As we enter the Top 20 remaining in our Daily Countdown, we come to a sitcom that ran for 12 seasons on CBS.
Bazinga!
The Big Bang Theory was the story of a group of four geeks, all incredibly smart scientists, engineers and physicists, who love geek culture, playing D & D, and comic books. We follow these four men, Leonard Hofstadter, Howard Wolowitz, Raj Koothrappali and Sheldon Cooper, through their lives, loves and shenanigans.
There are people I know who hate The Big Bang Theory because of their portrayal of the main characters as geeks. They say it is insulting to the geek community. While they are welcome to that opinion, I disagree. It is a sitcom and the characters are exaggerated. It’s like saying that detectives should be mad about Monk or that doctors should be offended by Doogie Howser.
The center relationship of the show is Leonard and Sheldon, who are roommates. Sheldon is, let’s say, difficult to deal with, yet Leonard continued to put up with his craziness. When Penny (no last name) moves in next door, Leonard fall for her hard. Other love interests were introduced into the show as regulars: Bernadette Rostenkowski, who would wind up marrying Howard, and Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler, whose relationship with Sheldon would be a major focus of the last half of the show’s run.
The relationship with Howard and Bernadette, for me, really saved the character of Howard, who I disliked for much of the early seasons. He was so creepy so often that I just did not understand why the others wanted him around. Still, Howard had his moments and became one of my favorites as he became a husband and father.
The show had a regular set that was a comic book shop, which I always find awesome. The comic book shop owner, Stuart, eventually became a regular, and is reportedly part of a spin off of the show coming sometime over the next year or two.
The cast included Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Mayim Bialik, Melissa Rauch, and Kevin Sussman. Recurring actors to appear on the show included such stars as Kathy Bates, Bob Newhart, Sara Gilbert, Sean Astin, Wil Wheaton, Jerry O’Connell, Teller, and Stephen Hawking. There were also a bunch of cameos of people as themselves including Stan Lee, Leonard Nemoy, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, Levar Burton, Kareen Abdul-Jabbar, James Earl Jones, Kevin Smith, Nathan Fillion, and many more.
Seriously, as I start typing this, I am not sure which of the FOUR covers that will earn a medal this week (yup, a tie) is going to get the GOLD. When I first separated the books, I had chosen 16 comics as potential medal winners. Then, it took some real soul searching to decide which ones were out. That was after I had decided to make there be a tie.
Here are the others this week that did not make the cut…
Also-Rans: Batman Deadpool #1 (variant C- Doom and Joker), No Man’s Land #3, Exquisite Corpses #7 (Claire Roe Stealth Variant), Spawn: The Dark Ages (Virgin Variant), Final Boss #1, Pecos bill and the Guns of Oz #1, One World Under Doom #9, Radioactive Spider-Man (Variant Cover C), Terrorbytes #2, Everything Dead & Dying #3, Red Book #2, The Twilight Zone #2, Hello Darkness #16, and Space Ghost #5. WHOO.
And now… I have finally made my decision for the medal rounds. This was the toughest week I have had in a long time… and it has become a special week where HISTORY was made. The first ever TIE FOR THE GOLD MEDAL!!!
Bronze Medalist
Nova Centurion #1
Foil Variant Cover C
Cover art by Ivan Shavrin
I already had a copy of Nova Centurion #1 (the A Cover) and then I saw this on the shelf. It was just a gorgeous foil variant and I could not help myself. I honestly thought this was going to be the GOLD medalist this week, and it only could muster the bronze. It got dropped because of the gimmick.
Silver Medalist
High Strangeness #2
Cover art by Noah Bailey
What a beautiful cover. The snow storm surrounding this man who looks to be confronting some kind of creature with red eyes that blends into the blizzard. This was another book that I thought deserved a GOLD Medal but came up short to two other books this week. This would have won the race in many other weeks, but not this week.
FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER… A TIE FOR THE GOLD MEDAL!!!!!!!!!
Gold Medalist
No Man’s Land #3
Antlers Variant Cover C
Cover art by Szymon Kudranski
I first thought this was an homage to The Thing, but it turned out it was an homage to Antlers. I have been a big fan of the horror homages Feral has been doing this year, so this really attracted me. What a stunning cover. Szymon Kudranski has hit the heights with this No Man’s Land Series. I believe it won a Gold medal three times now. What book could compete with this awesome cover?
Gold Medalist
Mark Spears Monsters #4
Second printing
Witching Hour Homage
Cover art by Mark Spears
If there was going to be someone who ties for the GOLD medal for the first time ever with the HOT No Man’s Land artist Szymon Kudranski, it’s gonna be 2025’s eventual cover artist of the year, in Mark Spears. He had another multiple printing book this week that could have been in the medalist too (I should have added that one to the Also-Rans). Love this cover with the skeleton Santa Claus. Spears never seems to miss.
What a week of covers. The year is coming to close soon, and it feels as if the cover artists are bringing their best yet!
Two girls debuted on Happy Days as a blind date for Richie Cunningham. Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney made a couple of appearances on Happy Days and, from that, wound up in their own spin off series on ABC that lasted for eight seasons.
Channeling their inner Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz, Laverne and Shirley had amazing chemistry with each other and were unbelievable with physical comedy. Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams had found that perfect balance with each other that when Shirley stepped away from the show, you could feel the hole.
The show included the breakout characters of Lenny and Squiggy, played by Michael McKean and David Lander. “Hello” became a huge quote from the show as Lenny and Squiggy burst through the door.
The characters went from Milwaukee bottle cappers to Caliofornia girls. Over the years Laverne & Shirley were placed in all kinds of funny situations and they were always up to it with the power of friendship.
And with that, WKRP went from an elevator-music playing radio sttion in the greater Cincinnati area to a rock ‘n roll station with some of the most eccentric characters you are ever going to find.
WKRP in Cincinnati was a CBS sitcom that aired for four seasons. Some of the funniest moments on television originated on WKRP.
The cast ensemble was tremendous. Gary Sandy, Howard Hessman, Loni Anderson, Gordon Jump, Tim Reid, Frank Bonner, Jan Smithers and Richard Sanders were amazing in their roles. Each person brought something special to the crew.
I can’t talk about WKRP in Cincinnati without talking about “Turkeys Away” which is maybe my favorite sitcom episode ever. Station Manager Arthur Carlson wanted to get involved in promotions so he came up with a Thanksgiving plan that no one ever forget. He rented a helicopter and dropped live turkeys over the parking lot of the Pinedale Shopping Mall. The turkeys crashed to the ground, as newsman Les Nesman watched on horrified. Actor Richard Sanders delivered the iconic line, “OH MY GOD THEY’RE TURKEYS!”
DJ Dr. Johnny Fever added, as Les’s connection was lost, that the “Pinedale Shopping Mall has just been bombed with live turkeys… fim at 11.”
Tying the event into the crashing of the Hindenburg was brillaint. Finally, the episode was finalized with the line from Mr. Carlson that would live in infamy.
“As God is my witness I thought turkeys could fly.”
I watch this episode as my Thanksgiving tradition every year.
WKRP in Cincinnati struggled for ratings during its time on CBS, but the show’s quality was obvious to anyone who watched it.
January 11, 1993 at the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center, a show debuted on the USA Network. 33 years later, Monday Night RAW is live weekly on Netflix, nearing its 1700th episode.
RAW has been a major influential show among the pro wrestling world. Created by Vince McMahon, RAW was shot live and dealt with storylines as they went.
Over the years, RAW has been on USA Network, Spike TV, and Netflix.
It had some of the greatest memories of WWE wrestling over the years. Just a few included:
Mankind (Mick Foley) defeating the Rock for the WWE Championship thanks to a chair shot by Stone Cold Steve Austin (Still the largest “pop” by a crowd I have ever heard).
D-Generation X invading rival wrestliong company WCW in a tank.
CM Punk’s “pipebomb” promo
Stone Cold Steve Austin’s confrontation with Mike Tyson
The SHIELD collapsing when Set Rollins turned on his brothers in the SHIELD.
Shane McMahon showed up on Monday Nitro to official purchase WCW out from under his father.
Edge and Lita had a “live-sex celebration”
The Dudley Boys put 80 + year old Mae Young through a table off the stage.
Mr. McMahon’s limosine exploded… with him inside!
Brian Pillman brings out a gun to prevent Stone Cold’s home invasion.
Chris Jericho debuts, interrupting the Rock, bringing Y2J to the WWE.
Mick zfoley hosts “This is your Life” for The Rock.
Triple H reveals that he had married Stephanie McMahon in Vegas.
After 33 years, the show continues to surprise and create the controversy necessary for headlines to be made.
Boston Legal was a spin off of The Practice on ABC that ran for five seasons. It spun off the character of Alan Shore, who arrived in the final season of The Practice. Played by James Spader, Alan was a morally-compromised lawyer with a heart of gold who was happy to take on any seemingly unwinnable case.
He was paired with Denny Crane, a legend of a lawyer who, at times, just had to say his name to express his power. Denny Crane was played by Willaim Shatner in the most over-the-top manner. Spader and Shatner had the most amazing chemistry and comedic timing with each other. The show realized quickly what they had with this pairing and turned them into the biggest bromance ever seen on TV.
The show, produced by David E. Kelley, was set at the Boston law firm, Crane, Poole & Schmidt. The firm tackled every case imaginable, including against tobacco, big pharm, and the US Government.
Denny Crane was as eccentric as imaginable, but he was dealing with the early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease, which he would joke was Mad Cow, and the struggle of someone as larger than life as Denny Crane not being as in control than he once was.
The cast changed over the five seasons, but it included Candace Bergen, René Auberjonois, Julie Bowen, Mark Valley, Gary Anthony Williams, John Larroquette, Christian Clemenson, Constance Zimmer, Lake Bell and Rhona Mitre.
One of the features of the show was the big final argument that the lawyers, especially Alan Shore, would deliver to the jury in their weekly case. Always compelling, the closing argument highlighted the issue of the week.
Boston Legal was funny, dramatic and worked on multiple levels.
“The Great Swirling Apparatus of Our Planet’s Function”
Hm.
We got the origin of Pennywise, or the Galloo, what the Native American people called it. I’m not sure that I understood how everything happened. I guess the town of Derry was built inside the circle that they trapped it in.
I like Charlotte a lot. She went to the police in order to try and talk with Hank, Ronnie’s father. She is able to get in to see him, and we find out why he is lying about his alibi, and it was not connected to Pennywise. It was the racism of the time as he was having an affair with a married white woman.
The most horrific moment of the week was when Marge tried to use a table saw to cut out her extended eyeballs, thanks to her fear of her glasses making her eyes look like they bulge out. We heard about that in episode one or two and now it pays itself off. It was a scene where I was literally screaming for Marge to not do what she was going to do.
Of course, poor Lilly, who saved Marge’s life, is made to look like she had attacked her, as the entire lunchroom came to see the events. Not a good look for Lilly.
Dick used his shining to get inside the head of Daniel to find out about the pillars, which apparently are in the IT house where we know the well is located.
We are now half way through the season and we have yet to see clown Pennywise. However, the previews for upcoming weeks had some horrible scenes featuring Pennywise, so he is coming.
I watched a second Netflix documentary tonight, this one much more upbeat that the previous one. I saw the Netflix documentary on Eddie Murphy’s life and career called Being Eddie.
We follow through the career of Eddie Murphy, with his own words. There are plenty of moments of Eddie Murphy talking about the aspects of his life, from SNL to Beverly Hills Cop to his Oscar nomination back to SNL.
There are a bunch of other comedians who appear as talking heads on the doc to speak about Eddie’s success and his career. Others in the doc included Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, Arsenio Hall, Chris Rock, Kevin Hart, Pete Davidson, Jamie Foxx, and Tracy Morgan. We meet Eddie’s older brother, Charlie Murphy, who resembled his brother considerably. The doc interviewed writer Barry Blaustein as well as film director John Landis.
The doc was filled with nostalgia over the early days of Eddie’s career. Flashes from SNL and his early movies were great. They spent time on the joke on SNL by David Spade that ticked Eddie off. They touched on the film Norbit, which is widely considered to have cost Eddie an Academy Award for Dream Girls.
They talked about his recording of “Party All the Time” and showed clips of Eddie on different talk shows.
The doc was very fun. It certainly was not deeply in-depth. It did not dive too much into the deep problems and when it brought up difficulties, they were just touched upon.
Still, it was a fun watch and a nice palate cleanser after the rougher “The Perfect Neighbor.”
There is a new documentary on Netflix called The Perfect Neighbor and it was a tough and sad story.
According to IMDB, “A minor disagreement between neighbors in Florida takes a lethal turn, with police body camera footage and interviews probing the aftermath of the state’s controversial “stand your ground” laws.”
The shots of the doc were mostly from police bodycam recordings. It made for a fascinating narrative for both the people involved in the case as well as the way that the police handled the situation.
Some of the scenes were very tough. When the news arrived at the scene that the woman had died, watching the pain of the family was very difficult.
The film does not go into the “Stand Your Ground” laws very much. It could have been more time spent on that, though it did not necessarily fit with the format of the doc.
The Perfect Neighbor is a warning sign for the division we have in our country. It was a shame that we can’t be more understanding in our world.
This week, Todd picked up some old Daredevils for me. I picked up Daredevil #173, 247-253, and 258. It was nice to get some of these books. I have not picked up a lot of back issues of DD, but I like filling out my collection.
Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #4. Written by W. Maxwell Prince and art by Martin Morazzo. Cover art was done by Martin Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran. The fourth issue of the Superman saga created by the Ice Cream Man creative team reaches its penultimate issue. Superman is in the imp dimension and they are all over the place. (Fun cover, right Todd?)
Batman: Dark Patterns #12. “The Child of Fire part 3” Written by Dan Watters and art and cover art by Hayden Sherman. I am sad to see this Batman series end with this issue. I have enjoyed this Dark Patterns book more than most DC books, if I am being honest. I usually am not a fan of the books that take place in the past continuity, but this was great, and it was awesome how they tied the parts together.
1776 #1. “Night Calls” Written by J. Michael Straczynski and penciled by Sean Damien Hill & Ron Lim. Pete Woods did the cover art. Several Marvel super heroes have to go back in time to the Revolutionary War to try and stop Morgan Le Fey from destroying America. I am not sure where the continuity fits, but that was still excellent.
Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #2. Written by J. Michael Straczynski and art by Pere Perez. Cover art was done by Mark Chiarello. Can J. Michael Straczynski write anything in the current Marvel Universe timeline? This Spidey story is back before the death of Gwen Stacy. It’s been good so far.
Spider-Man & Wolverine #7. “The Deaths of Spider-Man & Wolverine” Written by Marc Guggenheim and art and cover art by Kaare Andrews. I have been happier with this series since the first few where it did not feel like Spider-Man. Wolvie and Spidey wind up in a different dimension with a different Reed Richards.
American Caper #1. Written by Dan Houser & Lazlow with pencils by David Lapham. Cover art was done by Tyler Boss (Silver Medalist). New crime story featuring two very damaged families in the world of business. It’s one of the best new books of the week.
Redcoat #15. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Bryan Hitch. Cover art was done by Bryan Hitch & Brad Anderson. We see Simon has found himself a new life, wife and child. That is.. until Albert showed up with some bad news.
Fantastic Four #5. Written by Ryan North and penciled by Humberto Ramos. Cover art was done by Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado. We get a solo episode with Sue, trying to help with the Black Cat, who has been arrested for a murder she did not commit. Felicia needs help and Sue is not anxious to give it to her. Lots of fun with this story. I like a good self-contained story along the way.
Blue Falcon & Dynomutt #3. Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and art by Pasquale Qualand. Cover art was done by Lucio Parrillo (Bronze Medalist). Blue Falcon is in a lot of trouble. He is injured and being pursued. However, here comes Dyno-Mutt!!!!
New Avengers #6. Written by Sam Humphries and art by Ton Lima. Cover art was done by Stephen Segovia & Rain Beredo. Can we trust the Black Widow? Does she have a connection to the Killuminati? Maybe, but I do like this combination of heroes as Avengers.
Spider-Man ’94 #3. Writing by J.M. DeMatteis and art by Jim Towe. Cover art was done by Nick Bradshaw & Rachelle Rosenberg. Morlun is all over this issue as Peter has to fight off a clone creature. How does Kraven the Hunter fit into to everything.
We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us #6. Written by Matthew Rosenberg with art and cover art by Stefano Landini. This series comes to an end with a violent and shocking conclusion to the book. It feels like there is more to this story moving forward so I would not be surprised if there is another volume is approved.
Red Hulk #10. “Red Flag” Written by Benjamin Percy and art by Gabriel Guzman. Cover art was done by Geoff Shaw & Marte Gracia. This is a major lead in to the final of One World Under Doom. This is a final issue for this series.
Eddie Brock: Carnage #10. Written by Charles Soule and art and cover art by Jesus Saiz. Another final issue of the Carnage series. There is kind of a resolution with the conflict between Eddie and Carnage. It ends with a shocking moment where Carnage learns the identity of Peter Parker.
Spider-Girl #6. Written by Torunn Grønbekk and art by Diogenes Neves. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. Spider-Girl heads to Hawaii. Plus, the last page said that next issue would be “To Be Concluded.” I wonder if next issue is the final issue of this series? I have liked Spider-Girl so far so I hope it is just the conclusion of the story arc.
Rogue Storm #2. Written by Murewa Ayodele and art by Roland Boschi. Cover art was done by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. The Age of Revelation, X years later. Storm and Gambit meet up, searching for Rogue Red.
Strange Tales #2. Written by Jeremy Whitley and art by Bayleigh Underwood. Cover art was done by Bayleigh Underwood and Jim Campbell. Green Goblin needs a magical book and he has to go to the Sanctum Santorum to find it. However, Spider-Gwen in there to cause some trouble for him.
Gunpowder Prophets #2. Written by Justin Jordan and art by Patrick Piazzalunga. Cover art was done by Patrick Piazzalunga and Roman Stevens. Marley and Huck are being pursued by a bunch of people on motorcycles. I feel bad for those people on the motorcycles. A very violent book.
Sinister’s Six #2. Written by David Marquez and art by Rafael Loureiro. Cover art was done by David Marquez & GURU-eFX. Age of Revelation. X Years later. This is down the list for me of this Age of Revelation books. I’m not sure that this one is that necessary. It’s still fine, though.
Iron & Frost #2. Written by Cavan Scott and art by Ruairi Coleman. Cover art was done by Ryan Brown. Age of Revelation. X Years later. Tony Stark, Emma Frost, James Rhodes… and what is going on with these characters. I do like the chemistry between Emma and Tony.
Spider-Man Noir #2. Written by Erik Larsen and art by Andrea Broccardo. Simone Di Meo did the cover art. Spider-Man Noir is back and fighting Nazis in America. And he is trying to break the news to his client Gwen Stacy that he was the one to shoot her father, who was a crooked cop. Or is there more to this than we know?
Liquidator #1. Written by Peter Milligan and art and cover art by Piotr Kowalski. I have gotten to a point where a new number one issue from Mad Cave is worth picking up just because. Liquidator #1 is really solid story with time travel involved.
Transformers #26. Written by Robert Kirkman and art by Dan Mora. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. The new arc with the Transformers continues going here. We get some look in on the human side of this new arc. This is starting to be intriguing.
C.O.R.T.: Children of the Round Table #3. Written by Tom Taylor and art by Daniele Di Nicuolo. Cover art was done by Daniele Di Nicuolo and Rain Beredo. The kids with their talking weapons meet with a new individual… Merlin! This has been fun so far and I do love Tom Taylor.
Youngblood #1. Written and penciled by Rob Liefeld. Variant cover E art done by Daniel Warren Johnson. The return of this classic Image book with Rob Liefeld came out this weekend. I was unfamiliar with this group and this book was fine. I do not think I am continuing with it.
The City Beneath Her Feet #2. Written by James Tynion IV and art and cover art was done by Elsa Charretier. This has been a long time coming. The biggest problem with DSTLRY books is the release schedule. I enjoyed this book though. It always takes so long to get the memory of the story back.
Other Books this Week: Marvel: Black, White & Blood and Guts #2, The Power Fantasy #13, Red Vector #4, The Author Immortal #2, Batman Static Beyond #1, Death to Pachuco #2, Event Horizon: Dark Descent #3, and Blood & Thunder #7.
Quick Hits: The Marvel Ultimate universe is coming to an end soon, or at least that was what it seems. Ultimate Black Panther #22 and Ultimate Wolverine #11 came out this week. The final issue of Mr. Terrific: Year One #6 came out. I am not a big fan of this mini series. Godzilla is back and everywhere. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Godzilla #1 came from ID and Godzilla Escapes the Dead Zone #4 are new this week. Of course, we don’t see much, if anything, of Godzilla in the Dead Zone. Godzilla is the Wolverine or Punisher of 2025. We get more of the white Black Panther in The World to Come. We also go into a galaxy far, far away twice this week with Star Wars #7 and Star Wars: Han Solo-Hunt for the Falcon #3. We get Conan the Barbarian #26 with some bristling barbarian action. Our gold medalist winning cover was from Stephanie Hans on Die Loaded #1. And then there was the oddly titled Die!Namite #2 where, on the last page, Red Sonja joins the fun.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 