I’m running late, ’cause I was taking a pensive stroll on the roof. Anyway, let’s jump right in!
Trailer Park
Twinless (Theaters, This Fall)
This starts out so cute! I’m like “Oh, are they doing Heartstopper?” And then it gets so dark. This looks really good. I do, however, feel pain when I notice Lauren Graham getting older. Yes, we all age, and Hollywood has unrealistic beauty standards, blah blah blah. You don’t get it, though: When she briefly joined NewsRadio, back in the 90s, I thought she was PERFECT. She only had a 4-episode arc, but that was enough for me. I would love her from that moment on. And now she’s old. And it reminds me that I, too, am old. No me gusta.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (Theaters, October 10)
How did they get Conan for this, and why does he look so terrible? Did he write this? He doesn’t do movies! Anyway, this looks like A24 at its most non-horror “A24”, and I’m here for it.
Fortnite x Power Rangers (Epic Games, August 8)
So, I’ve spent the past few years ignoring Fortnite, as we say “I’m not a gamer” around here. I mean, I’ve been curious, but it all seems so vast, so I usually just pay attention when one of the many license holders makers cool actions figures for the property. That all changed this week, however when it was announced that the Power Rangers – of the Mighty Morphin’ variety – would be coming to the game! I guess this is part of “Chapter 6 Season 4”, which means nothing to a lame normie like me, but the original 6 Rangers, as well as their weapons and Zords, are coming to the game. Funny story: When I first got laid off, I thought I needed a game to fill my time, and I actually signed up for an Epic Games account. I was finally gonna experience Fortnite – only to discover that my tablet wasn’t powerful enough to play the game. I don’t think I could even get it to download. So, maybe I’ll try again on a PC, just to see my Rangers in action.
The Paper (Peacock, September 4)
This looks bad, especially given all the hype behind it. On its own, it looks like another middling one-season single-cam NBC sitcom. But, as The Long Awaited Sequel to The Office? This is beyond disappointing. The main guy is basically Dave Foley’s NewsRadio character (Wow, two NewsRadio references in the same week! Jimmy James owes me some money), and we already know they’re gonna force him in a relationship with the blonde. The Latina (?) is basically if you got Sofia Vergara off Wish. It’s like the studio notes told her “We want just a notch below ‘Charo’.” And Oscar? Look, we knew he was gonna be here, but I thought he’d figure more prominently into things. I know he’s supposed to be the “continuity character”, but Worf he is NOT! Stanley would have been a better choice, but I guess that Cheerios money is better, and this show already appears to have a lazy old black man of its own (What’s that about in this universe?!). Critics are already waiting for this thing to fail, as they’d love nothing more than to write up a bunch of “How The Paper Falls Short of The Office“ articles, and this show is playing right into that.
Run The Numbers
I actually did quite a bit of reading this week, but I’m not done with the “book” book yet, so I can’t discuss that one yet. The one thing I completed was an original graphic novel called Dr. Werthless.
Published by Dark Horse, and featuring the reunited creative team of Harold Schechter and Eric Powell (Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?), Dr. Werthless is an account of the life and career of Dr. Frederic Wertham, the German-American psychiatrist best known for his crusade against what he saw as the negative effects of comic books on children. At least, that’s history remembers him. According to the book, however, there was much more to him and his career, yet all of that seems to have gotten overshadowed over time.
Wertham was notable because he never ignored the *humanity* of his patients, no matter the affliction. When it came to people that society had negatively labeled, he approached them with empathy and compassion. This is why he was brought into some of the most gruesome cases, as he was still able to reach the individual in ways that the authorities and courts could not. He maintained contact with a lot of his patients, and would send them letters and care packages if they were institutionalized.
Furthermore, he helped set up a psychiatry clinic in Harlem, at a time when people weren’t especially concerned with the effects things like segregation were having on American blacks. In fact, his contributions were referenced in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case, which formally ended segregation in schools.
There were two major issues with Wertham, however: his personality and his insecurity. He had an off-putting personality that put him at odds with his colleagues. He always thought his way was the correct way, and he wasn’t great at collaboration. This usually led to his having trouble finding – and keeping – employment. In the beginning, he felt that he couldn’t get work befitting his talents, but eventually he simply couldn’t get work. His reputation preceded him, and all jobs usually ended following some blow-up between him and a colleague.
Relatedly, he always felt he was the smartest person in the room, which served to distance him from his peers. He refused to concede that he might be wrong, and that it was, instead, everyone else that was wrong. He inserted himself in places he may not have belonged. When he was setting up the clinic in Harlem, a competing clinic – actually founded by black psychologists – opened up nearby, and both were trying to solve the same issues. At one point, a partnership was proposed, and when the two firms met, Wertham immediately stated that he would be the chairman of the merger. He would tell these black people that he actually knew more about their plight than they did, given his extensive research on what they went through. Ya know, instead of actually having LIVED IT! Over time, this approach would make him more enemies than friends. In fact, despite his research contributing to Brown v. Board, he is never formally named in the case, which reportedly greatly offended him. How dare they ignore his genius?! So, like the villains in the comic books he would come to despise, this was his origin story.
When he saw that he wasn’t getting the professional accolades he felt he deserved, he set his sights on comic books. It started off rather innocent, where he was interviewing “troubled children”, and trying to find some parallels. He discovered that many of them love comics, despite them not loving the same types of comics. This was a different era, where comics ranged from kiddie fare to war comics. Around this time, Williams Gaines, of EC Comics, pivoted his father’s business from printing religious comics to publishing horror comics. That business transition was really successful for EC, but also put it directly in the path of Wertham’s crusade. You know the saying “When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail”? Well, that’s what happened here, as no one else seemed to be going after comics with the same fervor. He went as far as to say that even Superman was a violent character, and that his actions were falsely seen as “just” by the reader, since he was purportedly on the side of Good.
Since he was the loudest one on this mountain, he got all the attention. And he LOVED the attention, as, to him, it made up for the attention he felt had been withheld from him by his professional peers. The deeper he got, however, the more he seemed to stray from actual professional standards and ethics. After some time, it was no longer about being correct, but rather being seen as being correct.
At the end of the day, it’s sort of a sad situation: Comic fans have been taught to hate the man and the damage that he caused to the industry, but – like most things – he was complex. He did a lot of good, which was, unfortunately, overshadowed by a great deal of bad. I don’t think we should forget about how he recklessly went after an entire industry, but we should also remember what he did in terms of psychological care for those who were either routinely overlooked, or simply didn’t have access to services.
Things You Might Have Missed This Week
- Arnold will NOT “be back”, as his Netflix series FUBAR has been canceled after two seasons. And I don’t know a single person who watched it…
- I guess Netflix will be using the FUBAR budget to fund the T.J. Hooker film adaptation they’re developing. That show apparently lasted 5 seasons, yet I never saw an episode, have no clue who “Adrian Zmed” is, and folks only seem to remember the show’s title. Because it’s both cool and dumb.
- Meanwhile on Disney+, yet another Goosebumps adaptation ended, as the streaming series was canceled after two seasons.
- And just like that, the Sex and the City revival comes to a close, as HBO announced that next week’s And Just Like That… third season finale will also be its series finale.
- It was announced that Mark Ruffalo will be joining Jon Bernthal in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, making The Hulk the “Nicole Scherzinger of the MCU” – by that, I mean that he keeps getting shoved into “group projects”, but never gets a chance at a solo outing.
- Josh Gad and Andrew Rannels are reportedly starring in a remake of the 1992 John Ritter/Pam Dawber cult film Stay Tuned. Gad always seems like such a “Try Hard”, while Rannels seems to only be cast when a production calls for a “Gay Asshole”. Plus, I never made it through the original, so this is gonna be a pass for me…
- Matt Smith has reportedly been cast as the villain in the Ryan Gosling-starring Star Wars: Starfighter. You pretty much never have to clarify that Smith is playing a villain in a production. It’s a foregone conclusion. The motherfucker doesn’t even have eyebrows! You think he’s gonna be saving babies?!
- The Streaming Wars spiked this week, as ESPN not only acquired NFL Network and RedZone (giving the NFL a 10% stake in ESPN), but they’re also taking WWE Premium Live Events (formerly referred to as “Pay-Per-View”) from Peacock. Meanwhile, it was announced that the dedicated Hulu app will be retired in 2026, as the service will operate through a shared app with Disney+.
- It was a HUGE week for losers, however, as Jussie Smollett is joining season 4 of Fox’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, alongside such “greats” as Sister Wives star Kody Brown and podcaster Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia. If you don’t know who any of them are, I envy you. Meanwhile, Lucasfilm and disgraced Star Wars actress Gina Carano have reportedly reached a settlement, and the studio says they “look forward to identifying opportunities to work together with Ms. Carano in the near future.” And if that’s not enough, Fat Superman Dean Cain has enlisted in I.C.E. Yes, you read that correctly. I’m so damn tired…
- Luckily for 70s sexpot – and former Mrs. Burt Reynolds – Loni Anderson, she didn’t have to witness any of that foolishness, as she was blessed enough to shuffle off this mortal coil this week, at the age of 79.
By this point, you know I’ve been waiting for the King of the Hill revival on Hulu. At first I didn’t want it, but then I became excited. And then I became apprehensive again. So many things were stacked against it, including the fact that 1/3 of the cast had moved on to that Mega Lo Mart in the sky. So, I went into this week’s episode drop with caution, yet I’m happy to say that the show is EXCELLENT.
While production on the original series ended 16 years ago, only 7 years have passed in the world of King of the Hill. We’re reintroduced to Hank and Peggy Hill, as they’re reintroduced to the Arlen, TX, they left behind. Hank had spent the past 4 years working with propane and propane accessories in Saudi Arabia. Yes, that Saudi Arabia! When I first heard that plot point, I didn’t think it made sense, but they make it work. He works for another company now, as there’s no way Buck Strickland is still in business at this point. Meanwhile, their son Bobby is an up and coming fusion chef at his own restaurant in Dallas. The rest of the gang is back, including conspiracy theorist Dale, mumbling ladies’ man Boomhauer, and Bill. Poor, poor Bill. Also, there’s a new character, Brian Robertson (voiced by Keith David), who rented the Hill home while the family was abroad.
I really want to make this season last, so I only watched the first 3 of the 10-episode season, but things are shaping up nicely so far. While they haven’t jumped headfirst into the Trump Era, they did confront how Dale is no longer an outlier, in terms of his conspiracy theories. In fact, he’s more of a “leader of men” these days – especially given how he won the Arlen mayoral election on No Masks platform during Covid. It seems folks either voted for him because he was the Devil they knew OR because they did it as a joke. Sound familiar? Meanwhile, Bobby is all grown up, out on his own, and getting the ladies. He has a one night stand in the pilot! But he’s the same old Bobby Hill, as you feel bad when he genuinely likes the girl, yet she tells him it was just a “one time thing”. It’s fun to see Hank grapple with newfangled nonsense, like rideshares and home brewing. And Peggy is still Peggy, only she has traded broken Spanish for broken Arabic.
There are a few things that give me pause, however. I never would have imagined Bobby’s childhood pseudo-rival Chane Wassanasong would not only figure prominently here, but he’s also the majority owner of Bobby’s restaurant. We’ve seen his old girlfriend, Connie, but just briefly, and I feel like there’s heartbreak coming there, too. The Brian Robertson character seems like he was forced in for “Diversity”, which I get, but it doesn’t really make sense for him to still be around. The Hills came home, so he had to vacate the home. However, he just pops right back up in the alley to drink beer with the guys, telling them he had gotten used to it over the years. Where did he come from?! Does he live in someone’s garage now? Does he commute to drink beer in an alley? Boomhauer has a stepson now, which is to imply he’s somewhat settled down in his old age. Still, we meet the kid, but not the mom. It just goes to show that she isn’t necessarily seen as important, but I’m eager to meet the woman who tamed the great Jeff Boomhauer.
Finally, I’m most disappointed by the state of Joseph Gribble. By the end of the original run, pretty much everyone knew that his biological father was John Redcorn, while Dale had unknowingly raised him as his own. I had hoped that would have been dealt with during the hiatus, but Joseph is still just as clueless. And it’s still seen as s joke. In one scene, he talks about how hard it is for “white guys like him” on the job site, while there’s another where he talks about how you wouldn’t believe how sloppy people are at hiding their affairs, and then he immediately notices John Redcorn across the room and excitedly waves to him. My biggest issue with Joseph, however, is he didn’t “level off”. When King of the Hill started, he was just a normal 13 year old boy. He and Bobby got into mischief and whatnot. He hit puberty early, however, and had the peach fuzz to prove it. At that point, he kinda becomes horny and creepy – so much so that Connie doesn’t even like him hanging around. You’d think he would sort of “normalize” once he got used to the puberty, but instead he’s become even more of a dirtbag, as he has taken to heart the teachings and morals of Dale, who’s been influencing him all this time. There was a point where John Redcorn seemed worried about Dale’s negative influence on Joseph, but at this point, Redcorn is clearly too busy helping Nancy film her real estate videos.
As I said, I still have more than 2/3 of the season left, so a lot of my issues will probably be addressed. And, in spite of all that, it’s amazing return for a show that’s been gone so long. It would have been so easy to get this wrong, but they’re didn’t, and that’s why King of the Hill had the West Week Ever.