as he is grateful to him), Pemilly Stalwark (winner of the Earth's Moon's punishment soccer tournament, a riff on the very popular series The Hunger Games), Rebecca Rose Rushmore (an author of universal acclaim), not to mention all the outlaws that Nevada comes across as a matter of routine in his professional life. These outlaws and the hijinks that they cause add to the hilarity of the show; for instance, the mere entrance of Los Banditos Mutantes causes a ripple of laughter to ensue. The show is a good mix of hilarious situations caused via Nevada's work and those created by the issues in his social life. One of the funniest - and most touching - episodes of all combines both perfectly, in a musical format to boot.

Another thing that I appreciate about this program is that while Westerns as a genre (and to a lesser extent, science fiction as well) tend to be light on female characters, let alone ones that are more than just "damsels in distress" stereotypes, that is not the case here. "Sparks Nevada" may have more men than women on the show, but the female characters that are present are strong and independent. Red is a feisty character with her wits about her who seems to be faster at taking out the bad guys than Nevada is. Of course, the downside is every once in a while due to the fast pace of the show and the need to always create new tensions, Red can sometimes seem a little wishy-washy with her affections - she loves Nevada, she loves Croach, she loves Nevada, she loves Jim, she loves Nevada, she loves Jim. Sometimes it gets hard to remember from episode to episode where her affections lie. Pemilly Stalwak, as the character inspired by The Hunger Games's tough-as-nails protagonist Katniss Everdeen, is a complicated character who is physically tough and learning to become emotionally strong. Rebecca Rose Rushmore is the most stereotypical relationship-hungry woman, but she also has a steady backbone as well as a successful career of her own.

"Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars" is the story that started the whole production and is one of the most popular segments on the show. For that reason, the segment has spawned various spin-offs, including "Cactoid Jim, King of the Martian Frontier" about the further adventures of Cactoid Jim sans Nevada and crew, "Tales of the United Solar System Alliance" about a spaceship crew navigating the same universe and occasionally crossing into a "Sparks Nevada" episode, and most recently a segment featuring the Red Plains Rider in a solo adventure. As the show and the podcast both continue, no doubt we will see (read: hear) more growth in the characters populating the "Sparks Nevada" universe, other ridiculous antics, and perhaps additional spin-offs from the first thrilling adventure of the hour.

Beyond Belief

The Thrilling Adventure Hour always concludes with an episode of "Beyond Belief," which the creators refer to as a supernatural Nick and Nora. This segment's protagonists are the married couple Frank and Sadie Doyle, who'd gladly do nothing more than spend all their time locked up together in their Fifth Avenue penthouse apartment tossing back drink after drink. Sadly for the Doyles (but luckily for us), all manner of supernatural creatures have a knack for finding their way into Frank and Sadie's life. It probably doesn't help that Sadie's best friend is a vampire married to a werewolf and than Frank spent at least some of his orphaned childhood growing up in a church full of exorcists. Still, the Doyles have managed to encountered all types of unpleasant monsters and weird situations even when they don't bother to leave their apartment at all. Evil seeks them out. As the show continues, the "Beyond Belief" monsters have segued from ones we've all heard of such as vampires, genies, and so on to more obscure ones like a possessed gingerbread man, a Pinocchio-inspired boy trying to convince Frank and Sadie that they are his parents, etc. The show is never frightening though (nor is it meant to be) and despite usually being drunk at the time, the Doyles always manage to know exactly what to do in any given situation to eliminate the threat. They do this all while swigging back yet another drink ("clink!" being their catchphrase) and swapping turns on supplying the snappy sarcastic one-liners. The Doyles, especially Frank, also have a habit of lamenting about their desire to be alone with one another rather than actually being worried about the impending threat of whatever latest monster(s) they are facing.

Like with "Sparks Nevada," one of the most compelling things about "Beyond Belief" is the relationship between the two leads. The Doyles' love for each other and complete antipathy for just about everyone else they encounter would be horrible if you met them in real life, but here it's comedy gold. Paul F. Tompkins and Paget Brewster shine in the roles of Frank and Sadie Doyle, and their accents for these two characters are some of the most fun ones on The Thrilling Adventure. Unlike in "Sparks Nevada," these two characters are basically static and you could jump in on any random episode and probably not be missing much. (There are, however, a few episodes that make reference to an earlier one in an important way, such as the recent "Basil's Day" one.) Nevertheless, the characters and their witty repartee (not to mention whatever antics will occur with their latest nemesis) make the show interesting and compelling enough that I actually prefer this one to "Sparks Nevada" (indeed, it's my favorite segment of The Thrilling Adventure Hour, hands down). And while Frank and Sadie don't really change over the life of the show/podcast, that doesn't mean they are always the same from episode to episode. Over time, we learn more about their past lives, their friends, and their few hobbies outside of imbibing alcohol nonstop. Each episode brings a fresh new adventure full of laughs so even without a serialized nature for this segment, I still can't wait for the next one to show up in my queue. "Beyond Belief" is certainly the perfect nightcap to conclude The Thrilling Adventure Hour.

That's all for this post, readers. Stay tuned for part 2, in which I'll discuss the other segments found in The Thrilling Adventure Hour.

Don't Trust a, Never Trust a

This may not be something I've addressed before on this blog, but this post needs this preface: I am not a fan of sitcoms. Sure, I've turned to the random episode of Will & Grace for background noise when nothing else half-way decent is on, I watched re-runs of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in college because it was always on in the cafeteria during lunch time, I've seen a ton of Friends episodes simply because the show was unavoidable in the late 90s/early 2000s no matter how clichéd it became, I even tried to like How I Met Your Mother because so many people I know absolutely love it, but I never really enjoy sitcoms as a whole. In general, they rely too much on the slapstick, characters that are more caricature than anything else, and running gags that become so predictable that gag really is the word to describe them. ("We were on a break!" isn't that funny to begin with; as a recurring refrain it's irritating more than anything else.) When I see a joke coming a mile off, I'm no longer interested. And if you need a laugh track to tell your audience that something's funny, I'm out of there. The one notable exception over the years was Scrubs (side note: I have a long blog post in the wings on that show) because it always took things to weird and unexpected places and could make me laugh like no other sitcom.

So without sitcoms as a comedic fall-back, I try to lighten my load of largely dramatic entertainment (whether it be TV, movies, or books) with dramedies like my beloved Gilmore Girls or the weird hybrid cop procedural-comedy that USA offered/offers with Monk and Psych. But with two of those shows off the air and one winding down, it's getting harder to find something to watch that I haven't seen a hundred times before. My other laughs come from Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report and while the writers for those shows can certainly make comedic gold out of straw, when the straw is the real-life news of broken and corrupt government systems and officials, gross income inequality, corporate greed, and racial injustice, sometimes the end result is that I feel more depressed about the world we live in.

Cue me needing a break from all the bleakness and scrolling through what Netflix is offering up as popular these days. Lo and behold, I come across Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23. I shrug my shoulders and say, 'what the hey, why don't I give an episode or two a try? It'll probably be stupid but might as well find out for myself.' Then find me finding the show surprisingly interesting and watching all the episodes in a handful of days. (Yes, I am a binge TV watcher. But the show also had only two seasons with a total of 26 episodes before being canceled. Because if a show is a little bit different than the standard fare and a tad quirky and enjoyed by me, then of course it's not going to make it for long when competing with inane comedies, increasingly absurd "reality" TV shows, and whatever other formulaic shows are being offered up by mainstream networks.)

So what's this show about, you ask? Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 opens with perky blonde Midwesterner June landing a dream job on Wall Street complete with relocation costs covered and a gorgeous company-owned apartment for living quarters. It seems too good to be true - and it is, for the company is immediately in shambles when accusations of corporate malfeasance arise. June is out of the street with no place to live or work in a hostile city where she knows no one except Mark, her would-be mentor on Wall Street whom she's met only briefly. But Mark pulls through, landing them both jobs at a local coffee shop (it's not glamorous, but it's a paycheck). Meanwhile, June looks for a roommate and thinks she finds the perfect one in Chloe, despite the cryptic warning from a neighbor: "Don't trust the bitch in apartment 23!" It turns out Chloe is running a scam in which she overcharges the renter, demands three months' worth of rent, and then drives her roommate so crazy that they leave almost instantly. But June finds out about the scam, hangs on through the craziness, and thus begins a beautiful - albeit sometimes dysfunctional - friendship between two very opposite women. Naïve and friendly June is always trying to do the right thing while morally ambiguous Chloe is constantly engaging in some new deception, although sometimes with motives that seem at least partially honorable.

In addition to the Odd Couple pairing of the two roommates, the show rounds out the cast with a number of regulars. There's Mark who becomes June's close friend as well as manager; Robin the neighbor who's obsessed with Chloe and a former victim of her roommate scam (don't think about the second part too much because yeah, the writers weren't thinking that factoid through when they threw it into the show); Eli the creepy pervert neighbor who surprisingly has good advice at times; Chloe's BFF, the sensitive actor James Van Der Beek; and James's flamboyant personal assistant Luther. Other semi-regulars on the show including the parents of both Chloe and June as well as co-workers, various love interests, and June's spiritual adviser Pastor Jin.

Some of the pros of the show (in no particular order) include:
- Non-chronological storytelling done well. The episodes frequently begin with the ending - some weird situation that seems completely random and often out of sync with the narration from June, but we eventually see how events lead up to this situation and why June might be saying something to the likes of "I have the best roommate ever" while Chloe is swinging at her. This kind of out of sorts storytelling isn't uncommon for dramas but it's rarer to see it in a sitcom - and even less likely to be done effectively. There are also fun quick flash backs/flash forwards/brief imagined scenarios scattered throughout, which keep the pace lively and remind me of some of the best parts of Scrubs as well.
- Unpredictable plot lines and twists. Unlike the standard fare for a sitcom, I don't see the jokes coming and I can't tell where the storyline is going. I am 100% sucked in to each episode because I really have no idea what to expect next. The writers are not afraid to go down the rabbit hole or introduce situations that are stranger than the average viewer would imagine.
- The absurdity of the situations presented. Some sitcoms choose to find comedy in the everyday routines of life - workplace woes, dating disasters, children's mishaps, etc. - but others choose to go to the other extreme and show us lives vastly different than our own. I like both kinds of comedies, but only provided that they are well done (which, as I believe I've made clear, most sitcoms do not do). Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 goes for the latter option, with characters who party all the time, hang with celebrities, and get mixed up in scams for either money or pranks. This is certainly entertainment that provides relief from the everyday problems we all face from time to time. When watching Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23, it's unlikely that a situation will occur that makes you start thinking about office politics, sitting in traffic, housework piling up, etc. For those 20-odd minutes while you're watching an episode, you are completely sucked into this world and not worrying about yours.
- Lots of random references to all kinds of things, with a huge helping of pop culture ones (some I had to look up) in the mix. I love when shows do this.
- Diversity in the cast. The show is set in New York City, one of the epicenters of the racial and ethnic melting pot that is this country, so it's only fitting that the characters be of various backgrounds and not just a bunch of middle-class Caucasians like in some shows (::cough:: Friends ::cough::).
- Quirky and interesting characters that are both unusual for TV and slightly more developed than the typical comedy caricature. Again, the writers were fearless - in this case, having no compunction with creating characters that wouldn't be likeable.

• Chloe borders on sociopathic with her party life of instant gratification and various cons to get what she wants, regardless of whether it's lying to strangers at bars to get free drinks or tricking June into causing a scene at a family Thanksgiving dinner so it's not Chloe ruining the holiday for a change. Yet at the end of each episode, you feel compelled to view on and see what antics Chloe will come up with next. On a couple of occasions, I even found myself rooting for Chloe to get what she wanted in that episode. And her character is so unpredictable that she really makes the show interesting and varied. I found myself sitting and thinking, 'oh, Chloe is becoming a deeper person and she's revealing something personal about herself,' only to be fooled by another of her games. Yet there are certainly times when Chloe does grow as a person so her character is never by any means static. But even when her intentions are good, Chloe goes about things in her own twisted way ...
• June may the moral center of the show (as well as its narrator) but that doesn't mean she's always the most likeable one. Sometimes her naivety and worldview can be as annoying as they are endearing. In the early episodes, her obsession with following her life plan to be settled down rankled me. (You think you eventually want to get married and have children? Fine. You set a time table for when each of these important life events must occur? Don't even get me started. I've met people like this in real life. They're not fun to be around.) But June also grows and changes as a character, working to shed parts of herself that are too rigid and learning to allow some spontaneity to spice up her life while still following her dreams.
• Eli is the perfect example of not being afraid to go there. His character is introduced as the crudest of perverts, always looking out his window and into the girls' apartment (and I won't go further into describing his behavior). But despite it all, his character morphs from one I absolutely detested to someone who becomes a half-way decent person. Sure, he's still constantly at his window by season two but now he's giving helpful advice rather than leering.
• Having James Van Der Beek play James Van Der Beek = brilliant. I was never a Dawson's Creek fan and I can't recall seeing Van Der Beek in anything other than his special guest appearance as a killer with dissociative identity disorder on a two-part episode of Criminal Minds, so I had no idea if he would do well in a comedy. Well, I absolutely love him here. The fictionalized version of himself is full of comic gold as he obsesses over being a celebrity dancer on Dancing with the Stars, wonders why he's never been nominated for People's Sexiest Man Alive, or even just holds an anti-scary Halloween party. Having Chloe hobnob with a celebrity BFF also allows for a variety of guest stars to pop up without it feeling forced. Of course, Busy Philipps might just show up in an episode because she is a former co-star after all. (Incidentally, the diner where James and Busy meet looks oddly similar to the Royal Diner in Bones, a completely different kind of show on another network all together. Did anyone else notice a similarity?) These kinds of random appearances work much better in this fictionalized world than in other TV shows where a guest star has to be crammed into a script in some weird way requiring contortionist feats in order to make any kind of sense.
• Mark is the character that is the most difficult for me to wrap my head around. He certainly serves many functions - June's boss as well as her confidante, potential suitor for both girls, and occasional adversarial friend to James as well - but his role seems the least well defined. Mark is the closest to the "nice guy"/normal character you'll see in this show, although he is certainly not the straight man of the typical comedy routine. He has his own quirks and quips throughout the show; however, sometimes his lines/jokes are the most out of the blue and therefore occasionally less funny. At times his character can be very serious, pushing the other characters to a realization about themselves or their current situation, while other times he just comes across as incredibly goofy. Mark is definitely the most difficult character to peg. Of course, this also means that he can come across as the most "real" character, for people in real life tend to be a mixed bag of all sorts of different things.
• Robin is introduced as "in love with" Chloe, but it's never really clear what exactly that entails. She is not necessarily a lesbian (or not exclusively one at least, for she is depicted on one occasion as enthralled in a non-platonic way by James as Dawson). Despite the claim of love for Chloe, at times Robin actually seems irritated by or angry with Chloe. Mostly it seems like she's enamored of Chloe's lifestyle and just wants to be let into that inner circle, thinking that being Chloe's friend will make her instantaneously cool. To that end, she is more than willing to do things like pick up Chloe's mail, stock her fridge with food, or borrow a limo from a cousin in order to haul Chloe and her friends up to the Hamptons for a weekend. Therefore, Robin pops up at random times under unusual circumstances. Again, though, she is like a real person in that her motivations are murky (perhaps even to herself) and hard to pin down. Liza Lapira really rocks this role, as she does in any other bit part I've seen her in before whether it's the fledging agent Michelle on NCIS or the eye-rolling, thinks-she's-better-than-anyone-else-present swim class student in The Big Bad Swim. The only real downside with Robin was that by the second season, we were seeing her show up in apartment 23 less often.
• Luther is the most unfortunately caricatured character on the show. He is the quintessential effeminate fashionista homosexual sidekick who looks at Chloe as though she is the enemy he'd most like to "bitch slap" rather than allow her to have more influence over James than he has. (Sadly for him, he usually loses when it comes to gaining James's affinity.) Luther is certainly a funny addition to the cast and has some real zingers, but he is the character that seems most like, well, a character.
• The parents are always fun when they pop up. June skypes with her parents regularly with mom usually taking the forefront; she ends up becoming an adviser to James on his career in general but in particular with regard to Dancing with the Stars. Chloe's parents have a strained relationship that helps to explain her own dysfunction; as characters, they add hilarity and absurdity to any situation. Whenever Chloe's parents are going to be on an episode, you know you're going to end up with some sort of ridiculousness going down.
• Pastor Jin is the leader of the Korean church that June feels is a fitting community for her Midwestern values. Pastor Jin, however, is far more liberal than the stereotypical reverend, which ends up feeling fitting with the June that evolves on the show.

Of course, no show is perfect and there are some cons to Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23:
- Chloe's questionable morals and scams can sometimes cross a line. Yes, I understand that part of her character is that she pushes the limits, but there are some things that seem over the top. Chloe sleeping around with married men is something many of us would not condone, but it's not an unheard of thing by any stretch of the imagination. But it's completely unnecessary for Chloe to offhandedly remark that "Tranq sex is consensual." in an episode uses a tranquilizer gun as part of the plot. Joking about the heinous crime of rape just isn't funny. (Ask Daniel Tosh about the blowback on that mistake.)
- Likewise, there are other lines/situations that perhaps stretch/blur common taste. In one episode, James comes to the realization that an old acting coach behaved inappropriately with him. Later in the episode, Mark and June dish the gossip together with Mark starting the conversation with a comment to the effect of "I think James was molested by a former acting coach." Cut to a scene of Van Der Beek sitting alone on a stoop in his underwear looking deep in thought and upset. After a few moments, he get up, states that he is okay, and walks away. Again, making jokes about something like the sexual molestation of a teenaged boy = not funny. It's a real crime and its victims don't just shake it off after a few minutes sitting thoughtfully. Comedy walks a fine line between being funny and just being insulting/offensive. It's not just the writers of Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 who seem to have a bit of difficulty navigating that line; all comics seem to falter from time to time. Luckily these kinds of moments are rare in this show and most of the funny bits are actually funny.
- There were two episodes in season 1 ("The Leak" and "Parent Trap") that fell a little flat. They were not bad episodes but they were a little disappointing compared to the high caliber of the rest of the show. It's unfortunate to have two relative duds early on in a show, especially given how easily the networks seem to be giving up on shows lately.
- The title of the show is off-putting. There are some people who were probably turned off by the use of profanity in the title; however, if they are that squeamish, this show isn't for them anyway. The reason I found the title inappropriate was that it told me little to nothing about the content of the show. It also puts the emphasis on Chloe when the show is really about the two women and their relationship with/influence over each other as well as relying heavily on the supporting cast for situations, comedic effect, and character development. And, the title gave the impression that it wouldn't be a show with (arguably) positive portrayals of women as multi-layered people with many different motivations but rather one that resorted to name-calling in the worse way. Sandy Cohen of The Associated Press delves more deeply into the implications of putting the word "bitch" in the title of a TV show with this article.
- And, of course, the biggest con of all is that the show ended far too soon. With only two seasons under its belt, Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 definitely still had a lot of territory to explore. Chloe's crazy antics could only be hampered by the writers' imagination; June and Mark might continue to work through their feelings for each other; Luther's novel could have been picked up by a publisher; and James might continue his quest to find his real father. The final episode of season two (which ended up being the series finale) also introduced the possibility of Chloe and June taking their friendship to a new level beyond the shallow end of the pool as Chloe finally began to open up about her real feelings and thoughts. And since I could so rarely predict where the show was going to go at any given moment, there's no way I could predict where it would have gone if the writers were given more seasons to develop these characters and find new situations for them.

While I don't think I'll ever find another comedy I'll like as much Scrubs, which I still find incredibly and ridiculously funny even after having seen almost every episode multiple times now, I was pleasantly surprised with Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23. If you don't mind watching something with unlikeable - albeit quirky and fun in their own way - characters, you might just find yourself laughing along if you give the show a try also.

Exploring Mental Illness and the Dark Side of Humor with United States of Tara

Recently the show United States of Tara came up in conversation. I had heard the name before but knew literally nothing about it. When the conversation revealed both that it was a show about a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and it starred Toni Collette, I thought it could be interesting. However, the conversation trailed off to other topics and I promptly forgot about it. But then when I was looking for something to watch on Netflix and United States of Tara popped up as recommended, I decided to give it a try. Despite being a little iffy after watching the first two episodes, I was soon hooked. So hooked that I got through the entire series in just about a week. Yeah, I know. To my credit, I watched a lot of those episodes late at night when I couldn't sleep so it wasn't like I was neglecting my work just to watch TV. (Note: There are spoiler alerts scattered throughout this post so reader beware.)

As the series opens up, we are presented with the titular character, Tara Gregson, a Kansan artist who is a wife and mother of two. On the outside, it might seem like she has the stereotypically perfect life. But Tara has DID and shares her body with three alters - Buck, a Vietnam vet who likes to drink beer, ride his motorcycle, shoot guns, and pick up women; T, a teenager who likes to party, drink and do drugs, and have sex with just about any male; and Alice, a prim and proper 1950s housewife who likes to bake, wants to have a baby, and can think of nothing better to do with her life than please her husband and children. Purportedly these alters have been under control for years but they have resurfaced after Tara has recently decided to go off her medication because it made her feel like a zombie. Besides dealing with the reappearance of all these personalities and the havoc they wreak, Tara and her husband Max are trying to track down the traumatic source behind Tara's psychological problems, which they think originate in a sexual assault that occurred when Tara was a teenager in boarding school. Meanwhile, their two teenaged children have problems of their own. Fed up with the literal insanity in her house, Kate applies for a mind-numbing, minimum wage job only to find out that her boss is a real creeper who becomes obsessed with her. Her brother Marshall has a crush on a boy who may or may not also be gay. Tara's sister Charmaine, who is frequently stopping in on the family, is trying to make good for herself but can't seem to hold a job and is having an on-again-off-again fling with Max's friend Neil.

By season two, Tara and Max have unearthed that her trauma dates back further in her childhood and so they dig deeper to find out what happened to her. In addition to the appearance of a fourth alter in season one (Gimme, an id-like personality), Tara now displays two more alters - Chicken, a 5-year-old version of herself, and Shoshanna Schoenbaum, a New York City therapist that her neighbor once frequented. Kate has moved on to a job as a debt collector, which throws her into the path Lynda P. Frazier, an artist and free thinker who inspires Kate and takes her down unexpected paths. After having his first relationship fail miserably, Marshall tries out the idea of dating a girl, only to discover that he is indeed gay. And Charmaine's plan to marry the dashing Nick are complicated when she finds out she is pregnant with Neil's baby.

In season three, Tara seems to have recovered a great deal since learning about her childhood trauma. She's now ready to finish up the college degree she didn't quite obtain, although Max worries that the stress will cause a breakdown. On campus she meets and begins working with Dr. Hatteras, her abnormal psychology professor, and thinks she is getting better. But yet another alter appears; this time it is Bryce, an alter who takes on the personality of her original abuser. Meanwhile, Kate has a brilliant plan to teach English in Japan but chickens out at the last moment, deciding to become a flight attendant instead. While on the job, she meets Evan, a divorcee with a young son, whom she starts to like a great deal. Marshall is becoming more focused on film-making and finds himself in the middle of a love triangle. Charmaine and Neil move in together and prepare for their baby's arrival. And Max is forced to sell his business to a competitor and begin working for the man.

A lot happens in these 36 episodes, but for the most part, the pacing always feels right. Nothing feels rushed or skipped around, with the exception of the Kate character. Her story lines frequently felt jumpy, although overall it was interesting to watch her grow as a character. For instance, in the pilot episode the Gregson family goes to see Kate's ballet recital but after this episode, we never see or hear of this hobby again. Later, her obsessive former boss magically disappears never to be seen again after season one despite her repeated earlier attempts to rid herself of him. (This includes a sexual harassment suit in which the corporation in question refused to side with her, saying she was a willing partner. This frustrated me to no end because she was underage at the time, which by law means she could not be a willing partner regardless of the circumstances.) In the beginning of season two, Kate is seen receiving her general equivalency diploma (GED) in the mail, even though there was never any mention in season one that she didn't intend to finish high school traditionally. Later in that season as she becomes closer to Lynda P. Frazier and starts to embody Princess Valhalla Hawkwind, her job at the debt management company just disappears, even though she never mentions quitting work there. She also takes up with Zach towards the end of season two and is seen making all sorts of long-term plans with him, such as buying a condo. But then they get into a fight before Charmaine's wedding and she asks him to leave -- after which we never see him or hear of him ever again. At the beginning of season three, she suddenly lives with Charmaine instead of her parents, again with no indication beforehand this was a plan or even an inkling in her mind. Putting these small(?) details aside, her character arc showed her progressing from a self-absorbed teenager who takes advantage of her mother's illness for her own gain at times, makes bad and unsafe choices, is materialistic, and wants nothing more than to get away from her family to a young woman with a steady job, a seemingly stable and healthy relationship that is growing deeper, and a desire to be near her family and provide them with the support they need.

Kate is not alone in being a character who deepens emotionally; Charmaine starts off the series somewhat self-absorbed herself and not in the least bit supportive of her sister. Indeed, she keeps insisting that Tara is just "acting" like these other personalities for attention and refers to her sister's sexual assault in boarding school as "she had sex with some guy she didn't want to have sex with." One of the most poignant scenes in the first season is when Buck takes care of Charmaine after her surgery and you see that Charmaine "gets it" for the first time. Despite a sometimes bumpy road between the sisters in future episodes, Charmaine becomes increasingly closer to Tara, moving in with the Gregsons for a while and then moving next door. It's heartbreaking when at the end of the final season, she is planning to move away because of Neil's work and other circumstances, and she is torn between protecting her newborn daughter from Tara's evil Bryce alter and being there to support her sister.

In an interview with TV Guide, the show's creator said she originally wanted Charmaine's character to be there as "an antagonist. Actually, I wanted someone to be a voice for the skeptics. There are a lot of people who believe that DID isn't real. And, there are a lot of people who would look at Tara's behavior and say, 'Oh, that's just silly; that's just selfish.' I wanted Charmaine to be representative of that opinion. I also liked the idea of Charmaine being kinda insecure and attention-starved — like Tara's issues were kind of stealing the spotlight from her, which is a pretty twisted way of thinking. I have to admit I did originally envision them as being enemies and then as I continued to write episodes I found myself having a lot of affection for Charmaine. I think there's a lot more to her." As Charmaine became more supportive of Tara as the show progressed, it seems that another voice for the skeptics was needed. Enter Dr. Hatteras in season three. Despite being a psychologist, he does not believe in the existence of DID and poo-poos Tara's problems with her alters away as her simply being unable to deal with the consequences of her own actions. But again, no character is static and eventually we watched Dr. Hatteras become more convinced of the actuality of Tara's disorder, first in a stunning scene where he watches Tara's alters scribble all over her exam paper and her body and later with deadly realization when Bryce tries to kill him by adding an allergen to his food.

The other male characters grow also, though perhaps less markedly than Kate, Charmaine, and Dr. Hatteras. Marshall's story is largely that of a typical teenager, exploring his sexuality, trying to find and fit in with a group that accepts him, and discovering and refining his talents. Still, he has some very heavy issues to deal with, including obviously his mother's mental health and how it affects his own social and academic life. He has some deep moments where he momentarily breaks down, like when he gets almost insanely enraged after he finds T seducing the boy he has a crush on or when Lionel dies and he refuses to accept emotional support at first. He also flirts with risky behavior (drugs, cruising with older gay man, threesomes) at times, usually as a result of peer pressure from Lionel. Max in the first season seems to be there almost as the straight man to everything going on around him. He's often described as a saint by the others around him who don't understand how he puts up with everything. But even he has his own moments of betrayal, including a one-night stand with a bartender and shouting matches with Tara. By the second season, we learn more about his past, including how his own mother isn't in the best mental health either (she's a hoarder who is largely afraid to leave her home) and that his father skipped out on him as a child. We also learn more about his past hobbies (a garage band) and a little bit about when he and Tara first got together. I was glad to see his character becoming more fleshed out and well rounded like this, for I'd hate for such a good series to be hampered by having a one-dimensional character who just sighed and picked up the pieces after Tara's alters rampaged through town.

And, of course, there's Tara herself, but I think the brief summations I gave above of the plot lines of each season provide enough insight into her transformations. We see these transformations a lot through the use of a framing device; Tara (and some of her alters) keeps a video journal, which serves to let her unpack without judgment but also for others to go back and watch her progress over time. She notes somewhat early on in the series about her DID that "it's going to get worse before it gets better" and that seems to be reflected throughout the show. Unfortunately, I feel like the show in some way gave itself a Catch-22 by making her alters so ridiculous and at times, quite funny. One part of you is very vested in Tara, feeling sympathy for her and wanting her to get better. At the same time though, you've been introduced to these wild characters who are so interesting to watch. So while you want Tara to heal and get better, you start to miss some of the alters when you see them less often. It's a very complicated line to walk, but for the most part I think the show does a decent job with it.

The show also does a pretty decent job with portraying DID, at least in the beginning. The first season does great work introducing the disorder to those who might not know about it without being overly didactic. In later seasons, things get a bit dicier. I'm not an expert on DID by any means; indeed, I only know a little bit about it. But even so, some of the things that happen in the third season seemed a bit off. By this season, Tara is seen outside of her body as her alters take over it, aware of what is going on and in some cases, even speaking to her alters. She makes a contract with her alters and arrangements for who can use her body when. Later, Bryce appears and begins "killing" off the other alters, with Tara stating that she can no longer feel them inside her. Ultimately, Tara kills the Bryce alter, which seems like a major breakthrough but when she packs up and heads for professional help in Boston, the original three alters are seen on the truck's bed. (It's really a rather odd bit at the ending and unfortunately makes the conclusion slightly less optimistic than I would have liked.) Also, earlier in season two when Shoshanna was first introduced as an alter, Tara doesn't seem to realize she has a new personality yet but thinks she has actually spoken to the real Dr. Schoenbaum in New York City. This kind of delusion seems more in line with a mental illness like schizophrenia than DID.

Throughout the show, it also does a great job of bridging the gap between drama and comedy. Too much comedy and the show could come across as flippant about a serious mental illness. But the show might be less palatable if it were all drama all the time with no levity thrown in to lighten the mood occasionally. While some of it is physical comedy, most of the humor comes from sarcastic remarks made by the characters; this very much reminds me of real life where we realize we have to make jokes in order to make terrible situations manageable. (Speaking of realism, it might be worth pointing out that the show can be rather crass at times, particularly in its language. I've complained in the past that if Showtime's idea of pushing boundaries is by dropping curses into every line, that's rather puerile. But in this series I found it didn't bother me as much. There were times all the foul language was a bit much, but given the difficult situations these characters find themselves in frequently, it's not at all unreasonable to think they'd be letting a lot of f-bombs and other choice words fly.) To use a rather silly saying, the Gregson family puts the "fun" in "dysfunctional." The timing of the comic lines are just right to break up the dramatic moments, and the actors are fabulous at delivery. One of my favorite moments of dark humor comes at the conclusion of the pilot episode when the Gregson family goes out bowling but it is Buck there instead of Tara. Kate notes to her father, "It's weird that Buck is the only one that's left-handed." Max dryly replies, "Yeah, that's the weird part." End scene. Cue the credits.

Speaking of acting, everyone does a fantastic job in this show, fully fleshing out their characters and progressing them forward as I described earlier. Specifically, Toni Collette deserves all the praise in the world for successfully embodying not only Tara but every single one of her alters. (Kudos also to the hair, makeup, and wardrobe departments who helped to physically transform her for each personality.) John Corbett, who I confess I didn't care two straws for either way in the past, is terrific as Max and I'll think you'll find it difficult not to love him. Brie Larson as Kate, Keir Gilchrist as Marshall, and Rosemary DeWitt as Charmaine round out the main cast. And I enjoyed having the special guest star of Eddie Izzard, whose comedy I adore, in the role of Dr. Hatteras. Other notable recurring actors include Viola Davis as Lynda B. Frazier, Fred Ward and Pamela Reed as Tara's parents, Joey Lauren Adams as the bartender Pammy, Michael Hitchcock as the Gregson's neighbor Ted, Keir O'Donnell as Evan, and Frances Conroy as Max's mother.

Besides the characters, another thing I enjoyed about the show was the air of mystery in the first two seasons regarding the trauma Tara is trying to protect herself from by use of the alters. In season two, there's occasionally flashbacks as Tara's memories of times she's blacked out are starting to coming back to her. In particular, spending time in the Hubbard house, her former neighbor's home now owned by the Gregsons, seems to be pushing some of these memories to the forefront. There's a scene when they first acquire the Hubbard house and she walks about the house, finally ending up in a room set up as an office (later used by Shoshanna to "see" clients). In it, she opens a closet door and seems to have some sort of revelation. One of the few things I didn't like about the show is that we never saw what was in that closet. I thought perhaps the writers were waiting for some sort of big reveal eventually but it remains a mystery. In fact, we never really learn why the Hubbard house brought back so many memories for Tara.

Back to things the show did well; it may be a small thing, but the Gregson family's refrigerator had large magnets with words on them (prominently including the word "mother" among others) and how these magnets were arranged often spoke to the atmosphere of the household at the time. It was such a tiny thing in the background that it may go unnoticed by many, but I think it really helped to add yet another layer to this already complex story. Another small but really stellar part of the show in the first two seasons was the opening credits. I absolutely loved the pop-up illustrations of Tara's alters and the theme song was quite appropriate. (Honestly, the music throughout the show was always done well, with the most perfectly fitting song attached to the end of each episode.) In the third season, there was no longer an introduction at all, which was disappointing although I suppose understandable given that more alters had made their presence known than the original three highlighted in the opening. Still, I found that I missed it. In fact, now that I've blown through the whole series so quickly, I find that I miss these characters. The final few episodes did feel a bit rushed as I think the writers no doubt originally meant to unveil and explore the Bryce character at a slower pace before they found out the show was canceled. Nonetheless, the series ended in a way in which certain things felt wrapped up enough - or at least like you could envision how they could turn out eventually. After investing so much in these characters, that's a good thing.