#36
Dukes of Hazzard
Title: “Theme from The Dukes of Hazzard (Good Ol’ Boys)”
Written: Waylon Jennings
Performed: Waylon Jennings
The 1970s and early 1980s… when Luke and Bo Duke were “Robin Hoods fighting the system” tothe country stylings of Waylon Jennings, who also was on the show as “The Balladeer” aka the narrator of the show.
Spoilers
“D-Day”
Damn, this is such a great show.
Brian and Charlie’s baby is born in this episode with some of the most beautiful moments you could imagine. I had a tear when they handed the baby to Paul at the end.
The heavy part of the episode dealt with the pregnancy, as Ava, the baby momma, went into labor. She had yet to sign adoption papers and it brought a serious conflict for Brian. His friends circled the wagon and brought some wonderful advise.
Paul passed Alice’s bench therapy along to Gaby, as he realized that he would not be there forever.
Sean reunited with his ex-girlfriend Marisol in another strong scene.
We met Jimmy’s father, played by the one and only Jeff Daniels. The conflict between Jimmy and his dad is clearly going to be investigated this season.
#37
Moonlighting
Perfromed and lyrics: Al Jarreau
Music: Lee Holdridge
Production: Nile Rodgers
Note: The lyrics reflect the show’s premise of romance, mystery, and style, with a “soft rock/jazz” feel that became iconic for the era.
Moonlighting is, of course, one of my all-time favorite shows, and the theme song by Al Jarreau was a wonderful way to kick each episode off. It was a smooth-feeling, jazzy song that capturd the style of Moonlighting.
February 11
Today I took a personal day from school so I was able to spend NEW COMIC BOOK DAY at my two stores. Started the morning at In This Issue in Bettendorf and spent the afternoon at Comic World and Games in Dubuque. Always fun spending time with others who appreciate the hobby.
Even more so, I got to do some reading, and I got all my new books on the same day so I do not have to wait to chose the cover of the week until Thursday night.
Also-Rans: The Thing on the Doorstep #1, Space Ghost #8, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #1, Absolute Batman #15 (Second printing-foil), The Digger #1, and Bleeding Hearts #1 (foil virgin).
Bronze Medalist
DC KO #4
Variant cover G/Bracket Cover
Cover art by Dan Mora
This one reminded me of the Godzilla vs. Marvel Universe covers that I really liked from last year as they set this up like a fight poster, the match-up of the tournament front and center. I like how this builds this tournament up with the images of those that remain.
Silver Medalist
Hank Howard Pizza Detective: The Two Hollywoods #2
Cover art by Andrea Sorrentino
I love the shades of purple across this cover for Bad Idea’s new book. It has a compelling imagery across it as well, with the black standing out beautifully among the purples.
Gold Medalist
Wade Wilson: Deadpool #1
Cover art by Geoff Shaw
There were some outstanding covers for the new Deadpool series, and the cover A is right up there with some of the best of them. Something has made Wade Wilson want to end his life, which is a difficult thing for him to accomplish. The look of Wade on this cover gives that feel of hopelessness and all-consuming anger despite not seeing his actual face. The cover does a great job of telling you what this new arc is all about.
#38
Wonder Woman
Composed: Charles Fox
Lyrics: Norman Gimbel
Performed: John Bähler
Accompanying Chorus: Marti McCall, Carolyn Willis, and Julia Waters
The DC Comics superstar was perfectly cast with Lynda Carter and the theme worked so well for that character.
Spoilers
“Laws of Nature”
“Purpose in the Machine”
“A Wanted (Inhu)man”
Third season rewatch is underway with the team scattered about and everyone trying to face the possibility that Simmons was killed by being sucked into the monolith. Of course, Fitz never gave up and he was taking risk after even greater risk to prove that Simmons was alive.
I actually did not remember Simmons being brought back from the alien planet so quickly, but I know there is an episode coming up that is dedicated to the time she spent on the alien planet.
I am not 100% sure why May is doing what she is doing at the beginning of the season or why she decided to accompany Hunter on his mission. It has to be more than just the opportunity to kill Ward. However, the scene of May kicking the ass of the three brutes in a backroom of a fight club was awesome.
A new agency was formed by the President to deal with “alien” threats, meaning specifically Inhumans. The ATCU is led by Rosalind Price, and she and Coulson have some interactions.
Lincoln is being pursued by both the ATCU and Shield, and Daisy has her own personal feelings involved. It has been a rough three episodes for poor Lincoln.
Grant Ward recruited the son of Baron Von Strucker, Werner Von Strucker. I remember this character being a big piece over the seasons. Ward’s recruitment of Hydra agents does not seem to have gone very well so far.
We see the first appearance of the Inhuman named Lash. He was quite the powerhouse and a dangerous force.
Simmons struggled to readjust to earth, but she also seemed to want to go back to the planet. I do not remember why so I am curious to the answer.
Good start to the season and Dr. Garner even named dropped “Secret Warriors.”
#39
The Twilight Zone
Originally Titled: “Etrange No. 3” (or “Milieu”)
Composed: Marius Constant
Music: Guitar parts are believed to be played by session musician Howard Roberts.
Instruments: electric guitar with bongos
Apparently, the song was not composed for the show. It was done for a library of cues, a stock library.
One of the most recognizable themes on TV, the creepiness, eerieness of the music set a perfect tone for the Twilight Zone.
I watched another block of episodes from the variety show featuring the group Sha Na Na. I remember as a young kid watching Sha Na Na, I was always mad when the guest stars or other actors made fun of Sha Na Na and/or treated them like they were no talented. It is funny because I can remember liking Sha Na Na was something that I did not like people to know about me. I wonder if the constant jokes against them affected how I saw them.
Fact is that Sha Na Na is filled with amazing musicians and some of the best voices you’ll hear. It has been fun catching up on this show, even with the limits of YouTube involved.
These shows continues the trend of Sha Na Na having country musicians on as they had Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers, Freddy Fender and Barbara Mandrel as guests. They also had Henny Youngman, who actually performed like a stand up comic would. That was definitely the right choice instead of trying to have him make smart remarks like they did with Milton Berle.
It was weird because once again they had a repeat song on one of the episodes. In episode 10, they ended the show with the Unchained Melody version that Sha Na Na performed. I know I had seen that one in a previous episode. However, it is one of the best performances the group did on this show, so it was good to see it again.
This block of episodes also seemed to feature Lennie singing quite a bit. Lennie had one of the best voices on the show, right up there with Johnny and Donny. Of course, Lennie was the sax master, but he could hit some solid high notes vocally too.
Lennie dressed up as Paul McCartney in episode 10 as well, along with Jocko as Ringo, Santini as George and Chico as John. It was an attempt to attract the Gatlin Brothers to their show, which begs the question, are the Gatlin Brothers huge Beatles fans and wouldn’t a Beatles reunion attract even bigger celebrities?
Episode 11 featured one of my favorite performances, “Hit the Road, Jack” performed by Jocko. I love this version of the song and the background dancers are great. I have to say, I always enjoy watching poor Donny try to keep up with the others.
When I saw Screamin’ Scott playing the stand up bass, I went to Google to see what instruments he could actually play. I have wondered whether when covering for Jocko, Scott or one of the guitarists, could they actually play that instrument or are they just pretending. Google told me that Scott could play the piano, the guitar, the banjo and the harmonica. My guess is that he could do the bass as well. He is clearly very skilled in the musical aspects.
Jerry Fox showed up a couple of times again (which is a character played by Donny sometimes during the comedy skits). He’s announced as from Cleveland, and I wonder what the origin is behind this alter ego. I have seen Donny play him probably around 6-8 times so far (including twice in this block of episodes).
#40
Happy Days
Composed: Charles Fox
Lyrics: Norman Gimbel
Performed: Pratt & McClain
The first couple of seasons, the theme for Happy Days was “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley & His Comets.
The recognizable theme was designed to give those 1950’s feels and nostalgia, while keeping things upbeat and energetic.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 