The only thing I watched this week of note was Amy Winehouse BBC Sessions 2007 – Live at Porchester Hall. Apparently, I have some channel called Palladia, which is owned by Viacom, and only shows music programming. You know those folks who are all “Remember when MTV used to play music?” Well, this network is for them. Anyway, I was channel surfing and came across this special. I HAD to watch it ’cause I actually had a thing for Amy Winehouse. Like Demi Lovato, she was sexy in an ugly girl kind of way (ya know, like Sensational Sherri back in the old WWF days). The special wasn’t that great. Amy was drinking between and during songs, and slurred through some of the songs. She’d try to talk between sets, but I don’t know what the Hell she was saying. It was actually kinda sad, as I actually saw Amy live back when Virgin was still throwing the annual MegaFest (this predated the more recent FreeFest). That was a much bigger venue, but I felt like she handled herself better than she did in the intimate setting of Porchester Hall. It’s still such a sad story, considering what her career could’ve been. When you really look at it, she only had one album that mattered (nobody cared about her debut, Frank, until Back to Black became a hit), and I would love to know if her sound would’ve just been a flash in the pan, or if it would’ve evolved somehow. It could be said that Back to Black was as much Mark Ronson’s album as it was Amy’s, so I guess we could look to his subsequent work for clues. Welp, I guess we Amy fans will never know, and we’ll have to hitch our wagons to Adele.
Oh, I did watch something else – the Seth MacFarlane-produced Blunt Talk debuted on Starz last weekend. Starring Patrick Stewart as Walter Blunt, a Piers Morgan-esque TV host, I’m not quite sure how I feel about the show. Naturally, we’re going to like Blunt because, well, he’s Patrick Stewart. He’s simply impossible to dislike. That said, we’re supposed to dislike him, as Blunt’s a multiple divorcee with a substance abuse problem. In the pilot, he’s arrested for soliciting a prostitute, who happens to be trans, and then has to figure out how spin the incident in order to save his dwindling career. Does his plan work? Not sure. He collapsed at the end of the episode, so we’ll have to wait until next week to see. I’m typically a MacFarlane fan, but I’m not sure this show did it for me. I’ll give it a few more chances, mainly because I want to see if we get any more Trek cameos (Brent Spiner was in the pilot).
If there’s one thing that I am these days, it’s a fat kid. So, as a fat kid, imagine my joy when I learned of the McWhopper! Proposed by Burger King to bring awareness to World Peace Day (September 21, 2015), they wanted to create a sandwich that merged the popular Whopper and Big Mac sandwiches from both brands. BK designed a handy website detailing their plans, and they had thought of everything – uniforms, package design, etc. Sadly, they had decided to hold it at the midway point between both of their corporate headquarters, so the sandwich would only be sold in pop-up stores in Atlanta. They felt that the best way to be an example for peace would be, for one day, to call a truce in the Burger War between the two companies. All they needed was McDonald’s blessing. And McDonald’s said no. UGH!
McDonald’s didn’t allude to what this “something bigger” might be, so it just comes off as a cop-out. It’s especially sad since BK was doing all the work, and it would’ve been a cool gesture. I certainly would’ve cared more about that than some folks pouring buckets of ice water over their heads. Peace is a good thing and all that, but I also wanna behold the frankenburger that would be the McWhopper! I say BK should just go ahead and do it by themselves. After all, the Big King is a brazen rip-off of McDonald’s Big Mac (only the patties are flame-broiled), so BK already has all of the ingredients. They should just create the Peace Whopper for that day. Everyone could have their McWhopper and eat it, too!
On the music front, UK boyband One Direction announced that they will go on hiatus sometime next year in order to focus on solo projects. Take it from me – this is the end of One Direction. Their pop chart rivals, The Wanted, announced their own hiatus last year, and that was the last we ever heard from them. The whole “taking a break to work on solo projects” NEVER works. It can only end one of two ways: A) the solo albums fail and the group members crawl back to each other (see: Backstreet Boys) or B) one of them is wildly successful and leaves the others in the dust (see: *NSYNC). Remember, *NSYNC’s been “on hiatus” since 2002. Then again, UK groups do have a better track record with this sort of thing if the timing is right. STEPS got back together, as did S Club 7. And the reality show The Big Reunion showed that there are more UK groups waiting in the wings for the comeback treatment. So, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Meanwhile, read this hilarious take on the situation by “Joey Fatone”.
In comic news, Marvel announced that their 8-issue Secret Wars event series will now feature…a NINTH ISSUE! Man, this really grinds my gears, and I’m not really sure why. I mean, if it was originally supposed to be 9 issues, they should’ve told us that in the beginning. The book has already been shipping late, so how will this help things? It feels like a cash grab, which I don’t really appreciate. Plus, they say it won’t affect the All-New, All-Different launches that are planned for October, so this feels more like an epilogue. Why not just call it Secret Wars: Epilogue instead of renumbering the whole series? I know it’s all irrational, but it just doesn’t sit well with me.
Speaking of Marvel, this teaser image was leaked for Captain America: Civil War, revealing the sides that the heroes will take. I don’t really see many surprises here, although I think it would’ve been interesting if Rhodey had chosen Cap’s side. I mean, they’re both military men, and I’d love to see Tony and Rhodey at odds to see how that would play out onscreen. Plus, I really don’t see why Black Panther would choose Tony’s side. I mean, besides the fact that they’re both rich and smart, their ideologies are quite different. I can’t even remember whose side Black Panther was on in the comic, ’cause that was during that stupid period where he was married to Storm and they were making diplomatic trips across the globe.
Last week, I had the pleasure of joining the Nerd Lunch crew to discuss things in pop culture that get a “bad rap”. It started with a discussion of my thoughts on Fant4stic Four, but we covered other topics like Constantine, The Matrix sequels and more. Be sure to check it out here.
Things You Might Have Missed This Week
-Alison Brie & Dave Franco are engaged. Lucky son of a bitch…
-In “Duh” News, Vin Diesel is confirmed for Guardians of the Galaxy 2
-Speaking of Vin Diesel, he’s apparently returning to the xXx franchise. Filming will begin in December in the Philippines. Also, never Google “Vin Diesel xxx” while in polite company….
-Actor, and former NFL player, Matt Willig has been cast as Lash, an Inhuman in the upcoming season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I don’t know this dude or his character…
-In the most recent Captain Underpants book, one of the protagonists was revealed to be gay. With a move this bold and important, I’m amazed this isn’t getting more press anywhere.
I never thought I’d be an Adult Swim viewer. Back in the day, I thought it pretty much existed to entertain stoners. And while I wasn’t wrong, I soon learned that you could enjoy the shows while sober as well. One of the first shows I checked out was this weird thing called Aqua Teen Hunger Force. I had no clue what the title meant, but it was a weird show about a trio of fast food products that talked. Early on, they were supposed to be detectives, but they dropped that angle pretty quickly. I grew to love Frylock, Master Shake, and Meatwad, as they argued over whether The Highlander was based on a true story, or if their attic was haunted by a monster. After 15 years on the air, this week saw the series finale of Aqua Teen Hunger Force (now referred to as Aqua Teen Hunger Force Forever).
Titled “The Last One Forever and Ever (For Real This Time) (We Fucking Mean It)”, the double-length episode followed the trio as they embarked on a dangerous mission to replace Frylock’s jewel and save his life. Do they succeed? I won’t spoil that for you, but I will say that it was an oddly sad episode – not just because it was the end of an era, but also because of the episode’s epilogue. At 12:30 Monday morning, I said goodbye to 3 old friends. The Aqua Teen Hunger Force wasn’t going down without a fight, however. On Wednesday, in conjunction with Destiny: The Taken King, a secret final, FINAL episode was released online. Titled “The Greatest Story Ever Told”, it followed Frylock and Carl as they gained immortality from the Highlander himself, Christopher Lambert. After the heaviness of Sunday’s finale, it was nice to see them back to their old antics. It was the ATHF that I’d loved all these years.
According to reports, the creators weren’t ready to end the show. It was the longest-running original series on Adult Swim, and Adult Swim president Mike Lazzo simply thought it was time to move on. With 139 episodes under their belt, I doubt ATHF will be leaving Adult Swim’s schedule any time soon. So, for giving me 15 years of laughs (and for redeeming its finale with that secret episode), Aqua Teen Hunger Force had the West Week Ever.
