Author Archives: Doc
Daily Countdown: TV Shows #6
#6
Monk
Adrian Monk, the defective detective, slips into the number six slot in our top 10. Monk ran for eight seasons on the USA Network and helped garner star Tony Shalhoub three Emmy Awards for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.
Adrian Monk was a homicide detective who had a series of OCD and other fears. However, when he met his future wife, Trudy, those traits calmed down. Adrian Monk was brilliant, seeing things at crime scenes that no one else could. Tragedy struck when a car bomb exploded, killing Trudy and sending Adrian into a spiral of neurosis and depression.
Adrioan Monk slowly got back to doing what he did best, though the police force understandably doubted his ability to rejoin the force. So Monk would work as a consultant on the cases that no oen could solve.
Monk was both a comedy and a drama, doubling down on the problems Monk faced. He was afraid of heights, crowds, enclosed spaces, as well as milk, bees, germs, needles, mushrooms, lightning and MANY more The show listed 312 phobias that Monk suffered from during the show.
He was also very compulsive, with everything needing to be just right. Everything had its order and Monk spent time vaccuuming and cleaning to make sure everything was as it had to be. Adrian Monk knew how ridiculous he was, but he just could not get past these compulsions.
The best episodes though were the ones where Adrian Monk, despite his massive list of fears and eccentricities, was able to overcome and still be brillaint. Monk showed his own personal determination, even through some of the most harrowing moments for the defective detective.
Tony Shalhoub led the cast which included Bitty Schram, Ted Levine, Traylor Howard, Jason Gray-Stanford, Stanley Kamel, Emmy Clarke and Héctor Elizondo.
2025 Year in Review: Confirmed… or is it? Award
The internet is a wonderful place.
Every year there are rumors that spread about a certainty because someone has said it somewhere on the net. Many times, these rumors just are not true.
A few years ago, we added this award to go to the rumor that seemed to be the most secure.. only to turn out false.
Confirmed… or is it? Award
Previous Winner: Mephisto is in WandaVision (2021), Fantastic Four has been cast (2022), Everyone is cast as Reed Richards (2023), Spider-Man 4 was being secretly filmed (2024)
It’s ironic that our first winner of this award was how everyone believed that Mephisto was going to be introduced on WandaVision… but he was actually introduced this past year on Ironheart.
This year, the Confirmed… or is it? Award goes to…
WWE Rumors (Seth Rollins)
There are rumors of WWE every day. It has gotten to the point where I do not believe anything the dirt sheets have to say until I see it on the screen at a Premium Live Event, RAW or Smackdown.
Seth Rollins trolled the entire world with a knew injury he suffered in a match with LA Knight on Saturday’s Night Main Event. The injury was a work, and Seth was back at SummerSlam to cost CM Punk the title. There were people confirming Seth’s injury all over the place. Seth even used crutches to take his daughter to school.
The WWE and Seth trolled the world. Seth went on the Rich Eisen Show and lied his face off.
Of course, Seth Rollins injured his shoulder and is out, and the WWE is pretending that Seth donned a black mask and a black outfit and stomped Punk during the War Games. And with Seth’s history, who knows if it is true.
EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week
December 4
Happy December all. We are into the final month of 2025 and we are underway with the Year in Review here at EYG. One of the big awards we added last year was Comic Cover Artist of the Year as well as providing medals for the top three regular covers and medals for the top three variant covers of the year. We gave one cover the Platinum Medal for the overall best cover of 2025. While the comic cover artist is wrapped up, the other medals for the Year in Review are still up for grabs. These will be reveal in a couple of week!
So we are up to this week’s medalists…
Also-Rans: First are the runners up of the week. They included Doctor Strange #1, Fantastic Four #6 (Jusko cover), Batman #4 (Bat-Gadget Variant), The Terminator: Santa Claus is Coming to Town #1, The Phantom #3, War Wolf #2, and Wild Animals #5.
Bronze Medalist
Dark Souls: Mother of Mourning #1
Foil Variant
Cover art by Bjorn Barends
I have never heard of this, but the shiny foil cover attracted me and I grabbed this new book from Titan Comics.
Silver Medalist
Blue Falcon and Dynomutt #4
Cover art by Lucio Parrillo
Blue Falcon bursting from out of the center of a fiery explosion? Yes, please. This series from Dynamite has had some real winners for covers in its short four month existence.
This is one more winner.
Gold Medalist
Something is Killing the Children #45
Virgin Foil Variant
Cover art by Stefano Simeone
A beauty of a cover for this epic Boom! Studios series. I loved this one and had to take it off the shelf. The gold foil teeth of Erica’s mask provides that perfect touch for the variant.
Daily Countdown: TV Shows #7
#7
The X-Files
I Want to Believe.
The truth is out there.
FOX’s paranormal/suspernatural hit, The X-Files, comes in at number severn. I just finished a three year long rewatch of the show this past summer through all eleven seasons. The show even inspired two feature length movies.
The X-Files was created by Chris Carter and was the story of FBI agent Fox Mulder, who looked into cases deemed too mysterious or unsolvable for the FBI. Mulder was in search of the truth, spurning from his sister Samantha’s disappearance when he was a child. Mulder believed that Samantha had been abducted by aliens.
The FBI, afraid of secrets that Mulder might uncover, assigned agent Dana Scully to “debunk” his investigations. Scully, though a skeptic, was also honest and willing to listen to the insane scenarios Mulder would lay out. Scully became the only person Mulder could trust,
The show moved between episodes dealing with government conspiracies to monsters-of-the-week. Some of the best episodes of the series included “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space,” “Bad Blood,” “Home,” “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose,” “Small Potatoes,” “The Post-Modern Prometheus,” and “Humbug.”
The show was the best with the pairing of Mulder and Scully. Over the run of the series, both David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson were away or off the show and they were replaced by other actors, most notably Robert Patrick, who replaced an abducted Mulder, as Agent John Doggett. Though many episodes were still solid, the show was never the same without Mulder.
The show also had one of the greatest villains ever in the Cigarette Smoking Man. CSM, played by Willaim B. Davis, was a character that I hated SOOOOOO mcuh. I constantly just wished Mulder would shoot him in the head, and I called for that to happen on a regualr basis. CSM has to be near the top of any TV villain list.
The show was revived for a tenth and eleventh season in the mid 2010s. These seasons were shorter and had their ups and downs. Both Duchovny and Anderson returned to their roles for the revival.
The X-Files was one of the most successful FOX shows and transcended television.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple new trailer
Daily Countdown: TV Shows #8
#8
M*A*S*H*
Based on the 1970 movie of the same name, M*A*S*H was a comedy/drama series (perhaps one of the earliest examples of a dramedy) based in the Korean War. It ran for 11 seasons on CBS. Pretty impressive for a war that only ran for just over three years. Truthfully, much of the show was based on the Vietnam War, which was still going on when the show started.
M*A*S*H was set at the 4077th M*A*S*H, which stood for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, and showed the humor, spirit and dedication of a group of doctors, nurses, coremen who faced death daily and battled while standing in blood. There were moments of complete jocularity, and then deathly serious moments as well. Some times in a matter of minutes.
Led by Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda), the cast of M*A*S*H was amazing. It included Mike Farrell, Wayne Rogers, Larry Linville, Harry Morgan, McClean Stevenson, Loretta Switt, Jamie Farr, Gary Burghoff, William Christopher, and David Ogden Stiers.
Teh first three seasons of M*A*S*H are my least favorite. Don’t get me wrong, these episodes are still very good, but my favorite time of the show was when BJ Hunnicut came to replace Trapper John and Col. Potter replaced Henry Blake. This time frame, while still with Frank Burns, is some of my favorite television ever.
These characters developed and changed over the run of the show. Margaret Houlihan changed the most, going from a one-note antagonist for Hawkeye and Trapper John, to a deep, three-dimensional character that was more than just what she started as.
The series finale was the highest rated shows ever on televison for years. It was entitled “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen.” It showed the final days of the Korean War and the departure for each of the main characters from the 4077th M*A*S*H.
M*A*S*H was one of the most original and brillaint shows on TV. I can sit down today and watch M*A*S*H, enjoying each episode.
Sha Na Na S1 E17, E18
I noticed some differences in these two episodes than I did int he previous ones. First, it seemed as if they got control of the laugh track. It was still there, but it was much more in control. It was not as loud as it was in the previous 16 episodes and I actually did not notice it for awhile. That was a HUGE item for the show.
Then, the comedy, which was always real bad in most of the first 16 episodes, wasn’t that bad here. It was still not the greatest comedy I ever heard, but it was considerably better. I did not cringe as much as I did in the first part of the season.
They had a new set, a diner where they could go for some of the backstage bits. It was much improved. We had way few of the ridiculous bits by some of the other members of the cast. I wonder if they let some of the others go.
These two episodes had the benefit of having guests that could sing. The first one was Johnny Ray, who I am not sure I knew, but who I was incredibly impressed with. He sang a song on the street set that was great. He was also singing it live. I was fascinated with the way he moved his mouth as he sang. No one would move their mouth like that if they were lip synching.
The second episode of the night had Chubby Checker, who sang Let’s Twist Again (Like We Did Last Summer). He was also clearly singing the song. Truthfully, there were some times he was screaming it. It brought a lot of energy to the show. There is no doubt that when the show has singers as guests, things just seem stronger.
They had a couple of comedy songs- first Rip Van Winkel and then My Baby Loves A Western Movie, and I have to say, I thought both were decent and had some funny moments. I really prefer the group on the stage or in the street set, but these comedy bits were fun too.
These episodes had some solid songs including All Shook Up, Poetry in Motion, Yakety Yak, and Earth Angel.
Things are looking up. Some of my biggest complaints from the first part of this season seems to have been addressed, and just turning that damn laugh track down is a major step in the right direction. Next episode looks to have Chuck Berry as a guest star so that means more music from the guest. That is the way to go.
2025 Year in Review: In Memoriam Part 1
Our first of four In Memoriam collages kicks off with the following individuals who have passed away in 2025.
Gene Hackman
Ace Frehley
Brian Wilson
Chuck Mangione
D’Angelo
David Lynch
Diane Ladd
Vice President Dick Chaney
Graham Greene
Julian McMahon
Jimmy Swaggart
Loni Anderson
Loretta Swit
Ozzy Osbourne
Poor Stacy
Rick Buckler
Sabu
Sly Stone
Val Kilmer
Hulk Hogan
RIP to all
Untraveled S1 E5/ Day 5
Bonus Action Vol. 3 E9
Daily Countdown: TV Shows #9
#9
WandaVision
The first Marvel Studios Disney + TV show is, arguably, the best of them all. WandaVision was not supposed to be the first Disney + show, but the schedule got messed up with Covid and this got moved into that spot.
WandaVision got more popular with each week, as the collected fanbase argued and debated about what was going on and what was going to happen.
WandaVision turned out to be a show about grief and loss, as Wanda had to deal with the loss of her great love, Vision. Of course, she does not deal with the loss well.
Elizabeth Olson and Paul Bettany were amazing in this show, both showing was top line actors they are. Their chemistry was great and their relationship carried the show.
There was also the strange format of the show. The first two episodes were shot in black and white and followed setup of classic sitcoms like MaryTyler Moore Show, I Love Lucy and Dick Van Dyke Show. Following episodes were based on Partridge Family, Brady Bunch, Full House, Modern Family among others. But it was not just the format of the show, it was part of the story.
WandaVision introduced us to the delicious Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness and would spin her off into her own Disney + show, Agatha All Along.
WandaVision gave us one of the most memorable quotes in MCU history. Vision told Wandsa, who was grieving the loss of her brother Pietro, “What is grief, if not love perservering?”
WandaVision ran for nine episodes on Disney + and provided an amazing, self-contained series while still existing clearly in the MCU.
Flourish!
Stitch Head
I had intended on renting and watching Stitch Head, the animated movie in the style of 3D CG animation, during this past weekend’s post-Thanksgiving, Snowpocalypse Weekend, but it kind of got lost in the shuffle. I did not think about Stitch Head until I was filling in the list of films and I saw the character of Stitch Head on the banner. Oops. So I rented it from Fandango at Home and planned on watching it this week.
The time was tonight and I watched the film.
According to IMDB, “Follows Stitch Head, a small creature awoken by a Mad Professor in a castle to protect the professor’s other creations from the townspeople of Grubbers Nubbin.”
My first thought was that this, particularly the character designs, reminded me of the old Rankin/Bass animated shows like Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The colors of Stitch Head also made me think about the old Christmas shows. That was all good things.
The story was cute with the monsters that were being created by the mad Professor were all scared of humans, expecting the angry mob to burst through the door of their castle at any minute. Stitch Head, the first monster created by Professor, was the one who could keep the monsters calm.
When circus ringmaster, Fulbert Freakfinder, came across Stitch Head, he knew that bringing Stitch Head to his circus would make a lot of money. He manipulated Stitch Head to agree to leave the castle and join his circus.
The voice cast was led by Asa Butterfield as Stitch Head. There was also Joel Fry, Tia Bannon, Seth Usdenov, Rob Brydon, Alison Steadman, Fern Brady, Jamali Maddix, Sway Clarke and Paul Tylak.
Stitch Head was simple in a lot of ways. It was weird as a couple of times, the film seemed like it was about to burst into songs, but they ended about as quickly as they started. The animation was great, bringing me back to those old Rankin/Bass shows and it was fun.
Character design was quirky and creative. Yes, there may not have been anything groundbreaking about this animated movie, but it was solid and enjoyable.
3.75 stars
2025 Year in Review: EYG Star of the Year
In 2025, we are looking at our EYG Star of the Year. This can be from any level of entertainment: TV, Movies, Sports, Music, Production companies, etc.
Here are the previous winners:
EYG Star of the Year Previous Winners: Gal Gadot, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jennifer Lawrence, Marvel Studios, J.J. Abrams, Josh Brolin, Damon Lindelof & Regina King, Netflix, Andrew Garfield, Tom Cruise, Taylor Swift, Ryan Reynolds
Runners-Up: Shohei Ohtani, Taylor Swift, Jack Black, James Gunn, David Corenswet, Florence Pugh, Pedro Pascal, TikTok
2025 EYG Star of the Year
John Cena
John Cena returned to the WWE this year for his retirement tour. After 20 years, John Cena put on several huge matches against such opponents as Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, AJ Styles, Dominik Mysterio, and Randy Orton.
John Cena won his 17th World Championship, breaking the record of Ric Flair.
John Cena won the Intercontinental Championship, becoming a Grand Slam Champion.
John Cena turned heel, in one of the most shocking moments of the year.
While Cena’s heel run was not great (mainly because the fans did not really want to boo him), he put everything he had into it.
His final match takes place on Saturday Night’s Main Event on Dec. 13.
He also starred in the HBO Max series Peacemaker season two. He cameoed in Superman. He starred in Heads of State with Idris Elba.
John Cena has been at the forefront all year long and he deserves his flowers. He is out EYG Star of the Year.
Daily Countdown: TV Shows #10
#10
Mork and Mindy
Na Nu, Na Nu.
We enter into the top 10 with one of my childhood’s favorite shows, Mork and Mindy. Robin Williams and Pam Dawber starred in this Happy Days spin off that went for four spectacular seasons on ABC.
Mork was an alien from the planet Ork who arrived in Boulder, Colorado and met Mindy McConnell. Mork had his suit on backwards, making Mindy think he was a priest and she gave him a ride. Little did she know that she was getting into a situation that would lead to her having a child named Mearth, who was played by Jonathan Winters.
Mork and Mindy was comedy at its best as the manic and ultra-energetic Robin Williams bounced around the show with amazingly sharp dialogue and thigns that had to be improv. Mork learned about humans and their ways as he slowly became more human every week.
I was obsessed with Mork and Mindy, and by extention, with Robin Williams. As a child, I sent away a letter to Willaims asking for an autograph. He (or someone) sent me an autograph on a post card personalized to me. Sadly, I no longer have that post card, but it was one of my prized possessions as a 10 year old.
Mork and Mindy was a classic and hlped lead to Robin Williams becoming the massive star that he became.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 