#watchthis: Pound House

Doug Lussenhop, I believe, was the editor for Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!, and Pound House is Doug's post-all-that-show, featuring Tim in some eps, but not Eric.

Doug gets to be the straight man, while co-star Brent Weinbach, portraying a genius duality of character, steals the show. The co-stars are all awesome.

The show stays true to itself and follows a solid theme throughout—if I were to give an elevator pitch for Pound House, it would be that it feels like Tim and Eric, less spastic, mixed with David Lynch, starring comedy insiders, with great editing, great acting, and featuring at least three memorable, new characters (Doug, Brent, and the rapper/stick guy)—while breakout episodes like "Skate" take it in unexpected, even uplifting directions.

"You just got sprayed."

Pound House 14, "Balls," just came out three days ago. Haven't even watched it yet. There it is, right there. Boom. Eat it.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Whitewashing (HBO)

Growing up in the Seventies—Bill Burr on Opie Radio

Bill Burr, talking about his childhood, with a few other 40yo guys. Apparently not as much emphasis on safety from parents towards kids in those days? Part of me thinks they're full of shit, and the other part knows they're right.



Last night I tried on F is for Family on Netflix, with Burr voicing the main character, the patriarch of a five-person family. I like it. It's mostly good. After two episodes, I can see they're finding their footing, but it's got a lot of room to grow, and I'm interested to see where they push it. Complaint: I wish, for once, the father wasn't the main character in these Simpsons- and Family Guy-style cartoon shows. Sure, it reflects the harsh reality of life, but do we need television shows reinforcing that?

I did like Laura Dern's mom character breaking out into tears while she finally has time to enjoy her day. That was a bit of heavy reality, and it was also hilarious with the fish bowl on her head, and the dog Major humping her leg. I love Major's eyes that look in two directions, that's hilarious. And I do enjoy Burr trying to make the Seventies real for viewers. It's a nice period piece. The intro credit sequence is really awesome, too. I have a hard time feeling any empathy for the dad character, though. He'll have to break out of being a complete dick. But, I guess Burr's dad never broke out of that. So I dunno.

They're going for something not completely new, but a new take on an old thing. F is for Family, in my mind after seeing two episodes, is a cross between South Park and The Simpsons. I don't think Family Guy had as much of an influence here, that show's too spastic and disorganized. F is for Family focuses completely on the family members, with solid narratives, and believable plots.

It's shocking to viewers these days. I think that's what Burr wanted, though—to wake everyone up and say, "Hey, it wasn't always this way. It would behoove you to take a look backwards."

They've got some voice actors I can almost place, but I'm having trouble finding online. All I get are the actors for the family members, but not the neighbor kids, the fat cop on the TV show, the announcer guy on the other TV show, and some other people. David Koechner's obese, fried chicken-pounding, chain-smoking boss is hilarious. ("They should make a chicken of just skin.")

I swear the fat cop is either the Unsolved Mysteries guy, or a voice actor from Fallout 3.

I'm pleasantly surprised, and impressed, that Haley Reinhart is a voice actor on this foul-mouthed show. She needed to get a little cooler. I just tried to watch her sing Radiohead's "Creep," and it made me throw up in my mouth a little bit. There was absolutely no substance. Being attractive does not mean you deserve attention. So good on her for doing the little brother character and throwing f-bombs for her professional career.

Here's an IGN review of SSN1 that's mostly well-written.

Is Netflix completely kicking ass lately, or is it just me?

Gamer Poop, Skyrim #14, by Mans1ay3r

Everyone's talking about Fallout 4 and I'm here like, "So hey, how about that Skyrim?"

This is a new Gamer Poop. Thanks Machinima and Mans1ay3r, you're geniuses.

Fallout 4 - Launch Trailer

This.







Won't be long now.

Perusing Cody Johnston's LOST paraphernalia will let me be now like him

LOST was a show I discovered when every single person in the world began talking about it around season 2 or 3. I was all, whatever. Then I started watching it on Netflix 1.0, when it was dvds-by-mail.

Then I became obsessed. The unanswered questions, the killing of that douche cop from "Heroes" in episode 1 by the smoke monster (making us think it was dinosaurs or something—with ground-pounding sounds, roars, and high-up shots of shaking tree-tops, without showing the thing—genius), the epic scale of events, the seemingly limitless treasure trove of secrets the Island had to offer (right up until the very last episode), and the story's dark tone, really grabbed me.

But, like any good artwork, LOST was never without its antipode. The whole time you're watching it, you're like, "OMG, this is stupid. WTF am I watching." The choices the characters make come completely out of left field, often feeling like pandering to an audience already used to a show with a likewise left-field, and thusly completely original, plot. I can see the writers going, "We've got to keep it wacky—it's the only way to keep people watching! Make that character start yelling for no reason! Make that character macho-punch the other one for words he said!"

Dramatic television seems to be bread and butter for host network ABC, and in early-2000s tv, the shmaltz and cheese was thrown at us high horse. Every. Single. Episode. I mean, Britney Spears was still popular back then. Think about that. That's where we were. Bieber was up-and-coming.

Why tf would Evangeline Lilly be trying to stop Dr. Jack from continuing CPR on a recently-dead dude? WHAT. THE. EVER. LOVING. FUCK. The drama had actually gotten to the point where it was preferable to Kate to stop trying to save this life, feel the feels, and do nothing. Why would you get in the way of a doctor trying to save a life, even if all hope seemed LOST? You're on a deserted (Hawaiian) island with no hope of rescue, and The Others are closing in!

Is every episode going to have this? Am I going to have to sit through another inane conversation about uninteresting relationship gall and watch these poor actors trying to spit out these ridiculous lines, in order to get to the meat of the story, the reason I'm watching this? Every episode's gonna have at least 50% bullshit? Every one?

Fine, whatever.

That's what watching LOST is like. You take lots of bad, in order to get lots of good. It gets you hooked, like black tar heroin.

I think TV's gotten a lot better since then, because every generation improves upon shortcomings of their elders, right? I think we're headed in good directions, as an entertainment-creating species. However, it's taking a long time. When I watch Hulu and get glimpses of network television, I see the same old tropes re-appearing.

Also, I see LOST's influence on almost everything that comes out now. To be a dark drama is easy these days—it sells. Look at Daredevil, and The Flash.

Nostalgia is hot too—look at the upcoming Twin Peaks and The X-Files continuations (that both have me super excited), the Wet Hot American Summer prequel (that kicked so much ass), and the new Muppets television show, just to name a few. I mention nostalgia because, mark my words, it won't be long before a LOST reboot comes knocking on our doors. I mean, which one of those actors would say no? Which one of them have been anything close to as famous as they were under Lindelof and Abrams' tutelage?

It'll happen within the next three years. A LOST continuation series. I have no sources. I'm just guessing—that it would be foolish to see all the press these reboots are getting and not try to cash in on it. Now's the time, if ever. Shit is blowing up, and as soon as enough people realize it, the nostalgia train will come grinding to a halt. Hell, if LOST doesn't reboot in three years or so, the social momentum for nostalgia-in-television might be lost.

Anyway, so something obviously sparked all this LOST interest in me, right?

WHY IS HE WRITING ABOUT A SHOW THAT ENDED MAY 23, 2010?

Perusing Cracked.com, which is becoming a weird, LOST-in-scope, entertainment institution of its own, I found several LOST articles penned by one Cody Johnston, head writer for Cracked Video. He's the bearded guy who isn't Michael Swaim.

Turns out that Cody's such a LOST nerd that he not only came up with answers to all of the LOST questions that hardcore LOST nerds could think up (or ≥108 of them), but he got approval from LOST co-creator Damon Lindelof, who directed, via his Twitter feed, those seeking LOST answers,

Okay, so look at this shit, it's all Cody-penned (codepended):

12 Musical Jokes About LOST
108 Answers to LOST's Supposedly Unanswered Questions
http://lostanswers.tumblr.com/

He's Dr. Mister when he's answering LOST questions. I don't know.

Skyrim has endless replay value

And for poor gamers who don't just go out and buy new games when they're released, replay value is key.

WHY IS HE REVIEWING A FOUR-YEAR-OLD GAME?

Because, for some reason, "Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" (released Nov. 2011) continues to be relevant, especially for Fallout fans. Bethesda owns both franchises, and owns them well. The similarities between the two are apparent—Skyrim is, loosely, a better-designed Fallout 3, set in medieval times. If Skyrim is this good, imagine what the future will hold. To have improvements on games already this good is unprecedented, and it's an exciting time to be a gamer, and a follower of Bethesda Game Studios.

"Skyrim" is more a world than a series of levels, disconnected game areas, and characters. It's an open world in which you can go anywhere, at any time, emphasizing player freedom and an absence of linearity in a big way. With the sheer size, variety of gameplay options, DLC content available, and myriad quests large and small, Skyrim is, as far as I know, the closest thing to an endless game that exists.

The biggest downsides, to me, are the load times, and the monotony of commerce. The quests can seem monotonous too, with lots of go-fetch versions. But that's really all I can think of for now. The upsides more than outweigh the downsides. And the load times are more a fault of the technology than the game makers—I'll take it to get at that large world on a PS3 console.

My wife and I both have multiple ongoing characters, with different stats, skills and attributes. She hasn't had much time to game lately with Lucy being in school again, but she's onto her 3rd character, which inspired me to start anew as an alchemist and conjurer.

I haven't played everything, but I do have life-long gaming experience. Just last week, I was in my childhood home, peering into the bottom cabinet of an entertainment center containing the Nintendo Entertainment System, various controllers, and games I played as a kid. It all started when I was less than 10 years old. The point of all this is to say that Skyrim is mind-blowing to me when I compare it to my introduction to gaming. For others, maybe not so much. And that's fine. For me, it really works.

Bethesda puts into a game what you want in a game in this day and age: the ability to customize your character, male or female, marry who you want, male or female, any race, and yet have some game characters make racist and sexist remarks, and to have others talk about it. You have both social progression, and a mirror up to what really exists, emphasizing how hard it is to get over that stuff socially. It's a really smart way to go—having a medieval game with more lax sex laws and social customs than our world today.

I don't know what I can say about this game that hasn't been said before. Read this incredibly thorough review by Charles Onyett for IGN.

Coming soon: screenshots and short bios of my four main Skyrim characters. I'm proud of them all, and they all deserve their individual posts. which...is just me... patting myself on the back... Stay tuned!

Stay game!

And someone tell me how I'm going to afford a PS4 by #Nov10!