(I know that people complain about the band being artificially happy and potentially a cult but I just have to say that listening to The Polyphonic Spree while driving to work on a Monday morning is like drinking coffee for your soul. On a day when no right thinking person would be looking forward to spending eight hours in a windowless box those songs made me think that today was going to be a good day. Not bad for a guy who is best known for leading Tripping Daisy, the band that wasn’t the Flaming Lips or Ween.)
(Oh, and first day experiment results: no tv does make me get up. Because now I have to walk to turn on a tv set. Hopefully this just doesn’t result in my just sleeping on the couch from here on out.)
Ok, I should have known on Thursday night that when I mentioned my top ten 80’s sitcoms featuring aliens that I would have to list them out. Do people want to talk about my idols? Of course not. Let’s focus on the fun topics. Here they are, in order of course.
#10: Out of this World: You just cannot discount the directorial vision of Scott Baio. In the pantheon of directors the list is basically Wells, Kubrick and Chachi. I am so looking forward to the VH-1 show starting this week in which Scott Baio asks the question why is he 45 and single. Sadly, it’s because I’m asking myself the same damn question.
#9: The Muppet Show: As was revealed in Muppets from Space, Gonzo is technically an alien. Plus they had the entire Pigs in Space sketch, which may have been one of my favorite pieces of recurring comedy as a kid. Oh and Mark Hamill even did a guest spot as Luke Skywalker. So it was sci-fi and the source of most of my taste in comedy until I grew old enough to watch Monty Python and The Young Ones.
#8: Mr. Smith: Ok, there were technically no aliens in this show. But for crying out loud, it had a talking orangutan as the dramatic lead! You can’t get much more alien than that. And people think a sitcom about cavemen is dumb.
#7: Soap: There was a plot at one point about Richard Mulligan getting abducted by aliens. This was well after the Billy Crystal years and Benson had already left for his own show (with the dude who would end up playing an alien on Deep Space Nine). I’m very upset that when people talk about the greatest sitcoms of all time they don’t mention Soap. Groundbreaking in terms of topics, insanely funny and sorely missed.
#6: The Tomorrow People: The best use of Nickelodeon outside of You Can’t Do That On Television. Vaguely British and Australian children who have superpowers, see the Loch Ness monster, and have visits from aliens from the future. Not your typical afterschool fare to be sure. Oh and it was a sitcom. Go back and look at the special effects. Funny as hell when you look at it now.
#5: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Can’t really match up to the book. Or the radio series. It’s probably on par with the movie, though. As a rule, when one character is said to have two heads and three arms you should probably have technology to make that look at all realistic. As opposed to, I don’t know, sticking a mannequin’s head on an actor’s shoulder and calling it a day. Still, about half of my favorite quotes of all time are taken from this series.
#4: Alf: Surprisingly not as funny as you recollect. It is amazing how much of a cultural phenomenon this show was. It went beyond the typical posters and lunch boxes and became a cultural icon because of…of…I’m not sure why. Maybe it was because Alf always wanted to eat the family cat. There is probably an undercurrent of hatred towards cats in this country. Either that or the fact that the daughter in the show was vaguely attractive. That’s usually worth a few Neilsen points right there.
#3: Red Dwarf: Ok, unless you watch PBS you may never have heard of this show. Either that or spent a lot of time in England. However, this is easily one of the funniest television shows ever made. It’s about a guy trapped in a spaceship, millions of years in the future, discovering that he is the last human being and all he has for company is a cleaning robot, a talking toaster, a senile computer, a hologram of his annoying roommate, and a cat who after millions of years of evolution had effectively turned into James Brown. It’s even funnier than it sounds. Basically this is what you always figured Star Trek was really like. Pick up the DVDs.
#2: Perfect Strangers: No way in hell Balki had a green card. Dude probably swam into the country or something. All he did was take jobs away from hard working Americans. That’s if he had a job, I don’t remember. Hell, the fact that Bronson Pinchot had a job is disturbing enough.
#1: Mork and Mindy: Not even an argument. Sure the show lost a little when they added Jonathan Winters, mainly because they lost focus given that he was an incredible talent, but it was such an awesome show. It’s strange because as a kid I could watch this show and appreciate the life lessons that Mork would give at the end of the show. They weren’t corny, they were actually touching to an 8 year old EC. Today I notice how freaking cool everyone is and wonder where I can meet someone like Pam Dawber. Plus, it’s good to remember when Robin Williams was incredibly funny as opposed to today where I wonder if even he knows what he is doing anymore. Other than working on a script for Patch Adams 2.
(Oh, and first day experiment results: no tv does make me get up. Because now I have to walk to turn on a tv set. Hopefully this just doesn’t result in my just sleeping on the couch from here on out.)
Ok, I should have known on Thursday night that when I mentioned my top ten 80’s sitcoms featuring aliens that I would have to list them out. Do people want to talk about my idols? Of course not. Let’s focus on the fun topics. Here they are, in order of course.
#10: Out of this World: You just cannot discount the directorial vision of Scott Baio. In the pantheon of directors the list is basically Wells, Kubrick and Chachi. I am so looking forward to the VH-1 show starting this week in which Scott Baio asks the question why is he 45 and single. Sadly, it’s because I’m asking myself the same damn question.
#9: The Muppet Show: As was revealed in Muppets from Space, Gonzo is technically an alien. Plus they had the entire Pigs in Space sketch, which may have been one of my favorite pieces of recurring comedy as a kid. Oh and Mark Hamill even did a guest spot as Luke Skywalker. So it was sci-fi and the source of most of my taste in comedy until I grew old enough to watch Monty Python and The Young Ones.
#8: Mr. Smith: Ok, there were technically no aliens in this show. But for crying out loud, it had a talking orangutan as the dramatic lead! You can’t get much more alien than that. And people think a sitcom about cavemen is dumb.
#7: Soap: There was a plot at one point about Richard Mulligan getting abducted by aliens. This was well after the Billy Crystal years and Benson had already left for his own show (with the dude who would end up playing an alien on Deep Space Nine). I’m very upset that when people talk about the greatest sitcoms of all time they don’t mention Soap. Groundbreaking in terms of topics, insanely funny and sorely missed.
#6: The Tomorrow People: The best use of Nickelodeon outside of You Can’t Do That On Television. Vaguely British and Australian children who have superpowers, see the Loch Ness monster, and have visits from aliens from the future. Not your typical afterschool fare to be sure. Oh and it was a sitcom. Go back and look at the special effects. Funny as hell when you look at it now.
#5: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Can’t really match up to the book. Or the radio series. It’s probably on par with the movie, though. As a rule, when one character is said to have two heads and three arms you should probably have technology to make that look at all realistic. As opposed to, I don’t know, sticking a mannequin’s head on an actor’s shoulder and calling it a day. Still, about half of my favorite quotes of all time are taken from this series.
#4: Alf: Surprisingly not as funny as you recollect. It is amazing how much of a cultural phenomenon this show was. It went beyond the typical posters and lunch boxes and became a cultural icon because of…of…I’m not sure why. Maybe it was because Alf always wanted to eat the family cat. There is probably an undercurrent of hatred towards cats in this country. Either that or the fact that the daughter in the show was vaguely attractive. That’s usually worth a few Neilsen points right there.
#3: Red Dwarf: Ok, unless you watch PBS you may never have heard of this show. Either that or spent a lot of time in England. However, this is easily one of the funniest television shows ever made. It’s about a guy trapped in a spaceship, millions of years in the future, discovering that he is the last human being and all he has for company is a cleaning robot, a talking toaster, a senile computer, a hologram of his annoying roommate, and a cat who after millions of years of evolution had effectively turned into James Brown. It’s even funnier than it sounds. Basically this is what you always figured Star Trek was really like. Pick up the DVDs.
#2: Perfect Strangers: No way in hell Balki had a green card. Dude probably swam into the country or something. All he did was take jobs away from hard working Americans. That’s if he had a job, I don’t remember. Hell, the fact that Bronson Pinchot had a job is disturbing enough.
#1: Mork and Mindy: Not even an argument. Sure the show lost a little when they added Jonathan Winters, mainly because they lost focus given that he was an incredible talent, but it was such an awesome show. It’s strange because as a kid I could watch this show and appreciate the life lessons that Mork would give at the end of the show. They weren’t corny, they were actually touching to an 8 year old EC. Today I notice how freaking cool everyone is and wonder where I can meet someone like Pam Dawber. Plus, it’s good to remember when Robin Williams was incredibly funny as opposed to today where I wonder if even he knows what he is doing anymore. Other than working on a script for Patch Adams 2.
Let me know if I missed any. I almost want to add Small Wonder even if she was just a robot.
1 comment:
Which vaguely attractive 80's sitcom sister would you most llke to have dated?
A. Lynn from ALF
B. Heather from Mr. Belvedere
C. Carol from Growing Pains
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