The Weirdest RLM Game Show Returns!

 I am shocked that they made a sequel but I am pleased.

Could they make it a trilogy? Is it even possible?

Jean Shepherd - History is All Around You

 

To Build a Fire by Jack London

 A short story apropos of nothing...

JonTron - Combating Anti-Sloth Hate

 

Rad Remastered Trailer and Info

 The new trailer for Rad Remastered reveals that Rad Remastered will be the movie "Rad".

So... Not very helpful.

But then the Marcus Theaters page has one additional nugget:

"This special event will also include an exclusive Q&A moderated by RAD super fan Ed Helms (The Hangover)."

So is the Q&A going to fill 40 minutes? Q&A with who? More updates hopefully to come. 

Mr. Plinkett's Super Happy Fun Star Trek: The Next Generation Mistakes Video

 Although it's very "inside baseball" and not for everyone, the thing that gets me is when Mr. Plinkett loses all sense of making a video and progresses to just mumbling as if only to himself.

Rad Remastered to be Released in Theaters; What is Rad Remastered?

 

Fandango, and other sites, confirm that "Rad Remastered" will be released to theaters March 21st. But what is that?

Not many details to go on. The runtime is listed as 2h15m which means it is about 40 minutes longer than the official version. Bill Allen confirmed on facebook that there will be "added footage".... which makes sense, I would assume they didn't make the runtime longer by playing it slower, but what is the footage? The first thing that comes to my mind would be to include the deleted scenes about which so much has been made, but even if that's the case, that would only account for 3 minutes of the 40.

At the 35th Anniversary release, they played a trailer for a new "Rad" documentary that was being made. That documentary, as far as I can tell, never came out. I wonder if this could be a way to hook people into seeing that in the theater as a pre-movie "extra." 

The poster states "Celebrate Rad Day March 21." It's my guess that "Rad Day" just means that it's going to be in theaters on the anniversary of the original release (March 21, 1986).

So, what is going on? I don't know. Will post again if additional information is released.

Thanks to Victor for the heads up.

Art Pop Quiz / Pop Art Quiz

 

Is this:

A) An episode of Bob Ross with a guest artist.

B) A less popular painting show on public access.

C) A wrestling promo from the 1980s.

Popcorn in Bed - Star Trek VI

Cassie watched, I think, 3 episodes of Star Trek and since then has been making her way through the movies.

I think my favorite Star Trek movie is VI.

I've always loved the nonsensical but dramatic line "DON'T WAIT FOR THE TRANSLATION, ANSWER ME NOW!" I've never found anyone else who feels the same way. In fact, I'm realizing now that people generally hate that line. They resent it, even. Particularly at the DMV.

The Super House on the Prairie

The tradition of boycotting the Super Bowl when I have no rooting interest and instead participating in activities which are as far removed from football as possible. For my own records, here's the run-down of the previous 30 years...

Pre-2011 - Puppy Bowl I, Muppet Treasure Island, Follow That Bird.

2011 - Bob Ross Marathon

2012 - Family Ties Marathon

2013 - Steel Magnolias

2014 - The Bridges of Madison County

2015 - Various, Poetry

2016 - Best of the Worst, Da BullS

2017 - Cooking, Super Mario Bros. Super Show

2018 - Super Bowl

2019 - I don't know, did I forget?

2020 - How Green Was My Valley?

2021 - Facts of Life Marathon

2022 - Jem Marathon and Film

2023 - Super Bowl (boooo!)

And it's worth re-stating that I claimed this segment jumped the shark way back in 2021.

I grew up just slightly after the peak of the "Little House on the Prairie" mania. And yet, I don't remember ever watching even a single episode. I remember reading the book in school and really getting into it, and the standard at that time being that you always watched the movie/TV show after learning something, even THEN I don't think we watched the "Little House on the Prairie." Having heard about it all my life and having never, as far as I know, seen a minute of it, I was curious and decided to check it out.

According to tradition, my task now is to dress down the series in an overlong whirlwind of gaffes and bad puns. As fond as I am of tradition, I really enjoy this series. I love the Western genre, I enjoy the cinematic feel, I appreciate that it's told from the perspective of a child, I'm fascinated by the aspect of frontier life, I'm even willing to pretend that the small girl's echoing voice over is sweet and not at all reminiscent of some "Children of the Corn" horror movie.

The first episode - the 0th episode - the pilot - is an hour-and-a-half TV movie and it's by far the greatest of the 3 I watched. A family travels in a wagon west to the frontier and builds a house, a barn; digs a well, plants a field, encounters Indians and so forth. It completely works as a standalone movie and, for a TV movie from the 70s, it's a masterpiece - sweeping, pastoral, familial, harrowing, touching.

Not that there aren't flaws. There are some weak performances - the actress playing the mother seems to think she's in a 1950s stage play. There are some weak or confusing moments. At one point they caulk the wagon and ford the river. Halfway through Michael Landon's character gets out and slowly sinks below the water like he's easing into a hot tub. Then everyone freaks out. The scene is supposed to convey that he's in danger of drowning - drowning in 2 feet of water - but there's no telling that from looking at him. And the "Indians" are clearly white guys in makeup. I guess I don't know they're white but they're definitely not real Indians.

On to the second episode and there's a clear step into TV Series mode. The father has to work long jobs for a few weeks in order to make ends meet and it wears on him and the family. We're also introduced to the town and townspeople as he meets them. A giant step down but still an excellent show.

In the third episode, we focus more on the daughters - it's the first day of school and they don't know anyone. They are mocked for being unlearned and poor. Still emotional and sweet but definitely another step into the television series formula and another step away from the Western feel. Still, a well-told story with an emotional punch in the end.

So, as I said, I really loved this series, at least according to the 3 episodes I've seen. I highly recommend it, especially if you're looking for family entertainment. I may continue watching it, though I have to finish my current series first. You'll hear about that soon. I have heard that "Little House in the Prairie" jumps the shark most spectacularly somewhere in its 9 seasons and, furthermore, this leads to one of the most bonkers last episodes of any TV series ever made. These are exactly the type of things I should be writing about, but both require an honest watch through all 9 seasons, which I can't do in one day. Future posts, perhaps.

I once watched a documentary that told in great detail all the natural conditions that combined over thousands of years to create the ideal farming soil in the plains of the Mid-West. One thing I never learned was why the greatest soil in the world didn't turn into a forest. Why are do grasslands exist without the trees encroaching? According to my search, the plains are too arid - rainfall is low and erratic - so trees generally can't grow there. That's news to me, I thought trees would grow almost anywhere.

It occurred to me that this show is not so far removed from the Super Bowl as I would like it to be. What was the Super Bowl? The 49ers vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. For the second team, the Ingalls settle in Kansas and encounter an actual Indian chief. The first team refers to the 1849ers, the prospectors of the gold rush, and though the show doesn't take place in 1849, it's not far off. And anyway, "1849ers" and the show are both about westward expansion.

Have you ever noticed that every period drama fails to be authentic to the period and they all fail in exactly the same way? It's the hair. Take this series. They have the period clothing, the period props, the period everything, they're plowing a field with oxen and protecting themselves with muskets but you look at the hairstyles and you can tell it was made in the 70s. It's always the hair.

Radiohead - Million Dollar Question

 

Last November, right before Thanksgiving, I was laidoff from my job of 15 years. And at that time, and even until now, it didn't occur to me to listen to "Million Dollar Question." I don't know how it happened but I'm rectifying the oversight now. 

In the realm of Radiohead B-Sides, there's "Million Dollar Question" and "How I Made My Millions" and they're very different and not related. Always remember that.

Late Night - Picking a Super Bowl Team

 

Incidentally, 49ers vs Bengals in 1989 is the first Super Bowl I remember. I was rooting for the Bengals but was completely distracted by what debuted during the commercials that year - The Bud Bowl.

Game Grumps - Giggling Compilation 2022

 

Just kind of a fun compilation - times of laughter from 2022.

Does anybody remember laughter? These guys do! They're called Game Grumps.