Author Archives: Doc

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #73

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#73

Once Upon A Time

What happens when all of the fairy tale creatures livd together in today’s world? We get ABC’s Once Upon A Time.

Featuring everyone from Pinocchio to teh Evil Queen, Once Upon A Time ran for seven successful seasons on ABC. The show’s main protagonist was Emma Swan, played by Jennifer Morrison, who was, unbeknownst to her, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. Emma, and her son Henry, whom she gave up years before, but had found her, came to a small town called Storybrooke, Maine.

In Storybrooke, the fantasy/fairy tale creatures lived normal lives, but Henry figured out the truth.

Over the years, new characters were intorduced, but few with the impact of Captain Hook, played by the charming Colin O’Donoghue. Emma and Hook became the “it” couple of the show, as the hero and villain showed sparks.

The show also featured an awesome couple of antagonists. The Evil Queen was portrayed by Lana Parrilla and was basicaly running Storybrooke as the mayor, and Rumplestilkstin, also known as Mr. Gold, played by character actor Robert Carlyle. The key with these characters was they were multi-dimensional characters, unlike their fairy tale counterparts. These characters were real people with real desires and even the “evil” ones had motives that you could understand. No one was evil for the sake of evil.

The musical episode of the show that aired in the sixth season was right up there with “Once More with Feeling” from Buffy as the great musical episodes of all time.

The show had a very LOST feel to it, which makes sense since  Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, both writers on LOST, were the creative forces behind the show.

Sha Na Na S1 E3, E4, E5

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Grease for Peace!

I am back with the next three episodes of season one of Sha Na Na. This was one of my favorite shows as a kid and I always looked forward to seeing the next episode.

I just have to say, some of the negatives stand out more for me now than it did when I was a kid. The comedy is downright bad. Very few of these bits were funny at all. The only ones that seemed okay were the ones in the car with one of the members of the band and Ginger. The can laughter made it all the more obvious that it wasn’t funny.

The exception was the bits during episode 5 with Milton Berle. He brought in members of Sha Na Na and would makes jokes with them. These bits felt fairly improv-like and you can see the members of Sha Na Na trying to keep from laughing. Some did better than others. Johnny was working that gum over hard during his moment with Berle.

You do have to respect how they passed around singing responsibilities on the show. In these three episodes, only Santini did not have a lead vocal or a duet. Duke of Earl and Silhouette was performed by Denny. Party Doll and Itsy Bitsy teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini was done by Chico. Whole Lotta Shakin’ was led by Screamin’ Scott. Screamin’ Scott and Jocko combined for Poison Ivy. Bower sang with Ethel Merman with Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better. Lenny sang Too Chubby to Boogie. Dirty Dan sang Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow. Johnny sang the last song of episode five, though I did not recognize the title. The whole group had a part in The Name Game.

Admittedly, some of the background dancing gets too hectic at times and it gives the audience too many things to try and focus on. However, episode five gave us something different as this was the first time that we got to see shots of the live audience and their responses to the stage songs. I liked that variation on what they had done prior.

The dancing was okay during Carol Lawrence’s dance of The One, from the Broadway musical A Chorus Line. The whole group of Sha Na Na provided chorus line dancing.

Episode five was my favorite of these episodes as it felt like they did some different things and the Milton Berle comedy worked so much more than some of the other episode comedy bits.

Clayton Kershaw

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I am sitting here watching the LA Dodgers playing the Seattle Mariners in the final regular season game of the 2025 season. Both teams have clinched births in the playoffs so there was little to play for. However, there was a major reason this game was a must see.

This would be the final time Clayton Kershaw would step on a mound for a regular season game.

Clayton Kershaw announced his retirement a few weeks ago, after spending 18 years pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Against the Mariners today, Clayton has gone 5 1/3 innings pitched, 0 earned runs, 7 strikeouts, 4 hits and 1 walk. He left the game with a 4-0 lead, with a chance to get one more win, which would be his 223rd in his career.

At the end of the 5th inning, it felt as if Kershaw was going to be done, but he went back out for the sixth inning. First batter he faced was Seattle’s Eugenio Suarez, who had 49 home runs this season. Kershaw struck him out and out came Freddie Freeman.

Freeman had already been taken out of the game after he had homered and he was coming out as a friend to take Clayton Kershaw out of the game. It was a beautiful moment. Freddie tried to take the ball, but Clayton wouldn’t give it to him. He was keeping that ball. The Seattle crowd gave him a remarkable ovation and the camera followed him into the dugout.

Dodger manager Dave Roberts met Clayton before heading into the dugout for a big hug.

Coming into the game, Clayton Kershaw has a record of 222-96, which is an amazing W-L percentage. His career ERA was 2.54, and his career WHIP is 1.02. He recently joined the 3000 career strikeout club, perhaps the final pitcher to ever do it. He is a three-time Cy Young Award winner and an 11-time All-Star. He has been on two World Series winning teams. He is a surefire Hall of Famer.

I have to say that I had a lot of emotions watching Clayton Kershaw walk off that mound for the final time in the regular season. I had some tears in my eyes. He has been one of the biggest stars on my favorite team for years, and his loyalty and dedication to the Dodgers, in an era where players rarely stick with one team for their entire career, is amazing.

I felt as if the moment was so large for me that I needed to write about it. I hope Clayton pitches again in the post season, though he will not be on the Wild Card series roster. If the Dodgers advance, I expect Clayton Kershaw out on that mound again.

(By the way, it is currently 5-0 in the top of the 8th. Shohei Ohtani hit his 55th homer).

Gen V S1 E1-E4

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I am finally getting caught up with most of the TV shows and that meant that I got to Amazon Prime’s Gen V.

The spin-off of The Boys had a surprisingly good season one and this new season leads right into some of the major events going on in that series.

First of all, we had to deal with the real life loss of actor Chance Perdomo, who played Andre in season one, was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2024. Andre was a major character among the ensemble of Gen V so decisions had to be made. The show decided against recasting the role and decided instead to kill the character off-screen. While it was an uncomfortable idea, the death of Andre provided motivation for several of the characters to move forward.

We have a new Dean of Godolkin University and he is the new big bad of season two. Cypher is very mysterious and manipulative.

I do love how the group is kind of getting back together, even after the horrible things that they have done to each other. It sure looked like, after episode one, that Jordan had killed Cate. I am glad Cate survived as the entire event has led to a tentative reunion between Cate, Marie, Jordan, and Emma.

Gen V continues to have the same kind of shocking moments that are typical on The Boys, and the characters from The Boys are referenced constantly Starlight even made a cameo in one of the episodes, trying to recruit Marie to help her out. She mentioned one of the mysteries of the season, which was Odessa. It appeared as if Odessa was Marie, but that has all been questionable.

Episodes will release every Wednesday, so I will be watching them when I can. This kick off has been very enjoyable so far and I am deeply invested in the mysteries of the show. I am curious to see how this show will eventually play into the final season of The Boys.

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #74

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#74

Seinfeld

One of the most successful comedies on network TV, Seinfeld finds its way onto the list at number 74.

I may not have loved this show as much as many others, but I did watch it regularly. It was clever and funny, with a group of some of the most eccentric characters on TV.

To this day, I will use lines like “NO SOUP FOR YOU” or “Hell-oooo Newman” in my life. Seinfeld has a place in the zeitgeist of American culture, unlike few shows of its generation.

Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards made one of the best foursomes in TV history. The show worked because of these four characters, as unlikable as they may be to the on show world, were beloved by the public.

Though the show reviled in the idea that it was a “show about nothing,” it was actually about life. Life with these four characters and their desperate needs to find something more than what they had.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #36

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“Rewind 1921”

After a short respite on a Friday morning last week, we are back on Sunday morning, BABY!

I went to SiouxperCon last week in South Dakota, which meant that I had to miss a Sunday morning. Instead, I did the Sunday Morning Sidewalk #35 on a Friday morning.

Back on Sunday, I watched the penultimate episode of Lovecraft Country, “Rewind 1921.”

Time travel is always tough, but this trip back to the Tulsa race massacre of 1921 was impeccably done. It brought us back around to a scene from the first episode that featured Jackie Robinson and made it make sense with what our current story is.

Atticus, Leti and Montrose travel through the portal to 1921, thanks to the returning Hippolyta, in search of the Book of Names, in order to save Diana. What they find is horror and loss in a brutal manner as the Tulsa race massacre was in full nightmare.

Montrose, especially, had to go through his own personal anguish, as they witnessed his father beating him with a switch. Montrose went to see the death of a boy that he had had feelings for and, all the while, Montrose knew that he could not do anything to change what happened.

To find out that it was Atticus all along who showed up and saved Montrose and George (aka Jackie Robinson) was one of those wild time travel things that brings everything full circle.

It was an emotional, powerful, painful episode looking back at how these characters were affected by this tragic event in American history.

Leti went through it as well, as she found the Book of Names as the house burned down around her, including Dora’s grandmother, who had given her the book just before horrifically burning to death in front of her.

The episode ended with our heroes clearly affected, but back in their own timeline.

I have a feeling that next week’s finale is not going to provide the satisfactory conclusion I hope as I had heard the show left off on a cliffhanger and it has never been renewed. I hope it is a cliffhanger that is designed to create something new and not one to continue this story moving forward.

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish

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I was watching the Kristian Harloff show over a week ago and Roxy Striar, one of my favorite pundits on the show, was giving her TV picks. She mentioned the documentary Unknown Number: The High School Catfish. It was on Netflix and she spoke about how amazing the story of the doc was. I put it on my queue, but was having trouble finding the time to watch it.

I found the time today, and it was shocking and troubling. One of the more compelling docs I have seen in a long time.

According to IMDB, “A teen girl and her boyfriend face persistent harassment from an unknown caller. Police investigating the months of torment discover a revelation that upends their initial assumptions.”

I am not going to spoil the story of this, but I just want to say that it was unbelievable, watching the young girl receive these horrific text messages from an unknown stalker that helped ruin her life, as well as the life of her boyfriend and some of her classmates.

This doc does a fantastic job of setting up the story and follow the investigation of what happened. I was impressed with the doc because this one actually had a lot of resolution to the story, which some of these docs do not have.

This was about 90 minutes and it is an extremely engaging story. I am glad that I finally got around to it.

4.5 stars

Him

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The other movie I missed last weekend because of my trip to SiouxperCon was Him. Unfortunately, this was another film that I would not have minded missing.

According to IMDB, “A young athlete descends into a world of terror when he’s invited to train with a legendary champion whose charisma curdles into something darker.“

Starting off, despite what the trailers and promotional materials want you to believe, this film is not directed by Jordon Peele. Jordan Peele’s name is all over the promotional materials. He was a producer on the film, but with the use of his name, it made you feel that he was much more involved than he was. The film was directed by Justin Tipping.

The performances from Marlon Wayans and Tyriq Withers were top notch. Wayans, in particular, does a sensational job in his role.

The film does look great. The cinematography was very well done.

After that, there was not much positive about this film.

The story of this film was basically non-existent. The story during the first two acts of the film was dull and lacked any kind of real narrative that was worth the time. The story was confusing and messy, trying to be a mysterious tale. In the third act, the film suddenly becomes the exposition dump as the film dropped everything that was happening, telling us the situation. It also provided a rapid conclusion that was rushed and felt out of place.

Oh, and some of the visuals were laughable. There were several x-ray shots and every one of them was just ridiculous.

Honestly, I found this movie to be one of the worst of the year.

1 star

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

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I missed the movies last weekend because I went to SiouxperCon last week and was unable to see the movies. I was looking forward to A Big Bold Beautiful Journey. Sadly, with the two movies from last week, I did not miss much.

According to IMDB, “In this tale, David heads to a wedding in his old car with a unique GPS. He meets Sarah, and together, they embark on a journey suggested by the GPS. Along the way, they confront their pasts and explore painted landscapes, leading to a deeper connection. As they contemplate their future, they face a crucial decision about their relationship.”

The biggest problem with this movie is that I felt like I had seen so much of the film from the trailers that the rest of the film felt lesser. Most of the most interesting pieces of the film was stuff that I had seen. That is a major problem for a film like this.

I am not sure that I feel much for the relationship between Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie. These characters just did not do it for me much. I liked the individual actors a lot and I think their characters were interesting, but it did not feel like they had this great connection that the movie wanted it to be.

I did like how these strange doors that they keep going through led to individual characters bits, because the individual characters are more interesting than they are together.

There are some good moments in the movie. I was not offended while watching it. Maybe a little bord, but not offended. I could see this as a lazy afternoon watch, playing in the background. It is not a film that I should have been upset about missing.

2.8 stars

Daily Countdown: TV Show #75

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#75

American Horror Story

This is a very interesting spot on the list for this show.

American Horror Story has 12 seasons. It is an anthology show that changes characters every season. Ryan Murphy is the creator of the series that has a regular list of performers who play someone new every season.

The problem with AHS is that, while some of the seasons were so fantastic and should be higher up this list, but there are too many seasons that are average to downright bad that it limited the shows ranking on my list.

I absolutely LOVED Murder House (season 1), Asylum (season two), Freak Show (season 4), and Roanoke (season 6). I hated Delicate (season 12). The remainder of the seasons fall somewhere between these. Many of the others are fine to blah.

Some of the top repeated actors include Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Denis O’Hare, Zachary Quinto, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe, Frances Conroy, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts, and Angela Bassett.

I could have seen a world that if this list was made after season 4, AHS would be way up this list, probably top 20, maybe even higher. However, the rest of the seasons place it at #75.

EYG 2025: The October 13

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It is almost that time again. Every October, EYG creates a list of thirteen horror/thriller movies that we have not yet seen. This list is the October 13! I watch and review these thirteen Halloween-type movies over the month of October.

The biggest movie on the list this year is the original Final Destination, which may be the first film watched.

This will be the running list of the films that are part of 2025’s The October 13.

The October 13

  1. Final Destination (2000)

2. The Devil on Trial (2023)

3. Dangerous Animals (2025)

4. House on Haunted Hill (1999)

5. Scare Me (2020)

6. The Devil’s Candy (2015)

7. Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital (2024)

8. Terrifier (2016)

9. Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel (2018)

10. Isle of the Dead (1945)

11. Vampyr (1932)

12. The Uninspired (2009)

13. Terrifier 2 (2022)

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #76

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#76

The Penguin

HBO Max had a mini-series last year featuring a character that was “intorduced” in the big screen movie, The Batman. That was Penguin.

However, unlike the Batman Forever Penguin, who was played by Danny Devito, this version of the Penguin is played by Colin Farrell. When you think about the Penguin physically, Colin Farrell does not come immediately to mind.

The make-up job on Colin Farrell to make him look like the Penguin is truly some of the best make up on TV. But the make up is far from all- his performance was more than just make up. Colin Farrell brought so much life to the character of Oswald “Oz” Cobb that he was deeper than the character has ever been.

Throw in an Emmy-winning performance from Cristin Milioti as Sofia Gigante. Milioti was absolutely sensation in this role and provided such a foil for Oz that you were almost rooting for her.

The finale of the show had one of the most shocking and upsetting events that, even though Penguin was the protagonist of the show and easy to root for, you found yourself completely switched to seeing him as the villain. It was truly an amazing moment.

Peacemaker S2 E6

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“Ignorance is Chris”

So the truth of the other world is finally revealed and the answer was just what I thought it was… although they take it another step .

Seeing that swastika on the American flag where the stars were supposed to be was a rough visual. Earth X? Some form of it? James Gunn is a wild man.

Harcourt noticed the fact immediately. As soon as Adebayo, Harcourt, Adrian and Economos arrived in the alternate earth, Harcourt spotted that there were no people of color.

It was a popular theory that had been going around the internet over the last several weeks, but it makes perfect sense. White Dragon, Chris father, a racist scumbag in the DCU, is still racist scumbag, but now… so is everyone.

The reveal of the truth was really well done and I am seriously concerned for Adebayo. Running from a mob of racists chasing her (including Keith) is shocking. It takes a big swing and sets things up for the final couple of episodes.

Economos spilling the beans to Chris’s father was very funny. Seeing Adrian go face to face with himself was also a hoot. I liked how the alternate earth Vigilante is a member of the Sons of Liberty, and now, you’ve got to reexamine everything we had thought about this world before.

Biggest surprise this episode though is easily… Lex Luthor! Rick Flag Sr. going to Luthor to make a deal to help him find the dimensional portal. I was thinking it was going to be Chris’s father, not dead, in the DCU, but when Nicholas Hoult sat down in his orange prison jumpsuit, I literally shouted out loud. I did not expect Superman’s arch enemy to make an appearance on Peacemaker.

There was a great scene between Chris and Harcourt too, as they try to figure out their relationship. Of course, there is only a limited time as this earth’s Emilia showed up demanding that Harcourt was arrested.

This has been great and now that we got this twist, I can’t wait to see where it goes next.

Marvel Zombies E1-4

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I was not excited to see the new animated series from Marvel, Marvel Zombies. I do not hate zombie movies, and the Marvel Zombies in comics is not something that I have seen a lot of. I knew I would be watching eventually, but I was not counting down the days to watch it. In fact, i had forgotten it was on last night.

I can’t tell you how much I loved this four episode series. It felt like one giant movie and the story turned out beautifully.

Kamala Khan, Yelena, Kate Bishop, Ironheart, Shang Chi, Red Guardian, Jimmy Woo and Blade (as an agent of Khonshu) are some of the characters that we spend some time with, but there are a ton of Marvel characters that make appearances here, from Namor to Scarlet Witch to Baron Zemo. It was a fantastic use of the deep roster of characters that Marvel Studios can have.

We do include our What If Zombies cast as Spider-Man, Scott Lang (head with the Dr. Strange cloak) and Black Panther join us as well as we get a resolution of Zombie Thanos which was actually really strong and a great honor to T’Challa.

This is amazingly brutal and violent. There is blood all over the place. There are some epic zombie kills among these Marvel heroes.

I love the twists and the turns. The story is amazing. The ending was supremely awesome… and just as twisted as the story. I love the ambiguity of the end.

Iman Vellani is the lead protagonist and she does an exceptional job as Kamala Khan. She was such a perfect casting for Ms. Marvel.

I loved this. It was well worth the time.